Community Involvement in Pangnirtung

Earlier in the program, Uviluq explained that I could only be as much a part of the community that I allow myself to be. During that time, I was treading very carefully around Pang, making extra sure not to disturb the regular flow of things. It was also during this time that I spoke with Emily at Pujualissait about hopefully doing some work with the Youth Trauma Retreat because I was feeling unsatisfied with the few menial tasks I had done around the community, such as post-Canada Day garbage clean up. I was unable to recognize then that the community project was much more about the connections one was able to make through completing these tasks, however menial they may seem, and that it was these tasks that would act as an open door into Pang.

It was not until the last two weeks of the program that I was fully able to conceptualize what I wanted to see myself doing. I thought about the people I had met and the impacts that they had on me, and decided it was best to approach this project in a way that did not feel like a project at all, but something I would have been doing anyway.

Both before going on the land as well as after, I had been dropping by the youth centre to see what was happening there, and had the pleasure of meeting Tina Mary and learning about her life in Pang. This made visiting a breeze, as well the youth were responsive in a positive way about me being there. They would talk to me about things happening in their lives, and why the youth centre was a good place to go just to chill out and be with friends. Some of them seemed to use the youth centre as more of a comfort zone to escape whatever else may have been happening at the time. It was then that I learned about the recent break and enters to the building, and the cash that had been stolen (the till was used to buy snacks mostly for the canteen and to hold events).

After speaking with Chris Heide, I asked him what he thought about me holding a bake sale with the help of other willing students in our program to raise back the money that was stolen. He thought it was a good plan, especially considering that the youth centre received a chunk of municipal funding to kick start it as a pilot project a few years back but did not see regular funding after that. It became a working plan and one that I ended up receiving a lot of help with by students in the program, which included baking and being present the day of the bake sale. I purchased most of the baking supplies and extras with my own money, and received some baked goods from the youth centre as well as some excess supplies we had at the school.

It turned out to be a great success, raising close to $370, when none of which could have happened without all the baking that was done the night before thanks to students in the program.

In the days leading up to our departure (at which point I was feeling good about my place in the community) I spent some time visiting friends within the community and cooking them supper and staying afterward to clean up and have tea. Sometimes, I would bring over some food I'd get, such as one night I made a “breakfast dinner” for an elder and his granddaughter who was feeling down and out following the suicide in the community. I asked her what she would enjoy most and we decided that breakfasts are tasty enough to be eaten at all hours of the day, so we did. Other times, I would visit a young girl, who was also a single mom that I had connected with earlier in the program. She had a one year old son and also helped look after her two nephews at her dad’s home, so i would help her make supper for the four of them and clean up afterward. This girl worked extremely hard keeping things in order at the house and for her dad, who was also a great guy who seemed to appreciate my being there.

As expressed earlier, at the beginning of the program I likely would not have attributed spending time making supper for families community project-esque, but after I gained my footing I recognized that it was these experiences that had the most direct and positive impact on people in Pang, as well as myself.

Alas, the bake sale’s success was also something very positive for me because I felt strongly about contributing to the youth center after meeting the people one on one that were there when I visited. With that said, I hope the money helps to offset some of the prices of snacks, and that the youth center remains a positive space in Pang because there are a lot of good people who seem to really appreciate its presence.