Above & Beyond | Canada's Arctic Journal 2017 | 06

2017 | 06 • $5.95

The Pangnirtung Weave Shop

Collecting Lichens in Canada’s High Arctic

Canada’s C3 Expedition Meets the Arctic

PM40050872

o www.arcticjournal.ca

Arctic Research Learning from One Another

Brock Friesen / XÇ4 K‰n8

Dear Guest, This edition of above&beyond is very special for all of us here at First Air as it is the first edition featuring our new logo and branding. Our new look is the culmination of 71 years of history and experience. It reflects the tremendous passion of our employees who make this airline fly every day.

We wanted our new brand to be more modern, but we also wanted it to represent who we are and where we operate. We want to stand out in the Arctic landscape and at airports in Montreal, Quebec, and Ottawa, Ontario, where it can get busy.

To develop our new brand, we consulted our employees, customers and Inuit elders. We listened to their feedback and went back for their views on the direction we proposed to take. We consulted over 180 people in total. We now have a brand and a design that is truly connected to our customers and to the areas we serve proudly.

Our new design is a true representation of Canada’s Arctic now; there’s no mistaking it!

Branding goes beyond just the logo and having the prettiest aircraft (which I think we are now a contender to have). Branding touches every part of the company internally and externally. It’s how we do business, it’s how we present ourselves in all aspects.

Our mission is to be the best airline in the hearts and minds of our employees and our customers.

With that in mind, you can expect many changes: signage, new uniforms, new website and new airplane interiors to name a few!

We are also introducing a new tagline “Fly the Arctic”.

To many around the world, Ottawa, Ontario, and Edmonton, Alberta, are the North. We Fly in the Arctic and we take this role very seriously. Flying in the Arctic has a responsibility attached to it, whether it’s transporting food or mail or people to visit friends and families, or medical passengers. First Air is an important part of the lives of many in the Arctic.

Our strength in connecting Arctic communities positions us to take advantage of world tourism as it trends toward experiences in far flung, new destinations. The Arctic is such an exotic destination with an untapped potential. Our new branding is aimed squarely at more visitors to the Arctic. These new customers need to know that the Arctic is a fantastic place, and we can take them there.

Thank you for choosing First Air for your flight today.

We hope you’ll love our new brand identity and we look forward to seeing you aboard again soon.

Brock Friesen First Air President & CEO

ᑐᕌᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᔪᓄᑦ,

ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐅᖃᓕᒫᒐᓕᐊᖑᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ above&beyond-ᓂᒃ ᐅᕙᑦᑎᓐᓄᓕᒫᖅ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂ ᖁᕕᐊᒋᓪᓚᕆᒃᑲᑦᑎᒍᑦ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᒋᓪᓗᒍ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᖑᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐅᖃᓕᒫᒐᓕᐊᖑᓯᒪᓕᕐᓂᐊᕐᓂᖏᑕ ᑕᑯᔅᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᓗᑎᒃ ᓄᑖᒥᒃ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᕆᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᓕᐅᕈᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ. ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑕᐅᑦᑐᕆᔭᖏᑦ ᑲᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᒻᒪᑕ 71-ᓄᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᓯᒪᓕᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑐᓄᑦ. ᑕᑯᔅᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᕗᑦ ᐊᖏᔪᒻᒪᕆᖕᒥᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᑦᑕ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᑦᑎᐊᖅᐸᓐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖁᑎᑦᑕ ᖃᖓᑕᑎᑕᐅᕙᓐᓂᒃᓴᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᖃᐅᑕᒫᑦ. ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᓕᐊᕆᕙᒃᑕᕗᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᓕᖅᑐᒥ ᑕᐅᑦᑐᕆᔭᐅᕙᓕᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᐋᖅᑭᒃᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᖁᓚᐅᕋᑦᑎᒍ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓗ ᑭᓇᐅᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᓇᓂᓗ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᖃᖅᐸᓐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᖃᖅᑎᐅᓂᕗᑦ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᑦᑑᖁᒋᓪᓗᒍ. ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᑉ ᓄᓇᖓᑕ ᑕᐅᑦᑐᕆᔭᖓᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒃᑯᕝᕕᖏᓐᓂ ᒪᓐᑐᕆᐋᓪ, ᑯᐃᐸᒃᒥ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐋᑐᕙ, ᐋᓐᑎᐊᕆᐅᒥ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖁᑎᕗᑦ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᑦᑑᓗᑎᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᕈᖅᓯᒪᖃᑦᑕᖁᓪᓗᑎᒍ, ᑖᒃᑯᓇᓂ ᓄᓇᓕᐸᐅᔭᓂ ᐊᒥᓱᕈᖅᓯᒪᓕᕈᓐᓇᕐᒪᑕ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᑦ. ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓯᒪᓕᕈᒪᓪᓗᑎᒍ ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᓂ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᕆᓕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑕᕗᑦ, ᖃᐅᔨᒋᐊᕐᕕᖃᓚᐅᖅᐳᒍᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ, ᖃᖓᑕᕙᒃᑐᓂᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᓐᓂ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᕆᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ. ᖃᐅᔨᓯᒃᓴᕆᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᑐᓵᓂᖃᖅᐸᒃᑐᑕ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᑎᕐᕕᒋᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᐸᒃᑐᑎᒍ ᖃᓄᖅ ᑐᑭᒧᐊᒋᐊᖁᔨᒻᒪᖔᑕ ᐃᓱᒪᓕᐅᕈᑎᒋᓯᒪᔭᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ. ᖃᐅᔨᒋᐊᕐᕕᖃᓚᐅᖅᐳᒍᑦ ᐅᖓᑖᓄᑦ 180-ᓂᑦ ᑲᑎᑦᑐᒋᑦ. ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᓕᖅᑐᒥ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᕆᓂᐊᖅᑕᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᓯᒪᓕᖅᐳᒍᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᐅᑦᑐᕆᔭᐅᓕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᑦᑕᑕᖅᓯᒪᑎᑕᐅᓪᓚᕆᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᕙᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᕐᕕᒋᕙᒃᑕᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᖁᕕᐊᒋᓪᓚᕆᒃᑐᒋᑦ. ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᓂ ᑕᐅᑦᑐᕆᓂᐊᓕᖅᑕᕗᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᓱᓕᔪᒥᒃ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᖃᕈᑎᐅᒻᒪᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᐅᑉ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᖓᓄᑦ; ᓇᓗᓇᐃᓪᓚᕆᒃᐸᓐᓂᐊᓕᕐᑐᓂᓗ! ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᒃᓴᓕᐅᕐᓂᕐᒥ ᐅᖓᑖᓄᐊᖅᑐᑎᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᖃᖅᐸᒻᒪᑕ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᖅᑖᕐᓯᒪᓕᕆᐊᒥ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᑯᕋᓐᓂᕐᓂᖅᐹᒥᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖃᓕᕐᓂᕐᓂᑦ (ᐅᕙᖓᓗ ᐃᓱᒪᓕᖅᑐᖓ ᐱᐅᓪᓚᕆᖕᓂᖅᓴᐅᓕᕋᑦᑕᐃᓛ). ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᒃᓴᓕᐅᕐᓂᖅ ᐊᒃᑐᐃᓯᒪᓂᖃᕐᒪ ᓱᓇᒃᑯᑎᓕᒫᖏᓂᒃ ᑲᒻᐸᓂᐅᔪᑦ ᐃᓗᐊᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓯᓚᑖᓃᑦᑐᓂᒃ. ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᓯᒪᔾᔪᑎᐅᒻᒪᑦ ᖃᓄᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᖃᖅᐸᓐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ, ᖃᓄᕐᓗ ᑕᒪᐃᑎᒍᑦ ᑕᐅᑦᑐᖃᖅᐸᓐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ. ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᖃᖅᑎᑕᐅᒐᑦᑕ ᐱᐅᓂᖅᐸᐅᓗᑕ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖃᓕᕆᐊᒥᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᕐᕕᒋᕙᒃᑲᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓱᒪᖏᓐᓂ. ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓱᒪᒋᖃᓯᐅᑎᓗᒋᑦ, ᓂᕆᐅᖕᓂᖃᕈᓐᓇᕋᑦᓯ ᐊᒥᓱᐃᑎᒍᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᓯᒪᓂᖃᕐᓂᐊᓕᕐᒪᑕ: ᐊᑎᓕᐅᖅᑎᒋᔭᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ, ᓄᑖᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖅᑎᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᐃᑦ ᐊᓐᓄᕌᕆᕙᒃᑕᖏᓂᒃ, ᓄᑖᒥᒃ ᖃᕆᑕᐅᔭᑎᒍ ᐱᑐᒃᓯᒪᕝᕕᖓᓐᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᑖᖖᒍᖅᑎᑕᐅᒋᐊᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑕ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑦ ᐃᓗᖏᑦ ᑕᕝᕙᑑᖕᒥᓇᑎᒃᓗ! ᓴᖅᑮᓯᒪᓕᕐᓂᐊᕐᒥᔪᒍᑦ ᓄᑖᒥᒃ ᐅᖃᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓂᕆᕙᓐᓂᐊᓕᖅᑕᖓᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑦᑎᓐᓂ “ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᓐᓂᖅ”. ᐊᒥᓱᓄᑦ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᕐᒥᐅᓕᒫᓄᑦ, ᐋᑐᕙ, ᐋᓐᑎᐊᕆᐅ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᑦᒪᓐᑕᓐ, ᐃᐊᓪᐴᑕ, ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᕆᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᕙᒻᒪᑦ. ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᒃᑲᑦᑕ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖅᑎᐅᓂᕆᔭᕗᑦ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᑎᑦᑐᑎᒍ. ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᓐᓂᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᕆᔭᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᓚᖃᖅᐸᒻᒪᑦ, ᓂᕿᓂᒃ ᐅ-ᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᑎᑎᖅᑲᖁᑎᓂᒃ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐃᓄᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒃᔭᖅᑐᐃᕙᒃᑲᑦᑕ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᐃᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐱᖃᑎᐊᓗᒋᔭᒥᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᒥᓐᓂᒃ, ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ. ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖏᑦ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᑎᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᒥᓱᑦ ᐃᓅᓯᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᖃᑕᐅᒻᒪᑕ. ᓴᖖᒋᓂᖃᖅᑑᓂᕗᑦ ᐊᑦᑕᑕᖅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᓄᓇᓕᒋᔭᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐃᓂᖃᓕᕈᑎᒋᒐᑦᑎᒍ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᓕᒫᒥ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᐃᕝᕕᓕᕆᓂᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᓄᑦ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᒋᓪᓗᒍ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᕙᓪᓕᐊᑎᑕᐅᕙᓐᓂᖓᓄᑦ ᐅᖓᓯᒃᑐᐊᓗᖕᒧᑦ, ᓄᑖᓄᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᐃᓯᒪᓕᕆᐊᖅᐸᓐᓂᕐᓄᑦ. ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᑉ ᐊᕙᑎᒋᔭᖓ ᐱᐅᒋᔭᐅᓂᖅᐸᐅᖃᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᒐᐅᔪᒪᕙᒻᒪᑦ ᑕᑯᒋᐅᕐᕕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑑᓪᓗᓂ. ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᓂ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᖃᓕᕐᓂᑦᑎᒍᑦ ᑐᕌᕐᕕᒃᓴᖃᕋᑦᑕ ᐊᒥᓱᒃᑲᓐᓂᕐᓂᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᒐᐅᓯᒪᓕᖁᓪᓗᒍ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᖅ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᑭᒪᕙᓕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᕆᐊᖃᕐᒪᑕ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᖅ ᐱᐅᓂᖅᐸᐅᔫᓂᖓᑕ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᒃᔭᖅᑐᐃᔨᒋᔭᐅᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ. ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᒃ ᔫᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂ ᓂᕈᐊᓚᐅᕋᑦᓯ ᐃᑭᒪᕝᕕᒋᔪᒪᓪᓗᒍ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ. ᖁᕕᐊᒋᔭᐅᖁᒐᓗᐊᖅᐸᕗᑦ ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᓂ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᕆᓕᖅᑕᕗᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᕿᓚᒥᐅᔪᖅ ᑕᑯᒃᑲᓐᓂᕈᒪᓂᐊᕆᕙᑦᓯ.

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, Le présent numéro de above&beyond est très spécial pour nous tous chez First Air. En effet, c’est le premier numéro arborant notre nouveau logo et notre nouvelle image de marque. Notre nouveau look est l’aboutissement de 71 ans d’histoire et d’expérience. Il reflète l’immense passion de nos employés qui permettent à cette compagnie aérienne de voler chaque jour.

Nous souhaitions que notre nouvelle image de marque soit plus moderne, mais nous voulions aussi qu’elle représente qui nous sommes et la région que nous desservons. Nous voulions nous distinguer dans le paysage de l’Arctique et dans les aéroports de Montréal (Québec) et Ottawa (Ontario) où il y a de l’achalandage.

Pour développer notre nouvelle image de marque, nous avons consulté nos employés, nos clients et des aînés inuits.

Nous avons écouté leurs suggestions et sommes retournés les consulter sur l’orientation que nous nous proposions de prendre. En tout, nous avons consulté plus de 180 personnes.

Nous avons maintenant une image et un design qui sont vraiment reliés à nos clients et aux régions que nous desservons avec fierté.

Notre nouveau design représente réellement l’Arctique canadien, il n’y a pas d’erreur là-dessus!

La création d’une image de marque dépasse le fait d’avoir un nouveau logo et le plus joli aéronef dont nous pouvons être fiers maintenant. L’image a un effet sur tous les éléments de la compagnie, à l’interne et à l’externe. Elle représente notre façon de faire des affaires, notre façon de nous présenter dans tous les aspects. Notre mission est d’être la meilleure compagnie aérienne dans le cœur et l’esprit de nos employés et de nos clients.

Dans cette optique, il y aura de nombreux changements : signalisation, nouveaux uniformes, nouveau site Web et nouveaux intérieurs d’aéronef, entre autres!

Nous introduisons aussi un nouveau slogan : Volez dans l’Arctique. Pour de nombreuses personnes dans le monde entier, Ottawa (Ontario) et Edmonton (Alberta) représentent le Nord. Nous volons dans l’Arctique et prenons ce rôle très au sérieux. Voler dans l’Arctique comporte des responsabilités, qu’il s’agisse du transport de nourriture ou de courrier, de personnes visitant leurs amis et leurs familles, ou de passagers malades. First Air joue un rôle important dans la vie de nombreuses personnes dans cette région.

Notre force dans le réseau des collectivités arctiques nous permet de tirer profit du tourisme mondial qui tend de plus en plus à s’orienter vers des expériences dans de nouvelles destinations éloignées. L’Arctique est une destination très exotique, avec un potentiel à découvrir. Notre nouvelle image de marque vise directement à y augmenter le nombre de visiteurs. Ces nouveaux clients doivent être informés des merveilles de cette région, et nous pouvons les y transporter.

Merci d’avoir choisi First Air pour votre vol aujourd’hui. Nous espérons que vous aimerez notre nouvelle image de marque et nous espérons vous revoir bientôt à bord.

Brock Friesen Président-directeur général de First Air

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

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

Supporting our ties to the Arctic

On October 12, 2017, First Air revealed a total makeover of its brand after 71 years as Canada’s preeminent northern airline. This announcement, at the First Air hangar in Ottawa, was made with two aircraft featuring the new livery (B737 - C-FFNM and ATR-42 - C-FTIK). These two aircraft are in service now flying through our network while we continue to change over the rest of our fleet.

The new brand features a modern and unique version of the iconic Arctic symbol: The Inuksuk. This logo is representative of the people and land of the Arctic.

In the words of one Inuit Elder consulted during the design process, “We never go anywhere without an Inuksuk showing the way.”

The airline’s new primary colours are red and grey. “We wanted colours that would showcase our stunning new logo, and that would stand out in the snowy Arctic and at busy southern airports. What better colour than Canadian red?” says Brock Friesen, President and CEO of First Air.

The airline’s tagline is now: “Fly the Arctic”. To many around the world, Ottawa, Ontario, and Edmonton, Alberta, are the North. First Air’s operation has an Arctic responsibility attached to it, whether it’s transporting essential food, mail, or medical passengers, or uniting friends and families. There are no roads connecting the Arctic to southern Canada; we are the road.

First Air wants to inspire more tourists to visit the Arctic and this will be the new focus for the airline, in addition to our core essential services and responsibilities. The Arctic, a truly exotic destination, is a place of wonder and, increasingly, tourists from around the world are looking for out-of-the-ordinary travel experiences. First Air can take them there.

Branding is not only about logos and colour. It’s about every aspect of the company. First Air will be updating every customer touch point while continuing to focus on excellent customer service that sets us apart. Meals, Starbucks Coffee, warm cookies, special coffee, and wine will continue to be served onboard all First Air flights at no extra charge, as part of our inflight hospitality.

A new, Wi-Fi based onboard entertainment system will also soon be launched on jet routes and the website is being upgraded to improve the online booking experience.

The new First Air brand reinforces our long-standing history, pride of ownership and commitment to our customers and communities. Look for the new livery in the skies at our communities across the First Air network and beyond.

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

ᐃᑲᔪᖅᓯᓯᒪᓕᕐᓂᖅ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒧᑦ ᐊᑦᑕᑕᖅᓯᒪᓂᕆᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᒃᑐᐱᕆ 12, 2017-ᒥ, ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᓴᖅᑮᓕᓚᐅᕐᒪᑕ ᑕᒪᐃᑎᒍᑦ ᓄᑕᐅᓕᕆᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᓕᕐᓂᐊᕐᓂᕐᒥᓐᓂᒃ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᕆᓯᒪᔭᑐᖃᒥᓐᓂᒃ 71-ᖑᓕᖅᑐᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᓄᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐸᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᕆᔭᐅᓯᒪᓕᕐᓂᕐᒥᓐᓄᑦ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑐᓴᖅᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑎᐅᔪᑦ, ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒃᑯᕝᕕᖓᓐᓂ ᐋᑐᕙᒥ, ᓴᖅᑭᑕᐅᓚᐅᕐᒪᑕ ᒪᕐᕉᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᔅᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᔪᓐᓂᒃ ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᑎᒃ (B737 - C-FFNM ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ATR-42 - C-FTIK). ᑖᒃᑯᐊᒃ ᒪᕐᕉᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᑑᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᖃᑦᑕᓕᕐᒪᑕ ᖃᖓᑕᕝᕕᒋᕙᒃᑕᑦᑎᒍᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔩᕙᓪᓕᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅᑎᓪᓗᑕ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖁᑎᒋᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ. ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᓂ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᐅᓕᖅᑐᑦ ᑕᐅᑦᑐᖃᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᕗᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᓕᖅᑐᒥ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᔾᔨᖃᕋᑎᒃ ᐃᓕᑕᕐᓇᒻᒪᕆᒃᑑᓪᓗᓂ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒧᑦ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᒥᒃ: ᐃᓄᒃᓱᒃ. ᑖᓐᓇ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᐅᔪᖅ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᖃᕈᑎᐅᒻᒪᑦ ᐃᓄᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᐅᔪᒧᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ. ᐃᓅᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᐅᑉ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖏᑦ ᒪᓕᒃᓗᒋᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒋᐊᕐᕕᐅᖃᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᑉ ᑕᐅᑦᑐᕆᓂᐊᖅᑕᖓᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂ, “ᓇᒧᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᓕᕆᐊᖅᐸᖖᒋᓐᓇᑦᑕ ᐃᓄᒃᓱᒻᒥᒃ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᖃᓕᓚᐅᖅᑳᕋᑕ.”

ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑦᑕ ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑕᖅᓴᕆᓕᖅᑕᖏᑦ ᐊᐅᐸᖅᑑᓕᕐᒪᑕ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓱᖅᑕᐅᓕᕐᒪᑕ. “ᑕᖅᓴᖃᕐᓂᖃᖁᔨᓚᐅᕋᑦᑕ ᑕᑯᔅᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᓂ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᕆᓕᖅᑕᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᕈᓯᒪᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᐊᕐᓗᓂ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᑉ ᖃᖁᖅᑰᓂᕆᕙᒃᑕᖓᓂ ᐊᐳᑎᒥ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖃᕐᕕᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂ ᐊᒥᓲᕙᒃᑐᑎᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂ. ᓱᓇᓕ ᑕᖅᓴᕆᔭᐅᕙᒃᑐᖅ ᐱᐅᓂᖅᐸᐅᒻᒪᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥᐅᓂ ᐊᐅᐸᖅᑐᖁᑎᖓᓐᓂᑦ?” ᐅᖃᖅᑐᓂ ᐳᕌᒃ ᕗᕇᓴᓐ, ᐊᖏᔪᖅᑳᖑᔪᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓪᓚᕝᕕᖕᒥ ᐃᓱᒪᑕᒪᕆᒋᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ.

ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖁᑎᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᖃᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓂᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ ᐃᓇᖏᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᕐᒪᑦ “ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᓐᓂᖅ” ᐊᒥᓱᓄᑦ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᕐᒥᐅᓕᒫᓄᑦ, ᐋᑐᕙ, ᐋᓐᑎᐊᕆᐅ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᑦᒪᓐᑕᓐ, ᐃᐊᓪᐴᑕ, ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᕆᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᕙᒻᒪᑦ. ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᓯᓂᖃᕐᓂᒥᓐᓂ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᕆᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᓚᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᒻᒪᑕ, ᓂᕿᓂᒃ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᑎᑎᖅᑲᖁᑎᓂᒃ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᑭᒪᕙᒃᑐᓂᒃ, ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᐃᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐱᖃᑎᐊᓗᒋᔭᒥᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᒥᓐᓂᒃ. ᐊᖅᑯᑎᑕᖃᖖᒋᒻᒪᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓄᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ; ᐅᕙᒍᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᕆᔭᐅᔪᑎᒍᑦ ᐊᖅᑯᑎᒋᔭᐅᕙᒃᑲᑦᑕ. ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᒥᓱᕈᖅᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᕈᒪᒻᒪᑕ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᐃᔪᒪᓕᖅᐸᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᓄᑖᖑᓗᓂ ᑐᕌᕐᕕᐅᓕᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖅᑎᓂᑦ, ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑲᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᕈᑎᒋᔭᐅᔭᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᑎᒃ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᕈᑎᒋᕙᒃᑕᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᕆᔭᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ. ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᖅ, ᐱᐅᓪᓚᕆᓐᓂᖅᐸᐅᖃᑕᐅᒻᒪᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᒐᐅ-

ᓯᒪᕙᒃᑐᓂᑦ, ᑕᑯᕋᓐᓂᖅᑐᒻᒪᕆᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ, ᐊᖏᒡᓕᕙᓪᓕᐊᓂᖃᖅᑑᓪᓗᑎᒃ, ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᐃᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᓕᒫᒥᑦ ᕿᓂᓕᖅᓯᒪᒻᒪᑕ ᐊᔾᔨᒋᔭᐅᖖᖏᓪᓚᕆᒃᑐᒥᒃ-ᐅᐊᔭᕐᓂᖃᖅᓯᒪᓕᕈᒪᓂᕐᒥᓐᓂᒃ. ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂᑦ ᑕᐅᕗᖖᒐᐅᔾᔭᐅᔪᓐᓇᕐᒪᑕ.

ᐃᓅᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᐅᑉ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖏᑦ ᒪᓕᒃᓗᒋᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒋᐊᕐᕕᐅᖃᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᑉ ᑕᐅᑦᑐᕆᓂᐊᖅᑕᖓᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂ, “ᓇᒧᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᓕᕆᐊᖅᐸᖖᒋᓐᓇᑦᑕ ᐃᓄᒃᓱᒻᒥᒃ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᖃᓕᓚᐅᖅᑳᕋᑕ.”

In the words of one Inuit Elder consulted during the design process, “We never go anywhere without an Inuksuk showing the way.” ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᓕᖅᑐᐃᕙᓐᓂᕐᒥ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᐅᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᖃᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅᐸᖖᒋᒻᒪᑕ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᒃᓴᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᖅᓴᖃᕐᓂᕆᓂᐊᖅᑕᖏᓂᒃ. ᐱᓕᕆᐊᕆᔭᐅᔭᕆᐊᖃᖅᐸᒻᒥᔪᑦ ᑲᒻᐸᓂᒋᔭᐅᔪᒧᑦ ᑐᕌᖓᔪᓕᒫᑦ. ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᓄᑕᐅᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᑭᒪᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᑐᕌᖓᕙᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᒥᓐᓂ ᑐᕌᖓᑐᐃᓐᓇᕐᒥᓗᑎᒃ ᖁᑦᑎᖕᓂᖅᐸᐅᔪᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᕈᑎᒋᕙᒃᑕᒥᓐᓄᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᓗ ᐊᔾᔨᖃᖖᒋᑦᑑᔾᔪᑎᒋᕙᒃᑲᑦᑎᒍ. ᓂᕆᔭᒃᓴᐅᕙᒃᑐᑦ, ᓯᑖᕐᐸᒃᔅ ᑳᐱ, ᓯᒐᓛᕋᓛᑦ ᐆᓇᖅᓯᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ, ᐃᓚᓕᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑳᐱᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᕙᐃᓃᑦ ᓱᓕ ᐃᑭᒪᔪᓄᑦ ᑐᓂᐅᖅᑲᒐᐅᕙᓐᓂᐊᕐᒥᔪᑦ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᑭᖃᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᑎᑕᐅᕙᒐᑎᒃ, ᐃᓚᐅᑎᑕᐅᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᔪᓄᑦ ᑐᖖᒐᓵᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᕆᕙᒃᑕᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ.

ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᑎᒃ, ᐅᐊᔭᒨᖅᑐᒃᑰᕈᑎᑕᖃᓕᕐᓃᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᓯᑲᐅᑎᒋᓂᐊᓕᕐᒥᔪᑦ ᓱᐴᔫᒃᑰᕐᕕᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᕆᑕᐅᔭᑎᒍᑦ ᐱᑐᒃᓯᒪᕝᕕᖁᑏᑦ ᓄᑕᐅᓕᕆᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᑎᒃ ᐱᐅᓯᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᕐᒥ ᖃᕆᑕᐅᔭᑎᒍᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒃᑰᕈᑎᒃᓴᒥᓐᓂᒃ ᐋᖅᑮᔾᔪᑎᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ. ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᓂ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᕆᓕᖅᑕᕗᑦ ᓴᖖᒋᒃᑎᒋᐊᕈᑎᐅᒻᒪᑦ, ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓄᑦ, ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖃᖅᑎᐅᓂᕐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᕆᔭᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᓕᒋᔭᐅᔪᓄᑦ. ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᕆᓕᖅᑕᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᐅᔪᑦ ᖁᓛᑎᒍᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᓕᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᕿᓂᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᖅᐳᓯ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖃᑎᒌᓐᓂᖏᓐᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᖓᑖᓄᐊᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ.

Introducing onboard entertainment…

First Air will soon be launching a wireless in-flight entertainment onboard our all-passenger Boeing flights. It is a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) concept where passengers simply use their electronic device on-board, connect to the Wi-fi network and enjoy hours of entertainment.

Watch movies, listen to music, play games, read magazines!

Inuktitut and English Titles

Orphan and the Polar Bear

The Owl and the Lemming

Argo

Collateral Beauty

Creed

Fantastic Beasts

Happy Feet Two

Me Before You

Pan

The Legend of Tarzan

2 Broke Girls

Arrows

Gilmore Girls

Gossip Girl

Mike & Molly

Pretty Little Liars

The Big Bang Theory

The Flash

The Jetsons

The Mentalist

Bugs Bunny

Cirque du Soleil

Friends

Scooby Doo

Tom and Jerry

Movies

Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves

Television

Amautalik

Check out the entertainment onboard for further titles.

...and more.

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

2017 | 06 • $5.95

The Pangnirtung Weave Shop

Collec ng Lichens in Canada’s High Arc c

Arc c Research Learning from One Another

Canada’s C3 Expedition Meets the Arctic

Contents 10

November | December 2017 Volume 29, No. 6

PM40050872

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o www.arcticjournal.ca

The Canada C3 ship breaks ice o the coast of BaďŹƒn Island. Š Mike Sudoma, Students on Ice Foundation

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The views and opinions expressed in editorial content, advertisements, or by contributors, do not necessarily reect the views, oďŹƒcial 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.

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Features

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The Pangnirtung Weave Shop

The Inuit-owned and run Uqqurmiut Centre in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, oers Inuit the opportunity to continue to illustrate their traditions, to tell their stories and to preserve their culture while providing employment in the community. — Text and photos by Nick Newbery

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Collecting Lichens in Canada’s High Arctic

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Arctic Research Our Way

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Canada’s C3 Expedition Meets the Arctic

Welcome to Hazen Camp, on the north shore of Lake Hazen, in Quttinirpaaq National Park on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, where my colleague Dr. Troy McMullin and I, are on a High Arctic tour collecting lichens and plants across the top of Nunavut. — Paul C. Sokolo

“It’s time to do things our wayâ€? is a consistent theme for members of a new unconventional four-year scientiďŹ c project involving indigenous researchers and other scholars from Siberia, Finland, Greenland, Alaska, and Nunavut. — Henry P. Huntington

From June 1 to October 28, the Canada C3 ship travelled from Toronto to Victoria across Canada’s three coasts. A former Coast Guard icebreaker served as the vessel for conversations about reconciliation, diversity and inclusion, the environment and youth engagement. — Felicity Feinman, Canada C3

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09 Destination Focus

15 Living Above&Beyond 22 Resources

40 Adventure From Hudson Bay to the High Land — Nunavik Parks

43 Culture An Artifact Mystery — Tim W. Worth 46 Youth Climbing Canada’s Tallest Mountain — Naomi Prohaska 49 Education BioBlitz — Parks Canada 53 Bookshelf

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

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66.1466° N, 65.7012° W

PANGNIRTUNG

Pangnirtung, also known as Pangniqtuuq in Inuktitut, which means “the land of the bull caribou,” is a community that is truly one of a kind. Referred to as the “Switzerland of the North,” it is located along the

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

Pangnirtung. © Michael Davies

Cumberland Sound on the northeast side of Baffin Island. The community is nestled between a beautiful mountain range featuring an incredibly picturesque fiord.

The Inuit have been occupying the area of Pangnirtung for over 4,000 years. While using their ancient

knowledge of hunting on the land and sea for survival, they also demonstrate resilience during the milder temperatures of the summer to harsh conditions in the winter, which can reach a wind chill of -60 degrees.

With the well-known hospitality of the Inuit people, they established contact with Scottish whalers in the

19th century and built a relationship between themselves and Europeans through harvesting sea mammals.

Along with Pangnirtung’s rich history and tradition, there are a lot of exciting activities to do all

year round in town and out on the land, such as hiking through the National parks, climbing Mount Thor,

cross-country skiing and dogsledding. The Inuit way of life can also be enjoyed by taking a guided tour with experienced outfitters. With the plethora of activities and cultural traditions, Pang, has become a favourite destination amongst the adventurous travelling community.

You can also visit the local art scene that boasts intricate woven tapestries and their famous

lithographic prints, a tradition kept alive by local artists in the community. Check out their unique style of

headwear, the “Pang” hat. No matter where you go around Nunavut, it is recognized for its signature appearance.

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Essential places to visit are:

Auyuittuq National Park Kekerten Territorial Park Pisuktinu Tunngavik Territorial Park Campground The Uqqurmiut Centre 9

The Pangnirtung Weave Shop Text and photos by Nick Newbery The Inuit-owned and run Uqqurmiut Centre in Pangnirtung was built in 1991 to house the weave shop and the print shop, with a small gift shop providing a link between the two. Both buildings house activities that reflect strong Inuit artistic creativeness of a high standard. The weave shop is one of only two places in Nunavut that produces tapestries woven on a commercial basis (Baker Lake is the other) while the print shop is one of three in the territory producing prints for the commercial market. Both offer Inuit the opportunity to continue to illustrate their traditions, to tell their stories and to preserve their culture while providing employment in the community.

THE PRODUCTS. The two buildings, igloo-round and Inuit controlled, provide Inuit both employment and artistic control of their products. The weave shop, run by Inuit women, offers a variety of products, including scarves, mitts, slippers, ski sweaters, cardigans, blankets, shawls, the famous ‘Pang’ hats, as well as various sizes of wall hangings. The tapestries can be bought on site or commissioned. © Nick Newbery/Government of Nunavut

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THE INTERIOR. The inside of the weave shop is light and airy and teems with colour, from the many spools of yarn to the works-in-progress to the wall hangings on display all around the work area. Friendly and inviting, the women are delighted to have visitors walk around and ask questions about the tapestries. © Nick Newbery/Government of Nunavut

AT WORK. Igah Etoangat and Geela Keenainak (foreground) are long-time members of the weave shop and are often found with about six to eight other women at work on tapestries or other projects most days of the working week.

Obviously a comfortable place to be, the air resounds with the clacking of racks as the weavers work, along with bursts of Inuktitut and outbreaks of laughter. © Nick Newbery/Government of Nunavut

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

THE LOGO. Geela Keenainak works at her loom seated below the Uqqurmiut Centre logo. The logo has been reproduced in tapestries, T-shirts and tote bags and is popular for its colourful originality. © Nick Newbery/Government of Nunavut

EMERGING… Almost like a photograph appearing from the developer in a photographic dark room, slowly the image emerges on Igah Etoangat’s loom. Tapestries come in all sizes, can reflect both traditional and modern themes and can vary from sombre to the brightest of colours. © Nick Newbery/Government of Nunavut

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STORYTELLING. Tapestries are hung on the walls and draped on looms in the centre so visitors can inspect the high quality of the work, note the various themes produced and see what is for sale. As with their carvings and print-making, Inuit use tapestries as a way of telling their stories and preserving their culture. © Nick Newbery/Government of Nunavut

MAJOR PROJECTS. From time to time the centre will receive commissions for large projects that involve several women at the same time over a long period.

Three examples of these are the huge wall hanging in the Great Hall of the Nunavut Legislature in Iqaluit, the one in the Unikkaavik Visitor Centre also in Iqaluit and the one in the Pangnirtung airport terminal. © Nick Newbery/Government of Nunavut

ON DISPLAY. The largest project completed so far is the commissioned work now hanging in The Great Hall, the lobby of the Nunavut Legislature in Iqaluit. Worked on by many women over many months, it depicts a hunter walking on the tundra towards a distant inuksuk. © Nick Newbery/Government of Nunavut

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Exquisite Sealskin Garments Gifts & Accessories GUS

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4 Corners

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Inuksuk High School ETH

B LIZA

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First Nations Bank

Canada Post CIBC

PIT TSI

Soup Kitchen

AQ MAT TA

AIVIQ

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TAAQ MAT FRED

RANNVA DESIGN

Thrift Store

PA L

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St Jude’s Anglican Church

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phone: +1 867 223 3183 info@rannva.com 661 Pitsi/Mattaq, Iqaluit, Nunavut 14

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2017 | 06

LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND

North-South partnership brings art to new airport The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) partnered

with the Government of Nunavut (GN) to create a display featuring Inuit art for the new Iqaluit

International Airport, which celebrated its grand opening in September.

The Gallery worked with the territory’s

departments of Economic Development and Transportation, and Culture and Heritage to

bring artwork from both the GN and WAG

collections to Iqaluit. The new airport exhibition

includes Inuit sculptures, GN wall-hangings that will be rotated every six months for preservation

purposes, and large-scale murals by Charles

Johnston that reproduce prints and drawings from the WAG Inuit art collection.

In 2015 the WAG and the governments of

Nunavut and Manitoba signed an agreement for the WAG to hold in trust the GN Fine Arts

Some of the GN wall hangings on display at the new Iqaluit International Airport. © Doris Ohlmann

Collection of over 7,300 works on long-term

mented, digitized, and displayed by the WAG

formed in 1999, the collection is being docu-

artwork in Nunavut.

loan. Largely kept in storage since before Nunavut

before a permanent home is built for the

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The Winnipeg Airports Authority is the

service provider and manages the Iqaluit airport for the GN.

15

Nunavut’s potential showcased at annual gathering LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND

Business of the Year is Upper Base Garage and Caribou Cabs, presented by Ike Hauli, past President and BRCC Board of Director (centre). © Michel Albert (4)

The annual Nunavut Tradeshow and Conference was held this year from September 19 to 21 in Iqaluit with information sessions taking place between the Frobisher Inn and the Arctic Winter Games Arena, which also housed the Tradeshow exhibitors. Organized by the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce, it focussed on promoting economic development with a positive outcome for Nunavummiut.

Conference topics included: investing in Nunavut’s infrastructure, the need for better and faster broadband, funding sources to help support business growth, language revitalization, housing, procurement processes for government contracts, mining and fishing.

With 4,000 residents of Nunavut reaching working age in the next 10 years, the time is ripe to create opportunities to meet the demand for

16

Sherri Rowe, Deputy Minister, Government of Nunavut, Department of Economic Development and Transportation presents the Business Person of the Year award to Glenn Cousins, Kakivak Association.

jobs for this fast-growing youth population and build prosperity for future generations.

The new airport terminal and the development of the Grays Bay road and port project are critical, much needed infrastructure. Increased resource development and construction and cruise ship visitations will also help provide employment for the next generation.

Mining operations are crucial to the economy of Nunavut. Nunavut is in the top six per cent of mineral exploration companies in Canada.

Mining companies are some of the largest employers in Nunavut. Some companies, like Baffinland, provide an apprentice program to help build a work force in Nunavut based on skills. With three operating mines in all three areas of Nunavut, there is a huge potential for growth in this sector.

Baffin Fisheries are doing their part to increase job creation in the territory by providing training and recruitment programs. They work with stakeholders to improve the sustainability of fishing operations in the Pangnirtung community. Because it is an inshore fishery, it is more labour intensive so more jobs are available. Plans are also underway to build Fisheries in Kimmirut and Clyde River.

Since 2005, Qikiqtaaluk Fisheries has spent $20 million on Fisheries and marine training to aid in expanding the economic benefits to Qikiqtani communities. In the future, they will invest in vessel ownership and modernization.

The Nunavut Fisheries Training Consortium (NFTC) provides training for the Kativik Regional Government, Search and Rescue, Makivik, sealift and mining companies, etc. and are also expanding their operations to the NWT. They partner

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LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND

Stuart Kennedy (right) from DJ Sensations receives the Lifetime Achievement Award from John Jacobsen, president and CEO of Tower Arctic Group of Companies.

with fishing companies for funding and for advice on the types of training needed for those who will eventually seek employment. Elisabeth Cayen, Executive Director for the NFTC, says without support from the industry, there would be no jobs. The Marine training skills also transmit to other potential jobs in the communities such as first responder vocations and cargo ship workers.

The Conference was all about building partnerships and this included information on how other regions are currently working together to help support the Territory, such as the group presenting from eastern Canada.

With a shared coastline geographically, Labrador and Newfoundland have many similar issues as Nunavut such as Land Claims, and the mining and fishing sectors. Marilyn Butland from the St. John’s Board of Trade says there are partnerships to be made through aviation

Special Achievement Award went to WASCO. This award is for an individual, business, or group who has displayed extraordinary success or innovation in their economic development activities in 2016-2017.

Ike Hauli, past President and BRCC Board of Director (left) presents the award to Michael O’Gorman.

to connect people, to attract international investments and to increase trade.

Bernie MacIsaac, Assistant Deputy Minister, Department of Economic Development and Transportation, wrapped up the final session echoing the sentiments felt by many of the other speakers throughout the Conference. “Nunavut has the potential for world class cultural, tourism and resources and we need a strong economy built on a safe and effective transportation system to benefit all Nunavummiut.“ The Conference sessions were rounded out with breakfast and luncheon speakers with attendees able to sample some of the products Nunavut businesses supply, such as turbot and shrimp sponsored by Baffin Fisheries. Exhibitors and cultural artists promoted their products and services on the Tradeshow floor and the annual Nunavut Business Achievement Awards took place September 20 at the Discovery Inn.

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The final evening Gala dinner at the Frobisher Inn brought the busy week of making business partnerships to a close with Silent and Live Auctions of items donated by Nunavut businesses with Victor Tootoo, BRCC President and 2017 Nunavut Trade Show Chair, acting as auctioneer; Keynote Speaker Michael Doyle presenting encouraging remarks to business owners; and entertainment by local Iqaluit band, Inuuqatigiit. Over $5000 was raised for the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation charity at the event, including matching funds.

Indeed, the theme of the Conference, “Facing the Future – Together” was realized with many individuals and organizations working together to provide a road map for businesses in Nunavut to continue to grow and prosper in Nunavut’s emerging economy.

Doris Ohlmann

17

Makivik funding to support community initiatives

Makivik Corporation has announced $16.8-

million will be allocated in support of many different community projects and new initiatives, due to solid returns from their financial portfolio, which resulted in a $3-million dividend

from First Air and a $2-million dividend from

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

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

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

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

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

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Air Inuit. In the new year, 15 communities, including Inuit in Chisasibi, will share $4.5-million of the funds. In addition, close to $1.3-million

will be provided for the following community

initiatives: Recreation and Leisure, Elders, Junior

Rangers, JBNQA Day, National Aboriginal Day, Church Fund, Community Donations Fund, and the Hospital Patients Fund.

Organizational funding under the Sanarrutik

Agreement includes funding for the Avataq

Cultural Institute, including the creation of a language authority; Taqramiut Nipingat Incorpo-

rated, Nunavik’s public broadcaster; the Nunavik Tourism Association; Nunavik Sivunitsavut; the

Nunavik Mineral Exploration Fund; the Nunavik Hunting Fishing and Trapping Association; the

Qarjuit Youth Association; the Landholding

Corporations; and the Nunavik Landholding Corporation Association.

As well, funding will be distributed to the

Isuarsivik Regional Recovery Centre in Kuujjuaq

for the construction of a larger and more adequate facility; monies for two additional film documentaries in 30-minute formats, as

part of an eight-part series, following the success of the documentary, “Now That You Can

Stand”; the Qanuilirpitaa health survey; the annual Ivakkak dog race; the Makivik Income Tax project, which assists 6,000 Nunavimmiut in the preparation of tax returns; and the “Fur

harvesting, Locally Made Clothing, and Access Initiative,” funded through the Hunter Support

Program (HSP) and managed by the Kativik Regional Government (KRG).

Together, the Makivik Board of Directors,

Governors, and Makivik Executives made these

IUT@gov.nu.ca

funding decisions collectively for the benefit of all of Nunavik.

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NWT residents receive awards

LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND

The 2017 recipients into the Order of the Northwest Territories were inducted at a public ceremony held in the Chamber of the Legislative Assembly in Yellowknife at the end of May. Recipients are Paul Andrew, Fred Carmichael, Russell King, Linda Koe, Jeff Philipp, and Tom Zubko.

Kingland Ford, which includes a body shop, tire shop, king manufacturing and mining service division, all providing employment to many people in the NWT.

Paul Andrew is a resident of Yellowknife and was nominated for his work in culture, residential school education and healing. His focus is on teaching about Dene language and culture, building relationships between aboriginal and nonaboriginal people, healing and reconciliation, and regaining pride for the elders and hope for the youth of the Northwest Territories.

Fred Carmichael is a resident of Inuvik and was nominated for his work in business. His 60-year career in aviation sets him apart as a valuable mentor, teacher and consultant and he is recognized throughout the North as a leader and entrepreneur.

Russell King is a resident of Hay River and was nominated for his work in business. Along with his wife Mary, King is the owner and operator of

Lynda Koe is a resident of Yellowknife and was nominated for her work in professions and other occupations. With over 27 years of dedicated service, her exceptional leadership skills have developed personal care practices and standards that put the residents at the Avens long-term care facility first.

Jeff Philipp, the Founder and CEO of SSi Micro Ltd, was born and raised in Fort Providence, and

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now resides in Yellowknife and was nominated for his work in science and technology. Philipp is passionate about northern energy issues and dedicated to reducing public dependency on diesel fuel. SSI Micro provides internet service to 56 communities across the NWT and Nunavut.

He has advocated for fair competition in the NWT telecommunications market for over 20 years.

© Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories (6)

Tom Zubko is a resident of Inuvik and was nominated for his work in business. He has dedicated his life to growing the political and economic base of the Northwest Territories. His Inuvik Satellite telecommunications business has attracted international attention, hosting space operators from across the globe including Sweden, Germany, Norway, France, Spain, Japan and the United States.

The Order of the Northwest Territories, established in 2013 by the Territorial Emblems and Honours Act, recognizes individuals who have served with the greatest distinction and excelled in any field of endeavour benefitting the people of the NWT or elsewhere. It is the highest honour awarded to NWT residents.

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Commemorating Arctic families © Doris Ohlmann

On September 7, a new public artwork was

unveiled at the previous Southway Inn in

Ottawa, Ontario, to commemorate the many years of service to Inuit. Opened in 1958, it

became a cherished place for Inuit men, women, and children travelling to and from the

Arctic for work, school, healthcare and political purposes. As a ‘home away from home,’ the Southway served as a distinctive space that

linked families, friends and communities together. The Hotel is now the Waterford

Retirement Community. L to R: Elisapee

Sheutiapik, former Iqaluit mayor; sculptor Couzyn van Heuvelen; and Waterford owners, the Zlepnig Family.

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LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND

Request for funding

Nunavut is the only jurisdiction in Canada without a designated heritage space to house and

present its history. The Government of Nunavut

continues to expend over $1 million annually to cover the cost of storing and preserving more than 140,000 Inuit artifacts on locations outside the territory.

The Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA) Board

of Directors want to see a Nunavut Heritage

Centre on Inuit Owned Lands in Iqaluit. They believe it is time for Inuit artifacts and ethno-

graphic material to be returned to Inuit home-

lands. QIA pledges support for the establishment of a Nunavut Heritage Centre up to $5 million.

The Nunavut Agreement recognizes the need

to establish facilities in the Nunavut Settlement

An artist’s conception of the proposed Nunavut Heritage Centre. © Qikiqtani Inuit Association

a representative portion of the archaeological record.

The QIA asks for a collaborative approach

organizations and other relevant organizations

to advance the reality of a Nunavut Heritage Centre.

Area for the conservation and management of

between the Government of Nunavut, Inuit

An historic agreement between the seven

and the People of Ungava,” is the product of

the Inuit of Nunatsiavut (represented by the

the Ungava Peninsula Caribou Aboriginal Round

the seven nations.

Community Council, the Naskapi Nation of

Seven nations sign historic agreement Indigenous Nations that make up UPCART — Table — was signed October 17.

four years of unprecedented meetings between

Ungava Peninsula Caribou populations have

The Agreement is to implement a Manage-

been in steep declines since the 1990s. The George

and Leaf River herds, which inhabit the Ungava

to 9,000 at present. The Leaf River Herd has

ment Strategy for caribou in the George River Peninsula, a vast area stretching over 1.5 million

square kilometres. The Management Strategy titled, “A Long Time Ago in the Future: Caribou

River Herd dropped from a peak of 770,000 dropped from 628,000 in 2001 to 199,000 in 2016.

The UPCART membership is composed of

Nunatsiavut Government), the NunatuKavut

Kawawachikamach, the Grand Council of the

Crees of Eeyou Istchee/Cree Regional Authority (GCCEI/CRA), the Innu Nation of Labrador, and

all the Innu communities from the Quebec region.

the Inuit of Nunavik (represented by Makivik),

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RESOURCES

NUNAVIK

Field program complete

Commerce Resources Corp. has successfully completed the 2017 field program at its 100 per cent owned Ashram Rare Earth Deposit, in northern Quebec. The work focused on programs in support of the ongoing Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) as well as additional prospecting near the Miranna Target, considered prospective for niobium, tantalum, and phosphate mineralization.

The field program included the collection of 1,256 core samples, nine composite core samples for comminution testing, and 36 prospecting rock samples to further refine the Miranna Target ahead of drill testing. As well, data downloads and maintenance of various instrument loggers were completed throughout the Ashram Project area.

The 2017 samples have been sent to Activation Laboratories in Ancaster, Ontario, for analysis.

The data will form an integral component in the development of the hydrogeological model for the Project.

The Miranna Area is located approximately one kilometre east of the Ashram Rare Earth Deposit.

NUNAVUT

Territories receive funding boost

In September, it was announced that all three Arctic territories will receive a $7.4 million financial boost for existing geoscience research from the federal government. Money coming from Natural Resources Canada, the Government of Nunavut, Indigenous and Northern Affairs, ArcticNet and various universities will increase the total two-year funding to $13,474,335.

The geoscience money will support a series of projects in Nunavut, including: • mapping of the Tehery Lake-Wager Bay area; • examining the mineral potential around Kathleen Lake area of the Kitikmeot region; • carving stone assessment on South Baffin Island and Sanikiluaq; • mapping and study of the Hope Bay geological belt in the Kitikmeot region; • mapping climate change and permafrost; • analysing permafrost effects for infrastructure along Western Hudson Bay; and • help fund the Nunavut Permafrost Databank and the Climate Change Secretariat.

Over the next two years, Nunavut will receive $2.7 million, the Northwest Territories will receive $3 million and the Yukon will receive $1.75 million.

In Nunavut, the Department of Economic Development and Transportation will oversee the funds. In the Yukon and the NWT, the territories’ geological surveys will oversee the funds.

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NWT

Mine could remain open longer

According to a preliminary economic assessment released by Dominion Diamond Corporation in early September, further expansion of underground mining operations at the Ekati diamond mine could keep the mine open until 2042, bringing significant benefit to the mining industry in the NWT. The Fox Deep project would expand the mine by developing an underground operation below the mined-out Fox open pit. The Fox Deep project is expected to cost about $760 million to develop. The mine hopes to recover about 11 million carats between 2033 and 2042. A pre-feasibility study is currently in progress and should be complete by the end of 2018.

Dominion operates the mine, and owns a controlling interest.

Mining road passes assessment

The all-season road to Canadian Zinc’s Prairie Creek mine has passed its environmental assessment. The Mackenzie Valley Review Board has asked the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs for conditional approval of the project.

The Board’s support is contingent on the implementation of 16 measures to prevent “significant adverse impacts on the environment” and include a road adapted for permafrost conditions, along with ongoing permafrost monitoring; wildlife monitoring that incorporates traditional knowledge; and the creation of an independent technical panel to ensure the road’s design protects people and the environment.

The 180-km all-season road would connect the Prairie Creek Mine to the Liard Highway near Nahanni Butte, with about half of the proposed road running through the Nahanni National Park Reserve. Construction of the road is expected to take three years.

An all-season road would extend the trucking season for the company’s lead, zinc and silver mine, allowing the transport of supplies and mining concentrates throughout the year.

The company hopes to finalize its feasibility study this year, to aid in securing financing for the construction and development of the mine.

YUKON

Funding to aid Yukon’s natural resources sector

On September 2, 2017, Prime Minster Justin Trudeau and Yukon Premier Sandy Silver committed more than $360 million in combined federal and territorial funding to improve road access in two mineral-rich areas in Yukon.

In total, the Yukon Resource Gateway Project will help upgrade over 650 kilometres of road and build or replace numerous bridges, culverts and stream crossings. In the Dawson Range, four separate public road systems will be upgraded.

Gold program on track

Victoria Gold Corp. has begun a $40M Phase 1 Eagle Gold Mine construction program focusing on preparing the mine site for construction in 2018, road upgrades, camp expansion, and detailed engineering.

The program will include significant participation by the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun Development Corp.

Victoria Gold's 100%-owned Dublin Gulch gold property is situated in the central Yukon Territory, approximately 375 kilometres north of Whitehorse, and approximately 85 kilometres from Mayo. The Property covers an area of approximately 555 square kilometres. The Eagle Gold Mine is expected to be Yukon’s next operating gold mine. It and their Olive deposits include proven and probable reserves of 2.7 million ounces of gold from 123 million tonnes of ore with a grade of 0.67 grams of gold per tonne.

New drill targets generated

A significant amount of exploration work has been completed and is ongoing on the White Gold Corp.’s JP Ross, Loonie and Dime properties, including soil sample collection, IP-Resistivity and airborne DIGHEM surveys, geologic mapping and prospecting and drilling. A large structurally controlled mineralized system was discovered on the Dime property.

In addition, the Company staked 80 claims on the Thor project. The Thor project is located approximately five kilometres west of the White Gold Property and was staked to cover anomalous gold in soil values (from trace to 120 ppb Au) from historic work performed in the area.

A drilling program on the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits on the recently acquired White Gold Property from Kinross has also begun to expand and confirm historical resources. The company’s technical team has also generated new drill targets from recently completed geophysical surveys on trend with the Golden Saddle deposit. Drilling is also planned on the Ryan’s Target located 2.1 km on trend from the Golden Saddle deposit.

The company is pleased with the exploration program so far and is encouraged by preliminary findings.

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Collecting lichens in Canada’s High Arctic

By Paul C. Sokoloff

It’s 1:36 in the morning on July 16, 2017, and in the orange tent-tinged midnight sun, I’m face to face with a curious wolf, who has muzzled into my vestibule trying to figure out just what's this strange fluorescent bubble. Welcome to Hazen Camp, on the north shore of Lake Hazen, in Quttinirpaaq National Park on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. Here the views are immense, the Parks Canada staff and visiting scientists are welcoming, and the local wildlife are curious.

Arctic Fireweed (Chamaenerion latifolium) grows in the sands around Lake Hazen.

Paul C. Sokoloff © Canadian Museum of Nature

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Small fire dot lichens (Caloplaca sp.) grow on dead stems around Resolute. Paul C. Sokoloff © Canadian Museum of Nature

Bright and early the next morning, my colleague Dr. Troy McMullin and I, set out on day 17 of our High Arctic tour collecting lichens and plants across the top of Nunavut. We’re both scientists working for the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Ontario, and while I'm the botanist interested in all the flowers, Troy is the museum's lichenologist, which makes him one of the few scientists in Canada whose full-time job revolves around the study and classification of lichens. Few, if any professional lichenologists have ever been sent on a collecting trip quite this far North, so the primary goal of our expedition is to scout out and systematically collect the lichens of the High Arctic, starting at Cornwallis Island, right in the middle of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

Troy and I arrive at the Polar Continental Shelf Program (PCSP) base in Resolute

by First Air charter. Stepping off the plane we are immediately greeted by Tanya Lemieux, one-third of the triumvirate of PCSP operations managers who make all High Arctic research in Canada possible. Troy, myself, and the rest of the newly arrived “beakers” (PCSP slang for scientists) each receive a slip of paper with our room assignment at the base and a Wi-Fi password — precious digits if your stay is an extended one.

We settle into our room, get a good night’s sleep (thank you blackout blinds) and rise early for breakfast at the base’s cafeteria. The meals are fantastic due to the amazing chefs on the base staff, and our dining companions include parks staff, pilots, flight engineers, glaciologists, ecologists, astrobiologists, students, etc. Conversations jump from microbial life in extreme environments to shorebird monitoring to how much lumber you need to finish constructing a cabin.

Our Polar Shelf-issue ATVs are waiting for us in a large warehouse just off the airstrip. After a brief familiarization session, we are soon rolling down dusty tundra roads looking for potentially lichen-rich habitats. Our road trip takes us through the community of Resolute, around an old Thule site, to a meeting with the local HTO, past a territorial park, and through a glacial river and back across again — even if the return trip is a tiny bit sketchy due to high water.

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The Frostbitten Finger lichen (Dactylina ramulosa) is right at home in the High Arctic, pictured here near Lake Hazen.

Paul C. Sokoloff © Canadian Museum of Nature

The tiny purple globes of the Arctic bladder campion (Silene uralensis subsp. arctica) dot tundra marshes around Lake Hazen, Nunavut.

Paul C. Sokoloff © Canadian Museum of Nature

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Below, top: Eureka Weather Station on Ellesmere Island.

Paul C. Sokoloff © Canadian Museum of Nature

Below, centre: The pale, yellow fingers of Allocetraria madreporiformis are found growing between rock and gravel around Resolute. Paul C. Sokoloff © Canadian Museum of Nature

The Ellesmere Island braya (Braya humilis subsp. ellesmerensis) is a type of plant only found on northern Ellesmere Island, and is therefore of conservation concern to biologists.

Paul C. Sokoloff © Canadian Museum of Nature

Our team discovers the Soil Paint Lichen (Acarospora schleicheri) for the first time ever in Nunavut. R. Troy McMullin © Canadian Museum of Nature

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Arctic poppies (Papaver labradoricum) thrive in the area surrounding the McGill Arctic Research Station on Axel Heiberg Island.

Paul C. Sokoloff © Canadian Museum of Nature

Some lichens, like this Lecanora marginata, grow as a crust on rocks, making collecting them an exercise in stonemasonry as much as it is lichenology.

Paul C. Sokoloff © Canadian Museum of Nature

When we find an interesting site — a rocky outcrop, a marshy meadow, or a craggy cliff — we pull over, record the GPS coordinates and take notes about the location and habitat, and start collecting. While I tenderly dig plants out of the ground, Troy chips lichens off rocks using a sledgehammer, bits of stone zinging by as they ricochet off boulders. These samples, paired with the data we record at the time of collection, will be deposited into the collection back at the museum, forming a piece of tangible evidence that this species was found growing at a specific place and time. Each of these biodiversity records adds to our overall knowledge on what species can be found where in Canada, and our job is to fill in the gaps.

As Troy puts it: “lichens are fungi that have discovered agriculture”. They are fungi that have evolved to house algae or cyanobacteria (what used to be called blue-green algae); the fungi provides the photosynthetic partner with a place to live, and gains food from the sugars produced by the algae. They can grow as crusts fused to rocks (crustose lichens), as leafy or large branching structures (foliose and fruticose lichens, respectively), and range in size from microscopic dots to boulder-covering sheets.

Their conjoined life strategy has paid off handsomely, and these hardy organisms have evolved to fill nearly every niche on earth. Astrobiologists have found they can even survive being exposed to the outside of the International Space Station.

About a week after arriving at PCSP, and about eight hours after leaving Resolute in the back of a loaded Twin Otter, Troy and I gaze down at a herd of Muskox grazing on Ellesmere Island’s Fosheim Peninsula, about 20 km out of Eureka.

Eureka Weather Station is our second stop as we make our way ever north to Hazen. After being flown around for a few hours by Stig Sande, our NorwegianNewfoundlander helicopter pilot, we end a long travel and work day at our camp at the airstrip, processing samples under the midnight sun. Billed as the garden spot of the Arctic, Eureka is wet and cold during our stay, so we are very grateful when John MacIver, the manager of the weather station, invites us for hot showers and a warm place to work.

While I am thrilled to have the opportunity to collect the many grass species that cover the clay soil of the Fosheim, the lichens are sparse and small, so Troy is happy when we board Stig’s helicopter for a short jaunt over to the McGill Arctic Research Station on Axel Heiberg Island. Not 40 minutes later, we fly over vast tundra plains, immense ice caps, and white glaciers below towering mountain spires, before setting down in a lush valley populated with friendly scientists. The collecting at the station is amazing, and during a long hike with resident glaciologist Laura Thomson, we discover many exciting lichens in a lush valley not a kilometre away from camp — a treasure trove of biodiversity previously unknown from this well-studied area. Unfortunately, since travel in Nunavut is always at the mercy of the weather, we pull out of Axel after only 48 hours to ensure we make our connecting flight to Lake Hazen.

Landing on the sandy shores of Lake Hazen, with the sun glowing overhead and lake-covering candle ice clinking in the breeze, we finally make it the High Arctic oasis that is the goal of our trip. We are warmly welcomed into the local community of Parks Canada staffers and long-term researchers from the University of Waterloo, and, a day after the wolf contacts us, we discover the Soil Paint Lichen (Acarospora schleicheri) — a species known from Greenland but never before found in Nunavut.

I’m sure more new discoveries will be made in the coming months as we continue to identify and investigate the nearly 1,000 samples we have collected across the High Arctic.

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Paul C. Sokoloff is Senior Research Assistant at the Canadian Museum of Nature.

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Arctic Research Our Way Learning from one another

By Henry P. Huntington Igor Kolesov, an Evenki reindeer herder from Siberia, demonstrates his lasso techniques and learns how to scrape a sealskin. Mirva Haataja, a Skolt Sámi from northern Finland, makes a sealskin bracelet to accompany her colourful traditional clothes. George Noongwook, a Yupik whaling captain from St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, sings and drums and finds inspiration in Piqqusilirivik, Nunavut’s cultural school in Kangiqtugaapik (Clyde River). A cultural exchange or artists’ convention? Actually, these activities are part of a new unconventional four-year scientific project involving indigenous researchers and other scholars from Siberia, Finland, Greenland, Alaska, and Nunavut.

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The group heads out on snowmachines and dog teams to visit local icebergs. © Robert Kautuk

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From left: Jacob Jaypoody (Clyde River), George Noongwook (Savoonga, Alaska), and Elijah Palituq (Clyde River) get the sleds ready for a day on the ice. © Robert Kautuk

Tanja Sanila tries her luck at a traditional Inuit game. The group are invited to join the weekly Friday Elders’ games, hosted by the Clyde River Elders’ Committee. © Robert Kautuk

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“It’s time to do things our way” is a consistent theme, as the members of the group share stories and experiences, both as community leaders and in scientific projects taking place in their homes and homelands. Too often, such individuals work in isolation from one another, fulfilling a double role in their daily lives in the community and their research activities. When we meet in Clyde River, however, we find a new community among people who understand one another even though they are meeting for the first time.

Igor and his family follow the reindeer in southern Sakha Republic, hunting and fishing as well. A major challenge in their region is the encroachment of oil and gas pipelines as well as mines in their reindeer herding territory. Aytalina Ivanova is a Sakha legal scholar from the republic’s capital of Yakutsk. She explains that a new law in the republic requires what amounts to a cultural impact assessment for development projects, but some companies ignore it, claiming they are bound only by Russian federal law. The indigenous peoples of Siberia will have to continue to stand up for their rights.

Mirva and her colleague, Tanja Sanila, are from Sevettijärvi, Finland, another reindeer herding community. Tanja is the leader of their village. Their people resettled after World War II, when Finland had to give territory to the Soviet Union. As a result, 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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Shari Fox Gearheard takes the visitors for rides with her dog team. © Robert Kautuk

the Skolt Sámi have felt like intruders on the territory of other Sámi, and have further suffered losses of language and culture. Mirva and Tanja nonetheless see opportunities for reclaiming traditional ways and skills.

Realizing and exercising human rights is also important in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), as Vittus Nielsen and Lene Kielsen Holm explain. Vittus grew up in a small settlement in the fjord near the national capital of Nuuk, but the settlement was closed down in the 1970s because the government decided it was not sustainable with so few people.

Since then, and despite the growing political power of Greenland’s self-rule government, the local fishers in the fjord have seen more and more competition for fishing grounds and less and less recognition of their traditional practices and land use. Vittus has therefore started projects to document the fishing territories of people in the fjord, as a step towards controlling tourist fishing and raising awareness of the importance of respecting the streams and fish habitats.

Hunters in Alaska, too, face challenges from industrial development and from regulations that do not reflect traditional practices and traditional knowledge. George speaks passionately about the need to comprehend the whole ecosystem in studies in his region. Charlene Apok, an Iñupiaq scholar, echoes George’s comments and emphasizes that it is essential to focus on strengths and assets in Arctic communities, 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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Aytalina Ivanova, Sakha from Yakutsk, makes a seal skin bracelet with the help of elders and students at Piqqusilirivik. © Robert Kautuk

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Igor Kolesov (left) and Aytalina Ivanova in their traditional clothing. Igor also holds his lasso, made of caribou hide, that he demonstrates how to use during a community open house event. © Robert Kautuk

rather than dwelling on the gloom and doom of climate predictions or the problems many people face. She has drawn inspiration from elders who have encouraged her to pursue her own path as an indigenous researcher, even if that means having to open people’s eyes in both the research world and in her home communities.

Our discussions about culture and strength are underscored by the setting of our meeting at Piqqusilirivik, which co-host the event. The students at the school, from all around Nunavut, share their experiences and learning. Our group learns skin preparation and sewing, ulu making, and igloo building from elder instructors such as Amakłainnuk Aqqiaruq and Atuat Akitiq. We join in a music concert given for the community by students and local musicians. And, of course, we hear from our local project partners, including Jayko Jaypoody, Joelie Sanguya, Robert Kautuk, and Jukeepa Hainnu, about research in and around Clyde River. Local youth Kolola Kolola and Albert Panipak also participate in our discussions and activities. Here, it is vital to recognize and cherish the skills and traditional activities practiced by Kangiqtugaapingmiut, such as the Inuktitut language and travelling and hunting on the land. At the same time, our partners share that it is a continual battle to represent themselves to the wider world, rather than having visiting researchers try to “explain” Inuit to others.

We take advantage of a day of beautiful weather to travel by dog teams and snowmachines out onto the sea ice of Clyde Inlet, visiting three icebergs, sharing traditional food and trying our skill at using a dog whip. We travel with a local hunters and youth program, run by Ilisaqsivik, a community-based Inuit organization that leads a wide range of cultural, land-based, educational, and other programming in the community. The instructors Esa Qillaq, Esa Piungituq, Aisa Piungituq, Jayko Ashevak, and Elijah Palituq lead the way, providing maktaaq, tuktuviniq, bannock, and tea when we stop for lunch. Getting outside and on the ice is memorable for the visitors and gives us much to talk about later.

Project participants also include scientists not from the North, but with long experience living and working there. Shari Fox Gearheard, originally from southern Ontario but now a long-time Clyde River resident, combines her studies with serving as Piqqusilirivik’s manager of curriculum development. Shari came up with the idea of our project, based, in part, on experiences she and I have had with Lene working in Alaska (where I live), Nunavut, and Greenland. To round out the team, Shari enlists colleagues Florian Stammler and Bruce Forbes, originally from Germany and the United States respectively and now both at the University of Lapland in Finland, who have worked with reindeer herders in various parts of Russia and Scandinavia for many years. Nuccio Mazzullo, another researcher from the University of Lapland though originally from Sicily, joins the group as well.

As we make new relationships and form a new sense of community in our time in Clyde River, we also recognize how important it is for researchers, whether they are from the community they study or just visiting, to respect what the people there are already doing, what matters to them, how they see the world and their place in it.

Getting out on the land and sea and sharing and learning new hands-on skills are important parts of doing research in community-focused ways. These are ideas we will continue to explore as our project continues, with planned visits to Greenland in 2018 and then to Finland or Siberia after that. Our wonderful welcome in Clyde River sets a high standard for future events for sharing ideas, experiences, and hopes.

“It’s time to do things our way” is a consistent theme, as the members of the group share stories and experiences, both as community leaders and in scientific projects taking place in their homes and homelands.

Igor Kolesov learns how to make the traditional Inuit ulu knife while in Clyde River. © Robert Kautuk

The project is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant No. PLR 1503884. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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ADVERTORIAL

Atuqtuarvik Corporation: Providing financing, investments and advice to Inuit businesses in Nunavut JAGO SERVICES In the North, you must be adaptable; that is the reality in remote communities in Canada’s Arctic. You will find many people who become experts in more than one field as they expand their businesses to fulfill the needs of smaller populations. In the case of a company called Jago Services, based in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, it began as a plumbing, heating and electrical company in 2007. Jago Services continues to provide these essential trades to the construction industry, but the owners saw the need to expand. The Company grew to include services for general contracting, equipment rental, and then with financing it received from Atuqtuarvik Corporation, it opened a Bed & Breakfast called Umingmak Lodge.

Wilfred Wilcox and Ruth Niptanatiak-Wilcox are the husband and wife team who own Jago Services and Umingmak Lodge in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut. They learned early on that establishing partnerships and fostering relationships are the keys to success when it comes to running an effective business. It was partnerships that helped their company get established and prosper. They never forget that their inspiration for starting the business came from recognizing the opportunity offered in the ever-growing region and territory as well as the drive and push from family to try something different. They were also inspired by Atuqtuarvik Corporation’s former CEO who said, “Companies don’t pay loans, it’s the people in the company that

pay the loans.” This quote reminds them to never lose sight of the importance of their employees to the company.

Today, Jago Services employs 15 people, with half being Inuit, while Umingmak Lodge employs two full-time staff and two part-time staff.

Customer service is important in the service and hospitality industry and the Wilcoxes emphasize that their staff plays a significant role in contributing to their business success. Their staff works as a team and are known for giving quality customer service through their friendliness and ensuring a comfortable atmosphere at the Lodge. From time to time, the Lodge staff expresses their gratitude to customers by providing them with homemade meals such as turkey dinners or roast beef, which raises their experience up another northern-hospitality notch.

When reflecting on the success of Jago Services and Umingmak Lodge, the Wilcoxes are optimistic about the future of their business and Cambridge Bay. They see the big picture as a positive one. Wilf says with the pride we have in our young people and their ways of carrying out the advice of elders, “there is no doubt we will be in good hands presently and in the future. The young people know how to listen and will guide things in their own way to continue strong growth in our communities and Nunavut.”

Wilfred Wilcox and Ruth Niptanatiak-Wilcox are the husband and wife team who own Jago Services and Umingmak Lodge in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut.

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Canada’s C3 Expedition Meets the Arctic

By Felicity Feinman, Canada C3 A polar bear cub and its mother lounge on sea ice off the coast of Baffin Island. A zodiac with binocular-clad passengers pulls up to towering cliffs filled with hundreds and thousands of birds on Prince Leopold Island. A community comes together to celebrate the youngest square dancers in Gjoa Haven (Uqsuqtuuq).

Sea ice floats at dusk in the Northwest Passage. © Jackie Dives, Students on Ice Foundation

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Canada C3 participants hike in Sophie Cove, Nunavut, the most northern point of the voyage. © Jackie Dives, Students on Ice Foundation

These are only three moments from an unprecedented expedition that took place across Canada’s Arctic, honouring our country’s past and looking towards a brighter future.

From June 1 to October 28, the Canada C3 ship travelled from Toronto to Victoria across Canada’s three coasts. A former Coast Guard icebreaker served as the vessel for conversations about reconciliation, diversity and inclusion, the environment and youth engagement.

A diverse group of Canadians were invited on board, including scientists, artists, Indigenous Elders, historians, community leaders, youth, journalists and educators. Using art, music, research and storytelling, participants elevated Canada’s collective knowledge and built connections with each other and remarkable people across the country.

After an incredible experience in Ontario, Quebec and Canada’s Atlantic provinces in June and July, the ship sailed northward for the beginning of Leg 7 in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

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The vibrancy, warmth and diversity of Iqaluit set the tone for a leg full of special moments. The journey moved into expedition mode as the ship sailed through massive chunks of sea ice, glided past gigantic icebergs, experienced the roughest seas of the journey, and witnessed never-ending Arctic sunrises and sunsets.

For Maxime Le Flaguais, a renowned Quebecois actor and Canada C3 participant, the journey was an opportunity to learn more about English-speaking Canadians.

“On the C3 ship, I feel like I’m discovering another culture, which is the Canadian culture,” he says. “For me, a culture is a language first. To know or discover a culture you have to know the language. If you don’t know the language you cannot read the books, you cannot see the movies, you cannot enter a culture. I learned English to get a peek at what the Canadian culture has to offer.”

On Leg 8, as the ship sailed from Qikiqtarjuaq to Pond Inlet (Mittimatalik), Nunavut, the expedition saw some beautiful treasures of Canada’s Arctic. From the sight of the towering Sam Ford Fiord to the quiet murmur of a melting iceberg, the environment never ceased to inspire. Amid this serene beauty, on board the ship, the participants broached the incredibly difficult subject of reconciliation. Drawing upon their own personal experiences, they shared valuable knowledge and stories and pushed themselves to understand different perspectives.

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Canada C3 Ambassador Mary Simon in the ship’s Downie/Wenjack Legacy Room. © Natta Summerky, Students on Ice Foundation

Canada C3 Youth Ambassador Abdul Fettah Al Masoud in Pearce Point Harbour, Northwest Territories. © Natta Summerky, Students on Ice Foundation

On Leg 9, the Canada C3 expedition reached its most northern point — Sophie Cove, Nunavut, at 75.1 degrees north. As they travelled through the northern reaches of our country, participants enjoyed the beauty of glacial ice and were amazed by the kindness of the local Inuit communities.

One of the Canada C3 themes most apparent on this leg was the environment.

The expedition visited the Devon Island ice cap, where they observed the melting and calving of the glacier.

Canada C3 Youth Ambassador Marta Thorpe has a background in biomedical sciences and ecology. She was interested in seeing how climate change is affecting the Arctic. “Down south, you don’t see climate change as dramatically year to year. But up here, it’s affecting the environment and it’s affecting people and how they can get food and water. That’s something that I wasn’t expecting to realize so quickly, because you think of it as a longitudinal concept, but here it’s so apparent.”

The places along Canada’s three coasts are awe-inspiring, but the Canada C3 ship has become quite extraordinary. Without a doubt, the most significant room on the

Canada C3 participants visit the community of Kugluktuk, Nunavut. © Gord Carter, Students on Ice Foundation

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The Canada C3 ship in Umingmaktok, Nunavut. © Peter Wall, Students on Ice Foundation

Canada C3 Youth Ambassador Marta Thorpe on a zodiac ride in Sophie Cove, Nunavut. © Jackie Dives, Students on Ice Foundation

Pioneering broadband connectivity for coast to coast to coast sailing expedition

SSi Micro Ltd. (SSi), the North’s premier Internet service provider and the developer-operator of Nunavut’s QINIQ network, partnered with the Canada C3 Expedition to make communications history. SSi delivered broadband Internet aboard the 220-foot Canada C3 vessel as it sailed north along the Atlantic coast, across the Arctic and down the Pacific west coast. This was the first ever voyage of its kind in Canada, and the onboard communications team shared daily videos, live broadcasts, incredible photos and more to millions of Canadians using satellite broadband connectivity.

Canada C3 was an epic 150-day, 23,000-km sailing journey from Toronto to Victoria via the Northwest Passage to celebrate Canada’s 150th Anniversary of Confederation. Through this unprecedented expedition, Canada C3 connected Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

Most sea-faring vessels in the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Arctic waters are limited to intermittent Ku-band satellite coverage for minimum data usage such as emails and text messages, with transmission speed rarely exceeding 128 kilobits per second. To meet the communications requirements of the Canada C3 Project, with daily uploads of high data content such as video and photos, and to allow 60 passengers and crew to engage in regular Internet and social media activity, SSi provided an innovative solution to achieve much more robust connectivity. Using a 2.4 metre diameter C-band antenna 38

equipped with auto-tracking electronics and gyro-stabilizing mechanics, SSi locked the ship onto a C-band satellite that covered all of Canada, and delivered speeds up to 10 megabits per second – almost 80 times better than the standard marine connection for ships in this northern region.

“This is a unique and unprecedented communications project that required an innovative communications solution. The SSI Micro team is an extraordinary partner of Canada C3 that enthusiastically embraced the C3 challenge and donated considerable expertise, resources and capacity. They are a vital partner without whom this would simply not have been possible,” says Geoff Green, Canada C3 expedition leader.

“SSi is thrilled to be involved with Canada C3. Delivering broadband to a moving platform, at high latitudes like the Northwest Passage, comes with significant challenges. Fortunately, we have always had a healthy disrespect for the impossible, and were immediately intrigued by the opportunity to make telecom history,” says Jeff Philipp, Founder and CEO of SSi Micro. “SSi is a natural partner for this incredible project celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary — we’re Canadian, we’re northern, and we have been breaking the communications mould for over 25 years.”

Check out this video on SSi and Internet connectivity in the Arctic at: https://canadac3.ca/en/video/internet-arctic-ssi-micro/

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Canada C3 participant Maxime Le Flaguais in a pensive moment. © Mike Sudoma, Students on Ice Foundation

ship is the Downie/Wenjack Legacy Room — a place for conversations about reconciliation. Many tears have been shed in this room and it has inspired many people to continue to work towards a better relationship between Canada’s Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people.

Many Indigenous leaders joined the expedition, including Mary Simon, an Inuit leader with decades of service to her people. Recently, she submitted a report to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs on a New Shared Arctic Leadership Model. The Canada C3 journey was inspiring to her when she joined on Leg 10. “Listening to all of the unique stories of the people who are on the ship is really tied into reconciliation, because that’s what reconciliation is,” she says.

“You get to know each other, understand each other and respect one another much more.”

In addition to the many Indigenous leaders on board, there were some very new Canadians. Abdul Fettah Al Masoud came to Canada as a Syrian refugee. His journey to the Arctic on Leg 11 was transformative. “I came to the North to learn more about Canada. I wanted to learn more about Indigenous people,” he says. “When I get back, I will talk to my friends and my brothers about what I saw. I want to be a leader and teach youth. I want to teach them how beautiful Canada is.”

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Indeed, throughout the voyage Canada’s beauty has been undeniable. From the wonders of its natural environment to the incredible resilience of its people, the Arctic has been particularly memorable.

Relive the journey in its entirety at www.CanadaC3.ca. Canada C3 is a proud partner of First Air.

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ADVENTURE

A Ski Journey

From Hudson Bay to the High Land

Nunavik holds a few of the best-kept summer and winter adventure secrets around. The vastness and diversity of the ecosystems that comprise this northern territory represent nothing less than an outstanding opportunity. To truly discover the warm hospitality of the Inuit of Nunavik and deepen your understanding of their age-old culture, practices and customs, a winter expedition is imperative.

Above: Hauling equipment on Tasiujaq Lake. © Michel Harcc-Morissette Right: Sunset over the Hudson Bay. © Patrick Bérubé

Below: Overlooking Tasiujaq Lake and their Cuestas. © Nunavik Parks

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The largest protected area in Québec, and one of the largest such areas in Canada, lies in the heart of Nunavik, translated as “great land”. Parc national Tursujuq covers over 26,000 km2, an area 52 times greater than the Island of Montreal.

Nunavik Parks, which operates the four parks in Nunavik (Tursujuq, Pingualuit, Kuururjuaq and Ulittaniujalik), has a new and unique allinclusive winter package for March and April 2018, well off the beaten path: A Ski Journey from Hudson Bay to the High Land.

For nine days, visitors will explore Parc national Tursujuq and Inuit culture in the community of Umiujaq. The proposed itinerary leads participants from Umiujaq via the imposing cuestas (astonishing non-symmetrical landforms with a steep slope facing inland and a gentler back slope facing the bay), the coast of Hudson Bay, vast plateaus and numerous Arctic-tundra lakes to the centre of a mountainous landscape and Lake Tasiujaq before reaching the coast. The two planned departures will permit six adventurers each to live this exclusive experience in the company of a team of knowledgeable Inuit guides.

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The tupik tent, a warm and welcoming Nunavik home after a mesmerizing ski day. © Michel Harcc-Morissette

Visitors capturing the beauty of the Nastapoka Waterfalls. © Véronique Nadeau

“This is an unparalleled opportunity to discover Inuit culture which is so closely linked to winter, and to experience the Land in a boldly new way,” points out Patrick Graillon, assistant director for parks operations with the Renewable Resources, Environment, Lands and Parks Department of the Kativik Regional Government.

The six to seven-day ski component makes the expedition ideal for backcountry ski enthusiasts — a total distance of between 100 and 120 km, covered at a pace of 15 to 20 km per day. “This component has been designed to be accessible to intermediate through advanced skiers,” explains Michel Harcc-Morissette, visitor experience officer for Parc national Tursujuq.

Two days are devoted to cultural encounters in Umiujaq — a window into the universe of Inuit traditions and complement the teachings of the Inuit guides during the ski component.

The Ski Journey from Hudson Bay to the High Land has been developed to reflect the age-old Inuit way of life. It is a nomadic experience that transitions from cultural activities and back-

country skiing to traditional camping under Northern Lights, the discovery of breath-taking landscapes and Nunavik’s diverse ecosystems.

Semi-permanent, heated and comfortable shelters will receive participants on the first nights, while heated tupiks on the following nights will provide a greater connection to an age-old way of life and nature under starry skies. If snow and weather conditions permit, participants may also have a chance to spend a night in an igloo constructed by their guides.

Participants will travel lightly, needing only warm sports clothing and one piece of hand baggage. All other necessary equipment, including northern parka, down booties, poles, boots and skis, winter sleeping bags, mats and tents, are supplied and handled by your team of guides.

Meals are also included and will vary according to locally available supply. For those interested, opportunities to observe traditional hunting and ice fishing practices, and therefore taste locally harvested foods, will also be available.

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ADVENTURE

Negotiating the hills and valleys along the journey. © Michel Harcc-Morissette

Return airfare Montreal–Umiujaq plus three nights in a hotel makes this an especially attractive all-inclusive travel experience.

Nunavik Parks

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C U LT U R E

An Artifact Mystery

A Netsilik (“Nattilik”) compact qajaq

Museums collect artifacts that tell a story, sometimes in concert with other items, sometimes alone. Unlike a good mystery novel where the who, what, when and why becomes clear by the end of the book, there is an artifact mystery at The Manitoba Museum. In the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) Museum Collection some of the details connected with a particular item are unclear to this day.

The paddle rest and the front deck stringer bending up to meet the coaming of the manhole, but illogically the end pierces the outer skin. © The Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg.

The focus of this mystery is a compact qajaq or ‘kayak’ – HBC 2793. It is known approximately when the qajaq was created and approximately where, but not by whom or why.

Like other full-size qajait, HBC 2793 shares the common characteristic of being reasonably lightweight and likely maneuverable. From a close examination of the qajaq it is clear the Inuit craftsman had experience building other full-scale qajait.

“Copper, Netsilik and Caribou Inuit of the Central Canadian Arctic used kayaks that were narrow and more or less round-bottomed.

Some local varieties had long, thin end horns that could serve as handholds in the event of a capsize rescue.”1 (Canadian Museum of History)

What separates this one from other qajait is its short length, 317 cm long; in other aspects this qajaq would appear to show characteristics common to other qajait. A table created by Rev. Père Guy Mary-Rousseliere, O.M.I. in his “Report on the Construction of a Kayak at Pond Inlet in 1973” illustrates the broad characteristics of qajait created across Canada’s North. Table 1 in this article illustrates a simplified comparison of HBC 2793 to four qajait included in Père Rousseliere’s study. David Zimmerly has done extensive work on the Arctic qajaq and his comparative study of qajait that includes three craft from Gjoa Haven, from 1905, also illustrates the differences of HBC 2793 to traditional boats.

See Table 2.

Although the qajaq has been extensively studied and numerous examples appear in museums in North America and to a lesser extent in Europe, finding authentic photographs of the Netsilik (Nattilik) Inuit in their watercraft is difficult.

There is one online exception in the form of a two-part documentary film of the National Film Board of Canada, done by Quentin Brown in 1967: “Netsilik Eskimos Building a Kayak”. Near the end of the second part (https://www.nfb.ca/ film/building_kayak_pt_2/) the qajaq is launched

and the profile, although longer, is remarkably similar to HBC 2793.

HBC 2793, at only 317 cm long and 56 cm wide, with a blunt stern and pointed bow is truly a compact model. It does not exhibit the length and exaggerated point as seen in the qajait of the Caribou Inuit, which are “typically between 3 metres and 9 metres long, and 38 cm to 82 cm across” (Canadian Museum of History).

However, this qajaq still exhibits many characteristics of a full-size qajaq. Common to other qajait, it lacks a heavy keel, as its sturdy gunwales give the craft its stability. Attached to the gunwales are ribs, a keelson, and two pairs of chine stringers that converge at the bow and stern. The plane of the covering skin is relatively smooth from the keelson to the stringers and from one stringer to another and stringers to the gunwale. The soft angles created perfectly exhibit a soft chine hull2 (Wikipedia). This hull is sheathed with sea mammal hides, likely seal, “Ringed, harp or bearded sealskin was usual”3 (Arima, 1987, p. 116) with obvious stitching joining the hides.

The placement of the round manhole just aft of the hull’s midpoint gives this qajaq a symmetrical configuration typical of many qajait. The

Compact sea mammal skin qajaq seen with stern on the left. © The Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg.

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C U LT U R E Repurposed wood in the thwarts; mortised ribs and cross-bracing within the hull. © The Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg.

Soft chine hull bow view. © The Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg.

coaming is made of two pieces of lap-joined wood, secured by recessed sinew lashing. The front of the coaming is placed on the arched forward thwart. Although the qajaq craftsman exhibited enough skill to construct a compact version of the traditional Inuit boat, for some reason he miscalculated the positioning of the end of the front deck stringer that bends up to meet the coaming. It is at this point that the end of the deck stringer pierces the outer skin.

Why this occurred is another part of the mystery, because in doing so, the hole that was created would have made this qajaq a particularly wet

experience even in the hands of someone skilled in the use of the qajaq.

The foredeck of the qajaq originally held three leather straps; today one remains more intact than the other two. One strap was also secured behind the manhole. A length of wood is secured by wire to the remaining fore and aft straps. Three notches are cut into one end suggesting that sinew lashings once secured something to it, perhaps a gaff hook to aid in the retrieval of harpoons. A bone paddle rest that is secured to one remaining forward strap is carved in a bird-like form. Although the shape

of the qajaq provides no definitive clue of its origin, the sculpted form of the paddle rest speaks loudly of the cultural origins of the qajaq craftsman. Ken Lister, former Curator of the Royal Ontario Museum, suggests the paddle rest is typical of the “Netsilingmiut from the central Arctic”. The Hudson’s Bay Company has had a presence at Gjoa Haven since 1923, which is well within the region inhabited by the Netsilingmiut, Netsilik or Nattilik Inuit, thus possibly providing the necessary link between the unknown Inuit craftsman and an equally unknown HBC employee.

On an inside surface of the coaming are scratched lettering and a date (1937), written upside down as they would appear as someone was leaning over and into the kayak. (Here, right side up.) © The Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg.

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C U LT U R E The front of the coaming is placed on the arched forward thwart. © The Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg.

An internal examination of the hull reveals ribs set into mortised joints of gunwales and secured to the longitudinal stringers and keelson by iron nails. According to the Canadian Museum of History, “traditionally bone or wooden pegs and rawhide lashings” would have secured such structural elements. It is quite apparent that the craftsman who created this qajaq followed another tradition in repurposing wood for the thwarts, as there are some that have painted surfaces from some previous use.

Looking forward into the hull there is an almost indiscernible cross brace in the bow. In a conversation with a knowledgeable boat builder, he suggests the cross-bracing was probably done to counter an incorrect shape of frame. In the stern, a shaped block provides a fastening point for the converging gunwales, stringers and keelson. On an inner surface of the manhole coaming are scratched lettering

Table 1

Descriptive Element Overall Length (cm) Beam (cm) Manhole Shape Qajaq Bottom Qajaq Stem Qajaq Stern Skin Cover Straps Accessories

TMM (HBC 2793) 317 56 round

rounded blunt, upturned short, pointed sealskin 4 paddle rest

and a date —1937. Are the letters the maker’s initials and is 1937 the date of construction; perhaps it will never be known.

The biggest mystery is why someone with this skilled knowledge base would create this size of craft? It is conjecture that a Hudson’s Bay Company employee asked a qajaq craftsman to create this compact example of a qajaq, knowing that transporting a normal size craft south would have been difficult. Whatever the reason, HBC 2793 stands alone as an interesting but unique example of the type of boat that was once an essential part of Inuit life in the Arctic.

Tim W. Worth

The author appreciates the assistance he received from Dr. Amelia Fay, PhD., Curator of the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection, The Manitoba Museum.

Netsilik (Birket-Smith) #1* 711 41 round

(rounded) pointed; jogged up short white sealskin 5 buckle for paddle

Netsilik (Birket-Smith) #2* 613 42 round & s.b.

(rounded) pointed; jogged up pointed white sealskin 2 buckle for paddle

Pond Inlet 1973 * 640 79 straight back

black ringed seal 2 (4) qajaq stand; harpoon rest

Cumberland Sound (Boas 1901)* 600 56.5 rounded, flattened back flat high, projection rounded; slightly upturned sealskin 3 qajaq stand; harpoon rest

Beam (cm/in)

Depth to Sheer (cm/in)

slightly curved high; long thick proj. low, short

Rev. Père Guy Mary-Rousseliere, O.M.I. "Report on the Construction of a Kayak at Pond Inlet in 1973". Contributions to Kayak Studies; edited by E.Y. Arima. Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Civilization - Mercury Series No. 122, 1991.

Table 2

Kayak No.

00247 00246 00242 00243 00241

Provenience

King William Island, N.W.T. King William Island, N.W.T. Gjoa Haven Gjoa Haven Gjoa Haven

David Zimmerly Copyright © 2005 Arctic Kayaks.

Date

1921-24 1921-24 Aug. 1905 Aug. 1905 Aug. 1905

Length (cm/in) 711/23’ 3.9” 613/20’ 1.3” 639/20’ 11” 616/20’ 2.5” 588.5/19’ 3.6”

41/16.1” 42/16.5” 45.5/17.9” 45/17.7” 46.5/18.3”

27.2/10” 26/10” 23.5/9.2”

End Notes

1 Canadian Museum of History: Text extract from the Online exhibit “Wave Eaters: Native Watercraft in Canada” Canadian Museum of History; reproduced with their permission.

2 Wikipedia. Chine (Boating). June 9, 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chine_(boating) 3 Arima, E.Y., editor. “Inuit Kayaks in Canada: A Review of Historical Records and Construction”. Mercury Series (110); Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1987.

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YOUTH

Mt. Logan, Yukon

Climbing Canada’s tallest mountain

Stepping out of a yellow Helio Courier onto the Quintino Sella glacier was one of the best moments of my life. I was standing at the literal base of my dream, 2,950 metres at basecamp on Mt. Logan. Having imagined the world’s largest mountain so many times, the real thing was way better than I ever thought it could be. I’m sure my smile was gleaming brighter than the Yukon sun. As I looked up at our route, the King’s Trench, I knew I was in for the best month of my life.

My dad, Rich Prohaska, and I on the top of Canada.

The view can't be justified by a photo! © Holly Walker

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When I decided I wanted to be the youngest person to climb Canada’s tallest mountain, I had no mountaineering experience. I knew it would be incredibly hard, but that’s about all I knew. The challenge and the mystery is what drew me to it. At 13 years old, I started ski touring and didn't stop.

In the two years that led up to my expedition in the Kluane National Park, from when I set my goal to the departure, I changed so much. At the beginning, I knew next to nothing about

mountaineering and now it is my passion. I had so many amazing accomplishments and adventures while training. As I learned about what would help me in the mountains, from crevasse rescue to how to transition efficiently, I also learned a lot about myself. Now I know that I can set my mind to a challenge and do it. I know that the mountains help me think clearer and that I prefer sub-zero winds to air conditioning.

As I moved up the mountain I was always in awe and disbelief. Having planned for the trip

One day before the summit. We were moving from Camp 3 to our highest camp. © Rich Prohaska

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YOUTH Bringing gear to Camp 2. This was the first time I was really challenged on the climb. © Rich Prohaska

for so long, putting so much effort into getting just a chance to summit, I couldn't believe I was there. While the camps became more beautiful, the climbs between them became harder. Reaching every camp was more rewarding than the last. The altitude had its effects: headaches, loss of appetite, shortness of breath; but knowing that I was getting closer to the top with every step, pushed the rest to the back of my mind.

Climbing higher and higher, closer and closer, I had to focus on the task in front of me.

Keep moving up, breathe, look at the view. By the time summit day came, this was very hard to do. Putting my back-pack on, knowing that I was just hours away from reaching my dream, I tried to keep a clear mind. There was still such a big possibility that I wouldn't summit — and then, there I was.

Standing on top of Canada was indescribable. I thought about how much my family and I had put into this, how much others had invested in me. I couldn't believe I had really done it.

How was it not just a dream? Wasn’t I just warm in my bed at home in Pemberton, British Columbia? No, I was standing on top of Mt. Logan — my dream was my reality.

Being able to ascend to 5,959 metres was an experience that couldn't compare to any of my other trips. Moving from camp to camp I was constantly breaking personal records. Every day on Mt. Logan was a gift. I knew how lucky I was to be in such a beautiful location. Seeing how vast the glaciers are is unbelievable.

We live in a world where people want to live in cities, where all they see is concrete and glass. In the St. Elias mountain range, you see

Descending from a carry to Camp 3 on the steepest slope of the route apart from the summit ridge. © Rich Prohaska

so many unnamed glaciers, unclimbed peaks and places no one has ever stepped foot on. I am in awe of the amazing country I have the privilege of living in — a country that has so many incredible places to explore.

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Naomi Prohaska

Many thanks to Mountain Equipment Co-op, Nomad Nutrition Co, Peak Performance and Mountain Berry Landscaping for making the expedition possible, and a success.

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E D U C AT I O N

Many breeding birds were documented as part of the Canadian Wildlife Service survey, including this Lapland Longspur. © Parks Canada/Colleen Murchison

BioBlitz

Preserving the ecological integrity of treasured places

In early July, Parks Canada, a recognized leader in conservation, organized the very first BioBlitz event in Sirmilik National Park and in the community of Pond Inlet. BioBlitz events offer an opportunity for all citizens to protect the environment and Canada’s biodiversity. This BioBlitz was part of the Canada 150 celebrations across Canada, creating opportunities for participants to explore biodiversity and contribute to our understanding of nature, local ecosystems, and species at risk. With funding assistance from the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board and in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada and researchers from Université Laval and Université du Québec à Rimouski, BioBlitz participants learned a great deal through science and Inuit knowledge.

The first day of BioBlitz began with a plant identification camp on the land. An eager group, mostly youth between eight and 12 years old, met Parks Canada staff to count and record as many plants as possible. Participants were provided with a magnifying glass; a ruler; and a quadrat, a survey tool that outlines the area to be observed and covers 1 m2.

Every day, the group became larger and larger as friends were recruited to join in the fun!

A total of 40 community members attended the day camps over three days. In fact, participants were excited that the total survey time was extended from two to four hours. An Inuit elder also joined in to share traditional knowledge about the various uses of the plants and the

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Inuit elder, Leah Kalluk, explains how to use moss as fuel to the group in Sirmilik National Park. © Parks Canada/Rosie Smith

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E D U C AT I O N

A group of youth from Pond Inlet identify and count plants contained in their quadrat. © Parks Canada/Marie-Andrée Vaillancourt

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surrounding land. Participants discovered that purple mountain saxifrage tastes sweet, white mountain aven flowers follow the sun all day, and Arctic mouse-ear chickweed grows on disturbed terrain such as roads, trails and rivers.

While the first group was having fun with the plant survey, another group flew to picturesque Paquet Bay in Sirmilik National Park. The Sirmilik BioBlitz team included Parks Canada staff, biologists, and Inuit knowledge holders.

During the four days in the park, team members exchanged knowledge from different perspectives, increased their understanding of the area, and helped to gain a better understanding of the overall health of the Park’s ecosystems.

The group camped in a remote area of the Park. The English-Inuktitut interpreter was busy translating the enthusiastic exchange between elders and biologists. The elders, members of the Sirmilik National Park Inuit Knowledge Working Group and the Joint Park Management Committee shared their observations with the biologists, who asked questions and shared their own research.

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E D U C AT I O N

Curious kids ask questions of Parks Canada staff while they identify plants as part of BioBlitz in Pond Inlet. © Parks Canada

The next day started with a walk to gather Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (Inuit knowledge). This location continues to be used by Inuit from Pond Inlet as an important berry picking area.

The land in this area of the national park abounds with plants. Some are better known food plants, such as blueberries, while others are less well known, such as alpine bistort, “Inuit nuts” — or yellow oxytrope. The participants also saw sphagnum moss or puffball mushrooms, which are fairly common elsewhere however, their multitude of uses were new to many group members.

The group also visited nearby cultural sites, where the elders spoke of their connection to these places and the species found there. The team took the opportunity to conduct breeding bird surveys as part of a larger monitoring program run by the Canadian Wildlife Service. They spotted birds and recorded nesting behaviour of snow buntings, Lapland longspurs, and American pipits. The results from this and other surveys will contribute to a more complete understanding of the size and distribution of these breeding bird populations across the Arctic.

The research and learning continues well after the visit to the park. Specimens are sent out to be processed and identified by experts.

The information gathered will be brought back to the communities neighbouring Sirmilik National Park — Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay — and will also be shared more broadly.

Events like BioBlitz provide meaningful opportunities for Canadians to connect and foster an appreciation for Parks Canada’s special

places. They also help Parks Canada preserve and present the ecological integrity of its treasured places, including Sirmilik National Park, for present and future generations.

Parks Canada

Bioblitz participants in Paquet Bay, Sirmilik National Park. © Parks Canada/Carey Elverum

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The 2017 Great Northern Canada Writing Contest

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES NOVEMBER 30, 2017 To enter, submit a piece of prose, either fiction or non-fiction, of up to 1,000 words about life in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut or Nunavik.

Previously published items are not eligible.

Entries should be typed and double-spaced with the title, but not your name, on each numbered page. Please submit a separate cover sheet with your name, address, phone number, email address, word count and whether your piece is fiction or non-fiction.

Entries can be mailed to: Great Northern Canada Writing Contest Box 1256, Yellowknife NT X1A 2N9

Or emailed as a WORD attachment to: info@northwordsnwt.ca with CONTEST ENTRY in the subject line. Please do not put your story in the body of the email.

Deadline is November 30, 2017.

That means they must be postmarked by that date.

First Prize is $500 and publication in above&beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal Special Emerging Writer Prize of $250 and publication in above&beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal, for writers who have never been published for payment.

To qualify, identify yourself “emerging writer” on the cover sheet you submit with your entry.

Winners will be announced in Spring 2018.

For more information go to:

www.northwordsnwt.ca

The following are not eligible: Staff and contractors of above&beyond magazine and their families, and writers who have been published in above&beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal in the last five years.

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BOOKSHELF

Thou Shalt Do No Murder: Inuit, Injustice, and the Canadian Arctic

Kenn Harper Nunavut Arctic College Media September 2017

From the Klondike to Berlin The Yukon in World War I Michael Gates Harbour Publishing April 2017

This is a story of fur trade rivalry and duplicity, isolation and abandonment, greed and madness, and a struggle for the affections of an Inuit woman during a time of major social change in the High Arctic. Author Kenn Harper draws on Inuit oral history, archival research, and his own knowledge acquired through 50 years in the Arctic to re-create a compelling story of justice and injustice in Canada’s far North. Thou Shalt Do No Murder is built around the show trial of the tragic case of Inuit leader Robert Janes and Nuqallaq, the Inuk sentenced for his murder in 1923, doubt over the validity of Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic, and the collision of two cultures with vastly different conceptions of justice and conflict resolution.

Nits’it’ah Golika Xah (Fly Away Snow Goose)

From the Klondike to Berlin chronicles Yukoners contributions to the Great War. Historian and author Michael Gates, tells us the stories of those from the Land of the Midnight Sun who served overseas on the battlefields as well as those serving on the home front. Gates vividly recounts tales of such heroes of the war effort as Joe Boyle who successfully escorted the Romanian crown jewels on a harrowing 1,300kilometre journey through Russia amid ambushes, gunfire, fuel shortages and barricades; and at home, Martha Black, who raised thousands of dollars and travelled to Europe as an advocate for the Yukon recruits; and many others who impacted the war’s outcome.

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Juliet Waldron and John Wisdomkeeper Books We Love November 2017

Nits’it’ah Golika Xah (Fly Away Snow Goose) is book three in the Canadian Historical Brides Series celebrating Canada’s 150th Birthday. Yaotl and Sascho splash along the shores of behchà, spears hefted, watching for the flash of fin to rise to the surface and sparkle in the sunlight. Tender feelings flush their faces, so they laugh and tease one another with sprays of icy water. In the distance, the warning about the kwet'ı̨ı̨̀ (white Indian agents) sounds, but is unheard. Transport to the Fort Providence residential school is only the beginning of their trials as they attempt to return home.

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INUIT FORUM

Inuit simply wish for the same foundation to achieve prosperity that are available to most other Canadians, and to not have to sacrifice our culture and language in the process of achieving equity. © Scott Doubt

There is no straight path to reconciliation

© Letia Obed

Canada’s growing interest in reconciliation has fostered an unprecedented national dialogue about not only improving the lives of Indigenous peoples and the communities in which we live, but also how to build respect today in the same institutions that have staggeringly complex histories of disrespect. This dialogue presents an opportunity to help Canadians understand that a more respectful relationship between Inuit and our fellow citizens and governments is essential for any hope at achieving a country in which Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous peoples live in prosperity and peace.

I hope that Canadians can accept that the longstanding social inequities too many of our people experience are not accidents of history or byproducts of misinformation. Too many Inuit go hungry, die from tuberculosis, lack basic government services, and experience unnecessary social suffering because our fellow citizens and the governments they elect have been unwilling to invest equitably in Inuit Nunangat. Our health and socio-economic gaps are products of systems designed to produce these results. We simply wish for the same foundation to achieve prosperity that are available to most other Canadians, and not have to sacrifice our culture and language in the process of achieving equity.

Inuit are taking advantage of the current political climate and platform we have to promote understanding of the links between widespread attitudes toward Inuit and policies that cause undue harm to our people and communities. The two are linked in ways that may not be obvious at first glance yet have profound implications for the advancement of our Inuit policy agenda.

This agenda includes securing basic supports for health and prosperity, such as access to

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housing, food security, and health services and supports.

Just as global greenhouse gas emissions produced thousands of kilometres away affect our Inuit Nunangat climate profoundly, so too do the prevailing negative attitudes of our fellow citizens towards Indigenous peoples affect our ability to achieve social equity. If Canadians are largely ignorant of the role founding fathers like Sir John A. McDonald actively played in the creation of residential schools, then an opportunity for recalibration of our history that then informs our current decision making is lost. If Canadians use outdated and widely accepted derogatory monikers affiliated with our people and claim that doing so is harmless, then we are left to conclude that respect for Inuit is secondary to the whims of Canadian society and how it chooses to name, describe, and control us.

Unfortunately, we often dissuade each other from focusing on the broader attitudes and perceptions that mold our political reality.

The argument usually goes like this: As long as our rates of overcrowding are higher than the Canadian average, then we shouldn’t spend time talking about discrimination. If we have low high school graduation rates, then we cannot invest any efforts in championing post-secondary education. Or more commonly, if we have such

broad and longstanding social inequity, then Inuit should not invest any time advocating for changing sports team names or buildings named after Canada’s founding fathers.

Make no mistake, the attitudes that Canadians have towards us contribute to the maintenance of the status quo in areas such as health, housing, and education. Consider for example that the interrelated challenges too many of our people face contribute to a lifespan for Inuit that is 10 years lower than for Canadians as a whole, on par with countries like Iraq and Mongolia.

Why is this? In no small part it is because there is still a massive gap between what Canada is willing to do in this time of reconciliation and what is necessary to stop the discrimination, ignorance, and racism that is inherent in the way our populations are served in this country.

It is rare that the path is straight or there is a call and response that is straightforward and rational. I know we are on a new path. I am convinced the only way to better Inuit society is through the very hearts and minds of how Canadians think and act toward us, not just settling for Canadians to step aside and let funding flow or services be delivered.

Natan Obed

National Inuit Leader and President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

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