Above & Beyond | Canada's Arctic Journal 2019 | 06

The Inflight Magazine for Canadian North

2019 | 06 Yours to Keep

Northern Light Arctic and subarctic photography

skiing Adventure in pingualuit park

West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative Celebrating 60 Years

PM40050872

o www.arcticjournal.ca

Dr. elaine Kilabuk A Doctor for the people

Dear Guest ᑐᕌᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᔪᓄᑦ,

Welcome aboard, and welcome to your new Canadian North. After many months of planning and preparation, we have officially launched our first-ever unified flight schedule. From this point onwards, you can travel and ship with us across our vast network of 24 northern communities, from our southern gateways of Ottawa, Montreal and Edmonton, with interline connections to destinations throughout Canada, the U.S. and beyond.

We have also launched our unified ‘Canadian North’ brand, featuring our distinctive Inukshuk logo and red and white colour palette.

You will see this brand in more and more places as time progresses, including our website, uniforms, counter signage and aircraft livery.

As President and CEO, I’m incredibly proud to lead a team of passionate, experienced and caring aviation professionals who will work together to ensure you receive exceptional service from us — every day, every flight.

While we’ve made significant progress, our work isn’t done yet. Over the next several years, we’ll continue to integrate our flight operations, maintenance facilities and all our ‘behind-the-scenes’ functions, while ensuring that we continue to provide a seamless experience at every stage. As a 100 per cent Inuit-owned airline, we know that air travel is vitally important to the people, organizations and communities we serve, so we’ll continue to provide updates on our website at canadiannorth.com/integration, via our social media channels and through our day-to-day interactions with you.

I’d like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there are now even more opportunities for Aurora Rewards members to earn valuable points within our larger combined network, with the ability to also earn Aeroplan Miles for the same travel. Aurora Rewards points can be redeemed for free flights to any of our scheduled destinations as well as a terrific selection of gift cards. There’s no better way for us to show appreciation for travelling with us than providing Aurora Rewards points towards your future travel, so I hope you will take a few moments to join Aurora Rewards at aurorarewards.com/join if you haven’t already done so.

On behalf of all of us at Canadian North, thank you for travelling with us today. It is truly our pleasure to serve you and we hope we will have the opportunity to see you again very soon.

Chris Avery President and CEO Canadian North

Chris Avery fE{ ∑KE

Johnny Adams ÷i ≈bu Executive Chairman of the Board, Canadian North ᐃᓱᒪᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᒃᓯᕙᐅᑕᕆᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᑲᑎᒪᔨᓂ, ᑲᓃᑎᐊᓐ ᓄᐊᑦ

ᑐᖖᒐᓱᒋᑦᓯ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑦᑎᓐᓂ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᖖᒐᓱᒋᑦᓯ ᓄᑖᑦᓯᐊᒥᒃ ᑲᓃᑎᐊᓐ ᓄᐊᔅᑯᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖁᑎᑦᓯᓐᓄᑦ. ᐊᒥᓱᒻᒪᕆᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᖅᑭᓂᒃ ᐸᕐᓇᐅᑎᖃᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓯᒪᑎᓪᓗᑕ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓱᐃᕙᓪᓕᐊᓯᒪᓕᖅᓱᑕ, ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᑦᑎᐊᒥᒃ ᑲᑎᓐᓂᖃᖅᓱᑎᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᕝᕕᒋᕙᓐᓂᐊᖅᑕᖏᓂᒃ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᓯᓯᒪᓕᖅᐳᒍᑦ. ᑕᒫᖖᒐᑦ, ᐃᑭᒪᔪᓐᓇᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᓕᖅᐳᓯ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᓯᔭᐅᑎᑦᓯᕙᓕᕐᓗᓯ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖁᑎᑦᑎᒍ ᐊᖏᔪᒻᒪᕆᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒌᓐᓂᕆᓕᖅᑕᑦᑎᒍᑦ 24-ᖑᔪᓄᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥᐅᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖏᓐᓂ, ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓂᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᒋᐊᕐᕕᐅᕙᑦᑐᓂᑦ ᐋᑐᕙᒥᑦ, ᒪᓐᑐᕆᐋᓪᒥᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᑦᒪᓐᑕᓐᒥᑦ, ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖅᑎᐅᖃᑎᒌᑦᑐᓄᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᔪᓐᓇᕐᕕᐅᔪᓂᑦ ᑎᑭᓯᒪᓕᕋᓱᐊᕐᕕᒋᔭᒥᓐᓄᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᓕᒫᒥ, ᐊᒥᐊᕆᑲᒥᐅᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓯᒃᑲᓐᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ.

ᐊᒻᒪᓗᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᓯᒪᓕᓚᐅᕐᒥᔭᕗᑦ ᑲᑎᓐᓂᖃᖅᑎᑕᑦᑎᓐᓂ ‘ᑲᓃᑎᐊᓐ ᓄᐊᔅ’ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᖁᑎᖓᑦ, ᑕᑯᔅᓴᐅᑎᑦᓯᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᖃᕋᓂ ᐃᓄᒃᓱᖖᒍᐊᖅ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᖁᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᐅᐸᖅᑑᓪᓗᓂ ᖃᐅᓪᓗᖅᑑᓪᓗᓂ ᑕᖅᓴᓕᖅᑐᕐᓯᒪᔪᒥᒃ. ᑕᑯᕙᓐᓂᐊᖅᐸᓯ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᖁᑎᒋᔭᕗᑦ ᐊᒥᓱᕈᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑭᖑᓂᐊᓂ, ᐱᖃᓯᐅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᖃᕆᑕᐅᔭᑎᒍᑦ ᐱᑐᒃᓯᒪᕝᕕᒋᔭᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ, ᐊᓐᓄᕌᕆᔭᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖅᑎᓂᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᐅᔪᓂᑦ, ᓵᓂ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᕝᕕᖁᑎᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᓂ. ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑳᕆᔭᐅᓪᓗᖓ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓪᓚᕕᖕᒥ ᐃᓱᒪᑕᒻᒪᕆᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᖓ, ᐊᖏᔪᒻᒪᕆᒻᒥᒃ ᓴᕆᒪᒋᒐᒃᑯ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᐅᔭᕆᐊᒥᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖅᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᖃᕈᓐᓇᒻᒪᕆᒃᑑᓪᓗᑎᒃ, ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖃᑦᓯᐊᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᒃᐱᒍᓱᑦᓯᐊᖅᑑᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᓄᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᒻᒪᕆᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᓗᑎᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᖃᕐᓂᐊᕐᑐᓄ ᐱᐅᓪᓚᕆᒃᑐᒥᒃ ᐅᕙᑦᑎᓐᓂᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓐᓇᖁᓪᓗᓯ — ᖃᐅᑕᒫᑦ, ᖃᖓᑕᓂᖃᓕᑐᐊᕌᖓᑦᑕ ᓇᒧᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ.

ᐃᓛᓗ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒻᒪᕆᒃᑐᒥᒃ ᓯᕗᒻᒧᒋᐊᖅᓯᒪᓕᕋᓗᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐱᔭᒃᓴᕆᔭᕗᑦ, ᓱᓕ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐱᑕᖃᕐᒪᑦ ᐱᔭᕇᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᓂᒃ. ᐅᑭᐅᖑᓂᐊᖅᑐᓂ ᐊᒥᓱᕐᓚᐅᔪᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᖏᓐᓂ, ᑲᔪᓯᑎᑦᓯᓯᒪᓂᐊᖅᑐᒍᑦ ᐃᓕᐅᖅᑲᐃᕙᓪᓕᐊᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᓯᓂᐅᔪᓄᑦ, ᐋᖅᑭᐅᒪᑎᑦᓯᕕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂᒃ ‘ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑕᐅᓇᑎᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂᒃ’ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᕙᑦᑐᓂᒃ, ᑲᔪᓯᑎᑦᓯᓯᒪᒋᐊᕐᓗᑕ ᐱᑕᖃᖅᑎᑦᓯᕙᓐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖃᒻᒪᕆᒃᑐᓂᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᕙᓪᓕᐊᕙᓐᓂᕐᓂᒃ. 100 ᐳᕐᓴᓐᑎᒥᒃ ᐃᓄᓐᓄᑦ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᕆᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᔨᐅᑎᓪᓗᑕ, ᖃᐅᔨᒪᒐᑦᑎᒍ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᕙᒍᓐᓇᕆᐊᖃᕐᓂᒥᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᑎᑕᐅᓪᓚᕆᓐᓂᖓᑕ ᐃᓄᓐᓄᑦ, ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᖑᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᓕᒋᔭᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᕐᕕᒋᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂ, ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑲᔪᓯᑎᑦᓯᓂᐊᖅᐳᒍᑦ ᒫᓐᓇᒧᑦ ᑎᑭᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑐᓴᒐᔅᓴᓂᒃ ᖃᕆᑕᐅᔭᑎᒍᑦ ᐱᑐᒃᓯᒪᕝᕕᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᐅᕙᓂ canadiannorth.com/integration, ᐃᓅᖃᑎᒌᖑᔪᑦ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᔾᔪᑎᖏᑎᒍᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᓪᓗᑕᒫᑦ ᐃᓕᑦᓯᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᖃᖃᑎᖃᖅᐸᓐᓂᑦᑎᒍᑦ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᐃᑎᑦᓯᔪᒪᕗᖓ ᐊᒥᓱᒃᑲᓐᓂᕐᓂᒃ ᓄᐊᑦᓯᕙᓪᓕᐊᓂᖅᑕᖃᕐᓂᕐᓄᑦ ᐱᓯᒪᓕᕋᓱᐊᕈᓐᓇᕐᓂᖅᑕᖃᕐᒪᑦ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᑎᒍᑦ ᐃᑲᔪᕈᑎᒃᓴᖃᕈᑎᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐊᕉᕋ ᕆᕗᐊᑦᔅᓂᒃ (Aurora Rewards) ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᖃᑕᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᖏᓂᖅᓴᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑲᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑐᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖅᑎᐅᓕᖅᓯᒪᔪᖁᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂ, ᐱᓯᒪᓕᕐᕕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᓄᐊᑕᐅᕙᓪᓕᐊᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᐊᕈᐸᓛᓐ ᒪᐃᐅᓪᔅᓄᑦ ᑖᔅᓱᒪᓂᑦᓴᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᖃᖓᑕᓂᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ. ᐊᕉᕋ ᕆᕗᐊᑦᔅᓄᑦ ᓄᐊᑕᐅᕙᓪᓕᐊᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐅᑎᖅᑎᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᕐᒪᑕ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓂᐊᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᑭᖃᖖᒋᑦᑐᑎᒍᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒃᑰᕈᑎᒃᓴᓄᑦ ᓇᓕᑐᐃᓐᓇᖏᓐᓂ ᖃᖓᑕᕝᕕᒃᓴᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐋᖅᑭᑭᒃᑕᐅᕙᒌᖅᓯᒪᔪᓄᑦ ᐃᓚᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐱᐅᓪᓚᕆᒃᑑᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑐᓂᕐᕈᓯᐊᖅᑖᕈᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ. ᐊᓯᐊᒍᑦ ᐱᐅᓂᖅᓴᒥᒃ ᐱᑕᖃᖖᒋᒻᒪᑦ ᖁᔭᓕᔾᔪᑎᖃᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᓯᕆᐊᕈᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᑦᓯᓐᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᐃᑭᒪᓚᐅᕐᓂᑦᓯᓐᓄᑦ ᐱᑕᖃᓕᖅᑎᑦᓯᒋᐊᒥᒃ ᐊᕉᕋ ᕆᕗᐊᑦᔅᑎᒍᑦ ᓄᐊᑕᐅᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᓯᕗᓂᕐᒥ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᖃᑦᑕᕈᑎᒃᓴᑦᓯᓐᓄᑦ, ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᐊᑯᓂᐅᖖᒋᑦᑐᒥᒃ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᓯᓯᒪᓕᕆᐊᖁᓐᓇᖅᐳᓯ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᖃᑕᐅᔪᒪᓂᑦᓯᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᕉᕋ ᕆᕗᐊᑦᔅᓂᒃ ᓄᐊᑦᓯᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᒪᓗᓂ ᐅᕙᓂ aurorarewards.com/ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᖃᑕᐅᓕᐊᓂᖖᒋᓐᓂᕈᑦᓯ. ᐱᔾᔪᑎᒋᖃᑕᐅᓯᒪᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑕᒪᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᑲᓃᑎᐊᓐ ᓄᐊᔅᑯᓐᓄᑦ, ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᓕᖅᐸᑦᓯ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᐃᑭᒪᖃᑕᐅᓚᐅᕋᑦᓯ. ᖁᕕᐊᓱᓪᓚᕆᒃᐳᒍᑦ ᐃᓕᑦᓯᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᕈᓐᓇᓚᐅᕋᑦᑕ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑭᐊᖅ ᑕᑰᑎᒃᑲᓐᓂᕈᒫᕆᕗᒍᑦ.

ᑯᕆᔅ ᐄᕗᕆ ᐃᒃᓯᕙᐅᑕᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎᔨᒻᒪᕆᒃ ᑲᓃᑎᐊᓐ ᓄᐊᑦ

ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᐅᑉ ᐅᔾᔨᕆᔭᐅᑎᑕᐅᓂᖓ

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ᓵᓇᓐ ᒫᓐᑦᐱᓕᐄ | Shannon Montpellier ᐃᓄᒋᐊᖖᒋᑦᑐᒥ ᓄᓇᓕᖓᓂ ᑯᐃᐸᒃ ᐃᒨᓕᖅᑐᕕᓕᐅᓪᓗᓂ, ᓵᓇᓐ ᐱᒻᐳᕈᒃ, ᐋᓐᑎᐊᕆᐅᒥ ᓄᓇᓕᖃᖅᐳᖅ.

ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᖃᖅᑑᓪᓗᓂ ᐊᓪᓚᕝᕕᒡᔪᐊᖓᓂ ᑲᓈᑕ, ᐋᓐᑎᐊᕆᐅᒥ, ᓵᓇᓐ ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑳᑉ ᑐᖓᓕᕆᔭᐅᕗᖅ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᕆᔨᖓᓄᑦ ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᓂ ᑲᓃᑎᐊᓐ ᓄᐊᔅᑯᓐᓄᑦ. ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓄᑦ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᐅᕙᒃᓄᑦ, ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᕆᔨᒧᑦ ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑳᒧᑦ ᑐᖓᓕᕆᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᐱᔭᒃᓴᖃᖅᑎᑕᐅᒋᕗᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᕐᕕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ IT-ᖑᔪᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᐅᔪᓂᒃ — ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᔭᒃᓴᖃᖅᑎᑕᐅᓐᓂᖃᖅᑑᓪᓗᓂ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᓕᕆᓂᐅᔪᓄᑦ.

ᓵᓇᓐ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᐃᓐᓇᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᓱᓇᓕᕆᔨᐅᓕᕈᒫᕐᓂᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᓱᓕ ᓄᑕᕋᐅᓂᕐᒥᓂᑦ. ᐊᑖᑕᖓ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᓯᔨᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᒻᒪᑦ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᒃᑯᕝᕕᒻᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᐅᔾᔨᔾᔪᑎᕙᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᒻᒪᒍ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᒃᑯᕝᕕᒻᒧᑦ ᐴᖅᓯᔾᔪᑎᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᕐᕕᒃᓴᓂᒃ ‘ᐱᖖᒍᐊᕆᔭᒃᓴᖏᓂᒃ’, ᐱᖃᓯᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐱᑐᖃᒻᒪᕆᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᓈᓴᐃᔾᔪᑎᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓴᓇᕐᕈᑎᓂᒃ. ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᒥᒃ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᕆᔨᐅᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᖃᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᒍᕇᑦ 9-ᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᖃᓕᕋᒥ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓴᒃᑯᒍᓐᓇᐃᓕᓪᓗᓂᐅᒃ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᖃᖅᑐᑦ. ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᖃᓕᕈᒫᕐᓂᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᕆᔨᐅᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᑐᖖᒐᕝᕕᒃᑖᕐᓯᒪᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ 7-ᓂᒃ, ᓇᕐᖓᕐᓇᒻᒪᕆᒃᐳᕐᓗ ᐅᔾᔨᕈᓱᓕᕆᐊᒥᒃ ᐊᒥᓲᓂᖅᓴᐅᔪᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑲᑎᓯᒪᓕᕌᖓᒥᒃ ᓵᓇᓐᒥ ᐅᖃᖅᐸᓐᓂᖏᑕ, “ᓈᓴᐅᔨᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᖖᒋᒻᒪᑦ”.

ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᖁᑦᓯᓐᓂᖅᐹᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᒥᓂᒃ ᐱᔭᕇᖅᓯᒪᓕᓚᐅᕐᐳᖅ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᑐᕌᖓᓐᓂᖃᖅᑎᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐋᑐᕙ ᓯᓚᑦᑐᖅᓴᕐᕕᖓᓂ, ᑕᐃᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᒃᓴᒥᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᑕᕆᔭᐅᓯᒪᔾᔪᑎᖃᕐᓱᓂ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᓯᔨᐅᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ (CMA) ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕌᓂᒃᓯᒪᐅᑎᖃᓕᓚᐅᖅᓱᓂ 2000-ᒥ, ᑕᐃᔭᐅᕙᓕᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᕆᔨᒻᒪᕆᓐᓂᒃ (CPA).

Originally born in a small town in Quebec, Shannon lives in Pembroke, Ontario.

Based at headquarters in Kanata, Ontario, Shannon is Vice President of Finance for the new Canadian North. In addition to all Finance related items, the VP Finance also has Facilities and IT in the portfolio — a bit of a Zamboni for issues.

Shannon has always known her career path from a very young age. Her dad managed a bank and would bring her home bank deposit slips to ‘play’ with, along with an ancient calculator. Her first accounting class was in Grade 9 and she was hooked. With a career path as an Accountant essentially set at the age of seven, it’s interesting to note that most people when they get to know Shannon will say, “she is not your typical bean counter”.

She completed her Bachelor of Commerce with a concentration in Accounting at Ottawa University, then went on to complete her Certified Management Accounting (CMA) designation in 2000, now referred to as a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA).

ᓵᓇᓐ ᐊᔾᔨᒌᖖᒋᐅᖅᑐᓂ ᑲᒻᒪᓂᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᖃᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᓕᓚᐅᖅᑳᕋᓂ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑲᓐᓄᑦ (ᑕᐃᔭᐅᓕᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᑲᓃᑎᐊᓐ ᓄᐊᔅᑯᓐᓂᒃ), ᐱᓯᒪᓕᕈᑎᒋᓪᓗᓂᒋᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒌᖖᒋᐅᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖃᕐᓂᒥᒍᑦ ᐊᒥᓱᐃᓕᖓᓪᓗᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᓕᕆᔨᐅᒋᐊᖃᕐᓂᕐᒥᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐱᔭᒃᓴᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂᒃ. ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᖃᖅᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᓄᓇᓂᒃ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᖃᖅᑎᐅᔪᓄᑦ, ᒪᓕᒐᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᓄᑦ, ᓴᓇᕐᕈᑎᒻᒪᕆᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᓄᑦ, ᑮᓇᐅᔾᔭᒃᓴᓇᓱᐊᕋᑎᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᓐᓄᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᓕᒫᒥ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᓂ. ᓵᓇᓐ ᓄᓇᓕᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒌᖖᒋᐅᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᓄᒃᑎᕋᔪᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ, ᐅᖃᖅᐸᒃᓱᓂᓗ ᐃᕿᐊᖖᒍᖅᓴᕋᐃᓐᓂᕐᒥᓂᒃ. ᖁᕕᐊᓇᖅᐳᕐᓗ, ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑦᑐᕕᓂᐅᓂᖓᓄᑦ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᒋᓪᓗᒍ ᑲᑎᖅᓱᐃᕙᓪᓕᐊᔾᔪᑎᒋᓚᐅᕐᒪᒋᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᕆᓕᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒌᖖᒋᐅᖅᑐᓂᑦ ᓴᓇᕐᕕᐅᔪᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᖃᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᒥᓄᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒌᖖᒋᐅᖅᑑᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᒻᒥ.

Shannon worked in a variety of companies before joining First Air (now Canadian North), that have provided her with a variety of experience to assist her with the complex business of aviation. She worked in Real Estate, Legal, High Tech, Not for Profit, and International Banking. Shannon used to move around a lot; she will say she gets bored easily. Luckily, that allowed her to gather experience from diverse industries that allows her to work in different aspects of the business.

ᓵᓇᓐ ᐅᒃᐱᕆᔭᖃᒻᒪᕆᒻᒪᑦ ᐊᕙᑕᖏᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔭᕆᐊᖃᕐᓂᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖅᑎᑦᓯᐊᒻᒪᕆᓐᓂᒃ. ᖁᕕᐊᓱᑑᓪᓗᑎᒃ, ᐱᔭᒃᓴᕆᔭᒥᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᕈᖅᑎᑦᓯᕙᓪᓕᐊᓂᖃᖅᑐᓂᒃ, ᐊᔪᖖᒋᑦᓯᐊᖅᑑᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᐅᔪᐃᑦ ᐱᐅᓂᖅᐸᐅᕙᓐᓂᖏᑕ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖃᑎᒋᔭᕆᐊᒃᓴᒥᒃ. “ᑲᑐᔾᔨᓗᑕ ᐱᔭᒃᓴᑲᓪᓚᒻᒪᕆᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᖃᓕᕈᓐᓇᖅᐸᒃᑐᒍᑦ!”

Shannon is a big believer in surrounding herself with a great team.

Happy, invested, skilled people are the best to work with. “We can take on any challenge together!”

ᓵᓇᓐ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᕐᒥᒃ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᖃᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᕝᕕᖓᓂ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᕆᔨᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ 2012-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᐃᑲᓃᖏᓐᓇᓚᐅᖅᓱᓂ ᑎᑭᑦᓱᒍ ᐅᒃᑐᐱᕆ 2018-ᒧᑦ. ᒫᓐᓇᐅᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖅᑎᐅᓕᕐᒥᔪᖅ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᖃᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᕿᐊᓇᖅᓯᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᓇᑎᒃ ᐱᔭᒃᓴᕆᕙᒃᑕᖏᑦ.

ᓵᓇᓐ ᐊᓯᐊᒍᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᐊᑕᐃᓐᓇᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᖃᖅᐸᒻᒥᒻᒪᑦ ᕼᐋᑭᖅᑎᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᓈᓇᐅᓂᕐᒥᓂᒃ. ᑕᒪᕐᒥᒃ ᓱᕈᓯᖏᒃ ᐃᕐᓂᖓ (14) ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐸᓂᖓ (11) ᕼᐋᑭᖅᑎᐅᓯᒪᓕᕐᒪᑎᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᓄᑦ ᐊᒥᓱᕐᓚᐅᓕᖅᑐᓄᑦ, ᑕᐃᒪᓗ ᐊᒃᔭᖅᑐᐃᔨᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᓕᕐᐳᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᒃᑮᓕᖅᑕᐃᓕᒪᕙᒃᓱᓂ ᕼᐋᑭᒋᐊᖅᓯᒪᑎᓪᓗᒋᒃ. ᔭᐸᒥᓂᒃ ᑲᓇᑕ ᒎᔅ ᓱᓪᓗᐃᓂᒃ ᐃᑭᐊᕈᑕᓕᕐᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐅᑭᐅᒥ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᕐᕕᒻᒥᓂ ᐊᑐᖅᐸᒻᒪᒍ. ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᒥᓂᑦ ᓄᖅᑲᖓᓚᐅᕐᓗᓂ ᐱᔭᒃᓴᖃᖅᐸᒻᒥᔪᖅ ᐃᓚᐅᓕᕐᓯᒪᓂᕐᒥᓄᑦ ᔫᒐ ᐃᖃᐃᓕᓴᕈᑎᓄᑦ, ᐃᓱᒪᒋᔭᒥᓂᒃ ᖃᓱᖓᑦᓯᐊᕋᓱᓕᕈᑎᓂᒃ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᓈᓚᒃᐸᒃᓱᓂᒋᑦ ᓂᐱᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓂᑯᑦ ᐱᕋᔭᒃᑐᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᐊᖖᒍᐊᓂᒃ.

Shannon began working at First Air as the Corporate Controller in 2012 and held the role until October 2018. She is now hooked on Aviation and is never bored.

Shannon’s other full-time job is hockey mom. Both her son (14) and daughter (11) have played competitive hockey over the last few years, so she spends a lot of time driving to and staying warm in rinks. Her Canada Goose parka is her winter uniform. Any spare time is spent in a yoga studio, meditating or listening to true crime pod casts.

From the Flight Deck Why do Some Airplanes Have Winglets?

Ever since the Wright Brothers’ first successful flight there has been an ongoing effort to improve the performance of any aircraft – either to make it takeoff or land in a shorter distance, carry more weight, fly faster, fly further or to burn less fuel on each flight.

Some major gains have come from improved engine design over the years but there are also some significant advances that can come as a result of improved wing design.

The wing is a critical part of the aircraft. Ultimately, it generates an upward force that overcomes the weight of the aircraft and allows it to actually fly. (Pilots refer to that upward force as “Lift”.) The wing works by creating a pressure difference between the top and the bottom side — with lower pressure on the top of the wing and a higher pressure on the underside, the wing is essentially sucked up. That pressure difference is obviously critical for flight, but it also comes with a negative impact.

In nature, you can’t maintain a pressure difference and the air always tries to restore a balance. (Think about letting go of the end of a balloon — the high pressure air inside the balloon rushes out of the hole at that end until the air pressure inside the balloon matches the air pressure outside of the balloon.) The same thing happens with the pressure difference above and below the wing. Since the air can’t flow straight from the high pressure area to the low pressure area (the wing acts like a barrier), the air wraps around the wingtip from the bottom to the top. This creates a spiraling, mini tornado at each wingtip. (If you look at the wingtip during takeoff or landing on a very humid day you might see that mini tornado.) The spiraling air behind each wingtip is called a wing tip

vortex and actually reduces the performance of the wing. The stronger the wing tip vortex, the greater the performance loss.

To improve aircraft performance, aircraft designers have tried to reduce the size and strength of each wing tip vortex. By installing winglets — essentially walls at each wingtip — the airflow around each wingtip can be controlled. This greatly reduces the size of the resulting vortex and consequently makes the wing more efficient. As technology has improved, so too has the design of winglets.

Over the past decade or two we have seen aircraft wings that are built without winglets to ones that simply look like the wingtip is folded upwards to much more complex ones with elements that extend above and below the wing and look more like the tail of an exotic fish.

Studies have shown that the more advanced winglets can reduce fuel burns by 2 per cent.

That may seem like a very small improvement,

but those savings can add up, especially if you have a very large fleet of aircraft. An early study by United Airlines estimated that equipping their entire Boeing fleet of aircraft with winglets would generate over $200M dollars of fuel cost reductions annually. Mind you, it costs around one million dollars to install a winglet on an older aircraft so an airline has to carefully evaluate things before retrofitting their fleet. As you can see, the winglets aren’t just there for visual appeal — they have a significant impact on the aircraft’s performance.

Captain Aaron Speer Vice President, Flight Operations Canadian North

If you are curious about a specific topic regarding flying and aircraft operations, let us know what you’d like to learn about and we’ll try to include it in a future column.

Email: editor@arcticjournal.ca

The Inflight Magazine for Canadian North

2019 | 06 YOURS TO KEEP

Northern Light Arc c and Subarc c Photography

Skiing Adventure in Pingualuit Park

Dr. Elaine Kilabuk A Doctor for the People

West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative Celebra ng 60 Years

Contents 11

November | December 2019 Volume 31, No. 6

PM40050872

26

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32 22 Features

11

Northern Light

From one of Canada’s most passionate and widely published photographers, these photographs transport the viewer to amazing Arctic and Subarctic locations. — Dave Brosha

22

Skiing Adventure in Pingualuit Park

Pingualuit National Park is a huge playground for ski lovers who want to be pulled by the wind, ski down the crater or simply trace their way back to Kangiqsujuaq on cross-country skis.

— Guillaume Roy

26

WBEC Celebrating 60 years

WBEC artists are a true tribute to Inuit resilience and ingenuity, with 60 years of rich history as evidence. — Sara Paladino

32

A Doctor for the People

Inuk Dr. Elaine Kilabuk is taking her medical skills back to the Arctic. — Season Osborne 2019 | 06

A B O V E & B E Y O N D — C A N A D A’ S A R C T I C J O U R N A L

09 Destination Focus 14 Living Above&Beyond 21 Resources 37 Arts Montreal First Peoples Festival — Simon Van Vliet

40 Culture Ice Fishing Trip — Nick Newbery

42 Arts Open Channels Exhibition — Melissa Rombout and Tara Mascarenhas

46 Adventure Igloo Village — Ian Stalker

48 Bookshelf 50 Inuit Forum — Natan Obed President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

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

68.36105°N, -133.73492°E

INUVIK © Kristian Binder

A place of rich diversity, Inuvik is located on the Mackenzie Delta — Canada’s largest freshwater delta, encompassing the Arctic Ocean. Inuvik is often considered the hub and gateway to surrounding communities in the Western Arctic and the Beaufort Sea. The Dempster Highway, Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway and Mackenzie River inspire Arctic enthusiasts to seek adventure north of the Arctic Circle.

Inuvik is the heart of stunning vistas in both summer and winter. Nestled between the Richardson Mountains, Treeless Tundra, Northern Boreal Forest and a maze of lakes and streams that make up the Mackenzie Delta, you will be sure to catch a glimpse of Northern beauty. The diversity of landscapes and waterways creates the perfect environment for wildlife, such as bears, caribou and moose.

As the traditional land of the Inuvialuit, Gwich’in and Metis, Inuvik offers a rich environment for Indigenous culture. These residents seek the knowledge, language, and

Plan to attend: • The Sunrise Festival, celebrating the return of the sun after 30 days of polar night with three days of festivities.

• The Muskrat Jamboree, welcoming the coming of spring with an array of traditional games and competitions.

• The Great Northern Arts Festival • Midnight Madness • The Arctic Development Expo.

stories from Elders to continue to thrive on the land as they have done for thousands of years. Inuvik is home to many artists and crafters who take pride in reflecting the Arctic landscape and Northern culture into their work. Traditional crafts are still a part of modern-day life in Inuvik for their practicality in the Arctic climate and their beauty.

When it comes to things to see and do in Inuvik, activities balance tradition with modern day living through an array of ‘city life’ amenities dedicated to science, education, fitness, arts and leisure. Inuvik thrives on hosting events for the community which also appeal to the influx of northbound tourists. Long before Inuvik was established, the people of the Mackenzie Delta came together to follow the flow of the seasons.

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EXCERPT

Northern Light The Arctic and Subarctic Photography of Dave Brosha From one of Canada’s most passionate and widely published photographers, Dave Brosha’s book of photography transports the viewer to amazing Arctic and Subarctic locations. Here, an excerpt from his book and a few of his awe-inspiring images.

Night Song The Torngats, Labrador

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EXCERPT

Fog Flames Yellowknife Bay, Northwest Territories

The Yukon Layers Burwash Landing, Yukon

I

was born a Northern boy and a Northern boy I’ll die.

My childhood was spent exploring the forests, riverbanks, fields and creeks of Fort Vermilion, a tiny little hamlet in northern Alberta that we – my brothers and sisters and I – thought was as far north as north can be. Winters were harsh, but home. Cold dripped into our veins and crisp, crunchy snow was frequently our soundtrack.

We were not far from the Northwest Territories-Alberta border, and during spring breakup we would often drive north of High Level – where the pavement turned to gravel and dust and dirt – towards Enterprise, Northwest Territories, and then, finally, the Mackenzie River. There, my father and I would fish for northern pike, tell stories and make campfires.

The expanse of land seemed endless and the rivers and waterfalls impossibly grand. I never thought these lands would someday be south for me, but years later – after I completed high school and university on the east coast of Canada – I would find out that North is an incredibly large concept.

In 2002, my wife, Erin, and I moved to an even tinier place called Resolute Bay, Nunavut. Two hundred twenty or so souls living far north of the Arctic Circle. We were living outside Antigonish, Nova Scotia, when the call came for Erin to interview for a job that she quickly secured; we had to take 12

The Frost Flowers of Victor Bay Victor Bay, Nunavut

out the atlas to see where it was that we had agreed to move. Our eyes widened when we realized that Resolute was the second-most northerly community in Canada – in a country known for its northern communities.

I credit Resolute and our time there for making me a photographer. I was in my early 20s and just content to see where life would take me; I moved north without any specific knowledge of photography other than the fact that I had a little pointand-shoot camera with a promise to our families back home to “send pictures”.

How quickly that changed.

In Resolute I rediscovered a love of the North that had been buried in my soul since childhood. Snow and ice and fresh air and wildlife and, well, a sense of perseverance.

My camera quickly became my creative outlet, and a little hobby soon became an obsession. My peace and joy outside my “real” job was exploring – either by foot or by snow machine – the environment around me, and I found excitement in climbing up snow canyons, in crawling on my stomach into holes in small icebergs, and in watching the symphony of changing Arctic colours as the seasons turned into one another.

One fortuitous day I met Martin Hartley, a British photographer. He was in Resolute as expedition photographer for fellow Brit Pen Hadow’s attempt on the North Pole. Luckily for me, I was also helping out on the expedition, and when Martin discovered that I had an interest in photography, he invited me to head out shooting with him. Martin was, and still is, my photographic hero, and when I saw what he did for a living, and the magic he captured with his camera and lenses, I could only dream of someday doing what he did. The notion to me of ever being a professional seemed so far-off as to be impossible, but Martin encouraged and inspired. Creatively, I felt like I finally had a purpose in life; the Arctic was my launch pad. Once I discovered photography and the joy it gave me, there was no turning back; it became all encompassing. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the craft – I pored over photography books and magazines and blogs – while at the same time always trying to remember, while in the field, to not get so caught up in the technical nuts and bolts that I failed to just observe and enjoy the moments spent outside. The world outside was simply too beautiful to not appreciate.

Photography was the perfect hobby, starting out – a hobby that grew into so much more. I’ve always been a creator: I love going through each and every week knowing that I’ve outputted, in some shape or fashion, something. I’m not one for sitting around and letting life go by. Photography allowed me, in a sense, to accumulate creations: in the early days, this was the thrill of receiving in the mail a batch of processed slides; later, it would be the instant thrill of seeing a moment come alive on the back of my digital viewfinder that might become a print or a memory shared with others via social media.

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EXCERPT

Sambaa Deh Sambaa Deh Falls Territorial Park, Northwest Territories

Transitions Emerald Lake, Yukon

Since those earliest hobbyist days, I’ve learned and come to appreciate the immense power of photography. Photographs have the power to record time, to educate, to promote, to allow appreciation and to inspire. One of the encounters in my own journey that has stuck with me is the time I ran into an Inuk woman, Anna, at the local grocery store in Resolute. She stopped me in an aisle and said she had been looking at some of my photos online. “I’ve lived here (in Resolute) pretty much my whole life,” she said. “I always thought it was sort of ugly... but seeing your photos has made me realize we really do live in a beautiful place. Thank you so much for that!”

Those are the moments I live for in photography. I try to make photographs that resonate with me, sure, but when the rare image resonates with someone else: that’s the connection that many photographers strive for. It is why we’re outside in poor conditions, in the dark and in the cold, and why we spent countless moments simply waiting.

And watching. It’s the thrill of the chase, and the high you receive when those countless moments pay off. When you feel that you’ve captured something special – something different; something unique.

The North, I feel, is my own unique world. It’s a place where I go to feel alone, and out of that aloneness I gain so much community: a contradiction I feel many who have ventured North will understand, agree with and share in.

These, here, are some of my favourite images from approximately 15 years spent documenting various parts of the North. No matter where I end up living in this world, the North will always be part of me. It’s my community.

A Breath of Baffin Auyuittuq National Park, Baffin Island, Nunavut

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Celebrating partnerships at the Nunavut Trade Show & Conference

By Doris Ohlmann

The 2019 Nunavut Trade Show & Conference was all about “Celebrating Partnerships”. It was evident from the many presentations that working together and celebrating achievements is an integral part of doing business in Nunavut.

Hosted by the Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce, over 1,800 participants attended the event.

Below are highlights of the Conference sessions.

Tallurutiup Imanga

Keynote speaker Olayuk Akesuk, VicePresident of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association (QIA), showed a video about the importance of beluga, seals and walrus to Inuit.

On August 1, the QIA and the Government of Canada announced interim protection for the new Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area in Canada’s High Arctic Basin and an Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement (IIBA) for the Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area.

Investments will support the communities of Arctic Bay, Clyde River, Grise Fiord, Pond Inlet and Resolute Bay. • $54.8M for an Inuit Stewards Program.

• $49.25M, over seven years for job creation in the five communities, a new collaborative governance model, fisheries development, and a feasibility assessment that includes community engagement and research for the Tuvaijuittuq.

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• $3.65M over seven years to support Inuit led research, training, monitoring, scholarships and capacity building.

• $1.9M over seven years to support Hunters and Trappers Organizations.

• Over $190M in infrastructure investments, including multi-use facilities and country food processing units, harbour development, and a regional training centre in Pond Inlet.

The QIA will host a community tour to the five hamlets impacted by the Tallurutiup Imanga IIBA and the Tuvaijuittuq Agreements in November. Check their website qia.ca.

Resources for business

The Resources for Business Conference Session began with a presentation from Jason Little. Little is a Professor of Marketing at Franklin Pierce University, New Hampshire. He reported on the Research Study from 2018 to “Determine Effective Marketing

Communication Strategies for Businesses located in Nunavut”. The Nunavut population has grown the fastest in the last five years with 50 per cent of the population under 24 years of age. 84.2 per cent of residents are Inuit with 50 per cent of the population speaking Inuktut and 47 per cent speaking English.

The study found that of the 343 registered Inuit firms in Nunavut, 87 per cent were visible with some form of online marketing.

In this digital age, websites and Facebook were the two top media channels for contacting new customers.

The study is available on the Nunavut Economic Developers Association’s (NEDA) website at nunavuteda.com/publications.

Senior Insurance Specialist Bradley Roy from RBC Insurance followed up with how these businesses can protect their investments. Roy is the only insurance planner from RBC who travels North of 60° to work with clients.

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First Air and Canadian North worked alongside each other at the Nunavut Trade Show. As of November 1, the two airlines begin service as the new Canadian North. L to R: Ron Lowry, Cindy Twerdin, Stephanie McBride, Mathew Royle, President Chris Avery, and Brian Tattuinee. © Michel Albert

Award. Together they are growing their business slowly, utilizing the entire animal in their products, like Bearded Seal Oil. Rhoda Angutimarik, CEO of Arctic Fresh, brings affordable and fresh produce to Nunavummiut. Her company was the winner of the Northern Social Enterprise of the Year at the 2019 Startup Canada Awards.

Transportation updates

Rachel Davis, a Community Relations Officer at the Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO), spoke about business development for small businesses. CESO is an international non-profit economic development engine whose expert volunteer advisors have worked with Nunavut businesses since 2003. They have mentored Alex Ittimangnaq, Economic Development Officer in Kugaaruk; Geoff Clark with Nunavut Qiviut in Kugluktuk; and Kylik Kisoun with Tundra North Tours in Inuvik.

Pat Powell, Career Services Senior Project Officer from the Kakivak Association reminded attendees that its organization supports businesses in the Qikiqtani with wage subsidies, training and career services, job postings, and grants and loan programs.

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Entrepreneurs in Nunavut

This presentation included three entrepreneurial businesses in Nunavut whose speakers were passionate and energetic in sharing their stories.

Thor Simonsen, Creative Director for Hitmakerz encourages up and coming artists to create sustainable careers in music. He has seen how the workshops and tours have impacted young performers’ lives by helping them become empowered to create music.

Hitmakerz will announce three new albums by the end of the year and into 2020.

Bernice and Justin Clarke, owners of Uasau Soap, were named the Top Aboriginal Business of the Year in 2016 and were the North Region winner for the 2019 Startup Canada Awards for the Entrepreneur Choice

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Brian Penney, President and CEO of Baffinland, was Keynote Luncheon speaker on Wednesday. He noted that Mary River is one of the best iron ore deposits in the world and a low-cost producer with 100 per cent of the ore that is mined becoming product.

Their shipping routes past Pond Inlet avoid key marine mammal areas. When they can use the railway to the mine instead of trucking, expenses will be reduced.

The Small Craft Harbor at Pond Inlet is 30 per cent complete with quarry operations on-going. Completion date is Fall 2020.

The Government of Nunavut Economic Development and Transportation Department (GN-ED&T) will manage the harbor.

The Deep-sea Port $85M project in Iqaluit is 40 per cent complete. Workers will be needed for its continued maintenance once it is in operation, bringing economic opportunities for the Iqaluit workforce.

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LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND

The Kivalliq Hydro Fibre Link will deliver renewable energy transmissions and fibreoptic broadband service to the Kivalliq. This will aid in shutting down diesel engines with a vision to connect the communities of Arviat, Baker Lake, Chesterfield Inlet, Rankin and Whale Cove with the two Agnico-Eagle Mines — Meliadine and Meadowbanks — to Manitoba. The Kivalliq Inuit Association is working with the GNED&T on feasibility efforts for an access road with a goal for commercial operation in 2026.

Chris Avery, President of the new Canadian North, spoke about the First Air/ Canadian North merger. As a result of the merger there will not be two airlines operating at almost the same time. Without this double infrastructure, the airline can be sustainable. The intent is to create an airline that fully services the North and is loved by the people of the North and in the future by those who will travel on the airline when tourism continues to be developed in the North. The goal is to develop a world-class leading training and development program

in the world and be one of the best airlines and managed companies in the world.

Full integration of the two companies will take 18 to 24 months to create one operating certificate. Safety is paramount and delivering a customer experience with more choices, such as early morning and later departures from Ottawa to Iqaluit and same day connections to Yellowknife, Edmonton and the Kivalliq.

The goal of the pricing structure is to offer lower prices available to everyone that meets the needs of business travellers, beneficiaries, and tourism partners with advance ticket prices, seat sales and beneficiary fares. Aurora Reward Points and Aeroplan programs will continue.

Innovation and technology

Three businesses showcased their use of technology to enhance their services in Nunavut.

“If we can build capacity with our Makerspace courses, then we can have sustainability,” says Ryan Oliver, executive director of Pinnguaq Association. The notfor-profit organization incorporates STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) into unique learning applications that promote storytelling, health and wellness, culture and education. They offer internship programs and scholarships to help build employment opportunities in the technology industry.

Kirt Ejesiak, Chairman and CEO of Arctic UAV, spoke about the company’s world-class imaging services using top grade, industrial drones that work in extreme conditions. With the combined expertise of the employees who include commercial pilots, professional photographers and hunters, their work includes tourismrelated projects, mapping historic sites for baseline data, work for the federal government and the Government of Nunavut and Transport Canada. They also see opportunities for work with Search and Rescue.

Mike West, Founder and CEO of Nuvujaq, doesn’t just want to bring “cloud computing” to satellite dependent communities in Canada’s Arctic but wants to improve the internet by bringing the cloud technology over the satellite by building mini data centres in small hamlets so connections are instantaneous. The system would also offer opportunities for the Earth Observation Network, remote sensing data from drones 16

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A full moon and Northern Lights shine over the causeway where the new Deep-sea Port is being built in Iqaluit. © Michel Albert

and satellites like the new LEO satellite that will be available across Nunavut in early 2021, and the Ocean Observatory.

Nunavut's sealing industry

Darrin Nichol, President of the Nunavut Development Corporation, spoke about his vision for the potential future of the sealing industry in Nunavut. “There is a territorial market demand for country food like seal meat,” he says, remarking that it would be beneficial to invest in a seal meat processing facility in a Nunavut community. Branding for this new seal meat could be similar to the present “Nunavut Truly Wild” Arctic char brand.

Janelle Kennedy, Director of the Fisheries & Sealing Division, Department of Environment for the Government of Nunavut, began her presentation on “Rebuilding an Inuit Subsistence Economy” quoting Inuit activist Aaju Peter: “There are not many cultures who can still live off the land. … Inuit still hunt for food on the land, water and ice to bring food home to their families.”

Inuit craft producers have turned their resilience into a brand and a legitimate product that can participate in the cash economy.

The Circumpolar Crafters Network, including crafters from Nunavut, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Greenland, Norway, Estonia and Scotland have joined together to learn from each other and share their culture and skills as crafters. They use traditional fur and leather from seal, reindeer, bison, fish skin, wool, Harris tweed, and rabbit. The Fisheries & Sealing Division is planning to help send people to fur harvesting workshops like this Pan-Arctic gathering so they can learn from others 2019 | 06

and bring the knowledge home to teach locals in the industry.

Mark Shelford, Manager, Certification and Market Access Program for Seals (CMAPS), from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) provided information on the CMAPS. It’s a system for tracking and certifying seal products. The DFO helps negotiate trade agreements by supporting cultural and traditional exports to places like Asia, Boston, Vancouver, Georgia, and

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Brussels to help grow international business through qualified connections. To obtain a CMAPS funding application, email CMAPSPCAMP@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

The Conference included a Tradeshow and Gala with a charity auction and entertainment by the band Buddy Pass. $17,455 was raised at the auction to go towards the Inukshuk Highschool Graduation Class, Dance Club, and Green Club; Iqaluit Tae Kwon-Do; and Skills Canada Nunavut.

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Arctic Comedy Festival expands After a highly successful launch in 2018, the Canadian North Arctic Comedy Festival expanded to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, this year on October 9-10 and returned to Iqaluit, Nunavut, October 11-12.

Canadian comedic icon Mary Walsh hosted the event, opening the Festival in Yellowknife.

Howie Miller, one of Canada’s most experienced and respected First Nation professional comedians, appeared alongside many other comics including Big Daddy Tazz, Chad Anderson, James Mullinger, Yellowknife’s own Alex Sparling, and popular comics from Iqaluit: Bibi Bilodeau and the Sam & Bernard.

On October 11, Mary Walsh opened a special mental health and comedy show, ‘Crackup Iqaluit’ featuring Patrick McKenna ‘ADD and Loving It,” Big Daddy Tazz “The Bipolar Buddha,” and Kyle Brownrigg “Unmedicated, The New Fragrance”.

Don Kelly, star of @APTN’s ‘Fish Out of Water” and veteran of many Canadian comedy festivals, hosted the finale in Iqaluit with Derek Seguin, Abdul Butt, Sandra Battaglini, Wendi Reed, Harrison Weinreb, and a host of local comics. Five dollars from every ticket sold for this show went to support the Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Helpline.

Taking place during Mental Illness Awareness Week, the Festival partnered with local organizations to raise awareness and funds for local mental health support services. Northwestel and CBC North were also presenting partners.

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LIVING ABOVE&BEYOND

From left, Emcee Gabrielle Morrill and Lauren Nevin, Manager Events & Member Services Baffin Regional Chamber of Commerce, stand with Corporate sponsors for the 2019 Nunavut Trade Show & Conference. © Michel Albert

Gold sponsors were Lester Landau, Qikiqtaaluk Corporation, Kakivak Association, NCC Investment Group Inc, Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., Frobisher Inn, and Veterans Affairs Canada. Not present for the photograph: City of Iqaluit and Nunatsiaq News. © Michel Albert

Awards presented at Conference The Nunavut Business Achievement Awards (NBAA) and Sponsor Recognition plaques were presented as part of the Nunavut Trade Show & Conference in Iqaluit in September. Gabrielle Morrill from NorthwesTel was emcee for the event.

Platinum sponsors, who contributed $20,000 or more to the event were: Baffinland, First Air (now the new Canadian North), CanNor, and the Government of Nunavut, Department of Economic Development & Transportation.

Corporate sponsors were Arctic Electrical, Business Development Corp., NEAS, NorthwesTel, NSSI, NBCC, NDC, NSBI, NVision Insight Group Inc., and OETIO. NBAA recipients, L to R: Cody Dean, Owner of Canadrill, Business Person of the Year; Darrin Nichol, Treasurer, Rankin Inlet Royal Canadian Legion Branch 169, Business of the Year; Rannva Simonsen, Rannva Design and the Sewing for Survival Program, Special Achievement Award; Stephen Sullivan, General Manager of the Frobisher Inn, Volunteer of the Year; and John Matthews, Lifetime Achievement Award. © Michel Albert

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Resource Centre events help clothe northern families

The crowd is greeted by mayor Pamela Gross (far right) and a representative (right) from Canada Goose. © Brett Gundlock

Darlene Eyegotok’s sewing machine is about to be very, very busy.

“I’m going to do a summer parka for my daughter, a parka for next winter for my son and then one for my dad,” she says.

“He’s 80 but he’s never had a homemade parka.”

In her arms, she’s holding a stack of neatly folded fabric, while all around her other women (and a few men) are choosing their own bundles from a nearby table, a rainbow display of red, green, black, blue

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and (most wanted) camo. It’s an organized chaos that’s over almost as soon as it’s begun.

It, of course, is a Canada Goose Resource Centre event, held in partnership with Canadian North (known as First Air at the time of this event), this one happens to be in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, but Canada Goose has been holding them across the Arctic. It all began with a simple request: Two sewers from Pond Inlet named Meeka Atagootak and Rebecca Kiliktee were

visiting the Canada Goose Toronto production facility and happened to see scraps of fabric remaining from parka production.

They asked if they could take this leftover material home so their friends and family could use it to make winter jackets. That sparked an idea that has grown into over 10 donation events and over 2,000,000 metres of fabric donated.

“In a town like Cambridge Bay, you don’t get much material – and if you do, it’s expensive,” explains Shelly De Caria, senior manager of community relations and sales at Canadian North and someone who’s been to many of these Resource Centre events. “For a mother to be able to get this fabric means she can make parkas for her kids. I’ve been back to communities six months [after a Resource Centre event] and I often see they’ve been made. They’re just so happy because it’s helping them and helping their family.”

For Cambridge Bay mayor Pamela Gross, watching from the sidelines, these events are also linked to culture, because having fabric enables Inuit women to continue a tradition of creating parkas for themselves and their families.

“We still have people who are seamstresses and we like to pass on our traditional knowledge,” she says. “Our reality is that we’re cold for eight months of the year, so I know that people are very appreciative of the material.”

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RESOURCES

NUNAVUT Optional shipping route being considered Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. is considering alternative shipping routes to ship ore from its Mary River mine. It is considering transporting some ore through Navy Board Inlet and into the Northwest Passage (NWP) instead of through Eclipse Sound and Baffin Bay. The NWP was put forward as an alternative shipping route in the Phase 2 Proposal.

The final hearings for the second phase of the Mary River project will take place November 2 to 9 in Iqaluit and Pond Inlet.

New mine celebrates with donations Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. celebrated the official opening of its new Amaruq Whale Tail project in late August by announcing $1 million in donations to four projects.

Monies included: • $500,000 over the next five years for the Baker Lake Abluqta Society to establish a food bank including reserves for emergencies, support for a weekly hot lunch program for elders, and weekly meals for volunteers.

• $150,000 for Baker Lake Search and Rescue to buy drones and other equipment and technical training and certification for operators.

• $250,000 to the Baker Lake Fire Department and the Hamlet of Baker Lake to purchase a garage for its new ambulance.

• $100,000 to Baker Lake’s Department of Recreation for a new sound and lighting system for its community centre.

Amaruq, about 50 km northwest of the Meadowbank mine, will be an open pit mine and will supply ore to the company’s Meadowbank mill. Once commercial production begins, Amaruq will produce about 2.5 million ounces of gold until 2025, with annual gold production averaging 272,500 ounces.

High interest targets found Arctic Star Exploration Corp. has completed the ground geophysical survey program on the Stein diamond project.

The detailed ground magnetic survey program has delineated very compelling targets consistent with magnetic signatures over known kimberlites at parallel latitudes elsewhere in Canada’s North. These high 2019 | 06

interest targets are further reinforced by heavy mineral samples collected, which contain the diamond indicator grains of high chrome, low calcium G10D pyrope garnets.

Further modeling and target prioritization will continue in preparation for future drilling.

The Stein diamond property consists of four contiguous prospecting permits covering an area of 1,065 square kilometres on the Southern Boothia Peninsula, 45 kilometres from tide water. It is located 85 kilometres northwest of Taloyoak, which is serviced daily by commercial flights and seasonally by barge.

Surveying continues at copper discovery In August, Sitka Gold Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiary, Arctic Copper Corp., mobilized a crew to its Coppermine River Project to conduct additional geophysical surveying at its recently discovered Copper Leaf showing.

The sedimentary hosted copper discovery returned over 13 per cent copper and 65 g/t silver on the surface. The Copper Leaf showing coincides with a geophysical gravity survey that produced a 100 m wide gravity anomaly over the surface showing.

NWT Diamonds processing in Yellowknife again A long-awaited diamond processing facility is now operational in Yellowknife. In August, the first shipment of rough diamonds from De Beers were cut and polished at the Yellowknife Crown of Light facility, located near the Yellowknife Airport.

Owned by parent company Almod Diamond, Yellowknife Crown of Light is the first factory to become operational under the territorial government’s amended Diamond Policy Framework and is the only diamond manufacturer currently approved for operation by the NWT government.

A grand opening is expected in 2020.

YUKON Making gold mining history After two years of construction, the Victoria Gold Corp. Eagle Gold project is on schedule to become the largest gold mine in Yukon’s history. About 85 kilometres from Mayo, it is in an area called the Dublin Gulch property.

The mine will produce more than 200,000 ounces of gold per year. Using current gold prices, the $500-million mine is expected to pay for itself in just over two and a half years.

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The mine features a fly-in, fly-out camp with daily scheduled flights to and from Mayo.

Eventually employing 400 people, Na-Cho Nyak Dun Chief Simon Mervyn says his First Nation has worked with the company for the past 10 years on a comprehensive benefits agreement that will include on-site simulator training.

Program refines gold drilling targets Sitka Gold Corp. has completed this season’s exploration program at its newly acquired RC Gold Property in the prolific Tintina Gold Belt.

The program involved infill and expansion soil sampling focussed on refining drill targets identified from six gold in soil anomalies, as well as follow up IP geophysics and geological mapping and prospecting.

Drilling program proves successful Alexco Resource Corp. reports initial results from the 2019 Bermingham “deep target” drilling program at the Keno Hill Silver District property. The 2019 drill program was designed to follow up prior drill results indicating potential for deeper mineralization at Bermingham, with a specific aim to test for the presence of mineralization in a deeper stratigraphic zone, which also hosts the adjacent historic Hector Calumet deposit.

The 2019 exploration drilling has confirmed the presence of an extensive potentially deeply rooted mineralizing system at Bermingham, characterized by wide structural zones containing silver and base metal bearing veins up to and over 200 m depth below the outlined resource areas.

This discovery confirms that the Bermingham deposit, which currently contains more than 40 million ounces of silver in all categories, may be much larger, and certainly well within the upper quartile of historic or contemporary discoveries/deposits in the Keno Hill Silver District.

Success in the 2019 Bermingham deep drilling program will now drive a much larger follow up drilling program.

Shallower drilling has also been completed adjacent to the Bermingham Northeast Resource Zone with the aim of expanding the mineral resource adjacent to anticipated mining areas.

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Skiing the Pingualuit crater was an amazing experience. © Guillaume Roy

Skiing adventure in Pingualuit Park

By Guillaume Roy

The Pingualuit National Park is a huge playground for ski lovers who want to be pulled by the wind, ski down the crater or simply trace their way back to Kangiqsujuaq on crosscountry skis. It’s also a great place to experience Inuit culture such as eating raw food and sleeping in igloos.

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t’s -20°C and the wind blows at 50 kmph on the vast plain at the bottom of the Pingualuit crater, as we set our kites to ski to the next camp, 30 km away. We are four kite skiers, escorted by two guides in snowmobiles, riding in paradisiacal conditions: a treeless territory with constant winds, where we can ski for hundreds of kilometres on soft wind packed snow.

On this sunny morning, we navigate through the Ungava Plateau hills, riding down the small slopes as fast 22

as we can. George Pilurtuut, an Inuit rider from Kangiqsujuaq, checks his GPS; it says 80 kmph. The wind keeps gaining strength, and for a short while, it feels like we ride through a complete whiteout, with the colourful kites in the air and the snowmobiles ahead as the only landmark I can see.

Two hours later, I notice the wood camp where we will sleep for the night, equipped with solar panels, a technology that stands out in this wild territory.

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“This is the craziest kite ride of my life,” yells George, an old friend of Guy Laflamme, the founder of a kite ski program in Nunavik in 2006, who invited him for a kite ski tourism pilot project in the Park. Christine Laflamme, Guy’s sister, is also part of the adventure.

Even though the Pingualuit Park offers the option to kite ski on Manarsulik Lake, nearby the crater, it’s the first time a group kite ski between camps, notes Noah Annahatak, the Park warden since its opening in 2007.

“It’s really nice to see the kites in the sky and it’s much faster than cross-country skiing,” he says, while offering me a piece of sausage-like meat. “It’s cooked mattaq (beluga skin with a layer of fat) rolled in beluga intestines,” he adds. While raw mattaq is hard to chew and unfamiliar for most qallunaat (southerners or white people), these sausages are particularly delicious, with a smoky taste.

All along the trip, beluga bites, fresh fish meals or caribou feast allow us to discover the Inuit gastronomy, while living by the territory’s rhythm. Behind each piece of meat, lies a hunter’s story, notes Noah, who always shows great respect towards the animals. “We do not waste anything. We use all the animal pieces,” says the 53-year-old man, with a lively look.

Raised by his mother, Noah never had the opportunity to learn the traditional knowledge when he was young.

Today, he seeks to transmit the knowledge he learned, bit by bit, and even revive some old practices. His eyes brighten when he recalls how, in 2008, he worked with a 2019 | 06

When the wind died, Noah dug a hole to catch this 20-kg monster. © Guillaume Roy

group of hunters to catch the first bowhead whale in over a century in Nunavik — a 49-ton beast that he shared with all Nunavimmiut (Nunavik residents), faithful to the tradition.

The journey in the Pingualuit Park started a few days earlier, in Kangiqsujuaq, where we loaded all our gear onto the qamutiit, the traditional sleds, pulled by snowmobiles.

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Aurora borealis dance in the skies near the Pingualuit Crater. © Guillaume Roy

Skiing the crater

The camp sticks out in this immaculate territory. And it provides an awesome comfort after a day out on the land. © Guillaume Roy

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The plan: ride 120 km to the Pingualuit crater base camp, and make our way back by our own means, be it crosscountry skiing or kite skiing, over five days.

Besides the four kite skiers, two Montreal tourists who won a trip on the radio to discover the Park, three guides and a travel agent complete the group. After a long snowmobile ride, we finally reach the Manarsulik camp, 2.5 km away from the Pingualuit crater, at around 7 pm. This is the Park’s base camp, with four cabins equipped with private bedrooms, solar panels, and Wi-Fi connection, a luxury in this isolated area. Water is taken right out of the lake, a few dozen metres away.

The isolation and the absence of luminous pollution make this a perfect place to see Northern Lights. When the night comes, I go out with Lucasie Kiatainaq, one of our guides who is also a photographer, and we share tips to take the best arsaniit shots.

The next morning, while looking at the topographical maps on the main cabin wall during breakfast, we notice the crater’s slope reaches more than 200 metres in some areas, the equivalent of mount Saint-Sauveur in the Laurentides. Excited by the discovery, Christine, Guy and I put our ski boots on before jumping on the snowmobile to reach the crater.

The machines bring us halfway up the hill and we walk the remainder to reach the crater’s ridge, where we can see the perfectly circular Pingaluk Lake, formed 1.4 million years ago when a meteorite created the 3.4-km diameter crater.

We put our skis on and start to ride down the hill on a wind-packed surface. The hill is steep and I enjoy every turn. “We skied the crater,” yells Guy Laflamme as I join him at the bottom with a big high-five. The sensation was so good, we decide to climb right back up for another ride.

Then (almost) satisfied, but thirsty, we make our way to the water hole dug by our guide to taste one of the purest and most transparent waters of the world.

Since there is no wind in the afternoon, we make our way to another ski hill, in the Puvurnituq Canyon, before heading to a good fishing site. In less than an hour, our guides fish 12 lake trout and Arctic char, which made excellent sushi the same night. Unfortunately, tourists cannot fish in the Park, but since many sites are located outside the Park's boundary, one can ask for a permit at the Landholding Corporation before heading out.

The next morning, the wind blows just enough to be pulled with our kites. After a few kilometres, the wind dies in the hollow of a small valley. Noah takes advantage of the time out to dig a hole and start fishing. A few minutes later, he pulls out a 20 kg lake trout. Despite appearances, nature is generous in the North.

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Sleeping in an igloo

Let’s cross-country ski

When we reach camp, Noah distributes nikuk, dried beluga meat. The cabins are modest, with bunk beds. Noah offers to build an igloo and challenges us to sleep in it, a oneof-a-lifetime experience, he says. George decides to build another one to practice his technique and to make more sleeping places. Two hours later, the two igloos are completed. After supper, they lend me a foam mat and an extra sleeping bag, and I get prepared to sleep in my snow house for the night. A few minutes later, I hear George coming my way to make sure I am comfortable.

“Do you want me to shut your door nicely,” he says quietly.

“Of course,” I answer. He then adds snow through all the small cracks to make sure I don’t get cold. “If you want to go out, just kick the door. Good night.” Laid back comfortably in my igloo, I assume it’s probably the most original way to wish me good night!

With the width of the snow blocks, I quickly realize the igloo is even more comfortable than a winter tent.

Sleeping with fresh air, in the middle of the wild Arctic environment, definitely adds a magic touch to the adventure.

We still have 60 km to go before reaching Kangiqsujuaq, but the wind has died down. The sun shines hard and it’s warm — 5°C — on this mid-April morning. We exchange the quickness of our kites for the meditative rhythm of cross-country skiing. And instead of making our 30-km ride in two hours, we plan five to six hours to reach the next camp. On our way, we decide to branch through the Iqqalivik Canyon, where I go downhill skiing (once again).

At the valley’s bottom, Noah throws me a rope to pull me with the snowmobile to reach the camp before dark.

Across the magnificent valley, we see the only trees of the trip, less than two metres high.

For our last day, we make our way down towards Wakeham Bay, discovering another breathtaking canyon.

In front of us, the village appears, and a nostalgic feeling hits me, since I have no clue when I will have the opportunity to live such an experience once again.

Kite skiing on Manarsulik Lake, nearby the crater, upon our arrival. © Lucasie Kiatainaq

Nunavik Parks In winter, Pingualuit Park offers a nine-day journey (flight, equipment, food) for $4,299 inclusive. Besides the five days in the Park, visitors travel for two days and have two days to discover Kangiqsujuaq, while dogsledding, fishing or hunting.

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There are three other national parks in Nunavik. In Kuururjuaq Park, one will find Quebec’s highest peaks, with Kaukik (Iberville) mountains, culminating at 1,646 m. Tursujuq Park is Quebec’s biggest park, covering 26,107 m2, bigger than Belgium. In Ulittaniujalik, the

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newest Park, visitors can see vestiges older than 7,000 years old, on the George River banks.

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Kenojuak Ashevak Untitled (Owl’s Treasure), 2002 Ink, coloured pencil on paper 66x50.5cm

West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative Celebrating 60 years

By Sara Paladino

The vibrancy of Inuit culture is palpable across 60 years of art making in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. As the proclaimed capital of Inuit art in Canada, Cape Dorset is home to the most prominent Inuit artists, recognized around the world. Over the course of six decades, the creative industries in Cape Dorset continue to grow and develop with the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative (WBEC) and the commitment of all those involved in its ever-growing pursuits. The success of the cooperative is the driving force of Inuit art that contributes to making Cape Dorset artists iconic both nationally and internationally. What began in 1959 as a government incentive to promote economic stimulation in the Canadian Arctic is now the oldest and most successful Arctic institution of its kind. This venerable cooperative is a testament to the way in which Cape Dorset residents are brought together through their geographical location, tradition and passion for art making. Inuit art from Cape Dorset has come to represent some of the best of Canadian art, and the work of WBEC will corroborate its prosperity for years to come.

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t is important to reflect on the last six decades and the hard work and dedication of the cooperative and their infamous artists in making Inuit tradition come to life through art. WBEC was founded to catalyze the creative processes and maintain distribution of artwork made in Cape Dorset. Kinngait Art Studios is the core of Cape Dorset art making, featuring state of the art equipment to ensure quality resources are readily available for all of the artist members. With WBEC’s newly opened Kenojuak Cultural Centre and Print Shop, all of the artists are able to create stunning and quintessential drawings, prints and carvings renown internationally in a facility that exceeds all of the basic necessities. WBEC also works to ensure that all communication, community outreach and business requirements are met to preserve the integrity and excellence of the art made in the studio by its Inuit artist members. In addition, Dorset Fine Arts (DFA) is a subdivision of the cooperative, located in Toronto, Ontario, and established to maintain partnerships with various venues and institutions 2019 | 06

across the art market on a regional and international scale.

Both WBEC and DFA are dedicated to Cape Dorset artists and their iconic art, as well as the continued success of Inuit art historically and in the future. Through these organizations, the beauty of Inuit art is showcased, while the daily logistical details and requirements are taken care of to emphasize the prosperity of art making in the Canadian Arctic, despite limitations associated with its geographical location. WBEC artists are a true tribute to Inuit resilience and ingenuity, with 60 years of rich history as evidence.

In celebration of 60 years of operations, West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative has compiled an Anniversary program to honour the work of all Cape Dorset artists of the past and present, while also forming solid grounds for future growth and success. WBEC has developed an incomparable Inuit art legacy in Canada. One component of the program designed to commemorate this legacy is the Kenojuak Ashevak: Life and Legacy exhibition, scheduled to tour across six regional art venues in Canada from 2020 – 2022. This national

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exhibition is made possible through the generosity of its lead supporter, Canadian Heritage through its Museums Assistance Program, Access to Heritage component as well as the Government of Nunavut through its Department of Culture and Heritage.

Kenojuak Ashevak was a profound artist and cultural icon from Cape Dorset, influencing artists in Canada, across generations.

She practiced art making for more than five decades, receiving numerous awards and achievements along the way, including the prestigious Governor General’s Award. Her copious honours are a testament to her dedication to the preservation of Inuit art and the success of her community members, up until her unfortunate demise. Kenojuak Ashevak is indubitably one of Canada’s most prolific artists, and as such, it is more than fitting that the 60th Anniversary program recognizes her achievements with this commemorative exhibition.

In addition to its importance through its celebration of a prolific Inuit artist, the Kenojuak Ashevak: Life and Legacy exhibition is also noteworthy for its development and featured works. This project is the first ever exhibition produced in the Canadian Arctic for circulation nationally, adding to the list of incredible achievements made possible by WBEC over 60 years.

Similarly, the exhibition consists of exquisite drawings from West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative’s archives. These 31 unreleased drawings and three prints truly encapsulate Kenojuak’s infamous style, technique and skill. Her range of ability is unprecedented, as is her ability to capture the natural world 28

Pitaloosie Saila Tattoed Sun, 1988 Stonecut, 49x64cm Printer: Qavavau Manumie & Iyola Kingwatsiak (Edition of 25)

Ningiukulu Teevee Glittering Walrus, 2019 Etching, Aquatint and Hand Colouring on Arches White 78x121cm Printer: Studio PM (Edition of 50) A B O V E & B E Y O N D — C A N A D A’ S A R C T I C J O U R N A L

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Ooloosie Saila Silaksiaq (Beautiful Day), 2019 Lithograph on Arches Cover White 76.3 x 111.2 cm, Printer: Niveaksie Quvianaqtuliaq (Edition of 30)

Kenojuak Ashevak Untitled (Iqalutsiavak or Beautiful Fish), 2005 Ink, coloured pencil on paper, 51x66cm 2019 | 06

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around her. Far from linear or chronological, her work signifies the blurring of boundaries, the erosion of divisions and normativity, and a complete erasure of the dichotomy between the mundane and the magical. Kenojuak Ashevak possesses the unique ability to marry concepts from everyday life in Nunavut, with narratives of wildlife that not only redefine the map of temporality and space but also defy the very need to establish borders entirely. With images like the Ravens’ Chorus in both print and drawing featured in the exhibition, Kenojuak Ashevak: Life and Legacy candidly celebrates Ashevak’s cultural significance, as well as her contributions to the development and success of contemporary art in Canada.

Kenojuak Ashevak’s colourful legacy is carried over into present day Inuit art where community members channel her spirited talent and depictions in new and innovative ways. WBEC has also announced a special release of three incredible prints, memorializing the importance of its 60-year milestone. There is one stonecut, one lithograph and one etching featured, in recognition of the development of expertise in each of the various print forms at Kinngait Studios over the past six decades. These stunning prints commemorate 60 years of artistry, of self-taught innovation and the unique and enchanting vision of Inuit artists in Cape Dorset. Kenojuak Ashevak: Life and Legacy is a testament to the history of the WBEC; however, the 2019 special release is a tribute to the future vision of Inuit art in Canada.

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In addition to the Ashevak’s featured exhibition and the special release, the 60th Anniversary has also inspired an upcoming International exhibition entitled Living Legacies, to reinvigorate the excitement that began with the very inception of Inuit art through the WBEC in 1959. Living Legacies will be comprised of works created specifically in 2019, by various new and renown Cape Dorset artists to bring the contemporary art of Inuit people to the present art world.

Over the last 60 years, the success and reach of West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative has demonstrated that Inuit art is anything but predictable. With each new artist member, the defining features of Inuit art continue to evolve. Each individual perspective from Cape Dorset artists become a collective experience that is shared with all patrons. The life and spirit of Inuit culture is tangibly felt through each artistic creation, as viewers witness diverse perspectives and shared experiences. The success of WBEC over the last 60 years is simply an indication of the potential for all future Inuit artists.

This is truly a testament to the limitless of Inuit art and just how powerful it can be in shaping the dynamic of art in Canada.

While we look back, it is with great excitement and anticipation that we can move forward and shape an ever-growing landscape of opportunity for West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative artists and Inuit art as we have come to know it.

Sara Paladino is the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative Research Resident for 2019.

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Kenojuak Ashevak Untitled (Wisdom of the Elders), 2009 Ink, coloured pencil on paper, 51x66cm

Ningiukulu Teevee “How you spend your days is how you spend the rest of your life”, 2018 Graphite, coloured pencil (An example of artwork in the Living Legacies exhibition.)

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Dr. Alison Dugan is one of two internists who work in Iqaluit and one of Kilabuk’s mentors. © Season Osborne

A Doctor for the People Inuk Dr. Elaine Kilabuk is taking her medical skills back to the Arctic

By Season Osborne

As a little girl living in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Dr. Elaine Kilabuk knew certain days of the week were “no doctor days.” On those days, she knew no plane was coming into the community, which meant there was no way to get to a doctor.

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hen she was five, her brother was carrying her across a stream. He slipped and fell and hit his head on a rock. It bled profusely, and he needed stitches. Kilabuk’s mother, Karen Kim Tyler, remembers how upset Elaine was because it was a “no doctor day,” and told her, “I’m going to be a doctor when I grow up.”

Kilabuk doesn’t recall that as her career-defining moment, though. For her, it happened when she was 17, visiting her grandparents in Pangnirtung on eastern Baffin Island.

Her grandmother suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a serious illness that damages the lungs and makes it difficult to breathe. Getting her grandmother

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the medical care she needed was complicated. For starters, the nurse at the Pangnirtung nursing station didn’t speak Inuktitut, and her grandmother didn’t speak English.

The nearest hospital (and the only one in Nunavut) was in Iqaluit 297 kilometres — or an hour away by aircraft. The nurse called a doctor at the hospital and arranged over the phone to have her grandmother admitted. Getting her to Iqaluit depended on the arrival of the next plane. There was no air ambulance to medivac her there.

Kilabuk had lived in Florida in the U.S.. So, she was used to the southern health-care system where a seriously ill patient goes to the nearest hospital’s emergency department 33

Kilabuk worked with Dr. Gonzalo Alvarez on the study to determine the greatest social influences on tuberculosis in the Arctic. © Season Osborne

Elaine’s baptism in Pangnirtung – her mother Karen Tyler stands left of the minister and her grandfather Ipeelee Kilabuk and grandmother Nellie Kilabuk on the right. © Karen Tyler

and is seen and treated almost immediately by a doctor and other health-care professionals.

“That was definitely an eye-opening experience to say the least… and how different it was based on the location. That is the reason why I went into medicine,” said Kilabuk. She resolved to become a doctor and take her medical skills back to the Arctic.

In 2010, Kilabuk was accepted into medical school at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.

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“I wasn’t too surprised Elaine wanted to be a doctor,” said Tyler. “She, herself, recognized the injustices and would say, ‘This isn’t fair. Everything we take for granted is not available to people we care about.’ ” In her fourth year at medical school, Kilabuk did a month-long family medicine rotation in Iqaluit. At an infectious disease conference there, Kilabuk met Ottawa Hospital respirologist Dr. Gonzalo Alvarez who focuses on tuberculosis (TB) treatment and research.

She said meeting Alvarez was very serendipitous, having just been matched with The Ottawa Hospital in Ontario to do her residency. The big attraction for her was doing research in the place where she planned to practice medicine — the Arctic.

The rate of TB in Nunavut is 296 times higher than it is among non-indigenous people living in southern Canada. As part of Alvarez’s team, Kilabuk examined the various social factors that contribute to the spread of this highly contagious disease, including education and income. They put this data into a mathematical model, which showed that crowding, caused by a housing shortage in northern communities, was the single most important driver.

Kilabuk was the lead author on the study’s research paper, published in February 2019. She presented the findings at the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and at an international conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“It has been a wonderful opportunity,” said Kilabuk. “It’s good we can have an impact and determine what the highest risk factor is for TB. It was always what can we do about that? How can we make a change? That is my hope when I’m there — I can continue doing research and working with the people on how they can make the most sustainable change.”

“It’s an absolute joy to be able to work with Elaine and see her succeed,” said Alvarez. “Her Inuit roots combined with her medical training allow her to work in a special zone that can reach further than others can. Having the opportunity to work with her in research, and also to get her involved in teaching the next generation of medical students has been absolutely fantastic.”

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The Kilabuk children sit on a qamutiq: Tanya, Jason, Nathan beside their mother Karen Tyler who holds baby Elaine. © Karen Tyler

Although Kilabuk initially considered respirology, or breathing issues, she specialized in internal medicine. Internists treat adults in all aspects of medical care.

At the moment, two internists each spend one week seeing patients in Iqaluit.

People needing to see an internist outside those two weeks have to go to Ottawa. This means leaving their family and community; sometimes just for a follow-up appointment. Kilabuk wants to change that and be the first internist to work for longer periods of time in Iqaluit.

Dr. Alison Dugan is one of the internists who’s been seeing patients in Iqaluit for more than 10 years. Dugan met Kilabuk when she became a resident at The Ottawa Hospital.

“When it became clear that Elaine was going to be involved in providing care in Iqaluit in the longer term, I wanted to make sure that we collaborated to make sure she was able to develop the skills she needs to be a good doctor up there,” said Dugan.

Kilabuk is hoping to work at the Qikiqtani General Hospital in Iqaluit. She sees what a huge benefit this would be to patients in the territory. It means more continuous follow-up and the ability to build a doctor–patient relationship. Once she is stationed in Iqaluit, she hopes to travel to the various communities in Nunavut.

“It’s easier to bring the physician to the patient than the other way around. I think that would be better, more timely, and more efficient,” said Kilabuk. “I could see more people in the community, because people would come out.”

“Elaine is very good with patients,” said Dugan. “She relates very well to them. She’s a very gentle, kind person, and has a personality that patients find easy to connect with.”

Inuktitut was Kilabuk’s first language as a child, but she lost much of it living in the United States. She intends to change that when she starts her northern practice in a couple of years. Kilabuk anticipates that it will be 10 years from the time she started medical school until she finishes her training.

“It’s hard. The trajectory is very long to become a specialist,” said Alvarez. “Elaine’s one of only a couple of Inuit who have achieved it. Even though the path is hard and still has many barriers, she is living proof that it is possible. She is a fantastic role model to other young Inuit. I hope that her becoming an internal medicine specialist will inspire many other young Inuit to become doctors because we need more Inuit doctors.”

Alvarez said McGill University established a bursary in her honour. The Elaine Kilabuk Inuit and Indigenous Health Professions Student Award will help support the training of an Inuit student from Nunavut in medicine at McGill.

“It’s a long haul, but it’s definitely worth it,” said Kilabuk.

“It’s all about the reason why you’re going into it, though. It’s about the people you are working with, the patients you follow, the difference that you are making. I do like to think I’m making a difference in people’s lives.”

Dugan agrees. “Elaine’s going to be a huge asset there [in Iqaluit],” said Dugan. “l think the combination of her energy and optimism, and her relative fearlessness, are all going to serve her really well in getting an outcome for the people of the North, and for herself, that is really going to be better for all of them.”

Ultimately, with Kilabuk working in Nunavut there may be fewer “no doctor days”.

Season Osborne is the author of In the Shadow of the Pole: An Early History of Arctic Expeditions, 1871-1912. She lives and writes in Ottawa, Ontario.

Dr. Kilabuk is hoping to practice internal medicine at the Qikiqtani General Hospital in Iqaluit in the future, to provide more continuous follow-up and to build doctor–patient relationships. © Doris Ohlmann

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Natasha Kanapé-Fontaine takes in the view of the vast frozen wilderness outside Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, in the Opening Night film screening of NIN E TEPUEIAN - MON CRI. © Santiago Bertolino

North meets South at the Montreal First Peoples Festival

By Simon Van Vliet

From the Opening Night film screening to the Open Space concert at Place des Festival, the spirit of the North was front and centre at the 29th edition of Présence Autochtone, Montreal’s First Peoples Festival.

The opening film NIN E TEPUEIAN MON CRI, presented at Montreal’s Grande bibliothèque, follows the Innu poet, artist and activist Natasha Kanapé-Fontaine in her quest to retrace her origins and assert her identity as a young native woman bearing the intergenerational wounds of Canada’s colonial heritage and striving for a genuine reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples in Quebec.

“We went North and South,” said director Santiago Bertolino in an interview minutes before the world premiere of the documentary on August 6, 2019. Indeed, the movie takes us through Haiti, Slovenia and North Dakota, and leads us all the way from Kanapé-Fontaine’s home base in Montreal to Kuujjuaq, where she meets Inuit children for a workshop at the Katittavik Town Hall and Cultural Centre.

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Kuujjuaq and stopping to take in the view of the vast frozen wilderness. “It reminds me that I don’t come from nowhere,” the Innu artist said in a brief speech after the

screening. Bertolino says the scene with Kuujjuaq school children came as a natural conclusion for the film where KanapéFontaine “poses as a model for Inuit

Presence Autochtone featured Inuit throat singing as part of the Kattajjaq and Khoomi Open Space concert. © Simon Van Vliet

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Inuit throat singers Nadia Segalowitz and Lydia Etok during Katajjaq and Khoomii, a chorus event mixing traditional songs from Nunavik and Mongolia. © Simon Van Vliet

youth” inviting them, though poetry, to take back their language, revive their culture and reinvest their territory.

In the closing sequence of the movie, shot on a boat going though the melting seaice, a quote of Kanapé-Fontaine’s poetry floats superimposed over the image: “Our sons and daughters will leave the reservations elders on their backs ancestors at their ears they will walk South to retrace the North.”

Many events and venues feature Canada’s northern peoples’ arts and culture, both during Présence Autochtone and on a yearlong basis, Montreal’s First Peoples Festival founder and director André Dudemaine notes.

“We try to recreate a very ancient tradition,” he explains, standing between a stained-glass caribou and an installation representing migrating geese at the heart of the Place des festivals. Long before European settlers arrived in Canada, nations from the North and South would converge in Montreal over the summer to trade, he says. If contacts with the Inuit were scarce this far South back in pre-colonial days, Dudemaine points out that the ties are now more frequent.

The Open Space event featuring composer Katia Makdissi-Warren and the Inuit throat singers Lydia Etok and Nina 38

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Segalowitz was a striking example of these modern ties. “We’re very happy to share a part of our heritage,” Lydia Etok told a crowd made up mostly of Montrealers and tourists during the August 8, 2019 performance of Katajjaq and Khoomii, a chorus event mixing traditional songs from Nunavik and Mongolia.

“Inuit throat singing is a game,” Etok explains. It is traditionally played as a friendly competition between two women who respond to each other with sounds meant to represent the sounds of the surrounding nature and animals: the hurling winds rushing by, the crackling ice underfoot, the growling bear lurking about… and the buzzing mosquitos hovering all around!

Makdissi-Warren said she even composed a song where she’s “mixed very festive Lebanese music with the mosquitos of the Far North,” before launching into a lively song with marked oriental and northern influences.

Makdissi-Warren, Etok and Segalowitz have been working and touring together around the world in the Oktoecho ensemble where they created the katajjaq throat singing project Samianiq, winner of the 2018 Album of the year Opus Award for

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An installation of stained-glass caribou and migrating geese brought the North in sharp focus at the heart of Place des Festival. © Simon Van Vliet

world-beat and traditional Quebec music.

While Présence Autochtone features the work of indigenous artists from across the globe, from Siberia to New Zealand and from Colombia to Norway, “the North is, in the end, very present,” André Dudemain comments.

He says because the First Peoples of the Arctic have had less contact with the European culture and modern way of life until recently “traditional culture is often

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preserved and maintained” in northern communities. By bringing artists from those communities to Montreal, the First Peoples Festival hopes to build and reinforce bridges between native nations as well as with non-indigenous peoples. “It’s the spirit of the North coming down to Montreal to meet the spirit of the South,” Dudemaine says, rejoicing at the “strong and numerous ties” he sees growing year after year in Montreal.

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C U LT U R E

Ice Fishing Trip A cross-cultural affair

By Nick Newbery

Every year for 16 years, with the advice and experience of seven to eight local guides, I took my junior high class of Inuit teenagers by snowmobile across Baffin Island from Iqaluit to Kimmirut, a small town of about 440 people in Nunavut. We hunted en route, stayed there three to four days, got to know the community and ended our visit by going ice fishing with our hosts on the last afternoon, often catching well over 100 fish.

The objective overall was to make a comparative study of the two communities both before, during and after the trip, experiencing travel the Inuit way but building the experience into an English language exercise as well.

For many of the kids it was their first time away from home and their first fishing trip, an adventure that provided the chance to combine their land skills, life skills and academic studies, a cross-cultural approach which strengthened the link between the school and the community it served. We always took an elder or two, the group’s surrogate parents, thus making the trip something of a family affair.

Nick Newbery taught in several communities in Nunavut from 1976-2005.

The photos in this article are from Nick’s Arctic photo collection which can be found at www.newberyphotoarchives.ca and should be viewed from a historical perspective.

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Two of the girls fishing for cod on Soper Lake.

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C U LT U R E Top left: The class regroup at the bottom of Mt. Joy after descending into the Soper River valley.

Middle left: A cross-cultural lunch at one of the Katannilik Park cabins, consisting of hot chocolate and raw ptarmigan, after just shooting seven of them in front of the shelter.

Top right: Tommy Pallister’s successful fishing afternoon.

Bottom: ‘Trees’ 2 m tall growing in a sheltered spot in the valley amaze the students in a land usually devoid of such things.

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ARTS

From Ship to Shore Open Channels Exhibition

By Melissa Rombout and Tara Mascarenhas

In 2017, the Canadian-flagged icebreaker MV Polar Prince navigated Canada’s unique coastline, tracing a route from the Great Lakes outward to Atlantic Canada, northward through the Arctic, before turning southward along the Pacific Coast.

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The Canada C3 – Coast to Coast to Coast expedition was organized by the Students on Ice Foundation (SOI) and invited Indigenous and non-Indigenous voyagers with a wide array of interests: scientists, musicians, elders, historians, newcomers, youth, journalists, athletes, writers, entrepreneurs, educators, and community leaders.

Open Channels, the new travelling exhibition featuring the work of the participating “artists in residence,” has been launched in partnership with the Canada Council Art Bank in Ottawa, Ontario, at Âjagemô Gallery.

The title of the exhibit refers to the flow of navigable water, sailing along Canada’s

three coasts, through actual open channels via the fabled Northwest Passage. It is also a metaphor for the remarkable, floating, experimental currents intertwining those aboard ship and those on the land via the communities visited along the way.

From Nain, Newfoundland, to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, the northern coastline and the communities along the way inspired new work across a range of media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, and video.

Left: Francine Potvin Les pleurs crystalisés de la mer du Labrador Francine Potvin © SOI Foundation

Below: Véronique Tifo, Tikigaq - Qikiqtaruk - It Looks Like Caribou Triptych: Pencil crayon, felt and acrylic on paper Véronique Tifo © SOI Foundation

Francine Potvin [Leg 6: Nain, Newfoundland to Iqaluit, Nunavut] created a haunting series of collograph prints made by rolling ink over algae and other plant forms found

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along the coast. “During the journey, I heard the thousand-fold voices of the natural world and I saw the oldest mountains on earth, rivers, icebergs and the sea. We need a new sense of what it means to be human in our relationships to each other and to the interconnected world in which we live.”

work is a hybrid painting/sculpture dramatically suspended in the centre of the gallery space. The front face features the intricate white and blue shades of melting ice; the reverse view, the shocking explosion of orange and red heat anticipating a future apocalyptic time.

Known as a painter with a fluid, lyrical style, Phil Irish [Leg 7: Iqaluit, Nunavut to Qikitarjuaq Nunavut], was struck by the precarity of ice forms as climate change begins to alter the Arctic landscape. His

Paula Murray [Leg 8: Qikitarjuaq, Nunavut to Pond Inlet, Nunavut], was profoundly moved by the conversations, sometimes difficult, between Indigenous and nonIndigenous peoples during the journey.

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Rachel Rozanski Umingmaktok Large Charcoal Drawing Rachel Rozanski © SOI Foundation Editor’s Note: Umingmaktok is an abandoned settlement located in Bathurst Inlet in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut. The community was previously known as Bay Chimo and the Inuit refer to it as Umingmaktuuq.

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ARTS Left: Benjamin Kikkert No Space at Home, Blown glass Martin Lipman © SOI Foundation

Phil Irish Rise and Fall Oil on terraskin Melissa Rombout © SOI Foundation (2)

Referencing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action, she visualizes the process of listening, a central activity of the Canada C3 experience. The arrangement of fragile, smooth, bonelike porcelain forms are symbolic ear “trumpets” to help each other hear what she refers to as “the injury of experience”.

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ARTS Paula Murray Who is Speaking? Who is Listening?

Ceramic Christine Fitzgerald © SOI Foundation

Leslie Reid [Leg 9: Pond Inlet, Nunavut to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut] travelled with fellow participant Uluriak Amarualik. In her short video work, views of the shore from the ship roll past while Uluriak speaks of her experiences as a young Inuk woman in Resolute, the granddaughter of Inuit relocated to there during the High Arctic Relocation of 1953–55.

Stunning large-scale drawings by Rachel Rozanski [Leg 10: Cambridge Bay, Nunavut to Kugluktuk, Nunavut] were inspired by the dramatic rate of biological, geological and material transformations occurring in the current Anthropocene. She considers the imagination as an ecological force bearing witness to northern environments experiencing rapid change.

The complex sculpture No Space At Home

by Benjamin Kikkert [Leg 11: Kugluktuk, Nunavut to Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories], takes the form of brightly coloured minerals suspended in glacial clear and opaque forms of ice, all formed by blown glass fragments created by the artist.

“This work distills glimmers of what I saw in the moments during my visit. The Inuit see the landscape as collective experience; I feel it is time for the rest of Canada to recognize the wisdom of this perspective.”

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Véronique Tifo [Leg 12: Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories to Prince Rupert, British Columbia] created a triptych composed of poetic fragments in the form of delicate drawings: the figure of an Alaskan Iñupiat elder, an iconic plant from Qikiqtaruk [Herschel Island], emblematic of a unique and fragile ecosystem, and a young Tuktoyaktuk woman bouncing on a nalukataq (an Inuit trampoline). The evocative nature of this graceful combination was inspired by the storytelling character of qimiqrunguaq (Inuit drawings).

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This journey along the Arctic coast deeply imprinted the participating Canada C3 artists, evident in the evocative individual responses that give visual form to the effect of advancing climate change and shadows of history over contemporary life in the North.

The exhibition will be on display in Ottawa until January 26, 2020.

Melissa Rombout is the Open Channels Curator and Tara Mascarenhas is a Students on Ice staff member.

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ADVENTURE

Igloo Village.

Igloo Village: A cultural experience

By Ian Stalker

Northwest Territories tour company Tundra North Tours is inviting those who want to see the northern most fringes of mainland Canada during winter a cool form of accommodation that unfortunately won't stand the test of time.

The company, which sends people to the northwestern mainland reaches of the Northwest Territories and the Yukon’s Herschel Island — offers tourists who work their way north during winter a chance to spend one or more nights in its “Igloo Village,” a cluster of igloos that it builds outside of Inuvik when winter rolls around and which remain in place until warming spring weather melts the ice structures.

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Each of the igloos can sleep several people and two are used for cooking. Heaters and blankets help people remain warm, with inside temperatures likely to be a little above freezing. A Tundra North Tours staffer will be on hand in the village in case anyone finds things a little too chilly.

“This is exactly what our ancestors slept in,” says Noel Cockney, who's with the Inuit-owned company.

The Igloo Village is built each winter about 12 kilometres from Inuvik, reachable by the wintertime ice road that links Inuvik and Aklavik.

Inuvik has a choice of hotels with modern amenities, but Cockney says those eager to overnight in an igloo are looking for a cultural experience. “We give them the opportunity to have that connection.”

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Most who opt for an igloo stay are from the South and only spend one night in one.

Inuvik and the surrounding area see more southern tourists during summer than they do in other seasons, but Cockney says there are people wanting to visit during winter, the most “iconic” Arctic season.

“When people think about the Arctic, they think about the winter, the cold, the ice.”

Tundra North Tours' four-day Canadian Arctic Reindeer Signature Package gives winter clients a multi-pronged Northern experience after they arrive in Inuvik.

“We bring them over to the Mackenzie Delta community of Aklavik on the Ice Road, and on the way back we stop at the Igloo Village that is not a far snowmobile ride off of the Ice Road,” Cockney says.

The seasonal Ice Road is put in place after the Mackenzie River freezes over in winter and is administered like a regular territorial highway.

Cockney adds that there’s a good likelihood of viewing the Northern Lights from the Igloo Village, where what's described as a “cultural meal” is also served. “The next day we build an igloo, and then make

Cutting up whale blubber (muktuk) and dried caribou meat. © Noel Cockney (3)

our way up to Tuktoyaktuk on the new yearround highway, and have another cultural meal,” he continues. “There, either that night or the next morning we can snowmobile on the Arctic Ocean and go to the pingos (often large mounds of earth-covered ice that can rise well above the rest of the landscape in Arctic and subarctic regions).”

Igloo Village stays can be a stand-alone experience or part of Canadian Arctic Reindeer Signature package. Tundra North Tours encourages people to do the entire

package, to get the most out of their Northern travel. The trip back to Inuvik stops to enable participants to view reindeer.

And Cockney quite sensibly points out those who dream of an igloo stay have no choice but to visit the Mackenzie Delta outside of summer, with warming spring weather certain to turn each of the solid igloos Tundra North Tours builds “into a puddle.”

Here, people play Napatchuk (a dart like game).

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BOOKSHELF

Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun Portraits of Everyday Life in Eight Indigenous Communities Paul Seesequasis Penguin Books Oct 2019 In 2015, writer and journalist Paul Seesequasis found himself grappling with the devastating findings of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission report on the residential school system. He sought understanding and inspiration in the stories of his mother, herself a residential school survivor. Gradually, Paul realized that another, mostly untold history existed alongside the official one: that of how Indigenous peoples and communities had held together during even the most difficult times. He embarked on a social media project to collect archival photos capturing everyday life in First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities from the 1920s through the 1970s. As he scoured archives and libraries, Paul uncovered a trove of candid images and began to post these on social media, where they sparked an extraordinary reaction. Friends and relatives of the individuals in the photographs commented online, and through this dialogue, rich histories came to light for the first time. Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun is a collection of some of the most arresting images and stories from Paul's project.

Nitinikiau Innusi: I Keep the Land Alive Those Who Dwell Below Aviaq Johnston Illustrated by Toma Feizo Gas Inhabit Media June 2019 The thrilling follow-up to the award-winning debut novel, Those Who Run in the Sky, in Those Who Dwell Below Pitu is haunted by the vicious creatures of his recent past. Although he tries to return to normal, he knows there is more work to be done and more he must learn in his role as a shaman. Word of a starving village nearby reaches Pitu and he must go to help them appease the angry spirits. It becomes clear Pitu must travel to the bottom of the ocean to meet Nuliajuk, the vengeful sea goddess.

Tshaukuesh Elizabeth Penashue University of Manitoba Press May 2019 Labrador Innu cultural and environmental activist Tshaukuesh Elizabeth Penashue led the Innu campaign against NATO’s low-level flying and bomb testing on Innu land during the 1980s-’90, and was key respondent in a landmark legal case in which the judge held that the Innu had the “colour of right” to occupy the Canadian Forces base in Goose Bay, Labrador. Nitinikiau Innusi: I Keep the Land Alive began as a diary written in Innu-aimun, in which Penashue recorded day-to-day experiences, court appearances, and interviews with reporters. Her writing evolved into a detailed account of her own life and reflections on Innu land, culture, politics and history. The book includes numerous beautiful professional images and archival photographs.

Carrying a good selection of northern titles.

Check out the website.

We ship worldwide!

4921 - 49th Street Yellowknife, NT X1A 2N9 1-800-944-6029 / 867-920-2220

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INUIT FORUM

© Letia Obed

Our words bring us together It is a rare and special thing to witness history in the making.

That is how it felt in early September, when the ITK Board of Directors voted to adopt a unified writing system for Inuktut during a meeting of the ITK Board of Directors in Rankin Inlet. This new writing system, Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait, is a common writing system that bridges differences in existing writing systems that have historically made written communication between Inuit challenging.

Under former ITK president Mary Simon’s leadership, the 2011 National Strategy on Inuit Education emphasized the need for a unified orthography in educational resources and communication materials. Inuit have been working toward this goal ever since. I am pleased that ITK has successfully facilitated this important step forward.

The new writing system is a tool that can be used to effectively communicate in any dialect of Inuktut because it accommodates all the sounds that make each dialect unique.

Although the Inuit Cultural Institute (ICI) developed standardized roman orthography and syllabics in 1976, it fell short of being representative of all dialects. Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait builds on and improves ICI’s roman orthography by including sounds from every dialect.

For example, Inuvialuktun speakers have sounds in their dialect that are not reflected in writing systems used in Nunavut, Nunavik, and Nunatsiavut, such as ‘ff’. Even for communities that have historically used syllabics, some spoken sounds were never reflected in that writing system, such as the ‘shr’ or ‘rh’ sounds used in Natslingmiut dialect in the Kitikmeot Region.

Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait is a national writing system for Inuktut that will be used alongside the writing systems already being used regionally.

It is not intended to replace syllabics or other writing systems but rather to complement them. The significance of this is far-reaching.

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For the first time, Inuit language materials can be distributed throughout Inuit Nunangat and beyond, breaking down barriers between regions and promoting Inuktut literacy.

The orthography is easy to learn and does not require special fonts, characters, keyboards, or programs to use. It uses no special characters, allowing it to be readily used on mobile devices and computers in Canada. By making it easily accessible, Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait is solidifying the place of Inuktut for future generations of our people. Over time, this will enable Inuktut to regain its place as the working language of Inuit Nunangat, including everything from businesses and industry to our health and education systems.

While educational materials will be the first major area to benefit from Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait, the possibilities are endless. Imagine Inuktut books that were once only available in syllabics that are now accessible to all Inuit, or being able to freely communicate in Inuktut via social media or email with Inuit in all regions of Inuit Nunangat.

Just as significantly, Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait represents self-determination in action. Nearly all other writing systems were developed and introduced to Inuit by non-Inuit Christian missionaries at various times in history, leaving us with nine different writing systems that isolated us from each other.

For eight years, Inuktut language experts worked together with elders and community members to develop an orthography that didn’t favour one dialect over others, but instead united them.

ITK’s Atausiq Inuktut Titirausiq (AIT) Task Group was comprised of Inuktut language experts from each region who visited communities and extensively investigated the best way forward.

Their work was continued by the Atausiq Inuktut Titirausiq Development Team, who then began researching and developing the new orthography.

Their final recommendation, Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait, was then approved by ITK’s Board of Directors, which includes Presidents of Nunavut Tunngavik

The new orthography, Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait, is a national standard writing system for Inuktut. Inuit leadership voted to adopt it during a meeting of the ITK Board of Directors in Rankin Inlet in September. © Courtesy of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

Inc., Makivik Corporation, and the Nunatsiavut Government, as well as the Chair/CEO of Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.

This inclusivity has special significance for me as the president of the organization representing all Inuit in Canada. Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait is a tangible, physical representation of Inuit unity.

Its development represents Inuit self-determination in action.

But that work is far from finished. Now, regions will decide how they will implement Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait and we will begin determining next steps to help teach and learn the orthography.

Inuit have always been inventive and Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait is simply another example of our resourcefulness. It is a 21st Century tool that will ensure our language not only survives but thrives in our schools, homes and businesses.

Inuktut Qaliujaaqpait creates extraordinary opportunities for the future without sacrificing our past. I look forward to seeing what tomorrow brings.

Natan Obed

President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

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