Ideas for Working with Maps

• Find out if your area has already been mapped with the traditional place names.
• Get a copy of the map – make several working copies.
• If no one has done a map with traditional place names of your area, consider a project in which you interview Elders to learn the names and put them on a map.
• The literacy group could interview people who traditionally lived or traveled in the area to find out the background of the names and stories about the area. Record the interviews.
• Either write summaries of the stories or write up the complete transcripts. These two tasks involve different skills. If you want to develop Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun composition skills, write summaries. If you want to develop careful listening and attention to traditional vocabulary, write the transcripts.
• The facilitator teaches mini-lessons on the writing process, syllabic keyboarding, grammar and any other topics as they come up.
• Type up the stories on the computer and post them with the map near the area the story is about.
• If the stories involve journeys, trace the trip on the map. The group could also calculate distances between places on the trip.
• The literacy group could hold a public presentation and play recordings of stories related to each geographical area. People may have their own stories to tell. (See Public Presentation or Open House in the Active Projects section.)
• Or take a trip on the land; invite your families and Elders. Bring the map along and talk with Elders about the stories of the places and place names.