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An elders tent featured a Coleman stove, a qulliq — a traditional oil lamp — and cups of tea, an olfactory combination that brought one woman to nostalgic tears. Elsewhere, children played on snowbanks, old friends hugged and talked, and everyone ate.

Photo by Ashley Fraser

For Samantha Kigutaq-Metcalfe, 12, and Cailyn Degrandpre, 11, much of Saturday’s fun revolved around the throat-singing, a game in which participants face off in pairs — one a leader, the other following — with the winner being the one who doesn’t laugh first (think of a staring contest with gutteral, sometimes melodic, sounds). The two, who collectively go by the name Ministers of Cuteness, performed for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at his swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall last November.

“I like this because you get Inuit food, you play Inuit games and do Inuit art,” said Cailyn. “And the throat-singing.”

Centre executive director Karen Baker-Anderson says that Inuit Day’s importance lies in preserving and celebrating “the beauty and strength of the culture.”

“People will come here and eat their food, and their souls get filled. And they walk away happy, feeling they’ve had a taste of the Arctic while being here in Ottawa.”

Ina Zakal was one of the centre’s co-founders and creator of its Inuit Day, which was originally held solely for its children but soon expanded to include the public. She had the honour Saturday of eating one of the seal’s most-sought-after eyeballs.

“Growing up in Pang (Pangnirtung, on Baffin Island), that was a delicacy,” she said. “We didn’t have candies or gum or anything like that.

“But the outdoors has always been our playground,” she added, “and that’s why we have this day. When I was growing up, I said I wanted to tell people who we are. Well this is who we are.”

Photo by Bruce Deachman

Photo by Ashley Fraser

Photo by Bruce Deachman

Photo by Bruce Deachman

Photo by Ashley Fraser

Photo by Ashley Fraser

bdeachman@postmedia.com