June Okalik Klengenberg kept hearts warm with her gentle songs and kept bodies warm with her exceptional handmade parkas.

Those are among the memories shared as Klengenberg's life, which spanned more than a century, was honoured following her death on Jan. 8.

SA国际影视传媒淪o amazing, she was totally amazing,SA国际影视传媒� said Leslie Klengenberg, June's granddaughter. SA国际影视传媒淪he sewed. She sewed parkas. She made everything for her children. She was really well known for her squirrel parkas.SA国际影视传媒�

Edna Elias, who lived much of her life Kugluktuk, also remembers June's knack for fashioning outerwear.

SA国际影视传媒淪he was really one of the leaders in intricate design,SA国际影视传媒� Elias said. SA国际影视传媒淚t takes an awful lot of work to collect and skin that many siksiks (Arctic ground squirrels, also known as hikhiks in the Kitikmeot) to make a parka.SA国际影视传媒�

Elias also remembered Klengenberg as a regular participant in the SA国际影视传媒済ood womanSA国际影视传媒� competitions at the Northern Games held in the Western Arctic. June would exhibit her proficiency in events such as tea boiling, duck plucking, dry-fish making and skinning seals and caribou legs.

SA国际影视传媒淪he entertained crowds over the many years demonstrating her skills,SA国际影视传媒� said Elias.

When passing through Gjoa Haven, Elias would stop by to see Klengenberg at the continuing care centre, where she spent the past several years.
SA国际影视传媒淪he was continually singing her drum dance songs. One day she told me, 'I really could dance in my mind,'SA国际影视传媒� Elias recalled, adding that Klengenberg was fluent in Inuinnaqtun, a language with only an estimated several hundred speakers remaining. SA国际影视传媒淲e just lost a real treasure of a language keeper, a knowledge holder.SA国际影视传媒�

Leslie had a houseful of visiting relatives last week as well as a phone that was constantly ringing as June's Jan. 16 funeral approached.

SA国际影视传媒淧eople are sending their condolences from around Nunavut and the NWT. She had many friends all over, and family,SA国际影视传媒� Leslie said. SA国际影视传媒淚'm very proud to be her granddaughter.SA国际影视传媒�

Her only surviving brother, Jimmy, who's in his early 90s, made the trip from Cambridge Bay to be part of the memorial.

June was born on Read Island, off the coast of Victoria Island, on June 1, 1914. She recounted living part of her early childhood in a small tent until she and her family moved into a cabin, Leslie said. Most of her life was spent in Kugluktuk. She married Andy Klengenberg, who descended from Danish trapper, whaler and trader Christian Klengenberg.

June raised five adopted children and adored her grandchildren.

SA国际影视传媒淪he loved her grandchildren a thousand times to the moon and back,SA国际影视传媒� Elias said. SA国际影视传媒淪he always made sure her grandchildren were very well looked after.SA国际影视传媒�

Although Leslie was highly complimentary of the job the staff did at the continuing care centre in Gjoa Haven, she acknowledged that the distance and high cost of travel left June relatively isolated from family. It's a reason why Leslie is an advocate for a long-term care centre in Kugluktuk, something the hamlet has been trying to arrange for several years.

SA国际影视传媒淚 tried for my grandmother to be transferred to Cambridge when the old-folks home opened there but it was kind of tough,SA国际影视传媒� Leslie recalled of the unsuccessful request.

Relatives made the best of it by visiting when they could and by talking to June though tele-health a couple of times a week.

SA国际影视传媒淪he still sang for us and everything... so that's totally amazingSA国际影视传媒� Leslie said.