Marlene Wolki

We also brought kids out to the park there with the Management Board, where I took minutes and participated in what was done at the park. Boy, we used to laugh a lot at Tuktut Nogait! At night, I’d try to keep them busy. We used to play the game “Donkey in the Tent”. We used to have so much fun with them! Me, anyway—it’s like I was a little kid myself.

At the interpretive centre, kids can be themselves and ask questions; they like to come and play. So that’s how come we did storytelling. It gives them the opportunity to tell their own stories. Today, you gotta be really engaging with them—with puppets, with clothing… if you tell a story, you gotta try to make it come alive, you know? You gotta be colourful.

It was new to the kids because some had never been out to Tuktut Nogait, whereas we were always travelling in and out of the land. Showing them pictures, videos, and just talking to them about the park—some were interested and learning. I don’t just talk to the kids—I get them to interact, to be part of the story. A lot of them learn in different ways, so you have to be really open and engaging, especially for kids that are quiet and shy. For those who get to go to the park, they will go out, think, and come back.

While working, I ended up making a story myself! It just came. Elder Liz Kuptana was here, and she was telling stories. And then, out of nowhere, my brain just started going! It’s just how I came up with the name, How the Loon, Moon, and Wolf Came to Be. I used Inuvialuktun names like mine in that story—Mamayauk from my great grandmother—and my husband Hank’s Inuvialuktun name, Nihiryuak.

Storytelling—it’s what we grew up with, what we saw, and what we lived through. Being in an area like Tuktut Nogait really gets your mind going.

Anaanak would say, when someone comes in, “Aaqana. Come in.” If it’s an Elder, you ask them: “Would you like to sit down?” Once they sit down, they automatically tell stories.

When you listen to Elders, during my time, they were so full of stories. When they talk in Inuvialuktun, even though I don’t understand what they’re saying, but the expression of their face, and when people laugh… just the expression of their faces. If somebody’s talking and everybody’s listening, that means they really mean something about what could have happened in the park, compared to an area. When you look at the park, the Elders before us travelled all over. Whenever they get together, it’s always about travel. Stories about here and there, where they all travel. If you brought Hank here, he would have told you all about the places that they travelled.

We have such a beautiful land out in the park. It’s nice and big and you can go everywhere—all over. The part that I liked best was Uyarsivik because it’s a nice area where you can fish, go to the canyons, and go to the big lake. There’s so many areas just in that one spot. It’s such a big, wide area. It’s just so beautiful. I’m sure that hiking would be the best because you’re telling stories as you walk, or you find a good place and sit down. Especially with kids, keeping them engaged.

Every person that I meet that works with Parks Canada, their outlook is so engaging—so willing to hear stories and explore. And that’s how we learn. You pick up both from talking and experiencing, and the experience is not the same unless you’re out at the park. You could really talk to visitors. As soon as you’re talking to somebody who’s wondering about the park, when you share your story, you get them excited and engaged. They wanna come! It all starts from the people at the frontlines, positions like the one I was, and now Tracey is, sitting in.

Food is another engaging thing: “I wanna eat there!” Even including food, when they come to the place, next thing they want to try char, they want to try caribou meat. Food adds to the experience.

We want to make sure that when people go in and out, travel out there, hunting, fishing—that we keep our park pristine. When you leave, you leave it the way it was. That’s how we were brought up by our Elders long ago. They say: “If you take care of the land, the land is gonna take care of you.” And I always kept that with me.

That’s how come I’m really happy that we have Tuktut Nurrait—and not only within the park but the surrounding areas of the park. We have such a beautiful land. No wonder our Elders, when they were travelling all over, we used to hear stories about how it’s so beautiful out there. I’m just so happy that they camped and then ended up staying there back then, to where we are today.

One word that stuck to me is: pristine. The park is pristine. My one thing is for our caretakers today—keep it pristine.

You never know sometimes. If one day they say: “Oh, we can’t have Parks Canada anymore. There’s no money…” Whatever happens—hopefully, it’s not just gonna be a story, but it’s gonna live on, and on, and on, and on.

Even when we answered the phone when I worked here back then: aaqana!

One time, working at Parks Canada. I remember I used to have to answer the phone: “Hello, bonjour!” And then somebody on the other end: “Hey, hey, hey… where’s our Inuvialuktun greeting?” Peter Green! He told me. And I said: “Oh! Aaqana, Peter!” And he said, “That’s better.”

You gotta make sure that you put that Inuvialuktun one first before the English. I think we have to think of the Elders, first. Aaqana, Hello, Bonjour!