Nadia Ootoovak has been spending time on the land with her family for as long as she can remember.

The 20-year-old from Pond Inlet, who is the second eldest of six siblings, has participated in fall narwhal hunts, spring fishing trips and lots more.

She enjoys all of her time on the land, but said her favourite activity comes in the late spring, when she and her parents and siblings load up their qamutiiks and venture far out of town in search of snow geese eggs.

SA国际影视传媒淥ne thing I look forward to every year is the egg picking,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 one of my favourite things to do. My siblings too.

SA国际影视传媒淵ou get a lot of eggs from the land. We also get the geese every now and then SA国际影视传媒� not a lot, just enough for us.SA国际影视传媒�

One of OotoovakSA国际影视传媒檚 favourite memories on the land occurred on one such egg-picking trip. It was about two years ago, she said, when one of her younger sisters, who was roughly 11 at the time, had just started riding a snowmobile.

OotoovakSA国际影视传媒檚 father, who was riding with her mother and another sister, was leading the family on the trip. When he came to a river, he paused to decide the best course of action.

SA国际影视传媒淲e all had backpacks and we were going out for geese eggs,SA国际影视传媒� Nadia recounted. SA国际影视传媒淓verything had just started melting. The rivers were flowing and the current was strong.

SA国际影视传媒淢y dad was staring at the river for maybe a minute or two, thinking about where he should go to cross that river. Then he looked at my younger sister and said, in Inuktitut: follow my lead exactly.SA国际影视传媒�

OotoovakSA国际影视传媒檚 father crossed the river first, moving SA国际影视传媒減retty fastSA国际影视传媒� on his snowmobile. Her older sister, who was riding with her boyfriend and son, crossed next.

Ootoovak, who was riding with her younger brother, took her turn next, and also made it across.

That just left her 11-year-old sister, who had an even younger sister riding with her.

Their snow machine made it across the river SA国际影视传媒� but barely.

SA国际影视传媒淚nstead of going fast like my dad did, she went so slow,SA国际影视传媒� Ootoovak said with a laugh. SA国际影视传媒淭he Ski-Doo almost tipped over, but she made it across the river.SA国际影视传媒�

Ootoovak created lasting memories on that egg picking trip, but it also reaffirmed the importance of knowledge sharing as it pertains to surviving on the land.

A lot of Inuit wisdom, she notes, has not been written down, and is therefore best absorbed by speaking to older generations on the land.

SA国际影视传媒淭hese things are not usually documented,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淛ust recently they started documenting information here and there. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 important that you go [on the land] in person so you can see how [Elders] look at things and how they describe things out there.SA国际影视传媒�

Ootoovak hopes to keep spending as much time as she can on the land SA国际影视传媒� not only because it gives her a SA国际影视传媒渟ense of selfSA国际影视传媒� as an Inuk, but because it helps her escape the strains and stresses of her life in town.

SA国际影视传媒淎ll of my other feelings disappear,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚 feel calm. I donSA国际影视传媒檛 feel stress. I donSA国际影视传媒檛 feel overwhelmed with work or anything.

SA国际影视传媒淚 donSA国际影视传媒檛 have to worry about anything SA国际影视传媒� other than big animals.SA国际影视传媒�