Looks Like Daylight by Deborah Ellis Page B

Beluga whales come into the bay to have their babies. You can spot seals and sometimes walruses.
    As for the town, well, there’s a community center with a museum and a library and a place for elders to go. There’s a church, a Northern store that sells groceries and things, arts and crafts shops, a co-op, a hotel and that’s about it.
    I was there during the summer. There was 24-hour sunlight. I had to put garbage bags over the windows to be able to get to sleep. There were all these kids playing outside at one in the morning, having a great time.
    I loved walking in the mountains with my sister and mom. It’s the freshest air up there! And you can see for such a long way. You can see the whole community. There’s water trickling down the mountains into pools. It’s cold, fresh and clean. Everyone loves you up there. You’re family.
    I loved playing with the kids in the community. We played Inuit baseball. That’s baseball without any rules! We went clam digging at low tide out in the ocean. If you find one it splashes water on your face. It was so exciting to find a jellyfish. My brother Mark caught an Arctic char. We went to the gym and played volleyball. Lots of great things.
    But there were some not great things too.
    My Uncle Michael was drunk a lot. It’s like he has to have alcohol. It’s very sad and it’s hard to be around. I felt like I was walking on eggshells around him. You never know what’s going on in the head of someone who’s drinking. I know I was safe because I was with Mom and Gran, but I still didn’t like it.
    We went to church up there on Sunday mornings. The first one we went to was in the old Anglican style, reading from a book. The second one we went to was more alive — kids playing guitar, rejoicing. It was a really happy service and I loved being there.
    I’d like to live up there for a while. I’d also like to be able to speak fluent Inuktitut. The language is disappearing fast. Some parents and elders and teachers are trying to keep it alive. It must be difficult for the Inuit who’ve always lived up there in all the quiet and beauty when they come to Ottawa where it’s noisy and busy.
    All my friends in Ottawa think it’s really cool that I’m Inuit. My ancestors were the first people here and that gives me a huge sense of honor. Other Inuit kids I know have had people make fun of them. Some people mistake us for Mexican or Filipino or Chinese. And when I say I’m Inuit, they say, “What’s that?” It’s kind of funny. I feel sorry for them because they know so little.
    The Inuit center is terrific because they have so much going on — daycare, language classes, camps. You can do art, fitness, hip-hop. Later today we’re going on a field trip to visit other Inuit groups here in Ottawa. I think that will be good. Canadian stuff is all around here — the parliament buildings, the war museum, the prime minister’s house — and that’s great and easy for us to see. It will be good to meet the other Inuit groups because they’re harder to find than the parliament buildings, and we might want to join them when we’re older. And we’ll talk about the center to them so we’ll get experience in talking out in front of strangers.
    I don’t know yet what I want to be when I get older. I love art, singing and basketball. I also love little kids. And I feel called in my life to do something for the church, doing some reaching out to other people around the world, maybe volunteering in overseas missions, or helping people with addictions and mental illness.
    I’ve had a really good upbringing. I’ve been very lucky.
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    The Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre (www.ottawainuitchildrens.com) works with parents and the community to foster strong and proud Inuit children, youth and families.

Cohen, 14

    Off the northern British Columbia coast sit the