Barney Tootoo had a lot to look back upon as he blew out the candles to celebrate his 76th birthday on May 14.

Tootoo has lived in three different Kivalliq communities during his life: Baker Lake, Rankin Inlet and Whale Cove. And, with the obvious creation of Nunavut as its own territory, he鈥檚 seen a lot of change in three-quarters of a century.

He said the biggest change he鈥檚 seen in Rankin Inlet over the years is the different nationalities of people who are moving to the community and staying longer.

He said for many years, people would just come into Rankin to work for the summer and then they were gone.

鈥淲e have people from all over living here now full time and that鈥檚 been good to see,鈥� said Tootoo.

鈥淩ankin Inlet is the type of town where people get along with each other, no matter what race or nationality they are.鈥�

Tootoo said there鈥檚 been, of course, many changes in lifestyle over the years.

He said some changes make him smile when he thinks back to the way things used to be years ago.

鈥淵ears ago, we never really used to go by time. Today you have to bide your time with everything you鈥檙e doing. In years past, you鈥檇 just take your time with something and, if you didn鈥檛 finish it today, you always had tomorrow to finish it.

鈥淏ut, nowadays, you have to finish what you鈥檙e doing right now because something else is coming up right behind it.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 really find today鈥檚 lifestyle to be all that good for Inuit in some ways. All the technology people brought up here seems to be making things harder for some of the younger kids. I don鈥檛 have a cell phone or anything like that, so it doesn鈥檛 bother me, but I鈥檝e seen younger kids struggling with it all a bit.鈥�

When it comes to the introduction of alcohol, Tootoo said he鈥檚 enjoyed a cold beer since he鈥檚 been in his teens and still enjoys having the odd cold one with friends.

He said some Inuit have really struggled with the introduction of alcohol and seem to always go to extremes with it.

鈥淭hat always going to extremes with it is what makes it hard on everyone, especially when families are affected by it.

鈥淚 still enjoy getting the boys together every now and then to have a couple. For me, it鈥檚 still a fun thing to do, just to get together and shoot the breeze.

鈥淏ut, it鈥檚 like a lot of things these days when the behavior of some ruin it for everyone. And what I find, is that, often, when something serious happens in Rankin, it鈥檚 out-of-towners who go overboard with booze and cause it.鈥�

Tootoo said he sees Nunavut as doing alright so far.

He said overall, the government has done a pretty good job with the territory鈥檚 development.

鈥淚n some ways we鈥檙e trying to keep up with the Joneses and I think we鈥檙e doing OK. We鈥檙e looking at things like modern power lines, fiber optics and all this modern stuff so who knows 鈥� maybe we鈥檒l be where we want to be sooner rather than later and catch up to everyone in the south.

鈥淭he older generation isn鈥檛 into all this modern stuff, they鈥檇 rather it the way it was in the old days, but, if we go back to that, we鈥檒l be left behind and be back in the cave days.

鈥淔or me, I still love to go out on the land. That鈥檚 my main thing, going out on the land, and I still do it as much as I can. I just spent four days out on the land hunting and sleeping under the stars.

鈥淚t鈥檚 always different every time you go out and that鈥檚, hopefully, something that will never change. It鈥檚 beautiful country out there and you never get tired of it.鈥�