Inuit guide exploring opportunities to expand tourism in the North

Page 8

Most of the tourists in Canada's far North come from Japan, Germany - even Italy, but Lucassie Tooktoo hopes to expand that list.

His recent trip to Beijing, China was an attempt to generate more interest in tourism in the North, particularly in hunting and fishing trips. He represents 14 outfitting businesses who offer visitors everything from hunting trips on dog sleds to skiing in Pangnirtung in Baffin Island, which is much like Banff, he said.

Visitors can stay in accommodations ranging from cabins to igloos in the winter. They can also stay with an Inuit family and eat traditional Inuit food.

"You get people who spend a week there and it's a sad feeling when they have to leave the Inuit people, the culture. Once they get to know the Inuit, they find them nice people," Tooktoo said.

Travel by dog team is very quiet and visitors are usually dressed in traditional clothing, he added. Some visitors are flown into a community, then travel by boat in summer or snowmobile in winter.

The animals hunted depend on the region, but some, like polar bear, are strictly regulated. Inuit can only harvest what they are allotted on a quota basis. Hunters names are chosen by draw and they have a time limit - if they don't get their bear before it expires, another draw is held.

One of the most popular trips takes hunters out for caribou using traditional crossbows.

The outfitter can only accommodate 60 people a year, and it's already booked for 1995, Tooktoo said.