"Income taxes are usually done by others; there used to be service in town. I did the taxes for an older lady and she made me a pair of mittens in exchange. Only the literate can fill in their tax forms; those who are not, take their forms to their friends of children for help."

"I make things for my friends, help them, teach friends how to make an amautiq, and loan my amautiq."

Recycling Resources

The Inuit are well known for their ingenuity in using their natural resources and for their creative recycling.

"In Iqaluit we have two main dumps: one known as "The Dump" and the other as the "Canadian Tire Dump". "The Dump" is used for wood scraps and burnable garbage.
" People often go there to get wood to build doghouses, patios, and sheds. We also use wood from "The Dump" for fires when we are out camping. A couple of weeks ago the Northern store received a shipment of 7UP which was covered with the sticky syrup from a few exploded cans of pop. The shipment was taken to "The Dump" where we all went down to collect it. The "Canadian Tire Dump" is a metal dump where all the old refrigerators, tires, equipment, and other metal garbage is stored. A friend picked up enough stuff to make a BBQ without purchasing a single part."

Sharing Among Institutions

Sharing is also becoming more common between institutions in the Baffin Region.

"Sharing between organizations is increasing. For example, DFO and Parks share the building and staff. One person is a fisheries officer for six months and a parks officer for six months. The helicopter time is given to parks for free. We're paying the salaries for an oral history project while the community provides their support."

Government Agencies and Business Contributions to the Communities
Local businesses and government offices participate in community events by volunteering goods or services.

"The Housing Association volunteers their trucks and equipment on the day assigned as town clean-up day. The equipment is used to clean up the beach and the town."

"We have a soft sand beach for boating so everyone gets together about every second day to push out someone's boat. The Hamlet's loader helps to get boats on or off the beach if its not busy. The ice had broken up and people were stranded, so they asked me if I could get them back to shore using my boat and motor, which I did."

"The Co-op gave about $1,000-$1,500 in merchandise to raffle off for the students raising money to go to Switzerland. We also pick up the elders and give them tea, bannock and country food at the hotel. We've done this twice so far in the last six months."

"The Northern store participates in community events. For example, we sponsor the Canada Day Games. When students were raising money for their trip to Switzerland, we donated food for their bake sales, gave them deals on pop and juice for their dances, and let the kids wrap presents in the store during a special event night, they earned the $1/present. We also donate garbage bags and food for the feast during town clean-up day. We give food to elders (this is organized by the nursing station).

Someone's house burned down so we donated $1,000 to help him get back on his feet. When an occupational training course or an Arctic College course is offered we train a couple of students every afternoon. We also staff the convenience store with students each summer."

"Northern stores provide flour, sugar, turkeys, candy, games, and other goods for Christmas feast and school picnics. The store bought uniforms for the volleyball team with the Northern name on it in order to try to get away from giving food all the time and to improve the image of the store in town."

"When I'm going by with the front-end loader and I see that someone needs to be pushed, I stop and do it. If someone breaks down I haul them, lend them tools, or fix their vehicle for free, unless it's a large job. If I'm going by someone walking on the street, on my own time, I give free rides. I have tools and mechanical skills that the Inuit need and I share these things when needed. I don't lend equipment, the Inuit do, but it is too expensive for me to replace. In return people bring fish and caribou to the house, and we don't even ask for it."

"It's the same as life on my farm, if someone came for tea, we bring out food and tea, we always help our neighbours."

Care Giving

Baby Sitting
Good quality, culturally sensitive, reliable child care is one of the major concerns facing working parents.

"Daycare doesn't exist here, people lose days of work because they don't have a babysitter or their babysitter doesn't show up. Most people pay babysitters, but some get friends of family to baby sit for free."

"On CBC radio, people sometimes ask for someone to come in to look after their children. Other people call in and announce that they are able to babysit, and they informally provide babysitting services for free."

"The lack of dependable baby sitters is a major problem. Almost every week people miss work because there are no baby sitters available. Some get paid and others do it for free.

Some mothers are offended when they find that the person they had asked to babysit actually left the children with young kids while the baby sitter went out for unknown reasons. Grandmothers' feelings are sometimes hurt when daughters get another baby sitter due to dissatisfaction with the grandmother leaving children unattended."

"Difficulty in finding a baby sitter is the primary problem causing absenteeism. Some wonder who they can trust to look after their children. Many whites are concerned about possible sexual abuse their children may receive from their babysitters."

"Several daycare centres exist in Iqaluit, but they had to hire southerners because of the regulations. The manager of the daycare centres complain that there are not as many regulations for NWT daycares as exists for daycares in Ontario. The government regulations state that you can't manage a daycare unless you have a degree - this eliminates any Inuit applicants. Over regulation of the daycare centres is a problem, there is a similar problem with licence requirements for drivers of water trucks, etc."

"Parents and midwives often share baby sitting responsibilities and sometimes they even exchange houses."

Caring for the Elderly
The responsibility of caring for elderly and terminally ill individuals is shared throughout the community. These thoughtful gestures mean a great deal to the elder and their family.

"Elders may crave certain food so everyone helps meet their needs. When an elder was sick she asked for caribou."

"Homemaker services are paid by Social Services. Sometimes people take shifts to help look after someone who is ill. Recently we worked eight-hour shifts and worked the weekends and night shifts so the rest of the volunteers could go camping during the spring. The nurse, social worker and Women's Auxiliary are the key organizers of this volunteer activity."

"When someone is ill at home for a long time Social Services hires a homemaker to clean, cook, do laundry, and bath the person. A nurse makes regular visits to the ill person. Recently a woman lived alone and had no children, only nieces and nephews. At first 30 women volunteered to help be with the ill woman for 24 hours a day."

Death and Grieving
Death and grieving are shared by all members of the community.

"When someone dies, people go to visit the grieving family 24 hours a day. The Women's Auxiliary organizes it and everyone helps out. Around the nineteen-seventies people started to go the grieving person's home to wail. In the old days we couldn't see the dead bodies, now we can. Volunteers bring food, look after the children, and help wail. About 75% of the homemakers in the community for the ill or elderly are volunteers."

"When someone dies, people visit with the survivors 24 hours a day for several days. This did not happen in the 1960s. Perhaps because there were fewer people in town and therefore not enough persons to share the responsibilities."

"A lot of people go to the dying person's home just to be present. Others go to keep food and to clean the house. Others help with the nursing needs. Nurse and volunteers (a core of people) and men measure the body and build the coffin and dig the grave voluntarily."

Some healing is also provided voluntarily by religious leaders in some communities.

"When someone dies in a house a minister comes and prays over the house.
"They cleanse the house by brining in the minister, layman and shamans. Two shamans in town still practice a bit."

Adoptions
Adoption of children between families on Baffin Island strengthens personal and economic relationships, and provides another mechanism for informal sharing of resources. The adopting parents and the biological parents share names, money, and other resources.

"A boy died in town, the birth mother asked me to name my adopted baby after the dead boy, so I named my adopted baby after him. The family phoned and said thank you. My baby is also named after the school janitor. This man's wife sent over a pair of fabric kamiks with duffle liners while my baby was in the hospital having a heart operation."

"Adopting parents often "loan" money to natural parents as a way of showing appreciation."

Adoptions also introduce new ways of interacting for the child while he or she is with biological and adopted parents.

"Traditionally, adoption aided the elderly, provided an even number of boys and girls in the family, and extending the family and community sharing. Today, adoption is also used to care for children if their young mothers are not ready for the responsibility of raising a child. Adoption is very common among this generation."

"Inuit adoption is more open, because I got to see my thirteen year old grow up at my Mom's place (the grandmother had adopted him). Adopted children often don't like to see their blood parents.

The biological mother is called Pookooloo (bag). When their maternal mother says, look there is your mom, the child replies, no way, that's not my mom. My brother was adopted and whenever he has to go to his blood family's home, he is very quiet and shy.
"Single woman often give up their children; they are usually adopted by the woman's parents (child's grandparents). When I gave up my first child for adoption to my parents, I actually nursed the baby while he slept with my parents. This enabled the baby to be loved by its biological mom, and still be raised in a family with both a mom and dad."

Most families have several adopted children. Sometimes these children are given special privileges.

"Sometimes there is a hierarchy in the family, a Cinderella system or a preferred child system. Adopted children are often not penalized as the parents are afraid to. The adopted child is still really controlled by the biological parents; however, they rarely scold the child as they aren't raising the child. The result is that no one ends up taking control of disciplining the child, disadvantaging the child by providing no obvious structure and rules to follow. As an adult (30-40 years old), people who were adopted have a burning desire to know why they were adopted."

"Teenagers feel a loss of love when their parents adopt young ones who immediately get all the attention. The teens feel their only responsibility is to look after the youngest one…more like a maid. No on worries if they take off overnight. Break and Entries may be done to get attention."