Above & Beyond | Canada's Arctic Journal 2018 | 04 by above&beyond

The Inflight Magazine for First Air

2018 | 04 YOURS TO KEEP

A Walrus Hunt

Moving Pictures from the Permafrost

Capturing the North on Film

PM40050872

o www.arcticjournal.ca

Narwhals: The One that Points to the Sky

Brock Friesen XÇ4 K‰n8

Dear Guest, Flying in Canada’s Arctic region is such a unique and outstanding privilege for us. We truly appreciate having you aboard today. Not a day goes by where we don’t look for ways to improve every aspect of our operations to better serve our customers. I’d like to share some exciting news that has recently been announced that will allow us to improve our service and also improve our connection to our core customer base. I’m extremely proud and happy to announce that our proposal to replace and expand our cargo warehouse operations in Iqaluit has been approved. The proposal, which was made in conjunction with the Federal government’s National Trade Corridor’s Fund, will allow us to improve all aspects of our cargo operations in Iqaluit. Iqaluit is our most important cargo hub in our network. It receives all southern cargo shipments and acts as a cargo hub to send the cargo out to the communities. We need to ensure that this hub is modernized and adapted to meet the growing cargo demands being placed on our network. The improvements will include an increase in cooler and freezer capacity to better store perishable items, as well as upgrading tracking technologies to improve on service standards. This represents a tremendous investment and commitment in our Qikiqtani operations. In addition to our cargo improvements, I’m also pleased to announce that we have recently revamped our Inuit beneficiary fare program. Not only have we lowered the prices of the beneficiary fares, but we have also introduced a new name for the fare program. We introduced the Ilak Fare on June 21 to coincide with the National Indigenous People’s Day. Ilak, which means Family or Friend, is the perfect name for a program that serves our core customer base. The program is available to Inuit beneficiaries registered with their Inuit Associations. Although our beneficiary program already existed, being able to finally name it is a proud moment that also connects us to our customers. 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 a great one and we hope to see you aboard again soon.

Brock Friesen First Air President & CEO

ᑐᕌᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᔪᓄᑦ,

ᑲᓇᑕᐅᑉ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᖓᑕ ᐊᕕᒃᑐᖅᓯᒪᓂᖓᓂ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᕆᐊᒥᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᖃᖖᒋᑦᑐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᓇᑦᑎᐊᖅᑑᔪᒥᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓐᓂᕆᕙᒃᑲᑦᑎᒍ. ᖁᕕᐊᓱᓪᓚᕆᒃᑐᒍᑦ ᐃᓪᓗᒥ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᐃᑭᒪᖃᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᕋᕕᑦ. ᖃᐅᑕᒫᑦᑎᐊᖅ ᕿᓂᓕᕋᓱᒃᐸᒃᑲᑦᑕ ᖃᓄᖅ ᓇᐅᒃᑯᓕᒫᖅ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᓯᓂᕆᕙᒃᑕᕗᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑐᓐᓇᕐᒪᖔᑦᑎᒎ ᐱᐅᓂᖅᓴᑎᒍᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᕙᒃᑐᖁᑎᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᖅᑎᐅᔪᓐᓇᖁᓪᓗᑕ.

ᖁᕕᐊᓇᓪᕆᒃᑑᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑐᓴᕈᒥᓇᖅᑑᑎᓂᒃ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖃᕈᒪᒐᒪ ᓴᖅᑭᑕᐅᓵᓚᐅᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐱᐅᓯᒋᐊᕈᑎᒋᔪᓐᓇᖅᑕᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᕈᑎᒋᕙᒃᑕᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᐅᓯᒋᐊᕈᑎᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᑕᕝᕕᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᕙᒃᑐᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ. ᐊᖏᔪᐊᓗᒻᒥᒃ ᓴᕆᒪᒋᔭᖃᖅᑐᖓ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒃᑐᖓ ᑐᓴᖅᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᒥᒃ ᐃᓕᑦᓯᓐᓄᑦ ᑕᐃᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓱᒪᓕᐅᕈᑎᒋᓚᐅᖅᑕᕗᑦ ᐅᓯᔭᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᓯᕐᓗᐊᖁᑎᒋᔭᕗᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᖁᓪᓗᒍ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᖏᒡᓕᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᓯᕐᓗᐊᒧᑦ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᓯᓂᖃᕐᕕᐅᔪᑦ ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓂ ᓈᒻᒪᒋᔭᐅᓯᒪᓕᓚᐅᕐᒪᑕ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓱᒪᓕᐅᕈᑏᑦ, ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒋᓯᒪᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᒐᕙᒪᑐᖃᒃᑯᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᓂᐅᕝᕈᑎᖃᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᓄᑦ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᖁᑎᒃᓴᖃᖅᑎᖏᓐᓂᒃ, ᐊᑐᕐᓗᒋᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᐊᓕᕋᑦᑕ ᑕᒪᐃᑎᒍᑦ ᐅᓯᔭᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᓯᓂᖃᕐᕕᒋᔭᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓂ. ᐃᖃᓗᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᐸᐅᔭᖓᓂ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᓂᖅᐸᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐅᓯᔭᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᖃᕐᕕᒋᕙᒃᑲᑦᑎᒍ. ᑕᕝᕙᓂ ᓄᓇᓕᐅᔪᒥ ᑎᑭᕝᕕᐅᓯᒪᓕᖅᐸᒻᒪᑕ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓂᖖᒑᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᓯᔭᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᑲᑎᑦᑕᕐᕕᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂ ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖅᑎᑕᐅᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᔅᓴᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᒋᔭᐅᔪᓄᑦ. ᑖᓐᓇ ᓯᕐᓗᐊᖅ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᒧᑦ ᐋᖅᑭᐅᒪᓂᐅᓕᕆᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓗᓂ ᓄᑕᐅᓕᕆᐊᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᕆᐊᖃᕐᒪᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐋᖅᑭᒋᐊᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᕐᓗᓂ ᐊᖏᒡᓕᕙᓪᓕᐊᖏᓐᓇᕐᓂᖏᑦ ᐅᓯᔭᒃᓴᐃᑦ ᒪᓕᒃᓗᒋᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᒋᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂ. ᐱᐅᓯᒋᐊᕈᑎᐅᔪᑦ ᐃᓚᖃᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᒥᓱᖖᒍᕆᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓂᒃᓚᓱᒃᑎᑦᑎᕝᕕᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖁᐊᖃᐅᑎᓂᒃ ᐸᐸᑦᓯᕝᕕᐅᕙᓐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᓯᕈᖅᓴᕋᐃᑦᑑᑎᓄᑦ, ᐃᓚᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᓄᑕᐅᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᕐᓂᕐᓂᒃ ᐱᖁᑎᑦ ᓇᓃᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕈᑎᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓴᓇᕐᕈᑎᓂᒃ ᐱᐅᓯᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᖅᑎᐅᓂᕐᒥ ᒪᓕᒃᑕᐅᒋᐊᓕᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᑦ. ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᖃᕐᐳᖅ ᐊᖏᔪᒥᒃ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᖁᑎᔅᓴᓂᒃ ᕿᑐᕐᖏᐅᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᖃᕐᓂᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᕿᑭᖅᑕᓂ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᓯᓂᐅᔪᓄᑦ.

ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐅᓯᔭᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᓯᕐᓗᐊᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᒋᐊᕈᑎᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᓄᑦ, ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒃᑐᖓ ᑐᓴᖅᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᒥᒃ ᓄᑕᐅᓕᕆᐊᖅᑎᓯᒪᓕᓚᐅᕋᑦᑎᒍ ᐃᓄᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᖃᑕᐅᔾᔪᑎᖃᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓄᑦ ᐊᑭᓖᔾᔪᑎᒋᔭᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᕆᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ. ᐊᑭᑭᓪᓕᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᓕᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒃᑰᕈᑎᓂᒃ ᐋᖅᑭᒋᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᓚᐅᖖᖏᓐᓇᑦᑕ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓗᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᓴᖅᑮᓯᒪᓕᓚᐅᕐᒥᔪᒍᑦ ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᓂ ᐊᑭᒋᔭᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᔪᑉ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔾᔪᓯᖓᓂᒃ. ᓴᖅᑮᓯᒪᓕᓚᐅᕋᑦᑕ ᐃᓚᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒃᑰᕈᑎᓂᒃ ᔫᓂ 21-ᒥ ᐊᑕᐅᑦᓯᒃᑰᕐᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓂᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᑲᓇᑕᓕᒫᒥ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᕐᓯᒪᔪᐃᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᖃᖅᑎᑕᐅᓂᖓᓐᓄᑦ. ᐃᓚᒃ, ᑐᑭᖃᕐᒪᑦ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᒥᒃ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐱᖃᓐᓇᕆᔭᒥᒃ, ᓈᒻᒪᓪᓚᕆᒻᒪᑦ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔾᔪᓯᕆᔭᐅᓂᐊᕐᓗᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᔪᒧᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᕈᑎᒋᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᖃᕐᕕᑦᑎᓐᓂ. ᑖᓐᓇ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᔪᖅ ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᐃᓄᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᓚᖏᔭᐅᖃᑕᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᑎᖏᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᖏᓂ. ᐃᓛᓗ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᖃᑕᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᕆᔭᕗᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᐅᖏᓐᓇᐅᔭᕋᓗᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔾᔪᓯᖓᓂᒃ ᐋᖅᑮᓯᒪᓕᕈᓐᓇᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᓴᕆᒪᒋᔭᖃᒻᒪᕆᓚᐅᕋᑦᑕ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᑦᑕᑕᕐᕕᖃᓕᕈᑎᒋᓪᓗᒍ ᐃᑭᒪᔨᒋᕙᒃᑕᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ. ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᖅᑎᐅᓂᕗᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᐅᑉ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᖓᓂᕐᒥᐅᓄᑦ ᐅᐱᒋᓪᓚᕆᒃᑲᑦᑎᒍ. ᖃᐅᑕᒫᑦ ᐅᓯᕙᒃᑲᑦᑕ ᐃᓄᓐᓂᒃ ᓄᑖᑎᒍᑦ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᓂᖃᕆᐊᖅᓯᒪᕙᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᕐᔪᐊᕆᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᐃᓯᒪᓕᕈᓐᓇᕐᓂᖏᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᑎᑦᑎᓂᖃᓕᖅᐸᒃᑐᑕ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᒋᓪᓗᒍ ᑭᒃᑯᓕᒫᓂᑦ ᐅᐊᔭᕐᓂᕆᓂᐊᖅᑕᒥᓐᓂ ᐃᓚᐅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᔭᕆᐊᖃᕐᓂᖓᓄᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᒐᐅᓯᒪᓂᐊᕐᓗᓂ.

ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᒃ ᓂᕈᐊᓚᐅᕋᑦᓯ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖓᓂᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ. ᐃᖏᕐᕋᓂᕆᔭᕐᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᑎᓪᓗᑕ ᖁᕕᐊᓱᑦᑎᐊᕈᑎᖃᖁᒐᑦᑎᒋᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᕿᓚᒥᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᑕᑰᑎᒃᑲᓐᓂᕈᒫᕐᓂᐊᕆᕗᒍᑦ.

ᐸᕌᒃ ᕗᕇᓴᓐ ᕘᔅᑎᐊᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑳᖅ & ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎᔨᒻᒪᕆᒃ

Johnny Adams ÷i ≈bu Chairman of the Board, First Air grjx5typz vtmpq5b, { wx Président du Conseil d'Administration, First Air

Chers invités, Pouvoir eﬀectuer des vols dans la région arctique du Canada constitue pour nous un privilège exceptionnel et remarquable. Nous apprécions réellement votre présence à bord aujourd’hui. Il ne se passe pas un jour sans que nous cherchions des moyens d’améliorer chaque aspect de nos opérations pour mieux servir notre clientèle. Je tiens à vous communiquer quelques nouvelles intéressantes qui ont été annoncées récemment et qui nous permettront d’améliorer notre service, ainsi que nos liens avec notre clientèle de base. Je suis extrêmement fier et heureux de vous informer que notre proposition visant à remplacer et étendre nos opérations de manutention des cargaisons à Iqaluit a été approuvée. Cette proposition, faite conjointement avec le Fonds national des corridors commerciaux du gouvernement fédéral, nous permettra d’améliorer tous les aspects de nos opérations de manutention des cargaisons à Iqaluit, le plus important centre de fret de notre réseau. On y reçoit toutes les cargaisons provenant du Sud et il sert de plaque tournante de fret pour sa distribution aux collectivités. Il nous faut veiller à ce que ce carrefour soit modernisé et adapté pour répondre aux demandes croissantes en matière de fret sur notre réseau. Les améliorations comprendront une augmentation de la capacité de refroidissement et de congélation pour mieux entreposer les articles périssables, ainsi que la mise à niveau des technologies de suivi pour améliorer les normes de service. Il s’agit d’un investissement et d’un engagement substantiels dans nos opérations de Qikiqtani. En plus des améliorations au fret, je suis également heureux d’annoncer que nous avons récemment restructuré notre programme de tarif passager à l’intention des bénéficiaires inuits. Nous avons non seulement réduit les tarifs des bénéficiaires, mais nous avons aussi créé un nouveau nom pour le programme. Nous avons introduit le tarif Ilak le 21 juin pour coïncider avec la Journée nationale des peuples autochtones. Ilak, qui signifie Famille ou Ami, est le nom parfait d’un programme qui sert notre clientèle de base. Ce programme est accessible aux bénéficiaires inuits inscrits auprès de leurs associations. Ce programme visant les bénéficiaires existait déjà, mais le fait de pouvoir finalement lui donner un nom est un moment de fierté qui nous relie davantage à nos clients. Servir l’Arctique canadien est un honneur. Chaque jour, nous transportons des passagers pour un nouveau voyage passionnant et nous leur oﬀrons la possibilité d’explorer une partie de notre pays qui mérite d’être au sommet de la liste des voyages de tous. Merci d’avoir choisi First Air pour votre vol aujourd’hui. Nous espérons que vous aurez été satisfait de votre voyage et nous espérons vous revoir à bord prochainement.

Brock Friesen Président-directeur général de First Air

ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᐅᑉ ᐅᔾᔨᕆᔭᐅᑎᑕᐅᓂᖓ |

Employee Spotlight | Iqqanaijaqtiup Ujjirijautitauninga

ᓴᒪᐃᐊ ᕗᐊᑦ | Shemaiah Ford ᓴᒪᐃᐊ ᕗᐊᑦ ᐃᕐᓂᐊᖑᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᓯᐋᑐᓪ, ᕗᐊᓯᖕᑕᓐᒥ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓗ ᔭᓗᓇᐃ, ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕐᒥᐅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑐᓂ ᐊᒥᓱᑲᓪᓚᐅᓕᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᓄᑦ. ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᒋᔭᐅᕗᖅ ᔭᓗᓇᐃᒥ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᓯᔨᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᓕᐅᔪᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐅᐊᓕᓂᕐᒥᐅᑦ ᐊᕕᒃᑐᖅᓯᒪᓂᖓᓂ. ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕌᓂᒃᓯᒪᓕᕋᒥ, ᓴᒪᐃᐊ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᓕᒫᒥᐅᓄᑦ ᑎᑭᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᖃᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᑯᓈᑦ ᑯᐃᓐ ᐃᓕᓴᐱ ᐅᒥᐊᕐᔪᐊᖁᑎᖓᓂ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᐃᑎᑦᑎᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒋᕙᒃᑐᓂᒋᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒌᖖᒋᐅᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᕐᔪᐊᓕᒻᒥᐅᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᖃᕐᑐᑦ. ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᒃᑖᕐᓯᒪᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᑎᒍᑦ ᕿᑐᕐᖏᐅᖅᑎᑦᑎᔨᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᔪᖖᒋᓐᓂᕆᔭᒥᓂᒃ ᐱᕈᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᓪᓕᐊᖏᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᓕᖅᑐᒥᓗ ᖁᓕᓪᓗᐊᓄᑦ (10) ᐅᑭᐅᓄᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᒻᒪᕆᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᖃᖅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑐᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᓕᒻᒪᒃᓴᔭᐅᓯᒪᔾᔪᑎᖃᓕᖅᑐᓂ. ᓴᒪᐃᐊ ᐃᓄᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒋᕙᒃᑕᒥᓂᒃ ᐱᕈᖅᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᖅᓯᒪᓕᕐᐳᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒌᓐᓇᐅᔭᖅᐸᓕᖅᑐᓂᒋᑦ ᐊᒥᓱᑦ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᖃᖅᑎᒋᕙᒃᑕᒥᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖁᑦᑎᖕᓂᖅᐸᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᓂᐅᕕᖅᑎᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᓈᒻᒪᒋᔭᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᓂᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᐱᓯᒪᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᖅᐸᒃᑐᓂ.

ᐊᐅᓚᑦᓯᔨᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᓕᐅᔪᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗ, ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᒥᓂ ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓱᐃᕙᒋᐊᖃᖅᑎᑕᐅᕗᖅ ᓄᑖᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᖃᓕᕐᕕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ, ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓱᐃᔨᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ, ᐅᐊᔭᕈᑎᔅᓴᓕᕆᓂᕐᓄᑦ, ᐱᔾᔪᑎᖃᖅᑎᒋᔭᐅᕙᒃᓗᓂ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᒻᒪᕆᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᑲᑎᒪᕕᒡᔪᐊᕐᓂᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ, ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᖃᖅᑐᑦ ᑕᑯᔅᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᕙᓐᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓯᖏᓄᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂ, ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥᐅᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᒋᔭᖏᓐᓂ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ, ᖁᕝᕙᖅᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᕐᓂᖃᖅᐸᒃᑐᑎᒃ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ. ᓄᑖᑎᒍᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᐅᓕᕈᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓱᐃᕙᓪᓕᐊᓪᓗᓂ, ᐃᓚᖏᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᕆᕙᒃᑕᖏᑦ ᐃᓚᖃᖅᐸᒃᑐᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖅᑎᒻᒪᕆᐅᕙᓐᓂᕐᒥᓄᑦ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᑐᐊᕕᐅᕐᓇᖅᑐᓕᕆᔨᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᒋᔭᖏᓐᓂ, ᑎᑭᓯᒪᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᖅᐸᓐᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐅᑎᖅᑐᒃᓴᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐱᔭᓯᒪᓕᕈᒪᔪᓄᑦ, ᓇᓗᓇᐃᔭᐃᔨᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂ ᓂᐅᕕᖅᐸᒃᑐᑦ ᐱᓯᒪᓕᕆᐊᖃᖅᑕᖏᓂᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᖏᖃᑎᒌᒐᓱᐊᖅᑎᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᑐᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᔨᐅᕙᓐᓂᕐᓄᑦ ᐅᓯᔭᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᑭᒪᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᔪᓐᓇᐅᑎᐅᓕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ.

ᓴᒪᐃᐊ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂ ᐊᒥᓲᓗᐊᖖᒋᑦᑐᓄᑦ ᑕᖅᑭᓄᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᒋᔭᐅᓕᖅᓯᒪᒐᓗᐊᕋᒥ ᐃᓕᑦᑎᕙᓪᓕᐊᕋᓚᔫᕗᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᕆᓂᐊᖅᑕᒥᓂᒃ. “ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒃᑯᕝᕕᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᐅᓕᕐᓂᕋ ᐅᕙᓐᓄᑦ ᓄᑖᓪᓚᕆᐅᓚᐅᕐᒪᑦ ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓗ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᖃᖅᓯᒪᓂᒃᑲ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᖃᕐᓯᒪᓂᕐᓄᑦ, ᓄᓇᓯᐅᑎᓂᒃ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᖃᖅᐸᓐᓂᕐᓄᑦ, ᐱᓕᒻᒪᒃᓴᐃᔨᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓯᒪᓂᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᐊᔭᕐᓂᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᓪᓗᖓ, ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᕆᓕᖅᑕᓐᓂ ᖃᓄᐃᒃᓴᖖᒋᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᖓ ᐊᒪᓗ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᓐᓂᒃ ᖁᓚᕆᔭᖃᕐᓇᖓ. ᐊᖏᔪᒥᒃ ᐃᓕᑦᑎᕙᓪᓕᐊᒐᒪ. ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᐃᑦ ᐱᐅᓪᓚᕆᒃᑑᒻᒪᑕ; ᑕᒪᕐᒥᒃᓗ ᐃᑲᔪᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᑦᑎᐊᖅᐸᒃᑐᑎᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᐅᔪᓄᑦ. ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᒋᔭᕐᓂᒃ ᑲᒻᐸᓂᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᐱᐅᒃᓴᑦᑎᐊᑐᐊᕈᕕᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒋᔪᓐᓇᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᒋᑦ ᐃᓱᒪᑕᕆᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖃᑎᒋᔭᕐᓂᒃ, ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᑲᔪᕐᓂᖃᒻᒪᕆᒍᓐᓇᕐᒪᑕ. ᖁᕕᐊᒋᓪᓚᕆᒃᐸᕋ ᐅᐊᔭᖃᑕᐅᕙᒍᓐᓇᕋᒪ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖃᑎᖃᕈᓐᓇᐃᓐᓇᖅᐸᒃᑐᖓ. ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᕆᔭᓐᓂᒃ ᖁᕕᐊᒋᔭᖃᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᖓ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖁᔭᓕᓪᓗᖓ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖅᑎᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐃᓚᖏᔭᐅᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᓐᓂᒃ.”

Shemaiah Ford was born in Seattle, Washington, but has lived in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories for many years. She works in Yellowknife as the Manager of Sales and Community Relations for the Western Region.

After graduation, Shemaiah travelled the world working on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth’s cruise ship interacting with all nationalities and cultures. She started her own business ventures and continued growing her skills to now obtain nearly 10 years of professional sales experience and training. Shemaiah has built and maintained many relationships with customers and ensures a high level of customer satisfaction.

As the Manager of Sales and Community Relations, her position requires her to develop new business opportunities, organize events, travel, represent First Air professionally in conferences, trade shows and other communities, both in northern and southern parts of Canada, and at promotional events. While developing new business opportunities, some of her responsibilities include being an active member of the First Air Emergency Response Team, achieving revenue targets, identifying customer requirements, and negotiation and implementation of cargo and passenger contracts. Shemaiah has only been with First Air for a few months but is learning very quickly. “I was new to the aviation side of things but because of my previous entrepreneurial, car sales, training and travel experience, I feel comfortable and confident in my new position. I have been learning a lot. The staff at First Air is great; everyone works well together. When you like your company and have a good relationship with your superiors and co-workers, it makes a huge difference. I love that I get to travel and interact with people constantly. I enjoy my position and feel grateful to be part of the team.” Shemaiah has a big family that was born in Yellowknife. “I have eight

ᓴᒪᐃᐊ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᖏᑦ ᐊᒥᓲᒻᒪᑕ ᐃᕐᓂᐊᖑᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᔭᓗᓇᐃᒥ. “8-ᓂᒃ ᐊᑦᑕᖃᖅᐳᖓ ᑕᐅᕙᓂᕐᒥᐅᑕᐅᔪᓗᒃᑖᓂᒃ, aunts that all live here, which means many uncles and cousins as ᑕᒪᓐᓇᓗ ᑐᑭᖃᕆᕗᖅ ᐊᒥᓲᒻᒥᒻᒪᑕ ᐊᒃᑲᒋᔭᒃᑲ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᕐᓇᖃᑎᒋᔭᒃᑲᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᑕᐃᒪᐅᓗᒃᑖᕆᓪᓗᑎᒃ. ᐃᓚᒌᖑwell. With a large family, it is very easy to know most of the people ᔪᑎᒍᑦ ᐊᒥᓲᓪᓗᑕ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᒋᓪᓗᒋᑦ, ᐊᒥᓱᑲᓪᓚᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᖃᓕᕈᓐᓇᕈᑎᒋᒐᒃᑭᑦ ᖃᓅᒐᓗᐊᑭᐊᖅ.” ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᕐᓇᖅ ᐃᓱᓕᓯᒪᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᔪᓐᓇᓲᖑᕗᖅ ᓴᒪᐃᐊ ᐱᖖᒍᐊᖃᑕᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᖃᑕᐅᕙᒃᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐊᒥᓱᐃᓄᑦ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐸᕐᓇᒃᐸᓪᓕᐊᓕᕐᒥᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᓄᑖᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᕆᓕᕐᓂᐊᕐᒥᔭᒥᓄᑦ. ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᐅᑉ ᐃᓱᐊᓂ ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖅᓯᒪᔪᒪᒃᑲᐅᕗᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᒥᓂᒃ ᐱᖃᓐᓇᕆᔭᒥᓂᒃᓗ ᐃᓚᖃᑦᑎᐊᕈᒪᕙᒃᑐᓂ.

within the community somehow.”

Outside of work you’re likely to see Shemaiah participating in sports of all kinds or getting ready for her next adventure. She likes to get away for the weekends and enjoys her time with her family and friends.

The Inflight Magazine for First Air

2018 | 04 YOURS TO KEEP

A Walrus Hunt

Moving Pictures from the Permafrost

Narwhals: The One that Points to the Sky

Contents

Capturing the North on Film

10 23

July | August 2018 Volume 30, No. 4

PM40050872

o www.arcticjournal.ca

Two girls drum dancing, silhouetted by the sun. © Lee Narraway

Publisher: above&beyond ltd. Managing Editor: Doris Ohlmann doris@arcticjournal.ca Advertising: 613-257-4999 Toll Free: 1-877-2ARCTIC 1-877-227-2842 advertising@arcticjournal.ca Design: Robert Hoselton, Beat Studios

above&beyond ltd., (aka above&beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal) is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Air, and a media instrument intended solely to entertain and provide general information about the North. The views and opinions expressed in editorial content, advertisements, or by contributors, do not necessarily reﬂect the views, oﬃcial positions or policies of First Air, its agents, or those of above&beyond magazine unless expressly stated. above&beyond ltd. does not assume any responsibility for any errors and/or omissions of any content in the publication. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited. We welcome contributions but assume no responsibility for unsolicited material. Send to editor@arcticjournal.ca.

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Features

A Walrus Hunt

Near the river a small herd of walruses watched us with their red-veined eyes. — Text and photos by Nick Newbery

Moving Pictures from the Permafrost

Founded in 1896, the same year that large-scale, commercial projection took off, Dawson was perfectly situated to grow as a hotbed of the fledgling film industry. — Michael Engelhard

Capturing the North on Film

Narraway, dressed in a borrowed caribou suit and qammiks, spent eight days travelling by dog team, eating country food, and sleeping in a tent. That was Narraway’s ﬁrst trip to the Arctic. — Season Osborne

Narwhals: The One that Points to the Sky!

Of all the whales that exist, one perhaps more than any other ignites more questions than answers. — Text and photos by Dave Reid

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

2018 | 04

09 Destination Focus

13 Living Above&Beyond 21 Resources

36 Health Isuarsivik Treatment Facility 39 Sports Arctic Winter Games — Text and photos by Thorsten Gohl

43 Tourism Protecting Traditional Inuit Lands — Parks Canada 46 Arts Get ’er Done Labrador-style 48 Bookshelf

50 Inuit Forum — Natan Obed National Inuit Leader & President, ITK

73.0376° N, 85.1480° W

ARCTIC BAy

Located at the entrance to Sirmilik National Park, Arctic Bay is a traditional Inuit community nestled

between mountains and ocean. Arctic Bay, also known as ‘Ikpiarjuk’ in Inuktitut, meaning ‘The Pocket,’ has an archeological and oral history showing that Inuit have inhabited the area for

thousands of years. Hunting in the area has long drawn nomadic groups of Inuit to the area. Today, Arctic Bay is also home to many of Nunavut’s ﬁnest photographers, capturing the stunning landscapes of mountains and the ocean.

Arctic Bay is a traditional community heavily reliant on hunting, ﬁshing, and tourism. It provides

visitors with a wide range of Arctic experiences: Inuit culture and traditions, rare Arctic wildlife, and awe-inspiring scenery.

Located at the northern tip of Baﬃn Island, the region is known for outdoor adventures

including: paddling, hiking and dog sledding. Community members are pleased to share their local

knowledge, gained over thousands of years, to get up close and personal with beluga and narwhal and the powerful polar bear.

The community was established with the opening of a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post in

1933 to conduct trade, followed by the opening of an Anglican mission in 1937.

In 1941, a joint Canada-U.S. weather station was built in Arctic Bay that operated for 20 years.

D E S T I N AT I O N F O C U S

Some essential Arctic Bay experiences include:

• Paddling, hiking and dog sledding • Viewing marine wildlife

– narwhal and beluga whales

• Experiencing Inuit culture, arts, and traditions

• Stunning landscape photography

It is the oldest building still standing. The ﬁrst school was built in 1959 and this brought the slow movement of Inuit oﬀ the land and into the community on a permanent basis.

Arctic Bay is close to the former mining community of Nansivik, which at one point was a

self-contained town until the mine closed in 2002. The Nansivik site still has port infrastructure for large military vessels.

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Walrus herd.

A Walrus Hunt Text and photos by Nick Newbery

Summers in Nunavut shower an explosion of beauty and colour on a landscape that has known only snow and ice for much of the year. With the return of the warmer weather comes the re-appearance of wildlife and birds contradicting the myth that the Arctic is a place devoid of life or character. The land’s unique character is enhanced by long hours of daylight, which provide exaggerated dawns and dusks with their soft colours extending seemingly forever, a dreamscape for any painter or photographer.

Three amigos!

As my time living in the North grew longer, I spent more of my summers using Iqaluit as a springboard to explore Nunavut, visiting historic sites and northern parks and looking for wildlife, all the while taking pictures along the way. One summer Mosha Akavak and his son Joshua and I went looking for walruses and bears along the south coast of Baffin Island. Mosha is an experienced hunter who is constantly out 10

on the land and Joshua wanted to get his first walrus, so our goals coincided nicely. The Akavak family is originally from Kimmirut, about 100 km southwest of Iqaluit, and since Mosha planned to spend August in his hometown one summer, we decided to set out from there. I could have taken the daily scheduled flight from Iqaluit across the Meta Incognita and Katannilik Park to Kimmirut but a friend who was part owner of a small Cessna plane needed to get his flying hours built up, so in exchange for buying the gas, I got not only a private flight over South Baffin but the feeling of unbelievable privilege! Once in Kimmirut we stocked up Mosha’s boat with gas and supplies and left on the high tide for a trip along the coast, going east along Hudson Strait. Over the next couple of days, we explored bays and inlets looking for wildlife. We fished for Arctic char and searched for goose eggs because, when the two are cooked up together in butter for supper they are, well, mamaqtuq! We even had a night visitor, a wolf, who must have thought he was invited to dinner and who sat patiently near our tent for half an hour before realizing the kitchen was closed. On day three, Mosha took the boat down a bay which stemmed from a river at the far end. Near that river was what we had come for, a small herd of walruses, watching us with their red-veined eyes. Mosha positioned the boat to keep them near the mouth of the river and suggested we should have something to eat as the hunt would come later. As the tide went down, he eased the boat towards the animals, slowly pushing them back towards the river. When the tide got to its lowest, the walrus found themselves stranded among the rocks and low river water and could not escape. Joshua’s 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

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Joshua poised to harpoon his ﬁrst walrus.

Preparing to land the catch.

time had come. He shot one walrus and immediately harpooned it, using a five-gallon jerry can to serve as a float. With just enough water available to manoeuvre the dead animal out from the rocks, the two men tied it to the boat and pulled it into deeper water. After that, in true Inuit style, it was time for a cup of tea and some homemade bannock. With the daylight starting to lessen, the two Inuit towed the 1,000-kg animal across the bay to shore where it could be pulled up on the rocks to be butchered and cached. The skin would be made into strong rope, the blubber and meat would provide food for family and the ivory tusks would be sold or used for carving. As Inuit tradition has always dictated, nothing should go to waste. The next day, part of the walrus was cached under rocks to be collected the next winter, with heather thrown over the cache and set alight, a practice which sometimes helps drown the smell of the walrus and keeps hungry animals away. Then we loaded the boat with the rest of the carcass and headed for Kimmirut. On the way back, we came across a couple of bears, one on land and another in the water, with the latter providing the chance for us to get close to yet another majestic northern animal. For a while we cruised alongside the swimming bear taking pictures before heading back past the little bays and inlets towards Mosha’s home community. 1,000 kg for the larder!

Time to butcher.

Once back in town I reverted to my feeling of privilege and called up my personal aircraft. Soon afterwards the Cessna landed on Kimmirut’s short gravel runway and we flew back to Iqaluit through the quietness and soft colours of yet another of the North’s long evenings. Nick Newbery taught in several communities in Nunavut from 1976-2005. The photos in this article are from Nick’s Arctic photo collection that can be found at www.newberyphotoarchives.ca and should be viewed from a historical perspective. Smoking the cache.

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LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND

What’s that in the sky?

In early April, the skies over the Nunavik community of Kangiqsujuaq were alive with colour as kite-skiers participated in the annual Kite Ski Championship. This year’s event saw 10 participants from six communities coming to the small Northern town. Wearing skis, the sport enthusiasts propel themselves upwards with the help of a kite and hopefully strong winds. This year’s winner was Quppa George Pinguatuk from Salluit. Games took place in the community every night as well to go along with the championship. The program started in 2006 and there are now more than 25 communities involved. Many municipal governments and diﬀerent funding organizations and individuals pulled together to make the event happen this year. For more information and photos on the Kite Ski Championship, visit Arctic Wind Riders.ca or on Facebook. The Kativik Regional Government also runs a Nunavik Kite Ski Program, which supports clubs in Nunavik’s communities. Krg.ca

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Kite skiers prepare to ride the thermals. © Guillaume Roy

Winner of the 2018 Kite Ski Championship is Quppa George Pinguatuk from Salluit, Nunavik. © Guillaume Roy

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LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND

NWT students to aid out-of-this-world project Students in the Northwest Territories will soon be engaging in an out-of-this-world learning experience in the rapidly evolving nanosatellite market, helping to design, construct and test a satellite payload, thanks to funding from the Canadian Space Agency's Canadian CubeSat Project. Aurora Research Institute (ARI) and Aurora College will receive $250,000 over four years to

work with high school students, Aurora College students and youth to develop the hardware, software and content for the outreach component of the satellites. Students will be able to collaborate with others across the territory, building a support network for young people with an interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), and space science especially.

ARI and Aurora College are joining 15 other colleges and universities from across Canada in designing and building 15 CubeSat satellites that will be deployed from the International Space Station. ARI is further partnering with Yukon College and the University of Alberta to build the core satellite platform. The three satellites will work in a constellation to complete a space weather monitoring mission proposed by the University of Alberta, as well as their own individual missions. During development, the missions are designed to engage youth in the design, hardware engineering, and programming of an outreach payload intended to accomplish speciﬁc mission goals. Once the satellites are operational, youth will be involved with the collection and sharing of stories, art and games with participants from around the world. The ARI satellite's three outreach missions will support student-led Indigenous language and culture revitalization programs and address the need to promote increased and active speaking of Indigenous languages as outlined in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The three outreach missions include: Northern Images: Participants will develop a platform for art to be displayed in front of a camera on the CubeSat with the earth as a backdrop; Northern Voices: Northern stories about space and sky - in Indigenous languages — will be shared by participants and uploaded to the satellite to be transmitted to amateur radios across the country; Northern Games: Participants will create a globally interactive game for amateur radio operators to participate in. Special recordings played only in certain geographic zones will require global cooperation to decode the entire message. Northern Indigenous histories and languages will be the subject of messages and content.

For updates on the progress of the project or information about how to become involved, contact Aurora Research Institute at www.nwtresearch.com or check out the ARI Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AuroraResearch-Institute-124567754290093/. 14

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New Fellows announced

The 2018-2019 Jane Glassco Fellows gather in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Winter 2018. © Pat Kane

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LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND

Fifteen new Fellows are joining the Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship Program. They are, from the Yukon: Luke Campbell, Ashley Carvill, Alysha Kufeldt, Kelly Panchynshyn, and Julianna Scramstad. Northwest Territories Fellows are: Heather Bourassa, Don Couturier, Chloe Dragon Smith, Peter Greenland, and Kristen Tanche. Hailing from Nunavut are: Laura Arngna’naaq, Tina Piulia Decouto, Marjorie Kaviq Kaluraq, and Megan PizzoLyall. And the recipient from Nunavik is Hilda Snowball. Over the next two years, the current Fellows plan to collaborate on exciting northern opportunities and challenges, including resource devolution, education, water protection and truth and reconciliation. Follow their progress at: www.gordonfoundation.ca

CanNor has provided funds to develop the inshore turbot ﬁshery in Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut. © Picture Partners/Fotolia.com

Fisheries receive funding

The Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) announced in May that it’s investing $2,067,770 in a four-year research project off the coast of Baffin Island. The project, run by the Nunavut Fisheries Association, will examine the commercial viability of porcupine crab, offshore and inshore turbot and enhanced trawling technology. CanNor is also providing $526,130 over two years to develop the inshore turbot fishery in Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut. The project includes experienced Pangnirtung fishermen training local fishermen and installing a walk-in, energyefficient freezer to store fish. The territorial Department of Economic Development and Transportation is also investing $369,720 in the project and the hamlet is contributing $23,300. The federal government is also investing $1,261,890 over five years in University of Waterloo projects that will help identify and restore coastal ecosystems in northern Canada. The university will work with the Kugluktuk Hunter and Trappers Organization to identify migratory patterns and overwintering habits of Arctic char and Dolly Varden trout in the Coppermine River and river systems near Kugluktuk, Nunavut. The study will also include a restoration plan for one to two high priority streams that support fisheries and are subject to low-flow events and fish stranding.

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Celebrating Spring

The Toonik Tyme Festival in Iqaluit is an annual celebration of Inuit traditions and return to spring. Sponsored by Arctic UAV, this year’s festivities April 12 to 22, included a Craft Fair, Bingo, BBQ, outdoor games, Snowmobile Races, 10K race, dog sled races, seal skinning contest, community feast, ptarmigan/rabbit hunt, mini golf, skating, music, skijoring race, seal hunt, ice sculpture contest, scavenger hunt, indoor games, Talent contest, ﬁshing derby, cross-country skiing, ice games, and more. www.tooniktyme.ca

Photos courtesy www.arcticuav.ca

Funding announced for Northern Airport upgrades In May, Transport Canada announced an investment of more than $35 million to improve the ﬂow of supplies to Northern communities, support economic opportunities and enhance travel in remote communities. First Air will receive funds to build an expanded cargo warehouse at the Iqaluit airport. This additional capacity will strengthen

this vital north/south transportation corridor to maintain an effective and stable supply chain to Canada’s North. The new high efficiency building will increase capacity by approximately 75 per cent for climatecontrolled dry goods and refrigerated products to reduce spoiled and damaged goods due to weather delays. The project is expected to

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create an estimated 120 jobs for Northerners during construction. Five communities, Kugluktuk, Naujaat, Kimmirut, Whale Cove and Chesterﬁeld Inlet, will also receive funds to replace outdated and undersized airport terminal buildings. This project is expected to create an estimated 220 jobs during construction.

LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND

Order of Nunavut recipients honoured

L to R: The Honourable Nellie Taptaqut Kusugak, Commissioner of Nunavut and Chancellor of the Order of Nunavut; Ludy Pudlu; Betty Brewster; The Honourable Joe Enook, MLA, Speaker Legislative Assembly; and The Honourable Paul Quassa, Premier of Nunavut. © Michel Albert

Betty Brewster and Ludy Pudluk received the Order of Nunavut honour in June at the Nunavut Legislature. Betty Brewster, a long-serving interpretertranslator, known throughout Nunavut and beyond, is renowned for her knowledge of many Inuit language dialects, including Inuinnaqtun, Roman orthography and the eastern dialects. Ludy Pudluk, a former MLA and mayor of Resolute Bay, is originally from the Pond Inlet area, spending most of his life in Resolute Bay after being relocated there in the 1950s. From 1975 to 1991, he was elected four times to serve as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, representing the constituency of High Arctic. After the electoral district’s name changed to Quttiktuq, he won re-election in 1991 and served as a territorial MLA until 1995. Following his 20-year career as an MLA, Pudluk served as mayor of Resolute Bay and participated in other local organizations.

Supporting anti-bullying and wellness Inﬂuencers Motivating Inﬂuencers toured Canada’s Arctic in April and May featuring world renowned magician Brian Glow and his anti-bullying and wellness magic show. The illusionist performed for K to 12 students during the day and then presented a community show in the evenings at various Arctic locations. All events were free. The interactive magic shows delighted audiences in Yellowknife, Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven,

Rankin Inlet, Iqaluit, Grise Fiord, Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay, Resolute Bay, Pangnirtung and Clyde River. The We Matter Campaign was also brought to the schools as part of the program. It is an online campaign that promotes Aboriginal and Inuit Leadership, and healthy living. www.wemattercampaign.org First Air and Calm Air sponsored 100 per cent of the air travel for the tour. Proceeds from the

Iqaluit show went to the Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Helpline, available 24/7 at 1 800 265-3333. This August and September Brian Glow is planning on returning to Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven, Taloyoak, Kugaaruk, and Kugluktuk. To have Glow and his team visit and perform in your Hamlet, email them at inﬂuencersmotivate@gmail.com.

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Annual expedition to support research projects

On May 25, the research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen left its home port of Quebec City for its 14th annual expedition to Canada’s Arctic. The 2018 expedition will be first devoted to the Hudson Bay System (BaySys) Study, co-led by the University of Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro. Initially planned for 2017, this program was postponed due to unusual southerly drift of hazardous Arctic sea ice. Funded at a level of $17 million, the five-year program will develop an understanding of how to separate the impacts of climate change from those of hydroelectric development on freshwater-marine coupling in Hudson Bay. It will also support research on the GENICE project, funded by Genome Canada, to investigate the potential for microbial genomics to remediate oil spills in sea ice. A portion of the 106-day expedition will be dedicated to research and training activities of the Sentinel North program, a major Université Laval-led multidisciplinary initiative funded by the Canada First Excellence Research Fund (CFREF). Sampling as part of the BriGHT project (Bridging Global change, Inuit Health and the Transforming Arctic Ocean) will be conducted to help clarify the complex links between global change, the marine food web and Inuit health in Nunavik. An international Ph.D. School in Baffin Bay will provide students with a unique opportunity to interact with high-profile scientists and mentors as part of a transdisciplinary and highly technological training program to investigate

the role of light in driving the Arctic ecosystem. Operations will also be conducted in support of Sentinel North’s BOND project (Beacons of Northern Dynamics), which develops and deploys new sensors to detect climate active gases in the ocean and atmosphere. The expedition will support the Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems program, led by Memorial University of Newfoundland in collaboration with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, ArcticNet, and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. Operations will be conducted between Iqaluit and Resolute Bay to acquire baseline data on the biodiversity and productivity of fragile ecosystems in the Labrador Sea and Baﬃn Bay such as coral forests and sponge grounds.

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CCGS Amundsen © Martin Fortier/ArcticNet

The final leg of the expedition will be dedicated to ArcticNet’s marine based research program as well as the Kitikmeot Marine Ecosystems Study, a collaborative project with The W. Garﬁeld Weston Foundation and Parks Canada to advance knowledge on the Queen Maud Gulf region of Nunavut, home to the wrecks of the historic Franklin expedition ships HMS Terror and Erebus. The results of these research projects and many others will be presented this year at ArcticNet’s 2018 Annual Scientiﬁc Meeting in Ottawa December 10 to 14.

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RESOURCES

NWT

Geoscience students oﬀered new program

Exploration work begins

Geoscience field assistants are involved with a wide range of work, including prepping field equipment, helping with bedrock sampling, and taking notes on observations. Students interested in this type of work can enroll in NWT’s new free Geoscience Field Assistant Training Program, run through Aurora College. The course includes five weeks of in-class education, followed by 160 hours of paid, onthe-job training through mining companies partnered with the program. The program is funded by the territorial government, the Mine Training Society, Aurora College, and the local mining industry.

Arctic Star Exploration Corp. has commenced exploration on its Diagras Property located in the Northwest Territories. The exploration program will consist of Gravity, Magnetic and Electromagnetic (EM) ground surveys focused around historically identified kimberlites as well as other airborne geophysical anomalies with kimberlite like signatures. This ground work will provide detailed data for further analysis and interpretation to identify additional kimberlite potential and targets. Diagras is in the prolific Lac de Gras diamond field and consists of 18,699 contiguous hectares of mineral claims containing 12 previously identified kimberlites.

The Northwest Territories’ newest diamond mine recently found a 95-carat diamond, the largest gem-quality the Gaucho Kue mine has produced so far. The diamond’s shape and high quality means less of it will have to be lost in the cutting and polishing process compared to stones with imperfections. It’s not carrying any negative attributes. Diavik mine found the 187.7-carat Foxﬁre stone in 2015. Ekati mine found the 78-carat Ekati Spirit stone in 2010. Mountain Province owns 49 per cent of Gahcho Kue, located 280 km northeast of Yellowknife. De Beers owns the rest and operates the mine.

Nominations for the annual MAX awards are now open. The awards celebrate and encourage excellence in resource development within the NWT. Nominations are being sought in the following categories: Distinguished Service, Economic Leadership, Environmental and Social Responsibility, Indigenous achievement and Special Achievement. The nominations deadline is October 1, 2018. Nominations can be submitted through the GNWT Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment’s MAX Awards Nomination Portal (www.engage-iti.ca/MAX2018) or at the Chamber of Mines oﬃce in Yellowknife. The awards will be presented November 22 during the 46th Annual Yellowknife Geoscience Forum.

Large stone found

Nominations open

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NUNAVUT IBA ﬁnalized

Sabina Gold and Silver Corp. and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association have finalized an Inuit impact and benefit agreement for the Back River gold project. Sabina’s plans for Back River include a chain of open pit and underground mines at its Goose property. The pits are expected to operate for at least 10 years and would involve filling, damming or draining lakes and streams and building a 157-km road from the mine to a seasonal port and tank farm at Bathurst Inlet. Sabina hopes to produce about 200,000 ounces of gold per year with an initial investment of $415 million. The company expects to secure its Type A water license later this year. The regional Inuit association will receive a one-per-cent production royalty as well as shares in Sabina and a commitment to Inuit employment and training.

NUNAVIK

Test work continues

Commerce Resources Corp. has completed site infrastructure assessment for the Ashram Rare Earth Project, located in northern Quebec. This work included identiﬁcation of soil type and its suitability as foundation material, as well as other related attributes critical to site assessment and development. The work was completed at the Laboratoires d’Expertises de Québec ltée and Groupe Qualitas Inc., a division of SNC-Lavalin. Follow-up kinetic test work is now underway and is expected to be completed later in 2018. In addition, sequential extraction tests are planned which will further assess the potential mobility, bioavailability, and toxicity of metals and therefore provide information on the metal removal mechanisms. Commerce has also entered into a collaboration with Université Laval to process material from the Ashram Rare Earth Deposit. The test work will focus on a pilot plant validation of a new hydrometallurgical process for the extraction of rare earth elements (REEs), and a newly developed software model simulator for the separation of these elements.

The Northwest Territories’ newest diamond mine recently found a 95-carat diamond, the largest gem-quality the Gaucho Kue mine has produced so far. © Mountain Province Diamonds Inc

First Avenue in Dawson City in 1898. Courtesy of Vancouver Public Library

Moving pictures from the permafrost F By Michael Engelhard

Color postcard by E. A. Hegg showing the ﬁnal approach to the Chilkoot Pass. Wikimedia Commons / National Archives

ounded in 1896, the same year that large-scale, commercial projection took off, Dawson was perfectly situated to grow as a hotbed of the fledgling film industry. It hummed with audiences eager to be entertained. Theatres such as the Orpheum or Monte Carlo distracted townspeople on long winter nights, and miners who’d never strike it rich. As camera light beams pierced smoke-scented halls, men and women marveled at luminous ghosts, glimpsing worlds they’d temporarily renounced. When the Spanish-American war broke out, throngs gathered and paid to hear the newspaper articles read. “Good Time Girls” and impresarios walked the city’s muddy streets. Future Hollywood moguls Sid Grauman (a sometime boxing promoter) and Alexander Pantages worked in Dawson hotels. Any fortune hunter quitting his bank job to follow the siren call North was kindred to those headed west to chase wealth or fame in the Dream Factory.

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Film poster for Dawson City: Frozen Time. Courtesy of Kino Lorber

The ballooning subarctic settlement lay at the end of film distribution lines, where motion pictures often were screened only years after they had premiered. Dodging the high cost of return shipping, distribution companies charged a bank manager with keeping the films at the local library. When that ran out of storage space, cartloads of reels that could not compete with the new “talkies” were dumped among the Yukon’s grinding ice floes, cremated at the waterfront, or buried as landfill.

During construction of a new Dawson City rec centre in 1978, a backhoe unearthed 533 newsreels and feature films dating from 1903 to 1929, many of them thought to have been lost to time’s ravages, others previously unknown. Stored initially in the library’s basement, they had been interred in an old gym pool that double-functioned as an ice rink. There they rested like Snow White in her crystal coffin. The pool site was part of the Dawson Amateur Athletic Association’s building, which opened in 1902 and soon after began screening films. Some of the cache’s contents played again in the rebuilt Palace Grand Theatre 15 months after their discovery, almost 50 years after their disappearance. The reels spanning the heydays of silent, black-and-white moving pictures recently caught the attention of New York film director Bill Morrison — a fan of things out of fashion. He artfully reassembled snippets of cinematic treasure snatched from the debris. His two-hour, largely narration-free meditation Dawson City: Frozen Time launched in 2017 to acclaim. (Only showing in a few, select theatres, it can be downloaded from iTunes.) A subtitle five minutes in, “Film was born of an explosive,” refers to the martial origins of celluloid. The plasticized base of early films used as “guncotton” in warheads, cellulose nitrate was extremely flammable. Patented in 1889, coated, light-sensitive Kodak stock not only revolutionized entertainment, but in Dawson and elsewhere fed fires. The business district of the timber-built Yukon hub burned each single year of its first nine. Worldwide, firestorms consumed film collections in warehouses, studios, laboratories, and theatres, including the very movie houses that screened such films in Dawson City. Under sustained continental summer temperatures, cellulose nitrate releases gases prone to spontaneous combustion, turning sealed film cans into pressure cookers. Edison’s film manufacturing plant blew up in 1914; Robert J. Flaherty ignited 30,000 feet of Nanook of the North by smoking a cigarette. Because movers and the railroad refused to ship the fickle stock dredged from the permafrost and which temporarily had been stacked in a root cellar, the Armed Forces flew the crates to Ottawa, Ontario, in a Hercules plane. At the capital, Library and Archives Canada preserved the unstable images. With help from the U.S. Library of Congress, staff then catalogued the entire collection, printed it onto 35mm safety film stock, and entombed it in climate-controlled vaults for the past 38 years. Morrison, who visited Whitehorse and Dawson while making his movie, obtained scans of any reel he wanted to watch. Another surprise trove added perspective to Morrison’s sprawling canvas: almost 200 photo negatives by the Swedish emigrant Eric A. Hegg. Considered valueless, they’d been insulating the walls of a Dawson City cabin until 1947, when the glass plates barely escaped becoming greenhouse panels. The prospecting Swede had

A fully loaded scow heading for the Klondike, 1900. Courtesy of City of Vancouver Archives

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DAAA Family Theatre. The Dawson Amateur Athletic Association (DAAA) recreation complex opened in 1902 and was destroyed by ﬁre in 1937. Courtesy of Dawson City Museum

followed the shifting human tide from Skagway to Dawson to Nome. His shots of men loaded like mules and stair-stepping up a 45-degree slope to the snow-choked U.S.-Canada border were copied in Chaplin’s The Gold Rush (1925) and onto Alaska car-license plates. Hegg’s output also included the only surviving pictures of the infamous 1898 Easter Sunday avalanche’s aftermath. First exhibited in a New York gallery in 1901, they caused crowds vying for a peek to riot. Splicing in period newsreels and newspaper headlines as well as post-WWII home movies, Dawson City: Frozen Time among other things, charts the transformation of the peaceful indigenous fishing camp Tr’ochëk, to boomtown surrounded by denuded land, to respectable, film-obsessed backwater—a tale partly familiar to readers of Pierre Berton’s The Klondike Fever. The highlights are all there, in grainy detail: sternwheelers; dead horses; scows hammered together at Bennett Lake; seething Miles Canyon Rapids; George and Kate Shaaw Tláa Carmack; Skookum Jim; Chief Isaac, leather-faced; prostitutes’ cribs lining Paradise Alley; claims on Bonanza Creek; a dancer turned entrepreneur; and latecomer Robert W. Service of “Sam McGee” fame. Hegg’s and Chaplin’s iconic depictions of miners scaling the Chilkoot Pass, antlike, mythologized Dawson and the Klondike Rush. By the late 1920s, the town had developed a modest tourist industry, which cashed in on and kept alive the mystique. A sense of loss and recovery informs Morrison’s approach. For this filmmaker, the history of oblivion and the obliteration of history march in lockstep. Both nourish his fascination with found, silent, black-and-white footage. Clips of Colorado miners on strike being killed by National Guardsmen and of anarchist leaders deported to Russia ensure that the labour movement’s feats, like the corporate consolidation of Yukon mines, still flicker brightly in the public’s conscience. “When we lose filmic record, we lose the memory that these things occurred,” this award-winning auteur insists. Film, however, has an uncanny power to resurface, which allows re-examination and re-contextualization. When Morrison first learned about the find in the late 1980s, knowledge of it circulated among people interested in the medium. Now, decades later, nobody younger than him seems to have heard of this story, and most of those who have are older cinephiles connected to archival film or to Dawson. A cut from The Salamander (1916) precedes Dawson City: Frozen Time’s final, extended scene, a potent metaphor for transience and resurrection. In it, a veiled actress gyrates ecstatically, engulfed by “flames”—lesions on film stock from water 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

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Steamer White Horse in Five Fingers Rapids on the Yukon River, 1919. Courtesy of US Library of Congress

DAAA swimming pool cum skating rink, where the ﬁlm reels lay buried. Courtesy of Dawson City Museum

damage that occurred while these reels lay dormant in the ground. According to ancient folklore, the salamander, like the restored films, survives fire. Morrison shunned the voiceover typical of documentaries, seeking to encourage the reflection that comes from reading factual text rather than telling audiences what these images represent. A narrator for him would break the timeworn images’ spell, distancing viewers who look with hindsight at “quaint old pictures” of characters long dead. Sigur Rós collaborator Alex Somers’ hauntingly beautiful score instead serves as guide on this journey, providing musical backup to an unforgettable trip into a largely forgotten past. Michael Engelhard is the author of Ice Bear: The Cultural History of an Arctic Icon and of American Wild: Explorations from the Grand Canyon to the Arctic Ocean, a Foreword INDIES gold medalist. He works as a wilderness guide but appreciates urban culture, such as art house movie theatres. 25

Lee, between guides Tommy Aglak and Panuilie Okango, on a Polar Sea Adventures expedition to the ﬂoe edge. © Pierre Dunnigan, 2008

Capturing the North on film Photographer celebrates 100 trips to the Arctic By Season Osborne

Less than two weeks after arriving in Arctic Bay in 1999, Lee Narraway found herself travelling by qamutiq to Igloolik on the North Baﬃn Quest — the 445-km dogsled race to mark the creation of Nunavut.

Lee photographed many polar bears, like these two, on her northern trips. © Lee Narraway

arraway, a photographer from Whitelake, Ontario, had been invited by her friend and former colleague Lawrie Barton to Arctic Bay to photograph local elders. Barton, then principal of Inuujaq School, thought an important contribution to 26

the cultural legacy of Arctic Bay would be a collection of black and white portraits of the elders to hang in the town’s cultural centre for future generations to learn about their heritage. Barton got a grant for the project and hired Narraway to take the photos. While in Arctic Bay, the North Baffin Quest race committee heard Narraway had experience running dogsled races in Ontario. She was nominated to be the official timer. So, on April 13, 1999, when 180 sled dogs and 15 men headed out from Arctic Bay for Igloolik, Narraway was sitting on the qamutiq that sped ahead of the teams to set up the first timing checkpoint. “Lawrie said she saw me climb in the qamutiq, and thought, ‘I don’t think she’s going to come back,’” laughs Narraway. But she did and with a passion to keep returning. Narraway, dressed in a borrowed caribou suit and qammiks, spent eight days travelling by dog team, eating country food, and sleeping in a tent with the racers — all men, who spoke no English. It was an incredible introduction to the Arctic. Narraway photographed it all — the men, the sleds, the dogs, the breathtaking landscape — and loved it all. 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

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A glaucous gull sits on her nest with her two chicks. © Lee Narraway

A woman scrapes a seal skin with her ulu. © Lee Narraway

That was Narraway’s first trip to the Arctic. It was also the first of nearly two decades of adventures across the North, including being timer on the annual Nunavut Quest dogsled race for 14 years. She loved everything about the Arctic, particularly the people, and welcomed every opportunity to visit and photograph it. “I never said no,” says Narraway about being asked to go to the Arctic. “I always wanted to go, always wanted to learn more, and they liked my photos. Because I never said no and would always go North so willingly, I met so many wonderful people.” “Lee is the great doer of adventure,” says Barton.”But she doesn’t approach it as an adventure. She thinks, ‘I’ve got my camera. I’ve got my skills, and I’ll go and interact with the world with all that I am able to do.’ She does it with humility and not seeking attention for herself. But she does it for the work that she loves.” Everywhere she went, Narraway’s enthusiasm for the North and her genuine interest in the people she met led to more photography opportunities. She travelled

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to and took photos in almost every community, as well as territorial parks and remote areas of the High Arctic, for Parks Canada, Nunavut Tourism, Pauktuutit, Nunavut Trust, Canadian Geographic and above&beyond Magazine, Canada’s Arctic Journal and the inflight for First Air. “Lee has been an outstanding contributor to our annual report for Nunavut Trust for nearly 20 years,” says Don Runge, managing partner of Earthlore Communications, the graphic design firm that creates Nunavut Trust’s annual report. “The report is highly regarded internationally. And Earthlore has used Lee’s work exclusively for the annual report, which is a comment on the quality of her images and the way she captures Arctic nature and people.” In 2001, at the post office in Pond Inlet, Narraway met David Reid, expedition leader for Polar Sea Adventures. He hired her as a cook for the floe edge expeditions out of Pond Inlet. “I’m great at boiling water,” says Reid. “But Lee is a good cook. She is incredibly friendly, non-judgemental, works hard, and is a great photographer. For a lot of people, the floe edge is a strange and challenging environment, but it’s an environment she appears to be comfortable in. Plus, Lee, through the dog races, is comfortable in a cross-cultural environment. Her enthusiasm for the Arctic is infectious. She wants people to get it. She wants them to see, ‘This is a really special place. Don’t take this for granted.’ She appreciates it all.” On her 2003 Nunavut Quest as timer, Lee captured this man brushing water on his sled runner so it will freeze and make the sled slide smoother. © Lee Narraway

Always with a camera in hand, Lee taking photos from a Zodiac on an Adventure Canada voyage in 2015. © Lee Narraway

Altogether, Narraway did eight floe edge trips for Polar Sea Adventures between 2001 and 2004. On one of those trips in 2004, Geoff Green and his wife Diz Glithero brought one of their Students on Ice expedition teams. They arrived at the base camp near the floe edge outside Pond Inlet with 10 students and five staff. Lee was the camp’s cook.

One of the many glorious icebergs Lee photographed on her travels. © Lee Narraway

Two women throat singing. © Lee Narraway

“We soon realized she was much more than our cook. She kind of became a mother hen to everybody. She embraced us and loved the idea of Students on Ice,” says Green, president and founder of the organization whose mission is to educate, connect, and inspire youth about the Polar Regions. “I’ve seen how youth gravitate to certain people. Lee is one of those. She is real, not superficial. The students always connect with her and adore her. I think it’s because they sense she just really cares about them. And absolutely, deeply cares about Inuit and the Arctic,” says Green. Lee became part of the Students on Ice family, going on 14 Arctic expeditions with them, as well as on expeditions to the Antarctic, as one of the main photographers and team members. “Lee, like few others, can connect with absolutely everyone in such a significant, meaningful way on Students on Ice and beyond,” says Glithero. “It’s the value she places on relationships and how she fosters connections with people. You see that when she goes back to the Arctic: she’s become like family with so many people in the North.” Since that first expedition by qamutiq in 1999, Narraway has travelled around the Arctic with her camera on ATVs, skidoos, helicopters, and Arctic cruise ships. She has also accompanied scientists and researchers on 10 different icebreakers, as they ploughed through Arctic ice on projects that advanced the knowledge of the Arctic Ocean, sea ice, and climate change. Each time, she capured these adventures on film and wrote about them for magazines, like above&beyond. In July 2016, Lee made her 100th journey to the Arctic with Students on Ice. That September, however, she suffered a medical emergency and underwent surgery to remove a brain tumour. Recovery is not as speedy as the photographer hoped, though, and she wasn’t able to go with Students on Ice in 2017. Ironically, the medication she is taking makes her feel cold. “I’ve never been cold in my life!” Narraway says. “I love the cold. I love ice. And I was never cold in the Arctic like this.” Narraway is now working on a photography project that keeps the North close. She is compiling a collection of portraits she hopes to make accessible to the people she photographed in the communities. Hundreds of faces of the children, adults, and elders she met in her two decades of adventures in Arctic photography are her tribute to the Inuit she so admires. Season Osborne has a passion for Arctic history, and is the author of In the Shadow of the Pole: An Early History of Arctic Expeditions, 1871-1912. She lives and writes in Ottawa, Ontario. 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

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Narwhals The one that points to the sky! Text and photos by Dave Reid

Conversation overheard on an airplane: “They don’t really exist!” said one. “No, no, I’ve seen photographs,” the other replied. “That’s just myths and legends, fairy tales!” the sceptic replied. “Google them!” the person retorted. “Oh that’s just photoshop!” Sometimes there’s just no convincing some people!

eople like whales, people like talking about whales, looking at photographs and seeing them for themselves. Whether it’s in the wild, in places as diverse as Sri Lanka, Antarctica or Norway, or in captivity, they have and hold for human beings a special connection and interest. The closest many of us will ever come to a whale is in captivity in marine parks located just off a major highway or on a chartered whale watching boat, often with a throng of fellow, equally eager, binocular and camera clenching hopefuls. From the massive slow moving Blue whale (the largest animal to ever inhabit our planet) to the small quirky, often referred to as “sea canaries,” the ghost-like Beluga, what is it that fascinates us about whales? What draws us to travel to the ends of the Earth to be in their presence? The reasons are as diverse as those who claim to respect and love them.

For the most part, tusk on tusk rubbing appears to be non-aggressive behaviour.

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Narwhals use leads or cracks in the ice to travel and feed. Notice the colouring on the backs.

A lone Narwhal perhaps “spy hopping”. Perhaps using its tusk as a barometer?

There are some who endanger their own lives by putting themselves between a harpoon gun and a whale. There are those whose joy and satisfaction lies in the fact that they (along with their family) will eat well and nutritiously after a successful hunt. Given modern transportation and technology, whales are within reach of nearly everyone. When a particular animal becomes so omnipresent, so easy to access, some people feel like they know them, have a relationship with, and understand them. Time spent in Nature and the great outdoors is a vital prerequisite to such an assumption. In his ground-breaking book, Last Child in the Woods Richard Louv talks about Nature-Deficit Disorder. He uses that expression to describe the growing gap between people (particularly children) and Nature. Our relationship with Nature, or lack of it, influences our lives. 32

Western science has taken its time understanding and appreciating that Indigenous people, not only in Canada but around the world, have, for the most part, a much deeper and natural understanding of Nature. That understanding is based on having a relationship – a true and very real connection, one which certain cultures, lives and languages are based. Of all the whales that exist, one perhaps more than any other ignites more questions than answers. More than 30 years ago in his seminal book Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez wrote, “We know more about the rings on Saturn than we know about the Narwhal”. True, many people today still regard with skepticism the Narwhals very existence but much has been learned over the past 30 years. Scientists from a myriad of cultures and backgrounds are increasingly joining to shed light on one of Nature’s most intriguing and fascinating animals. Narwhals, known as Monodon Monoceros, which means “one tooth, one horn,” are small whales found only in Arctic waters. Adult males measure 4.6 metres (15 feet) and weigh 1134 kg (3,500 pounds). Adult females measure 4.0 metres (13 feet) and weigh 907 kg (2,000 pounds). Males reach sexual maturity at eight to nine years, and females reach sexual maturity at six to nine years of age. The gestation period is 15 months, and limited data suggest that the calving interval is one calf every three years. Calves (light grey in colour) measure 1.5 metres (five feet) and weigh 180 pounds at birth. Narwhals are thought to live to about 90 years old with over 100 being at the high end of mortality and 50 to 60 years being the suspected norm. Studies have determined their population to be around 200,000. It’s a widely held belief that the name Narwhal came from the Old Norse for “corpse” and “whale,” nar + hval. The greyish colour and pattern of the narwhal’s skin has been likened to that of a drowned human corpse. In Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit, Narwhals are referred to as “Qilalugag” which roughly translates to “The one that points to the sky”. People eat and enjoy Narwhal. The skin, blubber, meat and cartilage are known to contain rich sources of Vitamin C, A, D and E. Pound per pound, narwhal skin has more Vitamin C than an orange. Unlike the Orca, neither the Narwhal, the Beluga nor the Bowhead have a pronounced dorsal fin. The Narwhal has a dorsal ridge. This ridge can be as much as two inches high and can extend around two to 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

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three feet down the spine of the whale. Evolutionary-wise, it makes sense for ice-dwelling whales such as these to not have a high dorsal fin. For centuries, the Narwhal has fascinated and baffled. In ages past, Narwhal tusks were sold for many times their weight in gold and were said to possess magic (often healing) powers. In the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth received a tusk valued at £10,000.00 — the cost of a castle! In Austrian folklore, it is said that Kaiser Karl the fifth paid off a national debt with only two tusks. What kept the price for these prized tusks so high? Their true origin and geographical whereabouts was kept secret. Centuries ago, those trading in this valuable commodity didn’t want the truth to emerge of a small tusked whale inhabiting the icy waters of the Arctic. Once the rich Arctic waters became known to many in Europe, it didn’t take long for the Narwhal, and its tusk, to move from the stories of myths and legends to general knowledge. The Narwhal only has two teeth. In most females the teeth never erupt through the gum and remain embedded. In most adult males the right tooth remains embedded in the gum while the left tooth erupts through the front of the jaw and grows as an elongated tusk. Fetal narwhals do develop six pairs of upper teeth and two pairs of lower teeth but with no functional use, it is thought they will eventually become obsolete. This tusk always grows in a counter-clockwise spiral and grows continuously. In some rare instances, the right tooth will also grow through the jaw. It is thought that

Notice just how dark the algae are that grows on the tusk. The tusk has a white tip.

one in five hundred has this remarkable double tusk. In female Narwhals, it is much rarer. The single tusk of the female Narwhal is usually slightly straighter than the male and appears to collect less algae, therefore appearing lighter in colour. On nearly all tusked Narwhal, a foot of tusk (or tooth) remains

A very young Narwhal following its mother.

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Although diﬃcult to tell at a distance, it is estimated this tusk was at least ten feet long.

Notice how light coloured the tusk appears; very little algae have bonded to the surface.

embedded in the skull. Tusks can grow as long as three metres. When observed amongst dense pack ice, it is remarkable to witness just how easily tusked narwhals move and intermingle with others. As not all Narwhals have a tusk, it can’t be regarded as a necessity for life. Feeding mostly on halibut, Arctic cod and squid, narwhals without tusks appear to do just fine. With the ability to dive to incredible depths (1,500 metres or more) it was recently discovered that when the whales reach the sea bed in search of their favourite prey, they swim upside down. The tusk is regarded by many as a sensory organ, to the extent that those individuals in possession of a tusk (or tusks) can detect barometric pressure and even the salinity levels in cold Arctic waters. While Narwhals are very much at home in and amongst ice, they still need air to breathe, so to venture 34

under the sea ice without a clear “escape” would not make sense. As spring begins in the Arctic, rivers start to run (emptying fresh water into the sea) and snow on top of the sea ice melts, all helping to decrease the salinity level in the waters the Narwhals are found. Having the ability to judge salinity levels would appear to be a very useful migratory characteristic. Studies of live-captured Narwhals have shown that their heartrate will change based on the salinity level of liquids that the tusk is exposed to. Most Narwhals spend their winters in the waters between Labrador and Greenland in the dense pack ice of Baffin Bay. Given the size of this area, the incredibly short daylight hours and the required logistics for study, little is known about the winter behaviour of Narwhals. In late winter, early spring, as daylight grows and the pack ice slowly relinquishes its grip on the ocean, they start to migrate North towards Northwest Greenland, Devon Island and the North Baffin region. When commonly seen either from shore, a boat or the ice edge, Narwhals appear dark and when not moving, resemble a floating log. In the springtime, at the floe edge (where land-fast ice meets the open water) and again in summer when there is little or no ice, Narwhals can be seen “tusking”. Usually occurring when sea conditions are flat calm, individuals and groups alike can be seen waving their tusks. It’s rare to see any behaviour with the tusks that could be described as fighting. In most cases the waving is almost in slow motion. Small groups will come together and “raft up” side by side. After a few moments, tusks begin to be raised and laid gently on the back of another. The individuals will roll around each other. In some instances, four of five tusks can be raised at the same time and all at different angles. It appears that tusks are being gently rubbed on the back of others. Is this for the benefit of the animal with the tusk (perhaps cleaning) or for the benefit of the other (receiving a good back rub)? Observations have also shed light on the fact that often one animal will rub tusks with another tusk. As quickly as this unique behavioural display starts, it ends, perhaps with existing bonds renewed or new bonds created? We may never know. In the last 30 years we have certainly learned a lot more about Narwhals. It is both gratifying and wonderful to know that mystery still exists in the Natural world beyond both our understanding and knowledge. The one that points to the sky isn’t about to let us know all its secrets and mystery just yet. 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

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H E A LT H

New Treatment Facility oﬀers life line to improve Inuit wellness

Isuarsivik, a Nunavik community organization committed to alcohol and drug treatment and recovery, received an eight and a half million-dollar commitment from the Quebec Government last March towards construction of a new regional recovery centre in Kuujjuaq. Isuarsivik also secured contributions from Makivik Corporation and the Kativik Regional Government (KRG) totalling two million dollars. The current facility, Isuarsivik, which has been operating for more than 20 years, is too small and outdated to meet the demand for treatment and recovery in Nunavik. Sadly, it is forced to turn away more people seeking recovery and treatment than it accepts. In January 2018, Isuarsivik launched an ambitious program to raise 22 million dollars to build a new modern 22-bed treatment facility. The fundraising campaign is engaging private corporations, individuals and other foundations as well as the federal government, which has yet to commit ﬁnancially despite repeated support gestures.

Isuarsivik Chairman, Dave Forrest, a Kuujjuaq businessman and long-time resident says, “the goal is to expand from our current centre, which is an old and overcrowded military barracks built in the 1950s into a new facility that both recognizes the magnitude of the alcohol and drug crisis gripping our communities and gives us the resources to recover from the trauma that fuels it.” The projected cost of the new facility is 32 million dollars. It will be built on the northeast edge of the community on a rock outcrop overlooking the Koaksoak River. This physical environment and proximity to nature will

support the mental and cultural components of treatment and recovery. The land has been secured after extensive negotiations with the local Municipality and the Nayumivik Land Holding Corporation. As important as offering treatment and providing a life line to hundreds of people now suffering, by its very existence, this new facility will demonstrate the region and Governments’ commitment towards supporting Nunavummiut on their path to recovery and overcoming the effect of alcohol and drug abuse. The 6.1-million-dollar operating budget has been secured through commitments from Nunavik

Out on the land excursions, one of the activities oﬀered by the alcohol and drug treatment and recovery facility. © Carson Tagoona

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H E A LT H

Regional Board of Health and Social Services (NRBHSS) via its community sector support program and the Ungaluk Safer Communities Program administered by the Kativik Regional Government and Makivik Corporation. The new facility will have a staff of 40 with facilities and structured programs to accommodate families and address the extent a whole family can be affected by the addiction of one or more of its members. An ambitious training program was undertaken in 2017 in collaboration with the NRBHSS to ensure a capable and trained Inuit workforce is ready when the building is completed. Isuarsivik has also achieved the first level of certification with Accreditation Canada and is in the final step of securing the accreditation status from the Government of Quebec. Isuarsivik is encouraged that organizations and the Governments recognize the terrible social, mental and economic costs that drug and alcohol abuse is having on Nunavik communities. “Everyone also accepts the increasing abuse will continue unless we make major investments in treatment, recovery and education,” says Forrest. “The support from the Québec Government is so gratifying and important,” says Forrest,

Seal skin being prepared to be stretched and dried. One of the cultural crafting activities available at the Centre. © Carson Tagoona

adding the Sociètè du Plan Nord has played a crucial role in securing provincial participation. “We are hopeful that Canada’s Government and its departments will soon walk their talk on reconciliation and improving Inuit wellness.” Isuarsivik is heartened by the commitment made by Kuujjuaq Mayor Tunu Narpartuk to support the initiative. Mayor Narpartuk joined the fundraising initiative announcement at the Northern Lights Trade Show and Conference in Ottawa this past January.

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“This project is an investment in all of Nunavik. What’s more,” added Mayor Narpartuk, “I am committed to join and promote this fundraising initiative. It’s vital for our communities that this facility be built as soon as possible.”

Isuarsivik has charitable status, which means donations are tax deductible.

You can visit www.isuarsivik.ca to learn more about this project and donate. 37

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Arctic Winter Games

SPORTS

Capturing the powerful spirit of the North

Text and photos by Thorsten Gohl

The 2018 South Slave Arctic Winter Games (AWG), an event that demonstrates sportsmanship and culture in the circumpolar world, is an event like no other. Included are unique competitions from the Indigenous cultures, adding an exciting component not seen in other Games. Almost 2,000 athletes from Alaska, Greenland, Northern Alberta, Nunavut, Yukon, Nunavik, Russia and Scandinavia and the NWT participated in 19 different sports in the South Slave communities of Hay River and Fort Smith. Records were broken and spirits were high. Alberta North held strong throughout the week, finishing first with 133 medals. Alaska won the Hodgson Trophy for the delegation whose athletes best exemplify the ideals of fair play and team spirit. Arctic Winter Games International Committee president, Jens Brinch says of this year's Games, “You see a lot of happy kids going around and that’s the most important thing for us.” This also speaks to the many opportunities that the kids had in between their competitions and the cultural events. There were bonfires every night, a family feud event, dances, snowshoeing,

Spirit Squad and 2018 South Slave Arctic Winter Games mascot Kechi at the Opening Ceremony in Hay River.

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Big Air snowboarding competition in Fort Smith.

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SPORTS Bottom: Women's NWT Hockey Team with Northwestel Vice-President Paul Gillard and Kevin Chapman Manager, Community Investment.

Team Yamal at the Cultural Gala in Fort Smith.

tobogganing and so many entertaining things to do. The participants also had some beautiful venues to compete in. Hay River opened their new Recreation Centre just days before the Games started. The amazing new complex houses the hockey rink and curling ice. The transformed curling ice surface became a professional Volleyball ﬁeld. A construction shop was transformed into a Gymnastics and Wrestling arena. In Fort Smith, the Snowboard Hill was another incredible venue for the Games. Caroline Cochrane, NWT’s Minister of Community and Aﬀairs, says, “This snowboard hill is exciting; it will be left here. This is a legacy left for the children in the South Slave.” An ongoing highlight throughout the Games was our theme song: Serena Ryder’s “Be the Ones.” The song shares strong messages that everyone can relate to, and captured the spirit of the North. “Taking back the power of our lives to live / I know we’re ready,” the lyrics aligned with the AWG theme for all participants, volunteers and supporters, to “Find Your Power.” “It’s not very often that we get an opportunity to connect with someone of her caliber. It’s exciting to have Serena as our theme song artist. Our marketing team sent out a blanket of emails to some International, Canadian and Northern artists. Serena’s team got back to us, 40

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SPORTS Cross-country Skiing competition at the Fort Smith Ski Club.

having a real affinity for the North, and wanting to get involved. It worked out fantastic for us,” says Todd Shafer, General Manager of the host society. The theme song is always such an important element of the Games, echoing the strength, dedication and spirit of the athletes and communities. It unites the circumpolar North and encourages camaraderie, with friendly and fierce competition throughout the Games, it continues, in our hearts and heads, and on our playlist. Coming together was the message of the Opening Ceremonies. On the final day of the Games, Host Society Greg Rowe had this to say, “After years of planning, here we are at the Closing Ceremonies! I want to thank all of the volunteers for the thousands of hours they have given to the Games. It was an absolute pleasure to welcome the circumpolar world to the south slave Region.” Everyone can be very, very proud of achieving the high standard that supported the Games; the athletes in competition, in cultural events, and in connecting the participants, volunteers, staff and communities, as well as those from around the world following on social media. It leaves legacies in the communities, and plants seeds in the hearts and minds of the kids watching, now inspired to train, “find their power,” and be involved in the future.

Bottom: Team Alaska's Cultural performer performs with the Table Tennis participants at JBT Elementary School in Fort Smith.

“I’m the ﬁre in the night, I’m the dreamer of the way, I believe in myself, before I believe in fate. I’m the shining northern lights, I’m the keeper of the key, I believe in myself, before I believe in fate …. And you know we’ll be the ones, …Cause we’re livin’ it!!” — Serena Ryder “Be the Ones” 2018 AWG Theme

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Protecting traditional Inuit lands

Peary Caribou Habitat Clean Up Project Parks Canada

Peary caribou in Nunavut’s Qausuittuq National Park now have a healthier habitat thanks to the ongoing work of Parks Canada last summer. The Agency has now successfully completed the ﬁrst phase to restore Peary caribou habitat damaged by drums and other waste left by exploration activities prior to the Park’s creation in 2015. Nearly 200 barrels were removed from the park resulting in restoration of the tundra for vital species-at-risk. 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

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TOURISM Leah Pengelly works with students in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, to learn how they can help protect Peary Caribou. © Parks Canada – Jovan Simic

The Tidy Tundra: Healthy Herd project was part of Parks Canada’s Conservation and Restoration Program. As a recognized leader in conservation, and through its Conservation and Restoration Program, Parks Canada takes actions to preserve national parks and contribute to the recovery of species-at-risk. Located near Resolute Bay in Nunavut, Qausuittuq National Park protects approximately 11,000 square kilometres of Arctic glaciers, lands and water, including most of the northern part of Bathurst Island and the Governor General Islands to the west. With its rolling hills, marshy wetlands, low level plateaus and rich marine areas, the Park is also bordered to the north by the Nauyavaat (Seymour Island) Migratory Bird Sanctuary and the Nanuit Itillinga (Polar Bear Pass) National Wildlife Area to the south. Nauyavaat (Seymour Island) Migratory Bird Polar Desert landscape in Qausuittuq National Park. © Parks Canada – Jovan Simic

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TOURISM Nauyavaat (Seymour Island) Migratory Bird Sanctuary, photograph of an Ivory Gull colony within the Nauyavaat (Seymour Island) MBS. © Environment and Climate Change Canada, Mark Mallory

Sanctuary and Nanuit Itillinga (Polar Bear Pass) National Wildlife Area are Environment and Climate Change Canada sites. This ecologically rich zone of Canada’s Arctic is critical both to Inuit culture and the survival of the endangered Peary caribou, identified by the community of Resolute Bay as one of the most important reasons for establishing the national park. Other animals found in Qausuittuq National Park include: polar bear, Arctic wolf, Arctic fox, muskox and numerous bird species. The Peary caribou population is listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, and an Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement signed between Parks Canada and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association prioritizes protection for the herd within Qausuittuq National Park. By protecting these species and their habitat, Qausuittuq National Park supports Inuit who hold deep connections to the area through traditional harvesting and culture. During the establishment of Qausuittuq National Park and the creation of its Draft Recovery Strategy for Peary Caribou, Inuit from Resolute Bay said they were concerned about pollution and waste left by earlier development, and its ongoing impact on the land and wildlife. Parks Canada shared these same concerns and acted to protect this important species and its habitat. Removal of 194 barrels from the Park during the summer of 2017 is the initial phase of cleanup efforts, or Phase 1 of the Park’s Draft Recovery Strategy. The drums were slung by helicopter from the Park to the nearest landing strip, where they were collected by Twin Otter aircraft and flown to Resolute Bay for cleaning, crushing and eventual removal to Southern Canada. All known barrels were removed by the end of the summer season. Parks Canada and stakeholders celebrated this important milestone with a community feast held in Resolute Bay earlier this year. During that time, Parks Canada and Inuit elders from the community visited a local school and shared the importance of conservation

Nanuit Itillinga (Polar Bear Pass) National Wildlife Area, photograph of the wetland in NINWA, one of a few High Arctic oases. © Environment and Climate Change Canada, Paul Woodard

eﬀorts in Qausuittuq National Park with local youth. Inuit knowledge, or Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, continues to hold a central role in the protection and management of Qausuittuq National Park. Decisions on park management are jointly achieved with the advice and guidance provided by the Qausuittuq Park Management Committee, comprised of community members from Resolute Bay, appointed by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and the Government of Canada. Parks Canada maintains strong ties in Resolute Bay through consultations with the hamlet’s

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local Hunters and Trappers Organization, elected Hamlet Council and members of the public. Consultations with the community will continue to plan for the longer term clean-up, Phase II, under the leadership of Indigenous and Northern Aﬀairs Canada, with the aim of removing all the waste and remediating those sites. Through establishment and management of Qausuittuq National Park, Inuit and Parks Canada continue to work together to ensure the protection of traditional Inuit lands and its use for current and future generations.

ARTS

Get ’er Done Labrador-style

Comedy reality television comes to the North

North West River in Labrador, Newfoundland, boasts a 65 per cent aboriginal population and was established as a thriving fur trade centre for the North in 1743. It is the furthest point in Northeastern North America one can drive in an automobile. North West River exists within the sub-boreal forest at the end of Lake Melville and the end of the open road, route 500, and boasts a population of 553. CRB Rebuild and Recreation Ltd is a 100 per cent Labrador Inuit owned and operated family business in the small historic town of North West River.

Dwayne has a girlfriend who loves fast cars. When she was a little girl she and her friends used to play in the old station wagon. As a surprise birthday present, he found the original wagon without a motor, seats or wheels. Knowing we can ﬁx anything, Dwayne came to the Last Stop Garage to have the vehicle restored. © Adrian Merritt Smith

This family owned business in this isolated community is also home to a tight-knit group of local “characters” — all the requirements for a new reality television show! Within three weeks of posting a casting call on Facebook, reality show development producer 46

Mike Armitage, from Toronto, Ontario, flew into that frozen landscape on the Labrador coast with a film crew. From February to July 2017, a 10-member film crew from Proper Television worked with nine contracted employees (55 per cent are Labrador

Inuit) of CRB Rebuild and Recreation Ltd. It was a challenge having 10 extra bodies inside a busy automotive garage, but they managed it. The cameras included members of the local community in all aspects of the production, which created much excitement for the entire isolated region. They recorded two five-minute show trailers which they took and shopped around to North American broadcasters. Discovery Canada really loved the northern concept and purchased 12 half-hour episodes. Last Stop Garage stars a motley crew of mechanics who operate out of CRB Automotive. Using their sometimes questionable backwoods resourcefulness, the ingenious automotive hack specialists put their “mechanical magic” to work, fixing and building just about anything for anyone in their remote town. The show was aired on Discovery Canada and Discovery Velocity in the States. Clips of behind the scenes takes and the episodes can be found on the usual platforms on the Internet. The stories filmed included those about a Zamboni, community snowmobile trail groomer,

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With a boom in local tourism opportunities, a customer who heard of our garage came to the shop to have the mechanics repair the snowbus so he could use it for taking potential customers into the interior. With no other parts available in Labrador, the crew were forced to search for substitute pieces to modify and repair the vehicle. © Adrian Merritt Smith

fan boat, hovercraft, homemade barge, an old found logging skidder, snowmobiles, a Bombardier Bomby, Cessna aircraft and older automobiles, which were modified. Parts were sometimes a problem to find. For example, when we ruined the prop on the hovercraft, we had to wait six weeks for a new one from Alabama, in the U.S. Another challenge in the Labrador spring was trying to finish some of the shoots before the snow and ice melted. The magic of television helped to remedy those situations. Members of the cast and CRB employees include Collin Baikie, Corey Webber, Stanley

Oliver, Tyler Powell, Kyle Powell, Leander Baikie, Melinda Baikie, Ross Humby and Amy Parsons. None of us had ever expected to be a part of a television series, let alone be shown on television screens in multiple counties. These once in a life-time opportunities simply don’t happen to Labrador people! But the experience was an excellent one. The best part of non-scripted reality television is that no acting is required. Simply be yourself. And that’s what the employees of CRB did while showing how life is lived in the North!

ARTS

A call to the garage came that a woman had driven her vehicle 150 ft down over the side of a hill in the Labrador wilderness. With no tow truck available which could travel to the remote location, Last Stop found a defunct but powerful woods skidder, restored the winch operation and went to save the day. © Adrian Merritt Smith

www.crbrebuild.com www.geterdonegarage.com

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BOOKSHELF

Reawakening Our Ancestors’ Lines Revitalizing Inuit Traditional Tattooing

Gathered and compiled by Angela Hovak Johnston Photography by Cora DeVos and Meta Antolin Inhabit Media, November 2017

For thousands of years, Inuit women practised the traditional art of tattooing. Created with bone needles and caribou sinew soaked in seal oil or soot, these tattoos were an important tradition for many women, symbols stitched in their skin that connected them to their families and communities. With the rise of missionaries and residential schools in the North, the tradition of tattooing was almost lost. In 2005, when Angela Hovak Johnston heard that the last Inuk woman tattooed in the traditional way had died, she set out to tattoo herself and learn how to tattoo others. What was at ﬁrst a personal quest became a project to bring the art of traditional tattooing back to Inuit women across Nunavut. Collected in this book are photos and stories from more than two dozen women who participated in Johnston’s project. Together, these women are reawakening their ancestors’ lines and sharing this knowledge with future generations.

Cutting Ice

Nancy Campbell Goose Lane Editions February 2018

An Introduction

The life and death of Annie Pootoogook is a story of national signiﬁcance. The complex narratives weaving through her short life speak to possibility and heartbreak, truth and reconciliation, the richness of community, and the depths of tragedy. These complexities are recorded in her beautiful pencil crayon compositions. Her frank, sometimes serious, sometimes amusing, images of everyday life in the North declare her as a major contributor to the landscape of contemporary Inuit art. Cutting Ice, by Nancy Campbell, art historian and curator to Pootoogook for over 15 years, helps put the life and art of the groundbreaking Inuit artist in proper context. The book includes a summary of how Inuit art arose as a commercial enterprise in Pootoogook’s home town of Cape Dorset, a biography of the third-generation artist, a look at some of the contemporaries that she worked alongside, as well as reﬂections by art experts on how Pootoogook changed perceptions of Inuit art. The book serves to commemorate the life and work of a remarkable artist. The essays are published in English and Inuktitut.

Inuit Worldviews

Edited by Jarich Oosten and Frédéric Laugrand Nunavut Arctic College Media September 2017

An insightful introduction into the production and transmission of knowledge in Inuit societies through the voices of Inuit elders, this book grew out of the Oral Traditions course, held at the Iqaluit campus of Nunavut Arctic College. The college invited Inuit elders to be interviewed, in Inuktitut, by the students taking the course that year. Inuit Worldviews includes essays by the students, traditional stories, and an instructive glossary. This is a new and updated edition of Interviewing Inuit Elders Vol. 1: Introduction.

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INUIT FORUM

Striving to make a positive diﬀerence for Inuit

I said goodbye to my children Panigusiq and Jushua at the Iqaluit airport today, just as I have many times during the last three years as I return to my Ottawa-based job as President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK). My boys are growing up, now 11 and nine, and while still silly and rambunctious, are turning that quick corner from young children into adolescents, seeking greater independence as they find their place in the world. I love them dearly and know that being apart from them for large parts of the year changes their lives, but hopefully they will understand and accept that there is an honorable purpose in this separation. We all go through these times, when we reflect on our tangible growth as a person, or how a change in profession makes us see ourselves in categorically new or different ways. My first term as ITK’s president ends in August. I imagine that my friends and family might see differences in me the way I see differences in my children when I come home. I know I am different than I was before I was elected three years ago, hopefully having evolved and grown for the better. I have heard the truths of so many Inuit who urge Inuit representational organizations to do more for the most vulnerable in our society. I have worked closely with Inuit leaders across Inuit Nunangat: Premiers, Prime Minister Trudeau, and many federal, provincial, and territorial cabinet members on difficult issues that can either end with much needed support, funding, and partnership, or with actions that undermine our ability to make Inuit society better. I have had to accept that I am a public figure who is as likely to be ridiculed as to be praised. I have found my centre as a politician by being confident that being myself while being open to the views of others is the best way I can effectively do my job. I did not change into the most outgoing, gregarious, and accommodating person in the room to play this political role,

because that isn’t the point of politics for me. The point of my participation in politics is to make a positive diﬀerence for Inuit the best way I can. My place in politics is to help articulate the path to Inuit self-determination and to do what I can to bring others to this path. My place is to help ﬁll in the details of how reconciliation or a renewal of the Inuit-Crown relationship happens. My place is to help build and maintain unity across Inuit Nunangat. We are at such an important time as Inuit. I think of my children changing so quickly and think of the rapidly changing world they will be

reckoning with as they become adults. I think of the opportunities we have to put one step in front of the other toward self-determination. I think of the groundswell of good people that ﬁght to achieve this every day. I am thankful for my family, my children, and for trust provided to me by my fellow Inuit to work towards our collective advancement. Nakummek,

Natan Obed

National Inuit Leader and President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

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