Hands on Activities

 - Carve Arctic animals or Inuit figures from soap, ice or styrofoam.
 - Try to start a fire using a bow string to drill on wood
 - Make igloo out of miniature marshmallows using a cup, small bowl or a cardboard shell as a supporting frame for the structure.
 - Make a drum. The Inuit hand held drum is about 2 feet across but students can make drums out of coffee cans with plastic lids. Remove the bottoms for better sound. They can stretch fabric or thick plastic sheeting across pots, pans, buckets, basket or ice cream containers. (hold with a rubber band and tie with string) Wet the fabric for better sound. (White glue will create more resonance. Varnish is even better)  Use beaters such a wooden spoons that can be painted or decorated.
 - Make an Inukshuk out of flat stones and glue. Wood will also do but is less authentic.

Oral/Writing Activities
 - Inuit had special songs that they created and sang about themselves or about some special experience that made them special. What sort of song or poem would you create about an experience that makes you special? (It doesn't have to rhyme)
 - What animal would you want as a pet? Why? How would you train the animal?
 - Inuit names are important. They have special meanings and are often taken from some person who was special to the family. There is also a naming ceremony. What is the meaning of your name and why were you given it?  Was there a special ceremony when you were named?  Sometimes, a child is renamed. Would you choose another name for yourself? What would it be and why?
   - Imagine you were sharing stories with Simon Tookoome. Choose a section of the book such as How We Were Raised, Adventures With My Friends, My Adopted Animals, Qaggig or My Uncle Was a Shaman.  Tell a parallel story about How You Were Raised, Adventures With Your Friends, Your Pets, How Your Community Meets, or a Special Older Person Who Guided You.

QUESTIONS FOR INTERPRETION AND DISCUSSION
    - When Simon Tookoome saw a white person's house for the first time he was shocked by how different it was. How was the house of the White People different than the home of the Inuit?
 - How did Tookoome find the ways the White People different than his people?  Each students finds 5 examples. Students in groups then combine their examples and create categories (food, shelter, etc) to compare the two societies.
 - If you lived as an Inuit, what would be your favourite activity, your least favourite, your worst fears, your greatest skill?
 

    Research

Social Studies
  Compare the Inuit to another native people. Research to establish the similarities and differences.
 a) Food (according to the seasons)
 b) Shelter (summer and winter)
 c) Clothing
 d) Health care
 e) Transportation
     f) Governing. How were decisions made for the group?
     g) technology - what tools did they have
 h) Leisure - how did they entertain themselves?
     i) Contact with Europeans. List the changes, good and bad

Math/Geography
 - Find where Tookoome lives on a map. Estimate the distance between where you live and Baker Lake.
 - How long would it take you to travel by dog sled rather than car?  A dog sled may average 10 miles an hour. (16 kilometres). A car travels in the city 30 miles (about 50 kilometres) an hour. On the highway a car travels 60 miles (about 100 kilometres) an hour. How long would it take to go to school?  How long to do your shopping or to reach your closest major city?
 - An iglu may be about 9 feet or 3 meters in diameter. How many square feet or square meters is that?  How many square feet/meters is in your home?
 - Before contact with outside civilization, Inuit ate only the food that existed in their land, (no fruit except a few berries), no milk products or vegetables, no grain for bread, no sugar.   They made their homes out of the material they could find. (No metal, some driftwood wood, no oil, wood or wax for light or heat.) They made their clothes from animal skins.
What would change if you used only the food, clothing, shelter that comes from your country or area. How would you have to adjust your life if nothing could be imported?

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