Above & Beyond | Canada's Arctic Journal 2017 | 04

2017 | 04 • $5.95

Bridging Cultures

The North Baffin Drawing Collec on

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o www.arcticjournal.ca

Millennial Travel Program

Brock Friesen / XÇ4 K‰n8

Dear Guest, What an exciting time to be flying to Canada’s Arctic region. At First Air, we always look for ways to improve our service to make your journey the most special, comfortable and as safe as possible.

I’d like to share some new additions to our service that you’ll be sure to notice soon. I’m very happy to announce that we are now proudly serving Starbucks coffee on our flights. It’s important for us at First Air to offer quality service and products for your in-flight service. Starbucks has carved out a tremendous reputation as a leader in their industry.

We feel their products complement our service as we strive to be the leader in Northern in-flight service. Starbucks will be available on all flights by the end of the summer.

In addition to our new coffee, I’m also pleased to announce that we are introducing a new Northern themed food service twice a week starting this July on the Ottawa-Iqaluit flight. Guests will be able to enjoy a choice of Arctic Char, imported directly from Pangnirtung Fisheries as well as locally sourced venison. These meals are provided and created by our new Friends in Ottawa at Thyme & Again catering.

These home cooked style meals will bring a taste of the Arctic to our flights and will also complement our flight service very well. I hope you enjoy!

We’ve recently made many adjustments to our flight schedule that will surely make your flying decisions easier. I am confident we have the best schedule options as well as the best in-flight service for our customers, with our increased flights to Pond Inlet (non-stop), Resolute Bay, Arctic Bay, and Cape Dorset, as well as the increased flights on our Trans-Territorial service. Our new, non-stop daily service between Yellowknife and Inuvik is also quickly gaining popularity with the community.

Serving Canada’s Arctic is an honour. Every day we get to bring people on exciting new journeys and we offer the possibility to explore a part of our country that deserves to be at the peak of everyone’s travel list.

Thank you for choosing First Air for your flight today.

I hope we were able to make your journey great and we hope to see you onboard again soon.

Brock Friesen First Air President & CEO

ᑐᕌᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᔪᓄᑦ,

ᖁᕕᐊᓇᓪᓚᕆᒃᑐᒥᒃ ᐊᑐᓕᖅᓯᒪᒐᑦᑕ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᑲᓇᑕᐅᑉ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᖓᑕ ᐊᕕᒃᑐᖅᓯᒪᔭᖓᓂ. ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᐅᔪᑎᒍᑦ, ᕿᓂᓕᖅᓯᒪᐃᓐᓇᖅᐸᒃᑐᒍᑦ ᖃᓄᖅ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᖅᑎᐅᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᐅᓯᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᔪᓐᓇᕐᒪᖔᑦᑕ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᕙᓪᓕᐊᓂᓯ ᐱᐅᑦᓯᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᕙᖁᓪᓗᒍ, ᐃᖢᕐᕆᓇᑦᓯᐊᖅᑑᑎᑕᐅᖁᓪᓗᒍ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᓄᐃᖖᒋᑦᑎᐊᕐᓇᖅᑑᑎᑕᐅᖁᓪᓗᒍ. ᑐᓴᖅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᓕᕈᒪᕗᖓ ᐃᓚᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓄᑕᐅᖁᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᕈᑎᒋᔭᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᓚᓕᐅᑎᓯᒪᓕᓚᐅᖅᑕᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᕙᒌᖅᑎᑕᐅᖁᓪᓗᓯ. ᖁᕕᐊᓱᓪᓚᕆᒃᑐᖓ ᑐᓴᖅᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᓐᓂᒃ ᖁᕕᐊᓱᓪᓚᕆᒃᑲᑦᑕ ᖃᖓᑕᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᑳᐱᑐᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᓐᓂᐊᓕᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᓯᑖᕐᐸᒃᔅ ᑳᐱᖁᑎᖓᓂᒃ. ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᑎᓐᓇᑦᑎᒍ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑎᒍᑦ ᖁᑦᑎᖕᓂᖅᐹᑎᒍᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᖅᑎᐅᕙᒋᐊᖃᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᑕᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᒋᐊᖃᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᐃᑭᒪᕙᒃᑐᖁᑎᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ. ᓯᑖᐸᒃᔅ ᑳᐱᖁᑎᖏᑦ ᐊᖏᔪᒻᒪᕆᒃᒥᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᐅᒻᒪᑕ ᑳᐱᓕᐅᖅᑎᐅᕙᓐᓂᕐᒥᓐᓂ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᐅᓕᖅᓯᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ. ᐅᒃᐱᕈᓱᒃᑲᑦᑕᓗ ᑳᐱᓕᐊᕆᕙᒃᑕᖏᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑎᐅᒻᒪᑕ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᖅᑎᐅᕙᓐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᐅᓕᕋᓱᖅᑎᐅᓪᓗᑕ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥᐅᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒥ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᖅᑎᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂ. ᓯᑖᐸᒃᔅ ᑳᐱᖁᑎᖓ ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᓕᖅᑎᑕᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖁᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᐊᐅᔭᐅᑉ ᓄᖖᒍᐊᓂ. ᐃᓚᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᓂ ᑳᐱᑐᕐᑎᑦᑎᕙᓐᓂᐊᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇᐃᑦᑐᓂᒃ, ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒍᑎᖃᕆᕗᖓ ᑐᓴᖅᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᓐᓂᒃ ᓄᑖᑎᒍᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥᐅᑦ ᓂᕿᒋᕙᒃᑕᖏᓂᒃ ᓂᕆᔭᒃᓴᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᓐᓂᐊᓕᕐᒥᒐᑦᑕ ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᖅ ᒪᕐᕈᐃᖅᐸᒃᓗᒍ ᔪᓚᐃ ᑕᖅᑭᖓ ᐊᑐᓕᖅᐸᑦ ᐋᑐᕙᒥᑦ ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᓐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂ. ᐃᑭᒪᔪᑦ ᓂᕈᐊᕈᓐᓇᖅᑎᑕᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᖃᓗᒃᐱᒻᒥᒃ, ᑎᑭᓵᕆᔭᐅᓯᒪᔪᒥᒃ ᐸᓐᓂᖅᑑᒥ ᐃᖃᓗᓕᕆᕝᕕᐊᓂᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᑦᑎᓐᓂᑦ ᓂᕆᔭᒃᓴᓕᐊᖑᕙᒃᓯᒪᔪᒥᑕᐅᖅ ᕕᓂᓴᓐ ᓂᕿᖓᓂᒃ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᓂᕆᔭᒃᓴᓕᐊᖑᕙᒃᑐᖅ ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓱᒐᐅᕙᓐᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐱᖃᓐᓇᕆᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂᑦ ᐋᑐᕙᒥ ᑕᐃᒻ ᐊᓐ ᐊᑭᐊᓐ ᓂᕆᔭᒃᓴᓕᐅᖅᑎᖏᓐᓂᑦ (Thyme &Again). ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᕆᔭᒥ ᓂᕆᔭᒃᓴᓕᐊᖑᓯᒪᔪᑎᑐᑦ ᓂᕆᔭᒃᓴᓕᐊᖑᕙᓐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᖃᖓᑕᑎᓪᓗᑕ ᑕᒧᐊᔭᒃᓴᐅᕙᒃᓗᑎᒃ. ᓈᒻᒪᒃᓴᑦᑎᐊᖁᕙᑦᓯ ᓂᕆᔭᒃᓴᓕᐊᖑᕙᒃᑐᖁᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ! ᒫᓐᓇᓵᖑᓚᐅᖅᑐᒥ ᐊᒥᓱᐃᓂᒃ ᐋᖅᑮᒋᐊᖅᓯᓯᒪᓕᓚᐅᕋᑦᑕ ᖃᖓᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᓐᓂᐊᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐋᖅᑭᐅᒪᔪᖁᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᓐᓂᐊᕐᓂᓯ ᐃᖢᐊᖅᑑᓂᖅᓴᐅᓕᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ. ᖁᓚᖖᒋᓚᖓᓗ ᐱᐅᓂᖅᐸᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᓐᓂᐊᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᓂᕈᐊᒐᔅᓴᖁᑎᖃᓕᕋᑦᑕ ᐃᓚᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᖃᖓᑕᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᐱᐅᓂᖅᐸᐅᔪᑎᒍᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᕈᑎᔅᓴᖃᓕᕋᑦᑕ, ᐊᒥᓱᖖᒍᕆᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᓐᓂᕗᑦ ᒥᑦᑎᒪᑕᓕᖕᒧᑦ (ᐊᖅᑯᓵᒐᖃᕐᓇᑎᒃ), ᖃᐅᓱᐃᑦᑐᒧᑦ, ᐃᒃᐱᐊᕐᔪᓐᓄᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑭᖖᒐᕐᓄᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᒥᓱᖖᒍᕆᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᕆᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᓐᓂᕗᑦ ᑐᕌᓐᔅ-ᑎᐊᕆᑐᐊᕆᐅᓪ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖁᑎᑦᑕ. ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᓂ, ᐊᖅᑯᓵᒐᖃᖖᒋᓪᓗᓂ ᖃᑕᒫᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᓕᕐᓂᕗᑦ ᔭᓗᓇᐃᒥᑦ ᐃᓅᕕᖕᒧᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᕝᕕᐅᒐᔪᓕᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᒻᒪᑦ. ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᖅᑎᒋᔭᐅᓂᕗᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᐅᑉ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᖓᓂᕐᒥᓄᑦ ᐅᐱᒋᓪᕆᒃᑲᑦᑎᒍ. ᖃᐅᑕᒫᑦ ᐃᓄᓐᓄᑦ ᑭᒃᑯᑐᐃᓐᓇᓄᑦ ᖁᕕᐊᓇᓪᓚᕆᒃᑑᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᓂᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᒃᑲᑦᑕ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᕐᔪᐊᕆᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᐃᔪᓐᓇᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᓪᓗᑕ ᐱᐅᓂᖅᐸᐅᔪᑎᒍᑦ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᓂᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᒍᒪᓪᓗᑕ. ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᒃ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖁᑎᖏᓐᓂ ᐃᑭᒪᖃᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᓚᐅᕋᑦᓯ. ᐃᓱᒪᕗᖓᓗ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᓂᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᐃᑦ ᐱᐅᓪᓚᕆᓚᐅᕐᒪᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᑯᒃᑲᓐᓂᕈᒫᕈᒪᒋᕙᑦᓯ ᐃᑭᒪᓕᕐᒥᒍᑦᓯ.

ᐸᕌᒃ ᕗᕇᓴᓐ ᕘᔅᑎᐊᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑳᖅ & ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎᔨᒻᒪᕆᒃ

Jobie Tukkiapik / JW bexW4 President, Makivik Corporation & Chairman, First Air xzJ6√6, mr=F4 fxS‰nzk5 x7m w4y?sb6, {5 wsf8k5 Président, Société Makivik et président du conseil, First Air

Chers invités, Quoi de plus merveilleux que de prendre un vol vers la région arctique du Canada avec First Air. Nous cherchons toujours des moyens d’améliorer notre service pour rendre votre voyage le plus spécial, le plus confortable et le plus sûr possible.

J’aimerais partager quelques nouveaux ajouts à notre service que vous remarquerez sans doute bientôt. Je suis très heureux d’annoncer que nous sommes fiers de servir maintenant du café Starbucks sur nos vols. Il nous est important chez First Air d’offrir un service et des produits de qualité en vol. Starbucks s’est forgé une réputation exceptionnelle en tant que chef de file dans son secteur. Nous pensons que ses produits complètent notre service alors que nous aspirons à être le leader en matière de service en vol. Starbucks sera disponible sur tous les vols d’ici la fin de l’été.

En plus de notre nouveau café, je suis heureux aussi d’annoncer que nous offrirons un nouveau service alimentaire ayant le Nord pour thème, deux fois par semaine, à compter de juillet, sur le vol Ottawa-Iqaluit.

Les passagers pourront apprécier un choix d’omble chevalier, provenant directement de Pangnirtung Fisheries, ainsi que du gibier d’origine locale. Ces repas sont créés et fournis par le service de restauration de nos nouveaux amis chez Thyme & Again. Ces repas style maison offriront un goût de l’Arctique sur nos vols et compléteront également très bien notre service en vol. Bon appétit!

Nous avons effectué récemment de nombreux ajustements à notre horaire de vols qui faciliteront sûrement vos décisions afférentes. Je suis convaincu que nous avons les meilleures options en matière d’horaires, ainsi que le meilleur service en vol pour nos clients, grâce à l’augmentation des vols vers Pond Inlet (sans escale), Resolute Bay, Arctic Bay et Cape Dorset, ainsi que l’augmentation des vols de notre service transterritorial.

Notre nouveau service quotidien sans arrêt entre Yellowknife et Inuvik devient de plus en plus populaire.

Desservir l’Arctique canadien est un honneur. Chaque jour nous transportons des passagers vers des destinations intéressantes et leur offrons la possibilité d’explorer un secteur de notre pays qui devrait être à la première place sur la liste des lieux qu’on devrait tous visiter.

Merci d’avoir choisi First Air pour votre vol aujourd’hui.

Nous espérons que vous aurez été satisfait de votre voyage et nous comptons vous revoir à bord prochainement.

Brock Friesen Président-directeur général de First Air

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We value your support and thank you for making First Air The Airline of the North.

Nous apprécions votre soutien et vous remercions de votre appui à First Air la ligne aérienne du Nord.

From the Flight Deck Who decides the altitude we fly at and does it matter?

On the surface, this question sounds like a simple one. In reality, it’s quite complex.

Many factors are considered when an altitude is chosen for a particular flight and there are three or four different times an altitude is chosen.

© Mark Taylor

The first person to decide on our altitude is a member of our Flight Dispatch group.

They will attempt to identify the optimum altitude for a given flight. They must ensure the altitude is high enough to avoid all terrain and obstacles. This usually isn’t an issue on most of our flights but on shorter flights or ones in very mountainous terrain, it can actually be the deciding factor. Flight Dispatch also have to look at the length of the flight — they need to ensure that they choose an altitude that we can climb to before it’s time to start descending to land at our destination. They also look at the weather and turbulence reports to (hopefully) identify an altitude that will provide a smooth ride and, ideally, will keep us out of extremely strong headwinds.

The regulations also establish available altitudes based on our direction of flight.

A Flight Dispatcher will analyze all of these factors and will determine the optimum altitude for each flight and will send that request to Air Traffic Control.

Of course, our aircraft aren’t the only ones planning to use the airspace and Air Traffic Control will receive an altitude request from other flights as well. Air Traffic Control’s main job is to allow all aircraft to operate efficiently but they need to ensure that all aircraft also stay far enough apart that there isn’t a risk of collision. As a result, they may need to make changes to a Flight Dispatcher’s altitude requests. Sometimes, to avoid conflicts, Air Traffic Control might not

On a flight to Pond Inlet. Mountainous terrain can be a deciding factor on what altitude is flown.

grant us the altitude requested but will approve one that is close to our request.

Once we take off, things can change yet again. Sometimes we’ll run into unexpected turbulence, other times the winds aren’t as strong as they were forecast. In those cases, the pilots may request an altitude change to either try to find an area of smooth air or to take advantage of the actual winds. As the flight progresses, the aircraft’s weight decreases as fuel is burned. This can also cause a different altitude to be more suitable. (Sometimes other aircraft make those changes but they end up taking over the altitude that we want so we must change ours.) All these requests are coordinated by Air Traffic Control and they may lead to us actually flying at an altitude different from what we wanted and what was initially approved.

Depending on when you ask the question, the person who chooses our altitude

changes. This is also why you might hear different numbers during any of our announcements. Before the flight departs, the pilots will tell the Flight Attendants what altitude was requested by our Flight Dispatcher. We only learn the altitude Air Traffic Control has approved shortly before we start to taxi for takeoff.

Once we’re in flight, the altitude can change again so you may hear a third altitude during an announcement while we are enroute. Circumstances may cause the best altitude for our flight to change once all the planes are in the sky, but regardless, decisions are always made with optimum safety in mind.

Captain Aaron Speer Vice President, Flight Operations First Air If you are curious about a specific topic regarding flying and aircraft operations, let us know what you’d like to learn about and we’ll try to include it in a future column.

Email: editor@arcticjournal.ca

Dedicated to being first in service — and our commitment to the communities and people we serve!

ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᐅᑉ ᐅᔾᔨᕆᔭᐅᑎᑕᐅᓂᖓ

Employee Spotlight | Iqqanaijaqtiup Ujjirijautitauninga ᔭᐃᓴᓐ ᐸᐃᑯᕐ | Jason Baker

ᔭᐃᓴᓐ ᐸᐃᑯᕐ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂ 9-ᓄᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᓄᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᒋᔭᐅᓯᒪᓕᕐᐳᖅ, ᕗᕋᐃᒃᕕᐊᓪ, ᐋᓐᑎᐊᕆᐅᒥᐅᓂᑦ, ᓯᒥᑦ ᕚᓪᔅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐳᕌᒃᕕᐊᓪ ᐊᑯᓐᓂᖓᓂᑦ. ᐋᑐᕙᒦᑦᑐᓂᑦ, ᔭᐃᓴᓐ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᓕᕆᔨᐅᒋᐊᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᑭᐅᑦ ᐊᒥᓲᓗᐊᖖᒋᑦᑐᑦ ᓈᓯᒪᓕᕐᒪᑕ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᓈᒻᒪᒃᓴᐃᔨᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᐅᑎᑖᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᓚᐅᖅᑐᓂ (SAA) ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᒥᒃ ᐃᓗᐃᒃᑲᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᓕᖅᑐᐃᔨᖖᒍᖅᓯᒪᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᑎᑭᑉᐸᓪᓕᐊᔪᓄᑦ ᐃᓚᒃᓴᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᑲᒻᐸᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᕆᕙᒃᑕᖏᓂᒃ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓱᖅᑕᐅᒋᐊᓕᖁᑎᖏᓐᓂᒃ.

ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥ SAA-ᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᕆᔭᐅᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒌᖖᒋᐅᖅᑑᕙᒻᒪᑕ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᓕᖅᑐᐃᕙᓐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᑎᑭᑉᐸᓪᓕᐊᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓄᑦ ᐃᓚᒃᓴᖁᑎᐅᔪᓂᑦ, ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᓐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓄᑦ ᐃᓚᒃᓴᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᑯᒪᖏᓄᓪᓗ ᐃᓚᒃᓴᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᑲᒪᔨᐅᕙᓐᓂᕐᒥᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᖁᑎᔅᓴᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᓐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐋᖅᑭᐅᒪᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐃᓚᒃᓴᖁᑎᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᑭᑐᔫᑎᓂᒃ ᐋᖅᑭᐅᒪᑎᑦᑎᔨᐅᕙᓐᓂᕐᒧᑦ. ᐋᑐᕙᐅᑉ ᓄᓇᓕᐸᐅᔭᖓ ᐃᓚᒃᓴᖁᑎᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᑲᒪᔨᖃᕐᕕᐅᕙᒻᒪᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᐊᒥᓲᓂᖅᓴᐃᑦ ᐃᓚᒃᓴᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᐋᑐᕙᒥ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᖃᕐᕕᖏᑦᑎᒎᖅᐸᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖅᑎᑕᐅᓂᐊᓵᕐᓗᑎᒃ.

ᔭᐃᓴᓐ ᐅᑭᐅᒃ ᒪᕐᕉᓕᖅᑐᓐᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᖃᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᕐᐳᖅ HMV-ᑯᓐᓄᑦ (ᐊᑭᑐᔫᑎᓂᒃ ᐋᖅᑭᐅᒪᑎᑦᑎᔨᓕᕆᔨᓂ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᐃᔨᐅᕙᓐᓂᖓᑕ) ᐊᒻᒪ ᓯᕗᓂᐊᓂ ᓯᓚᑖᓃᑦᑐᓄᑦ HMV-ᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᐊᔭᕐᓂᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᖁᑦᑎᖕᓂᖅᐸᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒃᑯᕕᓕᕆᕝᕕᖓᓄᑦ ᑐᐊ-ᕆᕗᔅ, ᑯᐃᐸᖕᒥ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᕉᐅᒻ, ᓂᐅ ᔪᐊᒃᒥ, ᐃᓚᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᑳᔅᑲᐃᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒃᑯᕝᕕᖓᓄᑦ ᐋᐸᑦᔅᕗᐊᑦ, ᐳᕈᑎᔅ ᑲᓚᒻᐱᐊᒥ.

ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᓕᕆᕝᕕᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᕐᕕᖃᖅᑐᑦ ᐋᑐᕙᒥ, ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᔭᓗᓇᐃᒥ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᕐᕕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᑲᒻᐸᓂᒋᔭᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᓂᖃᖅᑑᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐅᖓᑎᒃᑲᓐᓂᕐᒪᕆᐊᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓄᑦ ᐃᓚᒃᓴᖁᑎᓕᕆᔨᐅᓂᕐᒥᓐᓂᑦ. "ᑖᔅᓱᒥᖓ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᑎᐅᓂᓐᓂᑦ ᐅᐊᔭᕈᓐᓇᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᕗᖓ ᑎᑭᓐᓇᔭᓚᐅᖖᒋᑕᕋᓗᐊᓐᓄᑦ ᓲᕐᓗ ᖃᐅᓱᐃᑦᑐᒧᑦ, ᓇᓂᓯᕕᖕᒧᑦ, ᐃᒃᐱᐊᕐᔪᓐᓄᑦ, ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᔭᓗᓇᐃᒧᑦ," ᐅᖃᖅᑐᓂ ᔭᐃᓴᓐ.

ᔭᐃᓴᓐ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕌᓂᒃᓯᒪᐅᑎᖃᕐᐳᖅ ᐊᓯᖏᓂᑦ ᓄᓇᕐᔪᐊᕆᔭᐅᔪᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᓯᔨᐅᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᕗᓕᒥᖕ ᓯᓚᑦᑐᖅᓴᕐᕕᖓᓂᑦ ᐲᑕᐴᕈ, ᐋᓐᑎᐊᕆᐅᒥᑦ, ᐃᑲᔪᕈᑎᐅᓯᒪᔪᒧᑦ ᐸᕐᓇᐃᔨᐅᕙᓐᓂᕐᒥᓂ ᐊᓯᖏᓂᑦ ᓄᓇᕐᔪᐊᕆᔭᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᑎᑎᖅᑲᓕᕆᔨᐅᕙᓐᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᓗ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᓕᖅᑐᐃᕙᓐᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒌᖖᒋᐅᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓄᑦ ᐃᓚᒃᓴᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖅᑎᑦᑎᔭᕆᐊᖃᓕᕌᖓᒥ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᕐᒥᐅᖑᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᓯᖏᓄᑦ.

Jason Baker has been with First Air for over nine years, hailing from Frankville, Ontario, located between Smiths Falls and Brockville. Based in Ottawa, Jason started as a Stores Agent and after a few years was given a Stores Acceptance Authority (SAA) stamp which allows him to fully certify incoming parts the company purchases or gets repaired.

The job of a Stores SAA varies from certifying incoming aircraft parts, shipping and receiving of aircraft and automotive parts and supplying maintenance with the required parts for line and heavy maintenance.

Ottawa is the eastern hub for parts so the majority of the parts come through the First Air Ottawa Stores department for furtherance to other bases.

His main role the last couple of years has been concentrating on internal HMV’s (heavy maintenance visit) and previously external HMV’s travelling to Premier Aviation in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, and Rome, New York, as well as Cascade Aerospace in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

First Air has Stores Departments in Ottawa, Iqaluit and Yellowknife to serve the entire company and is involved in a lot more than just aircraft parts.

“This job has allowed me to travel to places I might not have otherwise had the opportunity to see such as Resolute Bay, Nanisivik, Arctic Bay, Iqaluit and Yellowknife,” shares Jason.

Jason has a diploma in Customs Administration from Fleming College in Peterborough, Ontario, which helps in preparing Customs documents and classifying various aircraft parts when shipping internationally.

ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖃᑎᒋᔭᒥᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖃᑎᖃᕆᐊᒥᓂᒃ ᖁᕕᐊᒋᔭᖃᑦᑎᐊᕐᐳᖅ. "ᒥᑕᓗᖃᑎᒌᒍᒪᕙᒃᑲᑦᑕ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᖖᒐᓇᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᕐᕕᖃᕈᒪᕙᒃᑐᑕ."

He enjoys working with his co-workers. “We like to joke around and have a relaxed work environment.”

ᔭᐃᓴᓐ ᒫᓐᓇᓵᖑᓚᐅᕐᑐᖅ ᐃᓕᑕᕆᔭᐅᔾᔪᑎᑖᓚᐅᕐᐳᖅ 2016-ᒥ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᓇᓄᑦ ᐃᓕᑕᕆᔭᐅᔾᔪᑎᖓᓂᒃ, ᓂᕈᐊᒐᔅᓴᖖᒍᖅᑎᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖃᑎᒋᔭᒥᓂᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᕆᔭᒥᑕ ᐅᖓᑖᓄᑦ ᐃᑲᔪᕐᓂᖃᕈᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᓯᒥᓂᒃ ᐃᑲᔪᕈᓐᓇᖅᐸᓐᓂᖓᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᓯᒋᐊᖏᓐᓇᖅᐸᓐᓂᖓᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᓕᕈᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᐅᔪᓐᓇᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᕐᒥᓄᑦ. ᔭᐃᓴᓐ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᕆᔭᓕᒫᒥᓂᒃ ᖃᐃᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᖁᕕᐊᒋᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᓂᒋᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᖃᕐᐸᒃᑐᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ "ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᑦ" ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᖃᖅᐸᒃᑐᓂ, ᑕᒪᓐᓇᓗ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᒋᓪᓗᒍ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᕐᕕᖓᑦ ᓴᖖᒋᓂᖃᖅᑎᐊᖅᑑᓪᓗᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᐅᔪᓐᓇᕈᑎᒋᕙᒻᒪᒍ!

Jason was recently recognized with a 2016 First Air Nanuq Award, nominated by fellow co-workers for going above and beyond for his willingness to proactively assist others and for consistently demonstrating initiative and leadership qualities. Jason approaches every situation with positivity and a “can do” attitude, which makes for a great working environment with a strong team-work approach!

ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᕐᓇᖅ ᐃᓱᓕᓯᒪᓂᖓᓂ ᐊᓯᖏᓂᒃ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᕈᒪᕙᒃᑐᖅ ᓯᓚᒦᓪᓗᓂ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐊᖑᓇᓱᐊᕆᐊᖅᐸᓐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓯᖏᓂᒃ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᕈᓘᔭᕐᓂᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ.

He spends his spare time doing activities outdoors such as hunting and other sports.

Dedicated to being first in service — and our commitment to the communities and people we serve!

In the News We are thrilled to be involved in Canada Post’s Canada 150 celebration by having all 10 Canada 150 Stamps on our Boeing 737 (FNM) plane from now until the end of August, operating the Ottawa-Iqaluit route. © DARREN BROOKS

First Air is very proud to announce its new partnership as a supporting sponsor to the new permanent Arctic Gallery at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Ontario. We are happy to help showcase the tremendous culture and geography of Canada’s Arctic.

We are happy to announce that we are introducing Starbucks as our new in-flight coffee service. All flights will be serving Starbucks by the end of the summer.

2017 | 04 • $5.95

Bridging Cultures

The North Baffin Drawing Collec on

Millennial Travel Program

PM40050872

o www.arcticjournal.ca

A.R.T. (A Real Thought) in Action and the Hamlet of Arviat Youth Drop-in Centre participants created the Nunavut Mural, facilitated by artist Elizabeth Gordon. © Jag Gundu

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Contents 9

July | August 2017 Volume 29, No. 4

35

26

22

Features

9

Bridging Cultures

Inuit have always had to adapt to survive but young people today are having to survive, not in the fight to stay alive in a cold climate but to learn to bridge two cultures in their daily lives to find a new cross-cultural identity. — Text and photos by Nick Newbery

22

The North Baffin Drawing Collection

The North Baffin Drawing Project would record Inuit visual expressions “before the mounting influences of southern civilization in the Arctic replace the past and in many cases the still present mode of living and thinking among the Inuit.”

— Norman Vorano

26

Happy Birthday Canada!

Get to know our Indigenous Canadians

In this issue, above&beyond Magazine celebrates Canada’s sesquicentennial with a glimpse of some of the projects Canada’s northerners are involved in — bringing Canadians together in communitybuilding events to celebrate and explore the Canadian indigenous identity.

35

The Millennial Travel Program

The crunch of ice under a snowmobile, a pack of Inuit sled dogs howling, the sting of snow on my face, the hum of a plane, hearty laughter, and the coldest, cleanest drink of water I've ever had. And views: vistas of a raw, barren landscape, a frozen fjord crowned by mountains, a land before time.

— Roberto Gibbons Gomez

A B OV E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A RC T I C J O U R N A L

2017 | 04

13 Living Above&Beyond 21 Resources

39 Culture Gathering at Shingle Point — Peter Mather

43 Adventure Fishing the Leaf River Estuary — Isabelle Dubois 46 Sport Project North Stanley Cup 3.0 Tour — Michelle Valberg

48 Science Sharp-toothed Giants of the Ocean — Neetin Prabhu & David Smith

51 Bookshelf

53 Guest Editorial — George Kuksuk GN Minister of Culture & Heritage

54 Inuit Forum — Natan Obed National Inuit Leader & President, ITK 7

April 1, 1999 was the day when Inuit celebrated the creation of Nunavut. People, particularly women, dressed in their finest, to reflect their pride, their traditions and their sewing skills. Diane Alorut, Leah Qamanniq and Linda Arsenault each decided that a caribou skin qulitak (parka) was the best way to handle the -44-degree cold that day!

Bridging Cultures

by Nick Newbery

Inuit have always had to adapt to survive but since the end of the Second World War have found themselves

confronted with a very different way of life emanating from

the South. As a result, young people today are having to

survive, not in the fight to stay alive in a cold climate but

by having to learn to bridge two cultures in their daily lives to find a new cross-cultural identity, while the tentacles of

Taken many years ago in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, this picture of Robert Joamie on his Hot Rod in his sealskin parka is just a small reminder of the cross-cultural lifestyle that Inuit youth face daily in almost every aspect of life. © Nick Newbery/Government of Nunavut (2)

A B OV E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A RC T I C J O U R N A L

change insert themselves increasingly into all corners of life North of Sixty.

2017 | 04

9

The amoutik has always been Inuit women’s method of carrying their young, leaving their hands free for other things. Here, Hallia Arnaquq peeks out from inside her fox fur trim to look at the Snowbirds as they perform in the skies over Iqaluit. © Nick Newbery/Government of Nunavut (5)

Top: Summer in Nunavut means ATV time. In the days of threewheelers, this trio: Monica, Dora and Joanna Kopalie managed to squeeze onto one, only to find there wasn’t a lot of room!

Above: Every spring Inuit yearn to get back on the land with its fresh air and sense of freedom. Near Iqaluit, Nunavut, on the opposite side of Koojesse Inlet, there is a small campground at The Causeway, not far from the river, where families set up their tents and where kids can go fishing and run free all summer.

Below: Though they bring to mind the Gilbert & Sullivan song.

‘Three little girls from school are we…’ from the operetta ‘The Mikado,’ these three, Joanna Kopalie, Naimie Keyookta and Debbie Nutaralak reflect very different traditions. Typical of young Inuit girls, they were wearing their mothers’ amoutiit and ‘packing’ younger siblings for an afternoon babysitting walk in Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut.

Nick’s Arctic photo collection can be found at www.newberyphotoarchives.ca.

Qikiqtarjuaq has fall visitors every year, visitors that are large, white and dangerous.

The bears are drawn by the smell of seals left overnight on the beach by hunters. The boys, Michael Kakkee, Kevin Koonieliusie, Josie Audlakiak and Gordie Audlakiak were taking a close look at this bear’s skull after the animal had been skinned and shared for food in the community. © Nick Newbery/Government of Nunavut (5)

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A B OV E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A RC T I C J O U R N A L

2017 | 04

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A B OV E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A RC T I C J O U R N A L

2017 | 04

LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND

New Indigenous exhibit opens

The Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec, unveils its new Canadian History

Hall July 1, which includes exhibits on Canada’s Indigenous peoples.

The Rossy Family Gallery draws on archaeological evidence and Indigenous cultural

traditions, based on oral histories passed down by Elders, to depict the arrival of the

Inuit to Canada’s Arctic about 800 years ago and their thriving societies. A variety of

art from the Dorset peoples, polar bear effigies of all sizes, and faces of the dead, are

also in the collection. Collaboration with Inuit elders and the Arctic Bay community guided the creation of the exhibit.

In the Fredrik Eaton Family Gallery, depicting Colonial Canada from 1763 to 1914,

the arrival of Europeans eventually disrupts the Indigenous order in North America, with natives and newcomers both striving to maintain traditional ways while adapting to new realities.

The Honourable Hilary M. Weston and W. Galen Weston Gallery shows Modern

Canada from 1914 to the present including the struggle by Indigenous peoples for their rights and the preservation of their cultures to be recognized and respected.

To find out more, visit historymuseum.ca.

Nuvumiutaq, the Arctic Bay kayaker: A vivid scientific reconstruction, based on human remains, of the face and figure of an Inuk man who lived about 800 years ago.

Canadian Museum of History IMG2017-0092-0004-Dm / Photo taken by Doris Ohlmann

Plan to protect eastern Hudson Bay belugas The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has

from 2017 through to 2020, Nunavimmiut can

management plan, including a five per cent

the eastern Hudson Bay stock. However, there

approved Nunavik’s new three-year beluga

increase in quota from the region’s last plan.

The plan was based on months of consultation

with Nunavik’s 14 hunters’ associations and

Makivik Corp. Under the new plan, in effect

harvest the equivalent of 187 beluga whales from

are three areas in Hudson Bay that continue to

remain closed to the beluga harvest at all

times: Mucalic Estuary, Nastapoka Estuary and

The plan aims to protect the eastern

Hudson Bay stock of belugas which are consid-

ered endangered under the Committee on the

Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada

(COSEWIC).

Little Whale River Estuary.

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Report says prepare for uncertain future

The State of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Report, released in May in Fairbanks, Alaska, at the Arctic Council ministerial meeting, identifies trends in key marine species and points to important gaps in biodiversity monitoring efforts across key ecosystem components in: sea ice biota, plankton, benthos, marine fishes, seabirds and marine mammals.

Key Findings include:

• Food resources being lost for many Arctic species in Arctic marine environments; • Some Arctic species shifting their ranges northwards to seek more favourable conditions as the Arctic warms; • Northward movement easier for more mobile open-water species; • Increasing numbers and diversity of southern species moving into Arctic waters; • Species reliant on sea ice for reproduction, resting or foraging experiencing range reductions as sea ice retreat occurs earlier and the open water season is prolonged; • Arctic marine species and ecosystems undergoing pressure from cumulative changes in their physical, chemical and biological environment; and • Increases in the frequency of contagious diseases.

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Changes in these species are likely to indicate changes in the overall marine environment.

While some of these changes may be gradual, the Report notes, there may also be “large and sudden shifts,” that could affect how the Arctic marine ecosystem functions.

The Report tasks those charged with managing natural resources and public policy in the Arctic, “to identify the combined effects of stressors and potential thresholds to prepare effectively for an uncertain future.”

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Carol Tootoo of Iqaluit, Nunavut, at the Sealing Industry Dinner May 17 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. Over 10 designers from Nunavut, Nunavik and Labrador set up pop-up stores at the event to show off their seal products and advocate for the Canadian sealing industry. © NACA

LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND

Celebrating seals

Canada celebrated its first National Seal Products

Day May 20 this year. The bill proposing the

national day passed into law on May 16.

National Seal Products Day acknowledges

that the cultural significance of seal is tied to

the economic well-being of sealers. The date of May 20 was chosen because it coincides with

European Maritime Day, which celebrates and supports Europe’s maritime industry.

Inuit play an important role in promoting

seal as a sustainable product.

“We participate in the sealing economy,

from all our communities, our hunters, our

seamstresses, everyone who eats seal meat.

Everyone is a part of that sealing economy,” says Natan Obed, the president of Inuit Tapiriit

Kanatami.

Right: Besides seal, duck and Arctic hare liver paté, Inuvialuit reindeer with bacon, maple candied Arctic char and fried Bannock were served up at the A Taste of the Arctic evening at the National Gallery of Canada on May 17. © Doris Ohlmann Left: Looee Okalik cuts up some maktaaq with an ulu, a traditional Inuit knife. © Doris Ohlmann

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Reference tool helps shipping practices

© World Wildlife Fund Canada

A new World Wildlife Fund-Canada guide designed to help mariners in the Hudson Strait identify and avoid marine mammals was unveiled May 25.

Mining, fishing and tourism industries will all contribute to increased ship traffic through the northern corridor, due to decreasing summer sea ice.

The Hudson Strait Mariner’s Guide will help mariners identify whales, seals, polar bears and walrus and marine mammal habitats in summer and winter, provides operational guidance when close to or encountering marine mammals and includes contact numbers to report sightings and incidents.

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LIVIN G ABOVE&BEYOND

NWT residents honoured

Recipients of the Order of the Northwest Territories were honoured at the end of May for this highest honour in the territory.

This year’s recipients are: • Paul Andrew, Yellowknife resident, former Chief of Tulita and former CBC broadcaster, for his work in culture, residential school education and healing.

• Fred Carmichael of Inuvik, a Northern aviation pioneer, Order of Canada recipient, and member of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.

• Russell King, Hay River resident and founder of Kingland Ford, for his work in business.

• Lynda Koe of Yellowknife, for her professional work, especially with seniors.

• Jeff Philipp, SSi Micro founder and Yellowknife entrepreneur.

• Tom Zubko, Inuvik satellite telecommunications entrepreneur who has dedicated his career to growing the political and economic base of the NWT.

The Order of the Northwest Territories was established in 2013 and recognizes individuals who have provided exemplary service and have excelled in any field of endeavour that has benefited people of the territory or elsewhere.

L to R: Gerald Kisoun, Deputy Commissioner; Russell King; Paul Andrew; Lynda Koe; Tom Zubko; and Jeff Philipp. Missing: Fred Carmichael. © Legislative Assembly of the NWT

Report supports Inuit-led management of Pikialasorsuaq Mary Simon, Minister Caroline Bennett’s Special representative, released her final report on the Pikialasorsuaq April 27.

She recommends that Canada accept the Pikialasorsuaq Commission’s recommendation for the creation of an Inuit-led management plan and monitoring process for the entire North Water Polynya and consider recognizing the region as an Indigenous Protected Area.

Eva Aariak, Canadian Pikialasorsuaq Commissioner says, “Inuit are a marine people dependent on the Arctic ocean for our transportation and its marine resources for our food security.”

The Pikialasorsuaq is vital to many migratory species upon which these communities, as well as global species, depend.

The hunters of all these communities shared their knowledge with the Commission. Recurring themes included: instability, unpredictability, changes in migration patterns, new species, open water where there should be ice, and political change.

The Pikialasorsuaq Commission’s goal is to provide a body of evidence, key principles and recommendations to make certain Inuit are central to the future of the Pikialasorsuaq and an Inuit vision of the management of the area is implemented.

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LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND Iqaluit airport. © Government of Nunavut

Northwest Passage trip includes special gift

Improvements galore to new airport Iqaluit’s new airport is scheduled to open in August 2017. The $300-million improvements include more space, 16 check-in counters, two lanes of security screening, five departure gates, two circular baggage conveyors in a separate room, and bathrooms in the security area. “The Rotunda” is slated for a restaurant and gift shop and could also be rented for public functions.

Parking will be in front of the new terminal for more than 100 vehicles, snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. Areas designated for taxi parking, passenger pick up and drop off will reduce congestion.

Half of the $300-million construction budget will be spent on improvements to the airfield, which will include runway repaving and new

lighting and a westerly extension for taxiing will include commercial space on the north side.

Two taxi-ways will be added for a total of five, with one big enough to accommodate the largest commercial planes in the world.

A private consortium will run the new airport for 34 years, which includes Bouygues Building Canada and its subsidiary Sintra Inc. Sub-contractors include local firms Tower Arctic Ltd. and Kudlik Construction Ltd. as well as engineering firms Stantec and Quebec-based Genivar. The Winnipeg Airports Authority will act as “service provider” through a new entity called Nunavut Airport Services Ltd., which will manage the airport.

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To mark 75 years of diplomatic relations between Canada and Norway, as well as the 150th anniversary of Confederation, the Royal Norwegian Embassy presented the Parliament of Canada with a special edition of the diaries of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen at the end of May. More than 100 years ago, the Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen became the first to navigate a ship through the Northwest Passage. During the three-year long expedition (1903-1906) Amundsen kept a detailed diary in which he described the enormous efforts he and his crew went through to successfully reach their goal. He also tells the story of the close relationship he developed with the Inuit who lived in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, and how they taught him to live comfortably in Canada’s Arctic.

The Norwegian Embassy is proud to partner with Canada C3, the Canada 150 Signature project which involves a 150-day expedition from Toronto to Victoria via the Northwest Passage by ship, to distribute copies of the book to numerous Northern communities.

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RESOURCES

NUNAVUT

to identify new gold showings in the South

NTI could profit from Baffin gold property

Kitikmeot Gold Belt.

gold property on central Baffin Island from

TMAC Resources Inc. has achieved full commer-

Kivalliq Energy Corp. has acquired a 160-kilometre

Full commercial production achieved

Commander Resources. The property covers three

cial production at its Doris Mine and Mill Complex

parcels of Inuit-owned land for which Nunavut

Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) holds subsurface rights.

Called the “Baffin Gold Property,” it is located

near the former Foxe 2 and Dewar Lakes DEW

line sites, about 230 kilometres southwest of

situated on the Company’s Hope Bay property located in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut.

With encouraging drill intersections discov-

ered, the company can now focus on their

BTD drilling on parts of those structures where

Clyde River. It also has 15 prospecting permits

high-grade gold has been intersected outside

New gold targets staked

to evaluate their potential extent, continuity

and six crown mineral claims.

Silver Range Resources Ltd. has staked five new

of the known BTD East Limb mineral envelope

and grade. This work is expected to provide

The money is intended to stimulate mineral

exploration in the NWT. Requests for funding have increased 152 per cent over last year.

Tom Hoefer, executive director of the NWT

and Nunavut Chamber of Mines, says there is a

general need for financial help for prospectors and junior mining companies in the NWT. The general

upturn in commodity markets has encouraged

prospectors to get back out on the land.

This year’s funding will be shared between

seven companies and six individual prospectors for

projects across the NWT and includes exploration for gold, diamonds, zinc, and lithium.

YUKON

the emerging South Kitikmeot Gold Belt between

extend mine life at Doris.

Gold project could get exploration boost

western Nunavut. The South Kitikmeot Gold

with the Nunavut Impact Review Board has

Rackla Gold project in central Yukon, about 55

gold targets and quadrupled its land position in the Lupin Mine and the Back River Project in Belt covers a 200-km long package of Archean Beechey Lake metasedimentary rocks.

New acquisitions include:

• Uist South, a block of ground adjoining the Uist with historical grab sample results up to 40.8 g/t Au. • Gold Bugs West property with historical samples of up to 5.58 g/t Au. • Hiqiniq property west of and adjoining the Lupin Mine leases with historical surface sampling of up to 11.16 g/t Au and best drill results from five shallow holes of 0.96 m at 1.99 g/t Au. • Ujaraq property east of and adjoining the Finn Property held by North Arrow Resources with historical boulder sampling returning up to 28.11 g/t Au and the best of nine holes intersecting iron formation returning 6.27 m at 2.13 g/t Au. • Wasp Lake located six km east of the Esker Lake property with surface samples of up to 19.89 g/t Au but reconnaissance diamond drilling (nine holes/670 m) yet to locate mineralization at depth.

During the summer, Silver Range plans to

complete geophysical surveys at Uist, complete

community consultations, apply for drill permits, and conduct a regional prospecting program

TMAC with the opportunity to significantly The Nunavut Water Board in consultation

also issued a new Type B Water Licence for the

Madrid North and Madrid South deposits on the Hope Bay property. The licence will allow TMAC

to conduct advanced exploration programs at

both deposits, including establishing underground infrastructure for exploration and collection of

bulk samples for testing at the Doris Mill

Complex. The Madrid North deposit is approx-

imately eight km south of TMAC’s Doris North

Mine, connected by an all-weather road. The Hope Bay project is located 125 kilometres

southwest of Cambridge Bay, and encompasses

an area of approximately 1,100 square kilometres.

Once in full operation, the mine will process

1,000 tonnes of ore per day and there will be more

long-term, steady employment available for Inuit.

The Kitikmeot Inuit Association receives

1 per cent royalty payments from all gold sold

at the property and also owns 1.4 percent of

TMAC Resources.

NWT

Incentive Program increases funding

The announcement of Government funding of

almost $1 million for mineral exploration projects

in the NWT under the Mining Incentive Program

more than doubles the amount from last year.

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Atac Resources, out of British Columbia, has its

kilometres east of Keno City. The 1,742-squarekilometre site may have received a boost in

exploration funds recently as Barrick Gold has

entered into an earn-in agreement with Atac Resources that could see an investment of up

to $63.3 million in the company and potentially the Rackla Gold property.

Under the agreement, Barrick can increase

its shares in Atac to 19.9 per cent. It currently owns 9.2 per cent.

Drones to Drills program optimistic

Ground Truth Exploration will have 150 people

in the field working on drilling and survey projects in the Yukon, Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador this summer.

Most of Ground Truth’s work in the Yukon

will be for White Gold Corp.’s Dime and Loonie

properties. It now owns about 40 per cent of

the mining properties in the White Gold district south of Dawson City.

The company’s “Drones to Drills” program

can be done for about 20 per cent of the cost and

much faster with far less impact on the environ-

ment than traditional exploration methods.

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Installation view from Agnes Etherington Art Centre. © Paul Litherland

Picturing Arctic Modernity The North Baffin Drawing Collection

By Norman Vorano, Queen’s University

The transformations that gripped the lives of Inuit during the mid 1960s live on in the memories of northerners today. It was a time of change, when families began to move off the land and into the growing settlements, dramatically altering a way of life known for many generations. The widespread implementation of day- and residential schools, expansion of government services, arrival of the snowmobile and wood-framed homes ushered in — sometimes painfully — a whole new way of life. Inuit themselves saw their world changing better than southerners, although they were seldom asked to share their thoughts on these changes.

It was in this milieu that the artist and long-time employee of the Cape Dorset art studio, Terry Ryan, saw the importance of documenting people’s experiences and lives. In 1963, he applied to the Canada Council of the Arts for a grant to support an innovative idea: to travel to three communities and associated encampments in the North Baffin Region, distribute paper and pencils, and invite people to “draw anything”. Ryan’s idea was simple: give people the opportunity to record what they wanted and how they wanted. Ryan’s grant application underscored the urgency of the project, to record Inuit visual expressions “before the mounting influences of southern civilization in the Arctic replace the past and in many cases the still present mode of living and thinking among the Inuit.”

The Canada Council of the Arts saw value in the project and by February of 1964 Ryan had left the bustling art studio in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, which he then called home, and was bound on a flight to Clyde River. He knew many people in the community due to his meteorological work six years earlier, which greatly facilitated his efforts. He spent more than a week in Clyde River, hiring a dog team and guides to travel to the outlying encampments where he distributed paper and visited with old friends, such as Sakkiasie Arreak. With Arreak, along with Simeonie Qayak and James Jaypoody as guides, he travelled by dog team to Pond Inlet, a distance of more than 400 kilometres. With the beautiful North Baffin Mountains as a backdrop, but beset by illness and slowed by rough sea ice, this trip took 14 difficult days. After several more weeks in and around Pond Inlet distributing paper, he flew to Arctic Bay, another 240 kilometres west, then retraced his journey on his way home, collecting all the drawings 22

from Arctic Bay, Pond Inlet and Clyde River before returning to Iqaluit in May 1964. Though he never travelled to Igloolik, he mailed some papers to the community and received a small packet of completed drawings from them several months later, shipped out by the Hudson Bay Company.

Ryan offered little instruction about what or how artists should approach the drawings, although even his general invitation to participate was likely entangled by the vagaries of interpretation. One of his interpreters in Clyde River thought Ryan wanted “stories” rather than pictures, which resulted in many pages of narrative text without any visual images from this community. It may also be true that many contributors simply took it upon themselves to record whatever they felt was important to preserve for posterity. In fact, a majority of all the drawings contain some degree of Inuktitut writing (no finals were used, rendering it challenging to read today), from single words that “name” an object, person, or place in a drawing, to long paragraphs that run on for several pages.

Ryan collected a little over 1,860 drawings, created by 87 men and 72 women aged seven to 70 (most were between 20 and 50). The drawings are not small, either. Sized at roughly 50 by 65 cm, they are arresting visual statements that represent an astonishing array of visual styles, artistic skills, and aims. Overall, the collection documents a staggeringly diverse array of themes including historical events, hunting practices, myths and legends, as well as many episodes culled from everyday life, big and small.

The drawings reveal a compulsion to record history and Inuit traditional knowledge, and a desire to share people’s thoughts, hopes, aspirations, and anxieties about their lives.

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Below: Cornelius (Kooneeloosee) Nutarak (Pond Inlet), Using Blubber to Make Fuel, 1964, graphite, pencil crayon on paper.

Canadian Museum of History, IV-C-6952

Bottom: Cornelius (Kooneeloosee) Nutarak (Pond Inlet), Happy Narwal Hunting, 1964, pencil crayon and graphite on paper.

Canadian Museum of History, IV-C-8216

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Below: Toongalook (Arctic Bay), What I Had Seen a Long Time Ago, 1964, graphite on paper.

Canadian Museum of History IV-C-6848

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Jemima Angelik Nutarak, (Pond Inlet), String Games and Ayagaq, 1964, graphite on paper.

Canadian Museum of History IV-C-7691

Apart from an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 1986, the collection has essentially remained out of sight for five decades. That is, until 2014, when it was acquired by the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec. At this time, I began to reach out to the communities of Pond Inlet and Clyde River to develop a travelling exhibition around the collection. In 2015, with the support of a grant to the Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen’s University from the Museums Assistance Program, Department of Heritage Canada, I visited Piqqusilirivvik in Clyde River to pour through the collection with several elders and educators. Huddled around a wide-screen monitor, people would linger over a drawing for 40 minutes or more, eagerly debating the exact meanings of words that had long fallen out of use. Later, the communitybased heritage organizations Ittaq and Ilisaqsiviq jumped into the project, and in early 2016, I worked with a team in Clyde River to conduct interviews for interpretive video that would be used in the exhibition. The project found many supporters in Pond Inlet, and interviews there were accomplished that year with the support of the Pond Inlet Archives. People were hungry to see the drawings — the collection is an unparalleled repository of Inuit traditional knowledge, language, and placename resource. As the linguist and educator Elijah Tigullaraq said during an interview, “The drawings are unique, they are different. They are about Inuit history, the language, the culture—clothing, living, legends, animals, everything for men and women.”

In January 2017, the exhibition, Picturing Arctic Modernity: North Baffin Drawings from 1964 opened at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen’s University. Co-produced between the Agnes and the Canadian Museum of History, the exhibition involved the contributions of nearly 20 interviewees, several co-ordinators, many interpreters and translators, and even a film crew and editors from the North, not to mention a large team of production services, researchers, and museum professionals in the south. Of course, with just 50 drawings, the exhibition barely scratches the surface of this vast drawing collection. That is why the exhibition also includes 40 short videos of the artists, their families, and other community members who provide their own interpretation of the drawings. Between August and October of 2017, the exhibition will be at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

From late October to January 2018, the exhibition will be split in two, with one half going to Clyde River and the other to Pond Inlet. If you can’t catch the exhibition on its northern tour — or the cross-Canada tour to follow, all the digital content can be accessed online in English, French and Inuktitut: https://agnes.queensu.ca/microsites/picturing-arctic-modernity/en/index.htm What comes next for the North Baffin Drawing collection?

Perhaps that is the most exciting question. While exhibitions are fleeting, evidence shows that museum collections can play a profoundly transformative and positive role in the reclamation of Indigenous cultural identity, health, and social well-being.

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Lydia Atagootak (Pond Inlet), Women's Responsibilities Then and Now, 1964, graphite on paper.

Canadian Museum of History IV-C-8208

I am presently working with various cultural and heritage organizations in Nunavut to discuss the possibility of developing a reciprocal research network around this collection, that would use contemporary digital technologies to link northern communities with the Canadian Museum of History and Queen’s University. Such a network will empower communities, foster cross-cultural and cross-generational understandings, and provide ongoing northern access to these drawings so they can be used in schools, by heritage groups, and other researchers. The drawings are a legacy for the future, a testament to the foresight of Terry Ryan, and evidence of Inuit creative agency during a time of great change.

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Get to know our Indigenous Canadians Canada’s 150th is cause for celebration. In this issue, above&beyond

Magazine celebrates Canada’s sesquicentennial with a glimpse of some of the projects Canada’s northerners are involved in — bringing Canadians

together in community-building events to celebrate and explore the

Canadian indigenous identity.

Dream Catchers

The Dream Catchers is a Canada150 Signature event produced by Confederation Centre of the Arts and funded by the Government of Canada. The project began with youth arts workshops in each Canadian province and territory. In the North, workshops were held in Iqaluit, Nunavut; Yellowknife, Northwest Territories; and Whitehorse, Yukon.

Young people joined workshop facilitators Nick Huard (Mi’kmaq artist), Watio Splicer (Mohawk artist), Mary Francis Moore (drama specialist) and Robert Guertin (videographer) to spend the day exploring hopes and dreams for their future, and the future of the country, with a focus on inclusion, the environment and Indigenous tradition. Participants also made their own dreamcatchers, which Nick Huard will use to create a giant national dreamcatcher.

Inuit elder Natsiq welcomed the team to Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit, Nunavut, offering a prayer of welcome and shared the role of the shaman in Inuit dream culture. Performance artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory delighted participants with traditional storytelling and discussed the importance of oral tradition in Inuit culture. As bannock was shared, participants talked about the loss of Indigenous languages and their frustrations on the slow implementation of Inuktitut into the school system. Using drama and role play, the grade nine art students explored different solutions to their language concerns.

In Yellowknife, Dene practices were shared through the wonderful art installations and writings at Mildred Hall School. Through drama, the group explored the idea of taking a stand. Participants, with local composer Carmen Braden, wrote their own song about the power of using their voice. As they wove twine into their dreamcatchers, youth from Behchokǫ̀ and Yellowknife discussed dreams and how often taking the first step is the hardest. Musician and teacher Miranda Currie also shared her journey in overcoming adversity on the path to realizing dreams.

Whitehorse was an emotional experience as it marked the end of the workshops.

Local elder, Annie Smith, welcomed the team and acknowledged the miles they had travelled and the stories gathered along the way. B-boy dancer, Riley Simpson-Fowler, came home to Whitehorse from Arizona to share his experiences. A highlight of the day was a ‘dance off’ between Riley and some of the youth. Riley shared his thoughts about living his dream and how supported he feels by his Northern community wherever he travels in the world. It was a fitting end to the workshops, as it seems that youth across the country all agree that ‘as long as you know where you are from, you can go anywhere.’ www.dreamingcanada.ca

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Claire Mantta-Naedzo from Behchokǫ̀, NT, with her dream catcher. © Mary Francis Moore

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Bear witness

Marking and celebrating Canada's 150th Birthday, the four-member team of the Bear Witness Arctic Expedition successfully returned home May 11, after a month-long journey circumnavigating Bylot Island, a remote and uninhabited island in Canada’s High Arctic, more than 700 kilometres North of the Arctic Circle.

After leaving Ottawa, April 10 with First Air, the team has accomplished a world first: skiing on the largest island in the world, retracing historical routes, including the eastern entrance of the fabled Northwest Passage.

The expedition traversed over the proposed Lancaster Sound National Marine Conservation Area, home to polar bears, narwhals, bowheads, belugas, seals, walrus and hundreds of thousands of sea birds.

The four skiers compiled information on weather and wildlife while enroute and the electromagnetic icemeter (EMP) they carried with them measured the thickness of the sea ice.

Congratulations to the team of Eric Brossier, Ingrid Ortlieb, Martin Garcia and David Reid.

Check out the blog and photos at bearwitness.ca.

Canada C3

© David Reid

Imagine a group of Canadians from all backgrounds, of all ages, and from all walks of life standing on the bow of a 220-foot former Canadian Coast Guard vessel, admiring a polar bear interacting with her cubs. This icebreaker is travelling through Canada’s Arctic with a cross-section of Canadian society, which includes journalists, Indigenous elders, authors, musicians, youth, and scientists on board. While the group takes in the wonders of Canada’s fauna, a media team broadcasts live 360-video to a classroom of Grade 4 students in Ottawa, Ontario. The live footage is later broadcast on a national news report from coast to coast to coast. This is Canada C3: a 150-day expedition that is taking Canadians from Toronto to Victoria through the Northwest Passage, ultimately connecting the people of this country to their land, their culture, their history and to each other.

A Canada 150 Signature project and Students on Ice Foundation initiative, Canada C3 aims to engage millions of Canadians from across the country, both virtually and on board the Canada C3 ship. The journey began in Toronto, Ontario, on June 1, 2017, and will finish in Victoria,

British Columbia, on October 28, 2017. The 150-day voyage is divided into 15 legs and a different group of Canadians is embarking on board for each.

The expedition’s programming is centered on Canada 150’s four key themes: Reconciliation, Youth Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion and the Environment. Participants on board the expedition have begun visiting communities across the country, participating in events, and fostering dialogues and discussions about Canada’s past, present and future.

Each participant on board the Canada C3 ship has been selected for their commitment to making Canada a better place, their community involvement, their enthusiasm for the project and the significant amount of knowledge and experience they can contribute to the expedition.

Curious to learn more? Visit canadaC3.ca for updates, an interactive map of the journey and to meet the participants on board the ship.

Mireille Sylvester

A group of students takes in the Pangnirtung Fjord, in Nunavut, on a 2016 Students on Ice expedition. © Lee Narraway for SOI Foundation / 2016

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150+ Reasons We Love Canada

Students at Mildred Hall School, located in Yellowknife, NT, completed the Northwest Territories Mural, facilitated by artist Jen Walden. © Jag Gundu

Members of the Boys and Girls Club of Yukon in Whitehorse worked on the Yukon Mural, facilitated by artist Blair Thorson. © Jag Gundu

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To acknowledge Canada’s 150th birthday on July 1, 2017, VIBE Arts, an awardwinning charitable arts organization committed to engaging young people from under-resourced neighbourhoods through arts education, is working with youth and communities across Canada to create 60 public murals that voice what Canada means to them and why Canadians love their nation. The project is called ‘150+ Reasons We Love Canada’. The ‘plus’ sign holds dual meaning. It refers to Canadians having more than ‘150 reasons’ why they love Canada, and, most importantly, it acknowledges that Indigenous peoples are the original occupants of our nation’s land.

At the project helm there are over 500 children and youth aged 10 to 29, from diverse cultures and communities across Canada, all looking for opportunities to thrive and to use the arts to make change and lead change; to make new connections with themselves, with others and their country.

Youth leadership, civic engagement, grassroots community art making and collaboration — at a national scale — are central to the project. The 60 original hand-painted murals, each six feet by four feet, will be made by children and youth engaged in free mural making programs that will take place in social agencies and schools in every Canadian province and territory.

Drawing from online submissions of reasons “why we love Canada,” collected and archived on VIBE Arts’ 150reasons.ca website, the young program participants will produce all the original imagery of the murals with the guidance of professional artists who are hired to engage children and youth in facilitated workshops. The murals’ production begins with shipping blank panels to project partners in shelters, schools, libraries, youth centres, hospitals, Aboriginal agencies, detention centres, and public housing across Canada to be transformed into murals, and then once complete, the artworks will be shipped back to Toronto to be displayed in July and August 2017.

Thereafter, the murals will be returned to the communities where they were created as a legacy that will mark the spirited voices of our young people on Canada’s milestone year.

Highlighting this project is the unique way in which the youths’ murals will be shared and acknowledged by Canadians. Through innovative partnerships, VIBE Arts will display the murals in their original state in over 20 subway stations in Toronto, at ground level in digital form in airports across Canada, shopping malls, and in our skylines on 306 large-format digital billboards.

The 150+ Reasons We Love Canada project creates a unique opportunity to engage newcomer and marginalized youth in reflection, dialogue and artistic expression about the aspects of Canada that they find important. The project is essentially a national narrative set to provoke meaningful dialogue and storytelling among young Canadians about our country using the art of children and youth. It’s about capturing the stories — artfully — of what makes our country great and allowing our young people to be the visual storytellers.

Canada’s next generation of community builders and creators need to have their voices forefront in representing what is important about the country they live in.

150_reasons (insta) @150reasons (twit) #150reasons @150Reasons (FB) 150reasons.ca

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From the North

Coming this fall, over 40 artists and crew will go on tour to give Canadians a glimpse of true northern culture.

A signature Canada 150 event, From the North: A travelling show from Yukon, NWT and Nunavut will bring together performing artists, visual artists and traditional games athletes from the three territories on a tour to Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Iqaluit, Ottawa, Montréal and Vancouver.

Produced by Music Yukon, From the North will include evening performances at venues such as the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre in Yellowknife and the Cultch in Vancouver and free day-time public engagements at venues such as the Canada Games Centre in Whitehorse and the Museum of Nature in Ottawa.

Confirmed artists and athletes include:

• Borealis Soul (Yukon) • The Dakhká Khwáan Dancers and DASH (Yukon) • Michel Gignac (Yukon) • IVA (Nunavut) • Robyn McLeod (NWT) • NÀHGĄ (NWT) • Quantum Tangle (NWT)

Above: Quantum Tangle © Kayley Mackay

Left: IVA - Kathleen Merritt

Below: Dakhká Khwáan Dancers

• John Sabourin (NWT) • Dennis Shorty (Yukon) • Kuduat Shorty-Henyu (Yukon) • Sophie Villeneuve (Yukon) • Dan Wade (Nunavut)

“The North is so vast and dynamic,” says From the North’s Executive Producer Kim Winnicky. “The people and the culture of our three territories are as distinct as they are northern.”

“We are so pleased to be able to come together and showcase the North’s vibrant cultures not only to our fellow Canadians south of 60 but also to ourselves.”

From the North will launch on October 22 and wrap up on November 11.

For a complete tour schedule and more information about the show and the artists, please visit www.north150nord.ca.

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Canadian Arctic Aviation Tour

The Canadian Aviation Arctic Tour 2017 Demo Jet.

Canadian Arctic Aviation Tour 2017 (CAAT) will be a summer-long air show tour that will bring excitement, entertainment and celebration to every community in Canada’s Great White North, all with the backdrop of the magic of flight. That’s 97 air shows, flying 16,700 nautical miles beginning with Fort Liard, Yukon, and wrapping up in Nunavut’s capital, Iqaluit.

The tour also includes a large educational component. Partnerships with social activism organization WE, the air show industry’s Ryan Poe Foundation and renowned speaker, author and educator David Bouchard, have created a curriculum that engages students in learning about the physics of flight while having them reflect on their role in society and how they can affect and help shape the next 150 years.

Schedule for Wheels Up and Wheels Down air shows to come Wheels Up – shows over communities where the airplanes cannot land Wheels Down – shows where the airplanes will land and performers will meet communities

DATE July 1 July 8 July 9 July 11 July 11 July 12 July 13 July 13 July 14 July 15 July 15 July 15 July 16 July 18 July 18 July 19 July 19 July 19

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WHEELS DOWN Baker Lake, NU Hay River, NT Yellowknife, NT Kuujjuarapik, NK Sanikiluaq, NU

Inukjuak, NK Rigolet, NL

Hopedale, NL Nain, NL Kuujjuaq, NK

WHEELS UP

Whapmagoostui, NK

Umiujaq, NK

Makkovik, NL Postville, NL Kangiqsualujjuaq, NK Tasiujaq, NK Aupaluk, NK Kangirsuk, NK

DATE July 19 July 19 July 20 July 20 July 20 July 20 July 21 July 21 July 23 July 24 July 25 July 26 July 28 July 29 July 29 July 30 July 31 August 1 August 2 August 18

WHEELS DOWN

Kangiqsujuaq, NK Salluit, NK Cape Dorset, NU

Pangnirtung, NU Qikiqtarjuaq, NU Clyde River, NU Pond Inlet, NU Alert, NU

Grise Fiord, NU Resolute Bay, NU Arctic Bay, NU Igloolik, NU Hall Beach, NU Iqaluit, NU

WHEELS UP Quaqtaq, NK

Puvirnituq, NK Akulivik, NK Ivujivik, NK Kimmirut, NU

Eureka, NU

Canada’s massive northern geographical footprint will present the CAAT with a list of challenges. The unforgiving terrain is eclipsed only by the completely unpredictable weather and numerous aviation hurdles, like access to fuel, smoke oil, spare parts, and dealing with gravel air strips in a constant state of permafrost.

The CAAT will have a core team of air show performers, with others joining the tour where and when they can, in addition to support staff that include a SAR Tech and air show announcer.

As the Carbon Zero Certified tour travels eastward over the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Northern Labrador and northern Quebec, stops of note include Alert, the world’s most northern permanently inhabited point, and Baker Lake, the geographic centre of Canada on July 1.

No doubt the tour is ambitious. And no one has attempted it on this grand of a scale. The team is determined to bring this milestone celebration to as many people north of 60 as they can, hopefully inspiring a few generations of aviators, dreamers and explorers.

“This project speaks to everything that should be important to all of us: culture, education, social justice, heritage and national pride. And it’s all delivered as fun and entertaining air shows to 97 communities using a vehicle so incredibly important to our North: aviation.

What better way to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday?” says Executive Director, Nancy McClure.

If you would like to support the Canadian Arctic Aviation tour, a crowd fundraising page has been set up whereby a $25 donation buys a kilometre in your name. www.crowdrise.com/ArcticTour150 www.caat2017.com

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Artcirq performs at the 40th Annual Nattiq Frolics Festival held in Kugluktuk, Nunavut, in April. The Nunavut Canada 150 fund sponsored the circus troupe’s travel, accommodations, youth workshops and community performance. © David Ho/DNV Photo

Nunavut Canada 150 Project

Canada’s 150th year since confederation provides Canadians across the country with a chance to celebrate their identity and accomplishments.

That’s also true for Inuit spread across 25 communities in Nunavut, says Theresie Tungilik, an elder from Rankin Inlet, a community of about 3,000 on the western shores of Hudson Bay. “I want to celebrate the greats that we, as Inuit, have become,” Tungilik says, such as cardiac surgeon Donna Kimmaliardjuk, author Sheila Watts-Cloutier and fashion designer Victoria Kakuktinniq.

Rankin Inlet’s Canada 150 celebration, which focuses on multiculturalism, is one of 16 community projects in 13 communities so far approved for funding by the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association (NACA).

The community celebrations include big Canada Day parties, traditional harvesting trips on the land and short-film projects.

Throat singers perform at the Nattiq Frolics Festival. © David Ho/DNV Photo

“The celebrations give Inuit, many of whom have had a difficult history with Canada because of assimilation and residential schools, a chance to look forward,” Tungilik says.

In Kugaaruk, further west and north than Rankin Inlet, the community’s Canada 150 celebration is aimed at rallying the community.

“It means everything to us to have Canada 150 support our community. It’s a way of bringing people together, particularly elders with young people,” says Cathie Rutter, a hamlet employee and lead organizer for the community celebration.

In the south Baffin Island community of Cape Dorset, an art group called the Embassy of Imagination is planning a massive mural project that engages elders, youth and includes a community feast.

“My job will be to paint alongside of the kids and try to motivate them. Basically, I just try to show them that I’m working so that they work along with me,” Parr Josephee, a youth mentor for the project says.

The Nunavut Canada 150 Project fund is administered by NACA, with help from its partners: the Government of Nunavut, Nunavut Tourism, Nunavut Film, the Alianait Festival and the Inuit Heritage Trust. Thomas Rohner is the Nunavut Canada 150 Coordinator.

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Drum dancers at the community Artcirq performance. © David Ho/DNV Photo

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Polarman in 360°

Polarman patrols Iqaluit. Comic book interpretation by Dan Day.

Iqaluit’s real-life superhero stars in an interactive virtual reality film touring the country for Canada 150. Brave, bold and benevolent, Polarman is a real-life superhero.

If you’re from Iqaluit, Nunavut, you’ve likely already met the masked anti-bullying crusader. Often armed with a snow shovel and braving the cold without a coat, Polarman patrolled the streets of Iqaluit in his superhero suit for over two decades.

Presented by SESQUI, a Canada 150 Signature Project, Polarman is a virtual reality experience starring the masked, snow shoveling hero. The interactive film transports viewers to Polarman’s Iqaluit community and shows the world from his perspective.

The piece mixes two distinct visual styles: live-action 360° video, and three different comic versions, drawn by Canadian artists Daniel Day, Leisha-Marie Riddel and Andrew Qappik (who helped design Nunavut’s flag).

The experience immerses you in Polarman’s origin story. In his own voice, he relates how, after being bullied at a young age and finding inspiration in figures like the Lone Ranger and Nunavut’s own Super Shamou, he dedicated himself to clearing snow for senior citizens and keeping playgrounds fun for all kids. His story is about being a role model for others and being true to yourself.

In a year when Canadians are exploring the country in new and inspiring ways, Polarman celebrates self-expression and finding your identity in a place as diverse as Canada. Polarman is also part of SESQUI’s free app, MERIDIAN VR, available for download on OS X and Android, for use with Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR or Oculus Rift VR headsets.

The 360° film is one of several SESQUI experiences produced for the sesquicentennial.

To join the celebration, visit www.SESQUI.ca and attend a SESQUI event in a town near you.

Winnie Ho

Prince’s Charities Canada The members of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami’s Atausiq Inuktut Titirausiq (AIT) Task Group have been mandated to explore the development of a unified writing system for all Inuit in Canada. In the Fall of 2015, the group began working with

HRH Prince Charles The Prince of Wales meets with AIT Chair Monica Ittusardjuat at his Welsh house. © PCC

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Prince’s Charities Canada (PCC), an organization that supports the Canadian charitable work of the Prince of Wales. PCC had recently begun working on projects focused on the revitalization of Indigenous languages and wanted to see how they could help support the work of the AIT. A year later the group were off on a study tour of Wales to gain a deeper understanding of the cultural, social, institutional and other factors that have supported the successful revitalization of the Welsh language. The Study Tour was planned to help inform the work of the AIT Task Group and uncover the best practices relevant to their own educational plans and recommendations. The group looked at the rollout of Welsh in the education system, the experiences and stories of the Welsh people on language rollout, and how a network of fluent speakers was developed who could then teach the language and write and publish material in the language.

The tour concluded with tea and an in-depth roundtable discussion with His Royal Highness at his Welsh house, Llwynywermod. The group returned home to Canada brimming with ideas to help enhance the teaching and promotion of Inuktut.

The group reunites with their Royal Patron at an event in Iqaluit, Nunavut, in late June where they’ll be able to share what they have accomplished since their last meeting and how their trip last December has helped to shape their work going forward.

During the royal couple’s visit, they are expected to participate in activities that highlight the four themes of Canada 150: diversity and inclusion, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, young people and the environment.

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The Lost Stories Project

Though it closed two years ago, Ottawa’s Southway Inn will live on by way of public art and film as part of a Canada 150 project. In 2017, the Lost Stories Project is bringing to light four little known stories from Canada's past. From the North to Ottawa’s Southway Inn tells the story of the Southway and the many Northern customers who stayed there for more than 50 years.

First Air had a hand in this decades-long connection as its employees were among the first to stay at the hotel, then recommending it to others.

The Southway became a gateway to the south for northern Inuit, hosting Pauktuutit’s Annual general meetings for many years as well as Nunavut Land Claims negotiators. Inuit travelling to Ottawa for medical and family reasons recall the hotel’s willingness to store country food in the restaurant’s freezers and paying no mind to the fish swimming in the bathtub!

This summer sculptor Couzyn van Heuvelen and filmmaker Mosha Folger are teaming up to tell the Southway story with a public artwork and a documentary. Van Heuvelen is an emerging urban Inuk artist whose sculptures playfully engage with ideas about Inuit culture and identity.

Ottawa-based Mosha Folger has several award-winning documentaries and stop-motion animation works to his name. The artwork will be unveiled at a celebration on September 7 at the former Southway Inn location. For more information about Lost Stories and the Southway Inn project, visit: www.loststories.ca.

Southway Inn, flying the Nunavut flag on the far right. © Henry Walsh

From the Red Couch: What does Canada mean to you?

Cold air fills the nostrils as we leave the airport in Whitehorse, Yukon. Clear skies in minus 30 temperatures. In the North, the sky seems to be more blue and the snow more white. The redness of the couch stands out even more against the snowy backdrop. The red couch rolls through the airport to the cargo hangar. It travels with us wherever we go, like a suitcase.

Yukon is the final stop of the Red Couch Northern Tour which began three weeks earlier in Iqaluit, Nunavut, to celebrate Canada’s 150 Anniversary.

We are a team of four with a mission: to capture Canadian stories.

During the 21 days on the road, the Red Couch team rolled through communities in all of Canada’s Territories.

There is only one question to answer in one minute: What does Canada mean to you?

More than one hundred individuals shared their story including Sandy Silver, Premier of the Yukon; Madeleine Redfern, Mayor of Iqaluit; and many others. Mark Prins in Whitehorse spoke about the power of living together in a community. Laura Amy in Behchokǫ̀, Northwest Territories, gave a powerful testimony encouraging Canadian indigenous women to pursue their dreams. These are examples of truly Canadian stories spoken from the heart. This might be the most democratic Canadian couch, embracing Canadians from all walks of life.

There will be more to come this summer as the Red Couch continues its coast-to-coast journey to honour Canada’s 150th Birthday.

The Red Couch Tour is a Canada 150 Signature Project funded by the Government of Canada. More information is on www.redcouchtour.ca and social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @redcouchtour.

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Caribou Legs in Yellowknife, NT. © ELPIO Production

Johnny Issaluk and Louis-Philip Pothier in Iqaluit, Nunavut. © ELPIO Production

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Bottom: Two of Iqaluit’s throat singers loving what they do and catching a smiling breather! © Roberto Gibbons Gomez & Bella Gibbons/ The Expeditioners

Below: The Expeditioners, Bella and Roberto, take in the view of Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park. © Far and Wide

The Power of Memories Millennial Travel Program

By Roberto Gibbons Gomez There are experiences in each of our lives that leave an imprint forever.

Feelings evoked by sounds, adventures, and sights. For the rest of your

existence, so many things spark the memory anew. A scent, a word, or

a comment brings flashbacks, as if it were yesterday.

The ones I’m thinking of right now, involve the crunch of ice

under a snowmobile, a pack of Inuit sled dogs howling, the sting of

snow on my face, the hum of a plane, hearty laughter, and the coldest,

cleanest drink of water I’ve ever had. And views: vistas of a raw, barren landscape, a frozen fjord crowned by mountains, a land before time.

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Right: Joavie pulls Roberto and Bella in a qamutiq (traditional Inuit sled). © Far and Wide Below: A special evening with Arctic Kingdom: drum dancing by Jacoposee Tiglik © Far and Wide

My life has been marked by the unconventional. Once a weekend warrior hunting for rivers to run, mountains to climb, and lakes to kayak,I yearned to fill my days more permanently with thrill and the search for our planet’s most remote destinations.

So it was that my lady and I, like so many millennials today, cast away the lines of permanent residence and lived nomadically for years. We shunned the traditional travel destinations and instead focused on what I like to call “the last wilds,” where globalization had yet to leave its imprint, and development mostly spurned. You know, where nature still rules supreme, and cultures are authentic. Which is why, last year, we chose to make our way across the entire country, and up into the storied land of Nunavut.

I remember looking out of our plane’s window over endless sheets of ice and snow. It looked like white crackers jostling

for space. Some rounded, some jagged. The music on my earphones only amplified the awe. Being a backcountry explorer, I could only imagine how Inuit endure their hunting expeditions out on the land. Sure, I’ve camped in -25C. But never -40C or colder. Yet theirs is a culture where sustenance is found in these temperatures, where going out on the land is the norm, and learning from previous generations simply tantamount to survival. With a spectacular size of two million square kilometres, it’s no wonder Nunavut means “Our Land,” for who could own such a massive chunk of land alone? It belongs not to one, but to all Inuit and all Canadians.

That is my first experience of Baffin Island. From thousands of feet up in the air, a feeling of wonder. The sheer size, baffling. The beauty, unique. Any time I fly over wintery landscapes, or even listen to the tunes from that flight, the memory is refreshed and, somehow, renewed. But little did I imagine at the time that this was just the first nostalgic feelings being forged.

Iqaluit greets us with a yellow space station-like airport — redolent of a Mars colony — and most definitely a Canadian outpost. It’s in this town (for city is perhaps

Above: The community of Pangnirtung, Nunavut. © Far and Wide

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Left: The group on their way to Auyuittuq National Park with Alivaktuk Outfitting. © Far and Wide

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Dogsledding on Frobisher Bay with Inukpak Outfitting. © Roberto Gibbons Gomez & Bella Gibbons / The Expeditioners

not an appropriate term) that my next grand memory is created. Bella and I are whisked along Frobisher Bay by what city slickers would see as the most unconventional of means, dogsled. While I’ve been dogsledding before, Inukpak Outfitting set up the ‘Qimmit’ (dog team) in a fan-hitch format wherein the team is fanned-out. Sitting in our qamutiq (wooden traditional sled) I feel fortunate to be out on the land as the Inuit have done for thousands of years, but it isn’t until a wicked blizzard kicks up, engulfing us entirely that I understand and feel quintessential Nunavut weather. The horizons erased, left looking the same as right, and in front the same as behind us. The snow bites unforgivingly at our exposed faces; it feels like a veritable storm. And I love it! For as much as I feel disoriented, my face raw and cold, the howling of the dogs and the “hup hup” of our guides reassure. For that is the weather of the North and this is a truly authentic experience. So, every now and then when fickle weather descends upon us on an adventure, or I hear the howl of dogs, I reminisce on this memory.

When someone asks how far North we have been, the query evokes a feeling of seeing one of the most impressive fjords I’ve laid eyes upon, even more so because I was standing in the middle of it. It makes me think of how the world must have been before humans roamed the Earth. It was on this same adventure to Baffin Island that we went to within 17 kilometres of the Arctic Circle, indeed, the furthest North we’ve ever been.

This part of the journey began with a flight from Iqaluit to Pangnirtung. With a tiny population of less than 1,500 people, the hamlet is situated in the Qikiqtaaluk Region and is the stepping stone to explore Auyuittuq National Park. After an orienteering session with Parks Canada, our local guide loads us up into a qamutiq behind their snowmobile, and off we go over a frozen wonderland. The skis on the sled bite into the blue ice, crunching here and there while Joavee, owner of Alivaktuk Outfitting, threads his snow machine around the snow and ice as only one raised on the land would know to do. Entering the national park is most definitely a highlight of the trip, and plants the hope of one day trekking deep into the park. Living in Whistler, snowmobile’s are common, and every time I hear the rev of an engine, or see a sled-ski gliding over snow, I think of the time I saw one of the farthest reaches of my country. My land. Our land.

As Bella and I approach the lodge where we are to listen to a duet of singers, a hearty laugh emanates from the building. Whomever is inside is having a great time.

Arctic Kingdom invites us to see two young women who’ve fallen in love with one of the traditional arts: throat singing. Also known as “katajjaq,” it is a musical performance sung with rhythmic patterns. At one time, the lips of the two performers almost touch throughout the songs, but this is not as common today. Originally, it was a sort of entertainment for Inuit women while the men were away hunting. Teresa and Alexia (both in their teens) give us a wonderful performance that leaves all of us with jaws agape. Anyone visiting Iqaluit should most definitely enjoy this show. Little do we expect them to invite us to partake — which is when we quickly understand how it takes both practice and talent to reach their level. Still, we try and laugh and try some more. It’s that laughter of kindness and of fun that sticks with me even more so than Parks Canada - Nunavut Field Office P.O. Box 278, Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0 T: 867.975.4680 F: 867.975.4674 E: nunavut.info@pc.gc.ca www.parkscanada.gc.ca Nunavut Tourism P.O. Box 1450, Iqaluit NU, X0A 0H0 T: 867-979-6551 F: 867-979-1261 E: info@nunavuttourism.com www.nunavuttourism.com

the song. For it is rich and sincere, the type that echoes from those doing something that they love. When I hear someone laugh so very heartedly, it makes me think of these two girls, living in a place some would call the edge of the world — singing like few do — and loving every moment.

It feels like I was on Joavee’s qamutiq yesterday, or surrounded by yelping Inuit sled dogs last week, or standing in Auyuittuq National Park just a few days ago, or laughing as I fail miserably to sound something like a throat singer. But no, I’m not. It has been almost a year since I experienced all of these wonderful events. But the memories are so grand that they will stay with me forever. For that is what travel and adventure does, it creates experiences and memories that are simply priceless. And that is an incredible thing about my generation: we understand that. www.facebook.com/Expeditioners

Alivaktuk Outfitting P.O. Box 3, Pangnirtung, NU X0A 0R0 T: 867.473.8537 F: 867.473.8721 E: jalivaktuk@qiniq.com www.alivaktukoutfitting.ca

Arctic Kingdom Polar Expeditions, Inc. P.O. Box 6117, Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0 T: 416.322.7066 or 1.888.737.6818 E: adventures@arctickingdom.com www.arctickingdom.com

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Inukpak Outfitting, Inc. P.O. Box 11392, 3010 Niaqunngusiariaq St. Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0 T: 867.222.6489 F: 867.979.7489 E: Info@InukpakOutfitting.ca www.InukpakOutfitting.ca

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C U LT U R E

Summer Rendezvous Gathering at Shingle Point

It is mid-summer on the Arctic Ocean and the sun will not set for another 40 days. I’m riding in a motorboat with the friendliest family in the Northwest Territories. I met Jordan McLeod on Facebook while desperately trying to

find transportation to the traditional summer community of Shingle Point on the Yukon’s Arctic coast, and now

I’m a member of the family as I join Jordan, his partner Cecilia, and their gaggle of half a dozen happy kids for the five-hour boat ride from Aklavik to Shingle.

It’s two am and the sun has hit its lowest ebb as we pull up to a few dozen shacks on the small spit of land jutting out in the cold Arctic waters. Two boats have pulled in ahead of us with a recently harvested Beluga whale.

I’m a stranger to the community, nervous about how I will fit in, when a booming voice calls from shore, “Hey Peter, how are you doing?

Good to see you friend! We had a good hunt today.” With one sentence, the whaling captain Manny Arey, has warmed my heart, introduced

Shauna Charlie checks the nets for herring and char, both of which run along the Arctic Coastline through the summer. © Peter Mather (2)

me to his whaling crew and opened the Shingle Point community door to me.

I first met Manny in early 2013. I was in the community of Inuvik as a photographer, presenting at their Arctic Image Festival. Inuvik is a unique town: a mix of Gwich’in, Inuvialuit, and non-first nations. When the festival ended, my girlfriend Terri and I rented a truck for the three-hour ice road drive to Aklavik. I needed to attend a meeting of the Aklavik Hunters and Trappers’ Committee in hopes of gaining their

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Comparing herring to char. The Arctic Char is the larger fish on the right.

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C U LT U R E A beluga whale is dragged onto shore as the sun sets at Shingle Point along Yukon’s Arctic Coast. © Peter Mather (4)

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Bottom: Beluga meat dries in the 24-hour sunlight under a Canadian flag at Shingle Point.

support for a photo project I was planning within their traditional territory. The photo project, revolved around a month-long ski trip into Ivvavik National Park to document the migration of the Porcupine Caribou herd.

Somehow, Manny and I became friends back on that cold winter day in Aklavik when I explained why I wanted to document the caribou migration. The whole committee showed incredible patience as I talked of my work trying to protect the caribou calving grounds. The people of Aklavik depend on the herd for their cultural and physical sustenance. They have been eating caribou for thousands of years, but the caribou’s calving grounds are threatened by potential oil and gas development in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I had been working on lobbying

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C U LT U R E Dawson Elias works on his ‘one foot high kick’ — a traditional Inuit game that is played in the Arctic Winter Games every year.

After all the work of butchering the Beluga is done, it is time to clean the ulu’s — a traditional Inuvialuit knife used for cutting meat.

Americans and the U.S. government for years for the protection of the herd. Once we started talking caribou and its importance to the people, my project was approved and, more importantly, we became friends.

I spent the next week with the McLeod family at Shingle Point, which is a magical place.

It is a spit of land 50 metres wide and five kilometres long on Yukon’s Arctic shoreline, just east of the Northwest Territories border and is the only safe harbour for a hundred kilometres.

Historically, it has been of great importance to the local Inuvialuit and Gwich’in people. A thousand years ago it was a seasonal location for Inuvialuit following the movements and cycles of the wildlife that sustained them. A hundred years ago it was a year-round whaling community with a residential school drawing children from across the Arctic.

Today, Shingle Point is a bustling summer community for the people of the Mackenzie Delta, who reunite and reconnect with family through hunting, fishing, and activities. Children outnumber adults two to one, and the 24-hour sunlight serves as a permanent sugar rush for their young bodies. Their average day goes something like this: wake up at 2 p.m. for pancake breakfast, followed by a tour of the spit on the family ATV; then gather friends for carving, floating boats, baseball, and a game of kick the can or hide and seek, followed by a supper of deliciously greasy roasted goose. Evenings involve pulling up the fishing nets with the family, then gutting, cleaning, and smoking the day’s catch of herring and char with grandparents. Bedtime arrives around 3 or 4 a.m., but not before a few rounds of cards, video games, or a movie—unless, of course, a Beluga has been harvested.

Successful Beluga whale hunts happen once or twice a summer. Once a Beluga is towed into camp, the entire community quickly converges to watch, celebrate and to help with all the work. Over the next four hours the women butcher the greasy white whale. Squaring the snow white skin into igloo block size chunks, before laying it out onto sun bleached driftwood to dry. The Inuvialuit favourite Muktuk is created by boiling the white skin and fat for hours, before drying it once again and finally storing it in a cool dark locale.

The highlight of the summer on Shingle Point is a gathering called ‘Shingle Games’.

The summer community assembles on the very

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tip of Shingle to play western and traditional games into the early morning. The end of the games signals a slowing down of life at the Point.

Families begin packing boats and preparing for the day long journey back to Aklavik, Inuvik, Kaktovik or Tuktoyuktuk. Within a week, the community is down to half a dozen families and some fisheries biologists. With the onset of fall, kids head back to school, the biologists head back to the computer desk, and the caribou have moved into the forested lands to the south, followed by the whales and the birds.

Peter Mather

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The Leaf River Estuary, home to some of the largest tides in the world. © Isabelle Dubois

Johnny & Billy Cain Outfitters Fishing the Leaf River Estuary with the Inuit of Tasiujaq

Living up North in Nunavik we often get to go fishing, but for most of us non-native, it is not every day we get the

chance to do so while sharing the Inuit way of life at camp. Johnny & Billy Cain Outfitters offer just that. During a

weeklong stay at their Leaf River Estuary Lodge last summer, facilitating the Hooké film crew on an episode shoot, we not only had plenty of occasions to catch fish, but also made a genuine connection with the Inuit of Tasiujaq,

who welcomed us with open arms.

Soon after First Air lands the group of avid fly fishermen in Kuujjuaq, we depart on Air Inuit’s scheduled flight to Tasiujaq, a small Inuit community located at the mouth of the Leaf River. Upon arrival, a pickup truck brings us down a winding road to this charming village from which the beauty of Leaf Bay is striking.

Normally, we would proceed to the Leaf River Estuary Lodge by boat, but strong winds prevent us from venturing out to sea. We will have to spend the night. Fortunately, there is just enough room at the local Iqaluppik Hotel for the film crew of five while my daughter Niivi and I have family here who can take us in,

giving us a chance to reconnect. It will also give us a chance to explore. Our host, Billy Cain, also happens to be the mayor and offers to show us around town. On the hills overlooking the community, we preview the Leaf River, flowing behind in the valley, where we hear wolves howling.

The tide is high

As soon as the tide comes up the next day, we are on our way. It’s still a bit choppy on the bay, but our guides have salt water in their blood and manoeuvre the outboard-powered freighter canoes as if it is smooth sailing. A few nautical

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Charles-Alexandre Cloutier, one of the Hooké episode stars, caught on camera with the heavyweight Arctic char that completed his Grand Slam. © Hooké / Stuart Davis

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ADVENTURE Billy Cain's son Charlie about to harpoon a big fat bearded seal under the watchful eye of his dad and the Hooké crew.© Hooké / Stuart Davis

While feeding insatiably on these nutrient-rich waters, the voracious fish will pounce on anglers’ bait without hesitation, something we’re all eager to experience.

Gone fishin’

miles later, we enter at the Leaf River Estuary, ready to settle at the Inuit fishing camp — our home away from home for the week.

Built by Johnny Cain, the Leaf River Estuary Lodge is entirely Inuit-owned and operated by the Cain family and other Tasiujaq residents it employs. The rustic lodge is comfortable, complete with separate sleeping quarters, a modern kitchen and dining room, running water, toilets and hot showers, all powered by the clean energy provided by a wind turbine and solar panels.

Concerned with the sustainability of this important ecosystem that Kuugaaluk, the mighty Leaf River, is to the Inuit of Tasiujaq, Johnny &

Billy Cain Outfitters only welcome a limited number of privileged clients each summer. “This is where we catch fish to feed our families, but also where we find caribou, hunt seal and beluga whales,” explains Billy.

Taking its source in Minto Lake, nearly from the other coast of Nunavik, the Leaf River makes its way across the region, creating a boundary between the boreal forest and the Arctic tundra as it runs over 480 kilometres along the tree line before emptying into Ungava Bay. The brackish waters of the estuary are subject to some of the world’s highest tides and with them come bountiful schools of hungry Arctic char, Atlantic salmon and sea-run speckled trout.

As we awake the next morning, the tide is at its lowest, making it impossible to go fishing by boat. But there’s no need to wait for the tide to turn to cast our lines. Just a few steps away lies the estuary’s channel, where large sea-run trout lurk behind the rocks in the shallows at the edge of the deep canal. Indeed, they are waiting for us and before I can even park the kayak that we brought along to ensure our safe return to the camp, Niivi has already hooked a nice sized aanak (trout).

Soon, everyone’s lure is getting hit. We’re having so much fun fishing, time literally flies by! As the tide turns, it is our cue to head back to shore. It’s incredible how quickly the water rises. With the tide bringing us in, we don’t need to paddle very hard to make it back in time for lunch.

In the afternoon, we set out to fish alongside the riverbanks. Niivi and I ride in Johnny Cain’s canoe with his seven-year-old grandson Joshua, slowly trolling as we drift away in bliss, enjoying the fresh air under the sun. Fish follow our lures and one little salmon is so eager to grab a spoonful of my hook, he practically jumps on my lap. I quickly release him back to the water, where he’ll grow big and strong.

Meanwhile, the Hooké crew cruises farther out, casting flies from Billy Cain’s aluminum boat, following flocks of seagulls. Having already landed their sea-run trout on the fly this morning, they are now on a quest for Arctic char and Atlantic salmon to complete what they call the Arctic Grand Slam. It is a challenge they achieve, although not without a fight, as some heavy pulls ultimately ensue in these Northern parts.

More than just tales of fish tails

Being out at camp with Johnny & Billy Cain Outfitters is more than just a great opportunity to fish but also allows us to experience the Inuit

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The kayaks on hand at the Leaf River Estuary Lodge not only enabled us to make it back from the channel when fishing at low tide until it turned, but was also a delightful activity to share with my daughter Niivi. © Alexis Pageau

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ADVENTURE

lifestyle daily. The Inuit tradition is based on sharing and this cultural trait is certainly reflected in the way they welcome us to their homeland.

Both Billy and his father Johnny are very generous with their time and the ancestral knowledge and traditional skills they share with us.

Everyday Johnny gathers fish in their nets with his grandson Joshua and the young guides working at the Lodge, teaching them to clean and filet them properly, the way he had learned from his elders. While Billy is busy in the kitchen frying fish or making caribou stew or steaks for dinner, Johnny prepares the fish to dry, showing how to make pitsik, an Inuit delicacy.

In a fast-changing world, it’s important for Johnny, as for most Inuit, to move forward, adapt and evolve, while keeping their traditions alive and staying true to their culture. “To keep our traditions strong, we have to show our children,” he states. We were fortunate to witness this firsthand, as Billy took his son Charlie seal hunting on his 18th birthday. The thrill of the hunt was felt by all of us. Sharing such a meaningful and

solemn event, gave us a true connection with our hosts. Seeing the care that went into harvesting every bit of the animal, with as little waste as possible, just reinforced the deep respect I already had for Inuit people.

Fishing at the edge of the estuary’s channel, the sea-run speckled trout were insatiable, hitting my lure almost every cast. What a thrill! © Niivi Snowball

Isabelle Dubois

Check out www.leafriverestuarylodge.com for more information on the Leaf River Estuary Lodge and book your own fishing adventure with Johnny & Billy Cain Outfitters by calling Henry Smith at 617-253-6865 or Billy Cain at 819-633-5498 or by email to leafriverestuarylodge@gmail.com.

Hooké’s second season kicked off in April on Unis TV with the episode on the Leaf River Estuary Lodge. Their exceptional adventure with Johnny & Billy Cain Outfitters also spawned an exclusive short film entitled Nakurmiik, to thank the Inuit people of Nunavik, which can be viewed at vimeo.com/192185389. More information about the Hooké fly fishing community can be found at hooke.ca.

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SPORT

Natalie Spooner enters the hall and is greeted by the kids in Taloyoak, Nunavut, at the community event for Project North.

Project North Stanley Cup 3.0 Tour Cape Dorset, Nunavut, residents welcome the Project North Stanley 3.0 Team to their community with outdoor festivities during light snowfall. © Michelle Valberg (6)

Project North is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of Inuit families living in remote Arctic communities through sport and education. Nine years ago, I co-founded Project North with my friend Joan Weinman. It was going to be a one-time used equipment drive delivering hockey gear to four Nunavut communities with help from Adventure Canada and First Air. I am very proud to announce that nine years later, we have reached ONE MILLION dollars of hockey and sporting equipment deliveries to over 26 communities in Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut and the Northwest Territories.

The planning and preparing for the Project North 3.0 Stanley Cup tour began months in advance. Each of our trips is a huge undertaking and involves a broad mix of donors, sponsors, VIPs and Project North personnel to pull it all together. As usual we had an amazing, passionate team who worked tirelessly to make it all happen.

Trip 3.0 was going to be massive. The proposed Nunavut route was over 8,300 km with eight community visits. Gifts this year included 150 bags of new hockey bags, 150 Rumie tablets and 30 Nikon Coolpix cameras. The impressive VIP list comprised of Stanley Cup champion and hockey great Lanny McDonald, CWHL Fury player

and Olympic gold medalist Natalie Spooner and Juno award-winning Inuk singer/songwriter, Susan Aglukark.

This trip included a surprise visit to the high school in Iqaluit, followed by a community free skate at the arena. An outdoor event during a light snow fall took place in Cape Dorset.

In Kugaaruk, Lanny and Natalie were driven to the community centre in a qamutiq (Inuit sled) pulled by a snowmobile. We had a wonderful visit with the community delivering 100 Rumie tablets, Nikon Coolpix cameras and 25 hockey bags. The timing of our visit could not have been better as the community lost their school to fire

Lanny McDonald and Natalie Spooner skate with Lord Stanley and the kids on the local ice rink in Iqaluit.

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SPORT

The beautiful and talented Juno award winning Inuk singer/songwriter Susan Aglukark enjoys her first visit to Resolute Bay, Nunavut.

just weeks before our arrival. another sign that this trip was meant to be.

We had a community event in Taloyoak followed by a surprise morning visit to the elementary school. Gjoa Haven graced us with a beautiful cultural performance, including young dancers jigging to a live band. In Resolute Bay, Susan gave a powerful performance followed by young girls throat singing, which was a phenomenal presentation for us. Unfortunately, we were unable to visit Hall Beach and Qikitarjuaq because of inclement weather. This is not unusual in the North where the weather rules.

We ended with a city tour in Iqaluit and visit to the Inukpak Outfitting dog sleds, which delighted us all. Hall Beach and Qikitarjuaq received their equipment at a later date.

Community members smiled with joy and shed some tears when they touched the Stanley Cup and had their photos taken with hockey greats Lanny and Natalie. The joy warmed my heart, even though it was below -25C! The happiness and excitement resonated from community to community. They were grateful for the gifts of equipment and delighted by our visiting VIPs. When Susan sang Amazing Grace acapella, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Susan is from Arviat, Nunavut. When she spoke to the

The Project North team was treated to a square dance jig by the talented children in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut.

communities in Inuktitut, it connected us all.

I have seen first-hand the impact of Project North, but I am always thrilled to hear from the communities themselves.

Jared Ottenhof wrote on my Facebook page: Living in a community that benefitted from this program I have seen its direct impact. We doubled our minor hockey registration last year because kids who are die-hard hockey fans who otherwise would not have been able to play, were given the chance to play. It made an immediate and huge impact on Kugluktuk. Thanks!

Scotiabank and First Air has supported Project North since the very beginning. Together with Canadian Tire Jump Start Program, NHL and Rogers Sportsnet, Project North has continued to make a difference in the lives of our northern families.

As President of Project North, I am extremely proud of our 3.0 trip. Project North has taught me that if you believe, work hard and commit, you can make anything happen, including turning a dream into reality.

Michelle Valberg

President and Vice President of Project North, Michelle Valberg and Jeff Turner stand proud in Gjoa Haven during their visit and delivery of 25 sets of new hockey gear.

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SCIENCE

Sharp-toothed giants of the ocean

Remarkably, there exists an animal species that has persisted since the dawn of the 1600s, a group of dark, slow-moving giants that live deep in the world’s coldest oceans and still grasp to life today.

The Greenland shark, also called Somniosus microcephalus, is now thought to be the longest living vertebrate on Earth. An international team of scientists, including ones from Scandinavia and Greenland, recently used radiocarbon dating of metabolically inactive eye lens tissue to show that the mysterious and poorly understood Greenland shark can live for more than four centuries. This is around twice the previous record of longevity in a vertebrate, which belonged to the Bowhead whale. What’s more, it is estimated that it takes 15 decades for the Greenland shark to reach sexual maturity, about

seven times the age when humans reach sexual maturity (20 years).

Little is known about these sharp-toothed elders of the ocean, but the new findings have catapulted Greenland sharks into the mainstream and made them stars of the research world. It all started in 2010 when Professor John Steffensen, a marine biologist at the University of Copenhagen, and his graduate student, Julius Neilsen, spent three years sampling the sharks close to Greenland, trying to discern their age. Normally, the age of a fish can be determined by counting the layers of

A Greenland shark, thought to be the longest living vertebrate on Earth. © Paul Nicklen

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calcium carbonate in their ears, similar to dendrology (counting tree-rings). But Greenland sharks do not possess calcium in their ears, so the researchers turned to the sharks’ gray-black eyes—specifically the carbon dating of the proteins in the lenses of their eyes—to gauge the age of the great Somniosus microcephalus.

Carbon dating has long been used to estimate lifespan. The technique is based on the fact that carbon-14, which is found in all living things, degrades over time at a known rate, meaning that the relative amount of C-14 within a specimen is reflected in its age. Of course, there is a degree

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SCIENCE

of uncertainty associated with carbon dating, but it continually proves to be the most reliable method of dating currently available for specimens in this age-range.

Carbon slowly accumulates in the eye lenses of a shark. This process begins when the shark is in its mother’s womb, with the carbon deposits first appearing in the middle of the lens. As the shark gets older, the carbon deposits slowly spread to the outer edges of the eye. In the 1950s, atomic bomb tests doubled the amount of carbon-14 in the atmosphere, creating a useful “C-14 time stamp,” which scientists could detect in the eye proteins of Greenland sharks. The smaller sharks had the highest levels of C-14 deposits, indicating they were born post 1950.

As well, the size of the sharks increased with age and sex, with females being notably longer than males.

And long they were. One female was a terrifying five metres (as long as a big great white shark) and estimated to between 390 and 512 years old. Moreover, females can only produce young after they reach at least four metres in length, which takes a whopping 150 years.

That an animal can survive for half a millennium is miraculous. But how? Greenland sharks are very slow moving. If you watch a YouTube video of one in action, you’ll see very little action —a sluggish, sleepy giant peacefully gliding through the deep. This slow-motion existence is thought to be an adaptation to the extreme cold of the Arctic Ocean and North Atlantic, resulting in a low metabolism, a slow growth rate, and an extended lifespan. Scientists are also exploring the DNA sequences of Greenland sharks to see if they harbour any anti-aging genes.

Apart from having the right biological makeup, achieving centuries of longevity requires a lot of good luck. Like anything living, Greenland sharks need to eat, avoid injury and disease, and survive the various dangers and challenges of their environment. The ocean is full of predators, but big sharks are at the top of the food chain. Nevertheless, food scarcity and disease are blind to breed and size and are a major reason why sharks die every year, but Greenland sharks appear to be particularly hardy and healthy.

Whatever the reasons for their longevity, it is remarkable to think that there exists an animal alive today that has persisted throughout all the major wars, discoveries, and technological advancements over the last four centuries—an

animal that might have witnessed some of the earliest vessels arrive in North America as well as today’s modern tankers and cruise ships.

Although the sharks are shy and reclusive, there is a chance that early Inuit might have spotted a Greenland shark while fishing hundreds of years ago and that a modern tourist has photographed that same shark with an iPhone. If the Greenland shark can teach us

TAXI TAXI

anything, maybe it’s that it is best to move slowly and peacefully through the cold currents of life.

Neetin Prabhu and David Smith

Neetin Prabhu is an undergraduate science student at the University of Western Ontario.

David Smith is an assistant professor in the biology department at Western; he can be found online at www.arrogantgenome.com.

867-873-4444 P.O. Box 686 483 Range Lake Road Yellowknife, NT X1A 2N5

City Cab (1993) Ltd.

email: citycab@northwestel.net APP: YK City Cab

Serving the North for Over 40 Years!

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Romancing the Klondike

BOOKSHELF

Joan Donaldson-Yarmey Books We Love Ltd. May 2017

It 1896 and Pearl Owens is on her way to the Yukon River It’s a area with her cousin, Emma, to write articles and draw illus illustrations about the women and men who are looking for g in the far North. Sam Owens, Pearl’s cousin and Emma’s gold b brother, has been searching for gold with two friends, Gor Gordon and Donald, for five years without success. Gordon and Donald have decided their quest is futile and it is time t return home. But Sam wants to stay a while longer. Then to t they hear word of a new gold find on Rabbit Creek. Over the ne 10 months, the lives of all five are changed due to love, next g gold, and tragedy.

Romancing the Klondike is Book Three in the Canadian His Historical Brides series celebrating Canada’s 150th Birthday.

The Canadian Historical Brides series honours the men and w women who braved the Canadian wilderness to carve new homes and ne new lives out of a beautiful and wild land.

Ice Blink: Navigating Northern Environmental History Stephen Bocking and Brad Martin, Editors University of Calgary Press January 2017

The environmental history of Canada’s North is made up of many stories. Ice Blink recounts these stories of indigenous peoples’ ways of life, mining, Arctic climate change, communities’ interactions with scientists and the world, newcomers to the North, and the challenges to traditional ways of life and land claims. From Colonial times to the modern age, the book reflects on how humans have shaped the landscape of the North and how the North has shaped human cultures and knowledge.

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Lines in the Ice: Exploring the Roof of the World Philip J. Hatfield McGill-Queen’s University Press October 2016

LLines in the Ice follows the course of major journeys t the Arctic, assessing the impacts on the North’s to i indigenous communities and revealing how i important these explorations have been in m making the modern world. It is richly illustrated t throughout with topographical views, historic phot photography, explorers’ diaries and maps.

It draws out the links between exploration and climate change, as well as examining how t changing landscape affects today’s Arctic this c communities and global politics.

The book showcases the rich, visual history o Arctic exploration, indigenous cultural works of a and the longstanding ways the North has c captivated public audiences.

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ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᐃᒎᓯᓕᐅᖅᑏᑦ Inuit Uqausinginnik Taiguusiliuqtiit Inuit Language Authority Office de la langue inuite ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓰᑦ ᐱᖁᔭᑦ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᓯᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᓂ ᐃᒫᒃ ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓇᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐃᓄᖏᑦ ᓄᓇᕗᑦ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᐅᑎᖃᕐᒪᑕ ᐊᑐᕈᓐᓇᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖓᓂᒃ • ᑲᑎᖅᓱᐃᔩᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑦᑎᓲᑦ ᑐᑭᓯᐅᒪᖃᑎᒌᒍᑕᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᕐᓂᒃ, ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ; • ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓱᐃᓲᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᑐᕈᓐᓇᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕈᑎᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ; • ᐃᑲᔪᓲᑦ ᓇᒻᒥᓂᖃᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂᓪᓗ ᑕᒻᒪᖅᓯᒪᙱᑦᑐᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᓯᒪᔭᕆᐊᓕᖕᓂᒃ; • ᑲᒪᒋᔭᖃᓲᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑐᑭᒧᐊᒃᑎᑦᑎᔨᐅᓲᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕐᓂᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ; • ᑎᑎᖅᑲᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᓯᐅᔾᔭᐃᖅᓯᓲᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᓄᓇᓖᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ; • ᑐᒃᓯᕋᕐᕕᐅᓲᑦ/ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᖃᓲᑦ ᑎᒥᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ ᓯᓚᑖᓂᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖏᑕ ᒥᒃᓵᓄᑦ

Ilitariyauhimayut Uqauhiinni Maligaq Nunavut Kavamatkunnit nalunairutauyuq Inuit Nunavunmiut pilaarutiqaqtut aturiamikku uqauhiqtik Inuinnaqtun • Havaktut ilitturipkaiyullu nalaumayunik taidjutinik, atuqpauhiinik, titirauhiiniinullu; • Havaktut uqauhiit ayunnginnikhaagut, uuktuutikhaagullu; • Ikayuqhugit nanmiuyut havagviit aallallu ihuaqtunik atuqpauhikhaagut; • Havaariliqhugu tiliuqhugit ihivriuqhiyut uqauhikkut; • Titraqhugit ilitturipkatigiblugit taimani atuqtauvakut tainiit aallatqillu uqauhiit inuktut; • Tuhaqtittivaktut/ havaqatigivagait katimayiuyut Nunavunmi ahinilu Inuit uqauhiannut.

Official language Act within the Government of Nunavut affirming that the Inuit of Nunavut have an inherent right to the use of the Inuit Language • Develops and promotes standard terminology, usage & orthography; • Develops language competency levels & testing; • Assists businesses and others with correct usage; • Undertakes or supervises research about the Inuit Language; • Documents and promotes traditional terminology and dialects; • Shares & collaborates with organizations in Nunavut and abroad on Inuit Language Issues.

Loi sur les langues officielles du gouvernement du Nunavut affirmant le droit inhérent des Inuit à l’utilisation de le langue inuite • Élabore la terminologie, les usages et les expressions normalisés, et en assure la promotion; • Élabore les niveaux de compétences et les tests permettant de mesurer ces niveaux; • Aide les entreprises et d’autres organismes à offrir des services de qualité en langue inuite; • Entreprend ou supervise des recherches au sujet de la langue inuite; • Consigne et fait la promotion des expressions et des dialectes traditionnels; • Partage et collabore avec des organismes au Nunavut et ailleurs vis-à-vis les enjeux ayant trait à la langue inuite. ᐃᑲᔪᖅᑕᐅᔪᒪᒍᕕᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᒋᔭᐃᑦ ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᑎᖅᑖᖁᒍᖕᓂ ᐅᕙᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᖃᕈᓐᓇᖅᑐᑎᑦ Ikayuqtiqariaqaqqata nanminiit havagviit atiliuriarni Inuinnaqtun uqarvigittaaqtaptigut If you need help with creating your business name in Inuktitut contact us Si vous avez besoin de l’aide pour traduire le nom de votre entreprise en inuktitut, veuillez prendre contact avec nous

www.taiguusiliuqtiit.ca ᑐᕌᕈᑖ ᐸᕐᓇᐃᕕᒃ ᑎᑎᖅᑲᒃᑯᕕᒃ 1000, ᑐᕌᕈᑎᖓ 810, ᐃᖃᓗᐃᑦ, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ X0A 0H0 Parnaivik Bldg 2nd floor P.O. Box 1000 Station 810, Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0 (: 1 855 232 1852 | 867 975 5539

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IUT@gov.nu.ca

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GUEST EDITORIAL Minister Kuksuk at the Nunavut Legislative Assembly. © Tracy Wood

Appreciating Inuit culture through art

Inuit art has long been a narrative expression, a way in which Inuit tell the stories of their lives and their communities. In many ways, sharing Inuit art with others is a form of healing and reconciliation. Our art gives the rest of the world insight into our thoughts, ideas and perspectives; it is this insight that fosters greater understanding and appreciation of Inuit and culture. The Government of Nunavut’s Department of Culture and Heritage has taken positive steps to ensure that our art, and thus our stories, can be experienced by Inuit and non-Inuit around the world.

Last year, Culture and Heritage signed an Agreement with the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG), which saw the transfer of Nunavut’s art collection from Yellowknife’s Prince of Wales Heritage Centre to Winnipeg. The WAG is currently building an Inuit Art Centre to celebrate and honour this collection; the Centre will be the first of its kind in the world and will become a link between people in the South and people in the North to learn from each other and build on our understanding and appreciation of Inuit culture. Once completed, the Centre will house the largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art in the world, including carvings, prints, drawings, videos, and performing arts. In addition, the Centre will include cultural exhibitions that showcase Inuit oral histories, and interactive zones for children to learn about Inuit culture through play. This agreement also includes an exhibit in Washington, DC, from June 15 to October 20, 2017, featuring art from Baker Lake and Inuit wall hangings.

Our partnership with the WAG has also allowed us to develop training and internship modules to train Nunavummiut as cultural workers — as curators, educators, conservators, designers, and cultural marketers. Through innovative and collaborative education, training and exhibit programs, we now have the opportunity to provide greater public accessibility to our art and heritage collections, and help develop new employable skills for local Inuit in the art industry.

We are also in the process of moving Nunavut’s heritage collection from the Prince of Wales

Heritage Centre in Yellowknife to the Canadian Museum of Nature’s (CMN) research facility in the National Capital region. The transfer of Nunavut’s museum and archives collections to the CMN will present exciting opportunities for collaborative research, education and exhibition programs.

Though the territory does not yet have a Heritage facility to house our complete collection, we are continuing to look for ways to bring our collections through Nunavut so they can also be appreciated in the communities where these beautiful pieces have been created.

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I hope that all Nunavummiut take pride in the growing awareness and popularity of Inuit art around the world. It is a testament to our vibrant culture and its artful expression, an expression the GN is committed to protecting and enhancing for the enjoyment of future generations.

George Kuksuk,

Minister of Culture and Heritage Government of Nunavut

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INUIT FORUM

Ameela Aqiatusuk shows her pride on Canada Day in Resolute Bay, Nunavut. © Dave Brosha

We are all partners in creating a better Canada

© Letia Obed

Inuit have long said that we are proud Canadians, which isn’t necessarily a view that is held by all Indigenous peoples across Canada. The late Jose Kusugak, who is someone very dear to me and a former ITK President, coined the phrase “first Canadians, Canadians first.” That is the way that many Inuit describe ourselves to Canada and to the world. We are patriotic, as seen in the way we cheer for Team Canada on the international sporting stage, and we accept that we are part of this great democracy. But the time has come to think critically about where we are going, and to recognize that all too often the federal government still does not consider Inuit Canadian enough to invest in the basic services, supports, and infrastructure that most other Canadians simply take for granted as foundational to health and wellness.

The Inuit-Crown relationship began at a time when decision making was based on the belief that Indigenous people would vanish; that it was only a matter of time before our culture, society, and language would die out.

This was in turn based on a number of false principles espoused by academia, government, and the medical community, but also on explicit government focused genocidal programs that included relocating our people and imposing residential schooling on our population. This is the truth of our shared history, and yet Inuit still call ourselves proud Canadians.

Why? Our optimism for Canada certainly speaks to our traditional ways to reconciliation, and links directly to our resilience and pragmatism. In the spirit of this hope for shared belonging, of Inuit to Canada and Canada to Inuit, we carried out our own nation building from 1971 to 2005. We developed our own Inuit governance structures. Our Inuit democracy is

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founded on our modern land claim agreements, for which we continue to fight for implementation. The implementation of these land claim agreements implicates the honour of the Crown and the very basic nature of the relationship between Inuit and Canada.

We need to affirm that Inuit are Canadians, and that what we want for ourselves and our families we would also like for other Canadians.

Inuit want to be partners to create a better Canada and to proactively support populations that need help. We still wish to partner with governments to implement the rights we fought to have affirmed by the Crown through our land claim agreements, to identify new ways of doing business together that respect our governance structures, and to have our basic humanity and lives recognized as equal to that of all other Canadians.

To achieve full social equity is challenging, but we believe it can happen over time. For Inuit, we don’t just see our own struggles in Canada. In many cases when we hear about floods or other natural disasters all over the world, Inuit are some of the first to donate, some of the first to be compassionate about other people who are going through difficult times. I think that also speaks to the fact that we understand what it’s like to feel hardship and that we see ourselves as part of something bigger. We see ourselves as a part of Canada and want Canada to see us too.

Natan Obed

National Inuit Leader and President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

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