Naujaaraaluit Hotel boosts Inuit organization in Clyde River

Clyde River's new Naujaaraaluit Hotelis more than a business it's a way to help theIlisaqsivik Society provide programs that build and inspire the community.

From counselling to free internet access to school breakfast programs, theInuit organization has been working in the community since 1997. But, since the beginning,Ilisaqsivikhas had problemsgetting stable funding.

Soon however, the hotel will funnel anticipatedprofits backto the Inuit organization throughIlisaqsivik's for-profit company, TukumakInc.

JakobGearheard, who moved toClydeRiver to coordinate programs atIlisaqsivikin 2004, said the hotel will help the Inuit organization weather its"precarious" project funding situation.

"I don't know how we were still running when I started," Gearheardsaid about the statusof Ilisaqsivik 11 years ago.

"They were close to $100,000 in debt... There were some days when we were basically on pay day, calling people who owed us money."

Over the past decade,Ilisaqsivikhas not just climbed out of debt,it's doubled in size.

Already plans to expand

"This new hotel is going to help a lot of people in the community," said hotel managerSamiulieIqaqrialu.

"After this, it's going to get easier for money [forIlisaqsivik]."

As he walks through the hotel,Iqaqrialuhas stories about each aspect of the building from the curtains his sister adjusted to fit the windows in each bedroom to the Internet he swears will never slow down.

"We have only a small hotel yet, but we plan to expand it."

Not only does Iqaqrialu hope to expand the hotel from its current eight-room capacity, he hopes to eventually add a restaurant and employ local hunters as guides for tourists.

Inuit aim to 'take back' control

Mayor JerryNataninesaysIlisaqsivikis a point of pride for the entire community.

"InClydeRiver, we have this attitude where we want to start taking over everything that has to do with our lives," he said.

"The Government ofNunavutruns pretty much everything inClydeRiver, but we want to come to a point where we're running our own power house, our own welfare office, to run our own housing association, to have our own self-government."

Nataninesays having an Inuit-led, Inuit-staffed organization running community programs is one step for Inuit.

While Gearheardhas been lobbying the territorial and federal governments for core funding for Ilisaqsivik foryears, he says working independently from the government has given the societythe ability to respond quickly to Clyde River's needs.

"It's community-based. It's community run," he said."We don't have to ask the government if we want to do a project.

"If we can find the money to do it, the only people we have to ask is the community."

Iqaqrialu says the hotel, which began booking guests in August,has had an immediate effect on the community. Mobile health teams, which provide dental and eye care insmall Nunavutcommunities, have told him that having a second hotel could make it possible to visit Clyde River more often.