Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today is a special day in Nunakput and the Northwest Territories because it is Persis Gruben Ayownik's 99th birthday. She's not only the oldest person in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, but the only survivor of Shingle Point Residential School, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, Persis' mother Sarah widowed very young, as Persis' father died in an accident before Persis was even born. Most of Sarah's relatives suggested that she put her daughter up for adoption, but Sarah was determined to keep her. Sarah married once more to an lnuk man named Lennie lnglangasuk at the age of 18, and Persis was brought to Banks Island.
Old man Lennie was the only father she had ever known. Lennie adopted Persis as his very own daughter, and Persis never stopped loving him, as he was very good to her. Despite her background as a Gwich'in woman, she learned lnuvialuktun and many Inuk dialects, but don't ever call her Gwich'in. I've been warned, so she says.
Persis and her family have travelled all over the Arctic waters of Northern Canada in her father's schooner in the 1920s, going from one adventure to the next. Some of these adventures were when Persis saved their stranded schooner with her stockings, or when she and her sister shot a polar bear from the deck of the schooner and fleshed it before they starved to death, or the time they amounted $60,000 dollars in one year from a combination of an abundant fox harvest and high-quality sewing, or when she met Charlie Gruben in Aklavik and they married in 1937.
In 1956, Persis returned to Tuktoyaktuk, and then her adventures never stopped, such as when she had to dig her infant daughter Eileen out of the snow from a dog sled mishap in 1949. Persis had 11 children in total. Starting from the oldest, Agnes, John, Mabel, Frank, Sammy, Sarah, Eileen, Freddy, Buddy, Lena, and her youngest and most favourite, Chucky, so he says.
Mr. Speaker, Persis has been known for her good sewing skills, proven by her exotic sewing designs. Mr. Speaker, people young and old still approach her for information on the lnuvialuit culture. Mr. Speaker, please join me as we wish Persis a happy 99th birthday, and let's get to see elders living strong and a long time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.