INUUSIT / PROFILES WORDS BY JAMES ROGERS
Jacob Lennie was born in Inuvik on April 29th, 2002. His full name is Jacob Richard Daniel Lennie Blake. He is now seventeen and is going to East Three Secondary School. Jacob is also graduating this year. Jacob’s parents are Dan Blake and Melissa Lennie. Jacob has seven siblings by the names of: Darrien (oldest), William, Jaxson, Iona, Max, Delma, and
Sam (youngest). Jacob is the second oldest after Darrien. I thought Jacob was the oldest child in the family, but apparently not—in the interview I had with him, he told me he was the middle child. His siblings ages range from four to eighteen. Jacob has quite a few siblings. One of his biggest hobbies is hockey. He plays goalie. Jacob is the only goalie of his age, and the best, in my opinion. He just is. Another hobby Jacob is into is trucks, because he grew up working on them. He likes lots of different types of trucks, or even just vehicles for that matter. He told me that he
wants to be a heavy-duty mechanic. Sometimes I think that’s why he likes trucks so much. It’s kind of like an exposure to what being a mechanic even is and that type of thing can really help in the future with what he wants to do. He also likes to hunt almost anything from the traditional lands. I have a lot of respect for Jacob. I learned only now that Jacob has a lot of siblings and that he is the middle child, and I’ve known him for what has felt like the longest time (6-7 years). Jacob and I have made a lot of memories in the past couple years; it’s one of the main reasons why I chose him to do this interview with me. I know a lot of things about him—but, apparently, I didn’t know everything about him.
After sitting down and chatting with Cynthia, I learned that she has a very strong connection to her family. She was born in Inuvik, NT, but was raised in Tuktoyaktuk, NT with her family. She is the youngest of ten siblings; she has three brothers and seven sisters. Through her whole life, she looked up to both of her parents and her older sisters. While growing up in Tuk, Cynthia enjoyed hanging out with her friends. They did fun activities like going sliding, and going out on the land
together for school trips. While being on the land for school, they went hunting, fishing and were taught new survival skills, like putting up a tent and cleaning and cutting animals they hunted. In the summers, Cynthia would enjoy going out to summer camps where she got the chance to set nets, go hunting and play games. One year, she got to learn how to make bannock and build a fire. She remembers
getting stranded at camp for one week because the weather was too bad to travel in. Cynthia believes that being young means having fun by doing whatever you want without worrying about the consequences that come along with your decisions.
Jacob Lennie
WORDS BY DEENA ALLUM
Cynthia Teddy
NUTAAT INUIT YOUTH
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