Above & Beyond | Canada's Arctic Journal March/April 2011

o

Canada’s Arctic Journal

MARCH/APRIL 2011 • $ 5.95

Featured on

Arctic Diet Pioneering Journalists A Northern Restrospective

Ukkusiksalik PM40050872

HBC Trading Post

www.arcticjournal.ca

Scott Bateman / y√5 Xw5m8 President & C.E.O., First Air xzJ6√6 x7m xsM5tp7mE, {5 wsf8k5 Le président et directeur général, First Air

Pita Aatami / „b ≈bu President, Makivik Corporation & Chairman, First Air xzJ6√6, mrF4 fxS‰nzk5 x7m w4y?sb6, {5 wsf8k5 Président, Corporation Makivik et président du conseil, First Air

Recognized as one of Canada’s 50 Best The year 2011 has just begun and we are already celebrating. In February, First Air was recognized for the second time in ten years as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies. This program, sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC Commercial Banking, the National Post and Queen's School of Business, recognizes excellence in the country’s leading private organizations.

First Air is proud to have been chosen this year as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies. Our demonstration of operational strength and commitment to customer service excellence, in addition to our history of innovation, entrepreneurship and ability to adapt within a highly competitive airline sector, is what sets us apart.

This award would not be possible without the commitment and dedication of each and every member of the First Air team. Over our 65 years in business, First Air employees have and continue to set the standard for customer service excellence in the North and the airline industry in general.

The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well at First Air. This year we will introduce our two newly acquired ATR-72 combi aircraft to the Eastern and Western Arctic regions, the first of which will be introduced into service this spring. The second ATR-72 combi aircraft will be equipped with a large freight door, the only one of its kind in the world, and will enter service in the fall. This new equipment will broaden the scope of our product offering and raise the bar on customer service.

In April, First Air will host our Sivurariaqnik employment initiative in Rankin Inlet. The program targets High School students, College students and young adults, and is focused on increasing awareness of the employment opportunities available within the aviation industry and specifically First Air. We will unveil our first of several post-secondary aviation courses and youth training and development programs in cooperation with Nunavut Arctic College and 795 Iqaluit Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron. We will keep you informed of the progress through our employment website sivurariaqnik.ca.

Being recognized as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies is a privilege and an honour. This award is representative of the dedication and commitment of every member of the First Air team.

Without your support and that of all our valued customers, this recognition would not be possible. Thank you for making First Air, the Airline of the North and one of Canada’s 50 Best.

ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ 50 ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᐱᒃᑯᓇᓛᑦ

Reconnue parmi les 50 meilleures sociétés au Canada

ᐊᕐᕌᒍᖓ 2011ᐱᒋᐊᓕᑕᐃᓐᓇᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᓕᕇᖅᐳᒍᑦ.ᕕᕗᐊᕆᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ,ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᓚᐅᖅᐳᑦ ᒪᕐᕈᒋᓕᖅᑕᖓᓐᓂᑦ 10 ᐊᕐᕌᒍᑦ ᐃᓗᐊᓂ 50 ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᓇᒻᒥᓂᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᐱᒃᑯᓇᓛᖑᔪᓂᒃ ᐱᖃᑕᐅᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᐅᓇ ᐃᓕᓴᖅᓯᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖅ, ᓴᖅᑭᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑎᓗᐃᑦᑯᓐᓄᑦ, CIBC ᑮᓇᐅᔭᖃᕐᕕᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ, Nation Post ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᓂᒃ ᐅᖃᓕᒫᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑯᐃᓐ ᓇᒻᒥᓂᖃᕐᒥᕐᒧᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᖓᓄᑦ, ᐃᓕᓴᖅᓯᓂᐅᕗᖅ ᐱᒃᑯᓇᓛᖑᔪᓂᒃ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᓇᒻᒥᓂᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᑎᒥᐅᔪᓂᒃ.

L’année 2011 vient à peine de commencer et, déjà, nous avons des raisons de célébrer. En février, First Air a été reconnue, pour la deuxième fois en dix ans, parmi l’une des 50 sociétés les mieux gérées au Canada. Organisé par Deloitte, le Groupe Entreprises CIBC, le National Post et l’École des études commerciales de l’Université Queen’s, ce programme reconnaît l’excellence au sein des organismes ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᖁᕕᐊᓱᒃᐳᑦ ᓂᕈᐊᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᒫᓂ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᒥ 50 ᑲᓇᑕᒥ privés principaux du pays. ᓇᒻᒥᓂᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᐱᒃᑯᓇᓛᖑᔪᓂᒃ. ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᕗᑦ ᑎᒥᐅᓪᓗᑕ ᖃᑭᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᖅ First Air est fière d’avoir été choisie cette année comme l’une des 50 ᐊᒻᒪ ᐱᓇᓱᒐᖃᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᑎᖃᑦᑕᖅᑕᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ, ᑕᒪᓐᓇᓗ sociétés les mieux gérées au Canada. Ce qui nous distingue c’est ᐃᓚᓕᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᓄᑖᓂᒃ ᓴᖅᑭᑦᑎᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᓂᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ, ᓇᒻᒥᓂᖃᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎ- d’avoir fait preuve de force opérationnelle et d’engagement à ᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᑦᑎᓐᓄᓪᓗ ᐊᒻᒪ ᖃᑭᒪᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᑭᓴᖅᑐᖅᑎᒐᓚᐅᒐᓗᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ l’excellence du service à la clientèle, en plus de nos antécédents en ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᕐᒥᒃ,ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐊᔾᔨᒋᔭᐅᓐᖏᔾᔪᑎᒋᒐᑦᑎᒍᑦ. innovation, entreprenariat et capacité d’adaptation au sein d’un ᑖᓐᓇ ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᓂᖅ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᓚᐅᕋᔭᓐᖏᓚᕗᑦ ᐱᓇᓱᐊᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᖃᓐᖏᑉᐸᑕ ᐊᒻᒪ secteur de transport aérien hautement concurrentiel. ᐊᒃᓱᕉᑎᖃᓐᖏᑉᐸᑕ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᓕᒫᑦᑎᐊᕗᑦ. 65-ᓂᒃ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᓂᒃ ᓇᒻᒥᓂᖁ- Ce prix n’aurait pas été possible sans l’engagement et le dévouement ᑎᐅᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ, ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᖏᑦ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᐅᖃᑕᐅᕗᑦ ᖃᖓᑎ- de tous les employés de First Air. Depuis la création de l’entreprise il ᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᖅᑎᐅᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᐊᒻᒪ ᖃᖓᑕᕕᒋᖃᑦᑕᖅᑕᑦᑎᓐᓂ y a 65 ans, les employés de First Air ont établi les normes d’excellence ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑑᑉ ᓯᓚᑖᓂ. du service à la clientèle dans le Nord et dans l’industrie du transport ᓇᒻᒥᓂᖁᑎᖃᕐᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᐅᓚᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᑦ ᖃᑭᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᖅ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐆᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᖅ ᕘᔅᑦ aérien en général. ᐃᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂ. ᑕᒫᓂ ᐊᕐᕌᒎᔪᒥ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑦᑎᑲᓐᓂᕐᓂᐊᖅᐳᒍᑦ ᒪᕐᕉᖕᓂᒃ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᕆ- L’esprit d'entreprise mérite d’être souligné chez First Air. Cette année, ᕋᑖᓚᐅᖅᑕᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ATR-72­ᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓂᒃ ᐅᓯᑲᖅᑕᕈᓐᓇᖅᑑᖕᓂᒃ ᐅᖁᒪᐃᑦᑐᓂᒃ nous mettons en service deux aéronefs mixtes ATR-72 pour les régions ᑲᓇᖕᓇᕐᒥ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐅᐊᓕᓂᕐᒥ ᐊᑐᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑕᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ, ᑖᓐᓇ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᖅ ᓴᖅᑭᑕᐅ- arctiques de l’Est et de l’Ouest, dont le premier le sera au printemps. ᓂᐊᕐᓗᓂ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓄᑦ ᑕᒫᓂ ᐅᐱᕐᖓᒃᓵᒥ. ᑖᓐᓇ ᐊᐃᑉᐸᖓ ATR-72 ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖅ Le deuxième sera muni d’une grande porte-cargo, la seule de son ᐅᓯᑲᖅᑕᕈᓐᓇᖅᑐᖅ ᒪᑐᖃᕐᓂᐊᖅᐳᖅ ᐅᓯᑲᖅᑕᕐᕕᖓᓄᑦ ᐊᖏᔪᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᓂ, ᑕᒪᓐᓇ genre au monde et il entrera en service à l’automne. Ce nouveau ᐊᔾᔨᐅᓐᖏᓐᓂᕆᓗᓂᐅᒃ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᓕᒫᒥ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓂᒃ,ᐊᒻᒪ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᓐᓂᐊᖅᑐᑎᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᒫᓂ matériel servira à élargir le potentiel de prestation de nos produits et ᐅᑭᐊᒃᓵᒥ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᒃᓴᒃᑲᓐᓂᕗᑦ ᐊᖏᓪᓕᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᐊᖅᐴᒃ ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇ- à améliorer le service à la clientèle. ᐅᑎᑦᑐᓐᓇᖅᑕᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᖁᕝᕙᕐᕚᓪᓕᕈᑎᒋᒃᑲᓐᓂᕐᓂᐊᖅᐸᕗᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕈᓐᓇᕐᓂᑦ- En avril, First Air organisera l’initiative d’emploi Sivurariaqnik à Rankin ᑎᓐᓂᒃ.

Inlet. Ce programme cible les élèves du secondaire, les étudiants des ᐊᐃᐳᕆᒥ, ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᓯᕗᕋᕆᐊᖅᓂᒃᒥᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇ- collèges et les jeunes adultes. Il servira à sensibiliser davantage ce ᐅᑎᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᓴᖅᑭᑦᑎᓛᖅᐳᑦ ᑲᖏᖅᖠᓂᕐᒥ. ᑖᓐᓇ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᐅᑎ ᑐᕌᖓᓛᖅᐳᖅ public cible aux possibilités d’emploi disponibles au sein de l’industrie ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᓄᑦ,ᓯᓚᑦᑐᓴᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᓐᓇᓐᖑᕋᑖᖅᑐᓄᑦ, aéronautique et en particulier à celles de First Air. Nous dévoilerons le ᐊᒻᒪ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᑲᓐᓂᕐᓂᐅᓂᐊᖅᐳᖅ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᒃᓴᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥ premier d’une série de cours postsecondaires en aéronautique, et des ᐊᒻᒪ ᐱᓗᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂᑦ. ᓴᖅᑭᑦᑎᕚᓪᓕᕐᓂᐊᖅᐳᒍᑦ ᑕᐃᑉᓱᒪᓂ ᐃᓕᓐᓂ- programmes de formation et de perfectionnement des jeunes, en ᐊᕈᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᑐᕌᖓᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ collaboration avec le Collège de l'Arctique du Nunavut et le 795e ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᖃᕐᓗᑕ ᓄᓇᕗᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᓯᓚᑦᑐᓴᕐᕕᒃᑯᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ 795 ᐃᖃᓗᖕᓂ Escadron des cadets de l’Aviation royale du Canada à Iqaluit. Nous ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖅᑎᕋᓛᒃᓴᓄᑦ ᐅᓇᓕᒃᓴᒃᑯᓐᓂᑦ.ᑕᒪᑐᒥᖓ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᑎᑦᑏᓐᓇᕐᓂᐊᖅᐳᒍᑦ vous tiendrons au courant des progrès sur notre site Web d’emploi ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᓂᕆᔭᖓᓂᒃ ᖃᕆᓴᐅᔭᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᕕᑦᑎᒍᑦ ᑐᕌᕈ- sivurariaqnik.ca. ᑎᖓᓂ www.sivurariaqnik.ca-ᒃᑯᑦ.

C’est tout un privilège et un honneur d’avoir été reconnue parmi les ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᓯᒪᓂᕗᑦ 50ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᓇᒻᒥᓂᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᐱᒃᑯᓇᓛᖑᔪᓂᒃ ᐅᐱᒋᕙᕗᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ 50 sociétés les mieux gérées au Canada. Cette reconnaissance témoigne ᐱᓇᓱᑦᑎᐊᕈᑎᒋᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᐸᕗᑦ. ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᓯᒪᓂᕗᑦ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᓯᓯᒪᕗᖅ du dévouement et de l’engagement de tous les membres de l’équipe de ᐱᓇᓱᐊᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᖃᑭᒪᑎᑦᑎᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᑦᑕ. ᐱᓇᓱ- First Air. Cette reconnaissance n’aurait pas été possible sans votre soutien ᐊᑦᑎᐊᓚᐅᓐᖏᒃᑯᑦᓯ ᐊᒻᒪ ᖃᖓᑕᑎᖃᑦᑕᖅᑕᑦᑕ ᐱᓚᐅᓐᖏᑉᐸᑕ ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐃᓕᓴᕆ- et celui de nos clients. Nous vous remercions de faire en sorte que First Air ᔭᐅᓂᕗᑦ ᓴᖅᑭᒃᑲᔭᓚᐅᓐᖏᓚᖅ. ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᒃ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐊ ᐊᐅᓚᓂᖃᑦᑎᐊᖅᑎᒃᑲᑦᓯᐅᒃ, soit la ligne aérienne du Nord et l’une des 50 meilleures sociétés ᖃᖓᑕᕆᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐱᒃᑯᓇᓛᖑᖃᑕᐅᔪᑦ 50-ᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ au Canada. ᓇᒻᒥᓂᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ.

ᐱᒻᒪᕿᐅᑎᑦᑕᕗᑦ ᐃᑲᔪᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᓯ ᐊᒻᒪ ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᖅᑐᒍᑦ ᕘᔅᑦ ᐃᐅᒃᑯᑦ, ᖃᖓᑕᔫᖁᑎᖓᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᑕᖅᑐᒥᑦ.

We value your support and thank you for making First Air, THE AIRLINE OF THE NORTH. Nous apprécions votre soutien et vous remercions de votre appui à First Air, LA LIGNE AÉRIENNE DU NORD.

Sakku First Aviation Ltd. n4f4f5 yK9o3Xu5 t1u˙oEπ5 omt4f5.

In December 2010, First Air and Sakku Investments Corporation announced the launch of Sakku First Aviation Ltd., a joint venture airline headquartered in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut.

Sakku First Aviation Ltd., majority owned by Sakku Investments Corporation, will utilize Boeing 737, 767, ATR 42, ATR 72 and Hercules Aircraft operated by First Air to provide a range of aviation services throughout the Kivalliq region. Initially, the new company will focus on providing air transportation services to the mining and mineral exploration industries, and pursue other air transportation service opportunities in the Kivalliq region.

“Through our ownership position in Sakku First Aviation Ltd. we will have the ability to have a say on the movement of goods and people to, from and within our region.” said George Kuksuk, Chairman of Sakku Investments Corporation.

With the combination of increased air charter activity in the region and the Beneficiary travel and cargo rate agreements that have been put in place, Beneficiaries will directly realize the tangible benefits of Sakku First Aviation Ltd. First Air Chairman Pita Aatami says, “This partnership is solid evidence of the company’s strategy to provide a tangible benefit to the constituents in the markets we serve.”

In addition to providing financial benefits to Beneficiaries, Sakku First Aviation Ltd. and First Air are committed to providing training and skills development leading to meaningful employment in the airline industry. First Air’s successful Sivurariaqnik event in Iqaluit and similar upcoming event in Rankin Inlet, demonstrate their commitment to developing employment opportunities for Nunavummiut. Sakku First Aviation Ltd. will focus on providing additional jobs and development opportunities for Kivallirmiut, enabling local Inuit to live and work in their region.

Combining the market knowledge and local expertise of Sakku Investments Corporation, with the airline operating expertise that First Air has developed over their long history of Arctic operations, will position Sakku First Aviation Ltd as the dominant airline of the Kivalliq region.

ty7WE @)!), K{ wß3f5 x7ml n4f4f5 WD6nwπ5 fxXEn4fq5 net5yMs6S5 NlNw6y2lt4 n4f4f5 yK9o3Xu5 t1u˙oEπ5 omt4f5., vg0pctŒ8ixo3iq8k5 t1uhoEi6j5 g5b3Fc3ixo6Lt4 vq3Oi6u, kNK7u. n4f4f5 t1¨hoEπ5 omt4f5, N1uiccbsixo6g5 b2fx n4f4f5 WD6nwπ5 fxXEn4f5, b2fiz5 t1u˙3Jxi5 hÍJi5 737, 767, ATR 42, ATR 72 x7ml t1u˙3Jx5 xqJi5 Wdt3Jxi5 syv5b6†5 xsMbs˙aJ5 b2fkz Kx{ wß3f8k5 net5ti6j5 Wp5yCwpsJk5 bmw8k5 kNosJk5 r?9o3u. ∫7N, k∫aJ6 v7Xi wmwozix3g5 net5yic3lt4 wqCi4f5 x’/3gwpsix3lt4 Wp5yCwlt4 bm4fkz s/C8ix3F1k5 x7ml ei6gk5 s/C8ix6tsJk5, x7ml raixA5 bfQxDμ6Lt4 xyq8i5 t1¨˙4f5 Wp5yCwoD1NDti5 WÔ7unsbsJi5 bμ8i r?9os2 kNoq8i5. “b2ftÅ8N6 N1uiccbso3t5lb n4f4f5 yK9o6 t1u˙6 tuz omt4f5, scD1N3Fc3ix6gA5 bm4fkz ˚bs?9oxJk5 Wdtk5 x7ml wk1k5 bwvz5 bwfz r?9os2 wlxi. “sc6g6 Jx0 d4h4, w4y?sbE/sJ6 n4f4f5 WD6nwπ5 fxXEnfq8k5. bm4fx vtbs2lt4 xuha6X9oxisJ5 ~bQ/sJmJ5 W?9oxisJ5 bμ8i r?9o3u x7ml wMscbs0Jtø5 wqC/1i6nso6t5lQ5 x7ml Wdtk5 xrQ/sJ5 xqDtq5 xg6bso6t5lQ5. wMscbs0Jtø5 s0pDho6i6nsix6g5 W¿9oDbsJ1N3iq8k5 xg3lt4 n4f4f5 yK9o6 t1uh omt4f5. { wß3 w4y?sbz xzJçz Wb ≈bu sc6g6, “bm8N vg0pctŒ8isJ6 vJyic5yx3ix6g6 b2fkz v7XisJk5 WoEJmJk5 wvÔtc3ix6Lil bmw8k5 W¿9o6t5yic3li Wp5y3bl4∫2t8k5.” wMQx3lA net5yic3ix6Li W¿9ost4nsix6gk5 wMscbs0Jto1k5, n4f4f5 yK9o6 t1u˙ omt4f5 x7ml b2fx { wß3 Wix6ic6ymK5 wm8N wo8ix6t5yi6u5 x7ml xJD1N6nwi6j5 W?9oxt5yJmi6j5 gros3bs2li nNÏ4nc6t5yi6j5 b2fNi t1u˙oEp4f8i5. { wß3f5 WoEt5yicMs6mb suz5 bw/sJu5 yKCEx6i6 bwvi wcl1i bwmw5gZM1u5 net5yicC/6Lt4 yKi4n6u vq3Oi6u, bf4nst5ylt4 WoEix3iE/q8i5 W?oxt5yi6j5 WÔ7unsbsJi5 kNK7usk5. n4f4f5 yK9o6 t1u˙6 omt4f5 bfN3ic3ix6g5 net5yi6u5 nNÏ4ni5 wMQx6bsJi5 x7ml W?9oxi6j5 WÔ7unsti5 r?9o3usk5, wic6tbslt4 kNosJ5 wkw5 kNc6g5 x7ml WoEJ5 kNoq8i5. vtl4∫6LQ5 bm4fx isDtc34t5yi6j5 cspmiE/sJ5 x7ml wkw5 kNø5 cspmiq5 WoEJ1N3iq5 n4f4f5 WD6nwπ5 fxXEn4fq5, t1u˙oEi6j5 xsM5yi6j5 cspm5yx3mb b2fx { wß3f5 net5yymK5 xfi srs6b6gu WoEc5b3i4ƒymo6mb xsM5y2lt4, b2fx wiccbsixo6t5lQ5 n4f4f5 yK9o6 t1u˙ omt4f5 x©tc3ix6g5 bμ8i r?9o3u.

hen media speaks about “Arctic Security” or presents a story on one of the many aspects of “endangered sustainability” in the face of climate change, seldom do our minds immediately shift to the concept of “food security” and the significance of its role in ensuring a continuum of healthy social development in the far North.

But nowhere on the North American continent at least, have major changes in the traditional diets and the overall eating habits of specific population groups undergone more drastic changes than those that have occurred in Canada’s North. And, like all that undergoes change in the Arctic, the dietary evolution seems to have come about virtually overnight. Its full impact on all age groups, but especially so on the young, and what it may mean for the future, is yet to be fully determined.

To gain better understanding in precisely how these nutritional and dietary changes may be affecting the health, well being and overall “food security” of northern populations throughout the Territories, researchers from Montreal’s McGill University travelled to Nunavik, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, to engage individuals and community support groups to participate in a unique new research process called, PhotoVoice.

In this issue, Canada’s Arctic Journal, profiles some of that research in The Sustenance Evolution, our first installment, in what will be a year long “broad take view” on the meaning of sovereignty and security in the North.

W

© PIERRE DUNNIGAN

In This Issue

Devoted to excellence

W5txoi3u4 WoExc6g5 Executive & Business Suites ˆmJo1i4 gJ3u8Fø5

Renowned Licensed Dining Listed in “Where to Eat in Canada”

Free Wireless Internet, Business Services In-room Coffee & Cable TV sçMstø5\hv5g4f5 Conference Facilities vtm4Fc6g5 Complimentary Shuttle

X˛yu4 x4/6gw0Jtø5

Tel: (867) 979-4433 Fax: (867) 979-6591

stay@discoverylodge.com www.discoverylodge.com March/April 2011

IQALUIT, NUNAVUT above & beyond

7

D E D I C A T E D

T O

your SEALIFT NEEDS

in Nunavut

We serve you as a partner. We are proud of your success! wvJ3SA5 WoEctŒ4v5b. sWAh4SA5 vJy5yx3ymi5y8i4¡ vg0pc†Q8i6 Partnership nˆ/sic6g6 Built on Common Sense grc5tx3i4f5

1121, Mivvik Street, P.O. Box 697, Iqaluit, Nunavut X0A 0H0 | Tel: (867) 979-3799 | Fax:(867) 979-2535

— TOLL FREE 1(866) SEA-LIFT — www.arcticsealift.com —

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

above&beyond Publisher & Editor Tom Koelbel Advertising Doris Ohlmann (Ottawa) 613-257-4999 Circulation Patt Hunter Design Robert Hoselton, Beat Studios www.arcticjournal.ca email: info@arcticjournal.ca Toll Free: 877-2ARCTIC (227-2842) PO Box 683, Mahone Bay, NS B0J 2E0

Volume 23, No. 2

March/April 2011

39

Ukkusiksalik The HBC Arrives, 1925 The Hudson’s Bay Company’s schooner Fort Chesterfield sailed into Wager Bay in September 1925, looking for a suitable site to establish a new trading post. On the shores of a small lake above the reversing falls at the head of the inlet, they built the future trading post, beside Tasiujaq (named Ford Lake by the HBC), at the western extremity of Wager Bay, called Ukkusiksalik in Inuktitut. Much of what we know of the history of the HBC post at Ukkusiksalik has been recorded for us by Tuinnaq Kanayuk Bruce. — David F. Pelly

31

ICE FISHING FOR ARCTIC CHAR IN NUNAVIK. © PIERRE DUNNIGAN

Cover Price $5.95

Then There Were Four Pioneers in Northern Broadcasting Certainly their names, Okpik, Tobie, Sittichinli and Blondin, will not ring any bells with national media watchers, and no doubt their memory is now growing faint across the northern Territories where they pioneered aboriginal radio and television Journalism or “reporting” as we called it then. They made a valued contribution to broadcasting and aboriginal languages and its time to put some of their story and memory on the record.

— Whit Fraser

SUBSCRIPTION RATES Within Canada 6 issues $27.00 12 issues $52.00

US/Foreign 6 issues $40.00 12 issues $78.00

(Prices Include applicable taxes)

arcticjournal.ca Celebrating 23 years as the popular in-flight magazine for First Air, The Airline of the North.

Publishing 6 times per year, Above & Beyond is featured on all First Air flights. Reproduction of any or all, without written consent of the publisher is prohibited. Above & Beyond is a registered trademark.

Special 10 The Sustenance Evolution

by Tim Lougheed

52 Northern Bookshelf

18 About the North

47 Arts, Culture & Education The Ulukhaktok Arts Renewal

by Dave Brosha

28 Exotica

by Heiko Wittenborn

50 Profiles in Business Atuqtuarvik Corporation

54 Inuit Forum Our Time to Shine

by Mary Simon

53 Field Notes Life on the Edge

by Claus Vogel

PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050872 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: CIRCULATION/ABOVE&BEYOND P.O. BOX 683 MAHONE BAY, NS B0J 2E0 Email: info@arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

above & beyond

9

or centuries, European explorers seeking the Northwest Passage ate poorly, often paying the ultimate price for not knowing how to sustain themselves in the harsh environment of Canada’s North. At the same time, the indigenous people of this region ate well, having mastered the essential skills to wrest a balanced diet from this same unforgiving environment.

Today the dining tables are turned, as many Inuit find themselves facing their own set of nutritional challenges. In some cases, the difficulty stems from changes that were once welcomed, such as the replacement of dog teams with snowmobiles or traditional qajaqs with powerboats. These technological enhancements are expensive to acquire and operate, which drastically reduces the number of people who can hunt or fish.

Communities consequently find themselves supplied with far less “country food,” like caribou or seal, so rich in fats, oils, and vitamins that Inuit historically could thrive for a lifetime on a diet almost entirely lacking in fruits or vegetables.

Meanwhile, improved transportation has increased the amount of processed food shipped in from southern Canada. The most popular of these items include snacks like soft drinks, chocolate bars, or potato chips, which have introduced salt, sugar, and empty calories to a formerly healthy Arctic diet.

Researchers are beginning to assess the toll that these changes are taking on Northern residents. In 2004, for example, Santé Quebec conducted Qanuippitaa,

F

The Sustenance Evolution Using cameras to focus on Northern diet

ß7mAtQ?5bK5 xy0pX9oxJu xg6bs9lt4 x0poxD†5 ~8z5yAbst9lQ5 srs6b6gu iE?5bt8i4

ᐅ

ᑭᐅᕋᓴᔾᔪᐊᕌᓗᓐᓂᒃ, ᖃᓪᓗᓈᕐᔪᐊᓃᓐᖔᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᔫᕈᑉᒥᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓇᓱᐊᖅᑏᑦ ᑎᑭᖃᑦᑕᕆᐊᓐᖓᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓇᓱᐊᖅᑐᑎᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑑᑉ ᓱᓪᓗᐊᓗᐊᓂᒃ ᓂᕆᑦᓯᐊᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᓐᖏᑦᑐᑦ, ᐊᓪᓛᑦ ᑎᑭᐅᑎᕙᑦᑐᑎᒃ ᑐᖁ ᐊᑭᓕᐅᑕᐅᒻᒪᕆᓕᖅᑐᓂ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓐᖏᓗᐊᒧᑦ ᐊᓐᓇᓯᒪᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᒃᑮᓇᖅᑐᕐᔪᐊᕌᓗᒻᒥ ᓯᓚᒥ ᑲᓇᑕᐅᑉ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᖓᓂ. ᑕᕝᕙᓂᑦᓴᓐᓇᖅ ᓄᓇᒋᔭᖓᓂ, ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᖏᑦ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑐᑦ ᓂᕆᑦᓯᐊᑐᒻᒪᕆᐊᓘᖃᑦᑕᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ,ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖃᑦᓯᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᔪᓐᖏᓂᕆᔭᐅᔭᕆᐊᓕᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᔭᕆᐊᓕᓐᓂᒃ ᓈᖕᒪᑦᓯᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᓂᕆᔭᕆᐊᓕᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᓐᓇᓯᒪᒍᑎᖃᕈᓐᓇᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑕᒫᓐᖓᓴᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᐊᓐᓇᓯᒪᕕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖏᑦᑐᒥ ᓯᓚᒥᒃ ᓂᑲᒍᓱᓐᓂᖃᓐᖏᓯᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ. ᐅᓪᓗᒥ ᓂᕆᕖᑦ ᓵᑦ/ᑭᐳᑦ ᓵᓐᖓᔭᐅᖔᓕᖅᑐᑦ, ᐅᓄᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᖃᑦᑕᓕᕐᒪᑕ ᑲᒪᑦᓯᐊᕆᐊᖃᕐᓂᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᑎᒥᒧᑦ ᐊᑐᕐᓂᓕᓐᓂᒃ ᓂᕆᖃᑦᑕᕆᐊᖃᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᑦᓱᕈᕐᓇᑐᒻᒪᕆᐅᒐᓗᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ. ᐃᓚᖓᒍᑦ, ᐱᔭᕐᓂᖏᑦᑐᖅ ᐊᑦᓱᕈᕐᓇᖅᑐᑦ ᑕᕝᕙᓐᖔᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᕐᓂᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᑐᓐᖓᓱᑦᑎᐅᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᖅᑑᒐᓗᐊᓂᒃ, ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᓇᖏᐅᒍᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐊᐅᓪᓚᑎᓄᑦ ᕿᒧᑦᓯᓄᑦ ᖃᒧᑕᐅᔭᑦ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᔭᖏᑦ ᐃᓇᖐᒍᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐅᒥᐊᕐᓄᑦ ᐊᐅᓚᐅᑎᓕᓐᓄᑦ. ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓱᕐᕆᐅᑎᓄᑦ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᒍᑎᒃᓴᑦ ᐊᑭᑐᔫᒐᓗᐊᑦ ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕐᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᐅᓚᓪᓗᒋᑦ, ᑕᒪᐅᓇ ᐊᑦᓱᒻᒪᕆᐊᓗᒃ ᓱᒃᑯᒍᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓐᖏᓂᖅᓴᐅᓕᕐᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᓯᕙᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᓂᒃ/ᒪᖃᐃᑉᐸᑦᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᖃᓪᓕᐊᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᓂᓪᓘᓐᓃᑦ. ᓄᓇᓖᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᒻᒪᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᖃᑦᑕᓕᖅᑐᑦ ᐱᑕᖃᓗᐊᓐᖏᓂᖅᓴᐅᓕᕐᓂᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᐱᔭᑦᓴᖃᓗᐊᕋᑎᒃ “ᐃᓄᒃᓯᐅᑎᓂᒃ ᓂᕿᓂᒃ,” ᓲᕐᓗ ᑐᑦᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓇᑦᓰᑦ ᓂᕿᖏᑦ, ᐅᖅᓱᖃᑦᓯᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᑎᒥᒧᑦ ᐊᑐᕐᓂᓕᓐᓂᒃ, ᐅᖅᓱᓕᐅᒐᕐᓂᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᕙᐃᑎᒥᓐᓂᒃ ᑎᒥᒧᑦ ᓄᒃᑭᑦᓴᐅᑎᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᑐᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᔭᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ

10

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

by Tim Lougheed

ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᖏᑦ ᑎᒻ ᓛᒡᕼᐃᑦ

Š PIERRE DUNNIGAN

March/April 2011

above & beyond

11

© PIERRE DUNNIGAN (4)

a major health survey of the Nunavik region in the Northern part of the province. ArcticNet, a federally funded research network, sponsored the use of the Canadian icebreaker Amundsen to visit settlements along the coast and conduct physical examinations of their residents. Nasivvik, another federally funded Inuit health project based at Laval University and Trent University, has tailored these activities in order to make the participants not simply research subjects, but partners and leaders in the work.

Qanuippitaa, Inuktitut for “How are we,” offered a definitive portrait of issues such as drinking water quality, 12

arcticjournal.ca

ᐃᓅᔾᔪᑎᒋᓪᓗᓂᒋᑦ ᐃᓅᓯᓕᒫᒥᓂ ᓂᕿᑐᐊᕆᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐱᑕᖃᓗᐊᓐᖏᑦᓯᐊᕋᓗᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐱᕈᖅᑐᒥᓂᕐᓂᒃ ᓰᕐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᓰᕐᓇᖏᑦᑐᓂᒃ. ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᓱᑲᓐᓂᖅᓴᐅᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᔾᔪᑏᑦ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐆᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᓴᓇᕕᔾᔪᐊᑎᒍᑦ ᓂᕿᓕᐊᖑᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖅᑎᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖏᑦ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᓂᒃ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᐊᖏᓂᖅᓴᒻᒪᕆᐅᓕᕐᒥᔪᖅ. ᐱᔭᐅᓗᐊᓐᖑᐊᖃᑦᑕᖃᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓂᕆᔭᐅᕙᑦᑐᑦ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑕᒧᓗᒐᐃᑦ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᒥᒐᑦ, ᑯᑯ, ᐸᑏᑎ, ᓂᕆᔭᐅᔪᓂ ᐱᑕᖃᓗᐊᓕᖅᓱᑎᒃ ᑕᕆᐅᖅ, ᓱᑲᖅ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑎᒥᒧᑦ ᐊᑐᕐᓂᖃᓐᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᐅᖅᓱᐃᑦ ᖃᓄᐃᓐᓇᖏᑦᓯᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᓂᕆᔭᑦᓴᖃᑦᓯᐊᓚᐅᕋᓗᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑎᒥᒧᑦ ᐊᑐᕐᓂᓕᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒦᓐᖔᖅᑐᓂᒃ. ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑏᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓕᖅᑐᑦ ᐱᔭᖅᑯᖅᑐᓵᕈᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥᐅᓄᑦ.

2004-ᒥ, ᐊᔾᔨᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᓲᕐᓗ, ᓵᓐᑕᐃ ᑯᐸᐃᒃ (Santé Quebec) ᑲᒪᒋᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓᓂᒃ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᖅᐱᑕ, ᖃᐅᔨᓇᓱᐊᕐᓂᕐᔪᐊᖅ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᕐᒪᖔᑕ ᐃᓗᓯᖏᑦ ᓄᓇᕕᒻᒥᐅᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᖓᓂ ᐊᕕᑦᑐᖅᓯᒪᓂᖓᑕ. ᖃᐅᔨᓇᓱᐊᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ArcticNetᖃᕆᓴᐅᔭᒃᑯᑦ,ᒐᕙᒪᑐᖃᒃᑯᓐᓂᒃ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᖃᖅᑎᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᖃᐅᔨᓇᓱᐊᕐᓂᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ, ᐊᑭᓕᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓪᓗᓂ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᒍᓐᓇᖁᓪᓗᒍ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᓯᑯᓯᐅᑦ ᐊᒪᑦᓯᓐ ᓄᓇᓕᓐᓅᖃᑦᑕᖁᓪᓗᒍ ᓯᓈᓂᒥᐅᑕᕐᓄᑦ/ᓯᔾᔭᒥᐅᑕᕐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑕᐅᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑎᒥᖏᑦ ᓄᓇᒥᓐᓂ. ᓇᓯᕝᕕᒃ, ᒐᕙᒪᑐᖃᒃᑯᓂᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᖃᖅᑎᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓗᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕈᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᑕᕝᕙᓐᖔᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᓚᕕᐅᓪ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕕᔾᔪᐊᖓᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᕆᓐ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕕᔾᔪᐊᖓᓂᒃ, ᐋᖅᑭᒋᐊᖅᓯᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᐊᐅᓚᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕐᕕᐅᑐᐃᓐᓇᖁᓇᒋᑦ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᓪᓚᑦᑖᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᐅᓗᑎᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᔪᓂᒃ. ᖃᓄᐃᓕᖅᐱᑖ, ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑑᖅᑐᖅ ᑕᐃᒎᓯᖅ “ᖃᓄᐃᓕᖅᐱᑖ”, ᒪᓂᒪᑎᑦᓯᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᑐᑭᓕᐅᓪᓚᑦᑖᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᐅᔪᖁᑎᓅᖓᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᖢᐃᓪᓕᐅᕈᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᒥᖅ ᐃᒥᕋᑦᓴᐅᓯᐊᖅᑐᖅ, ᓱᐴᖅᑐᕐᓂᖅ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᓂᒻᒪᓰᑦ ᐊᐃᑦᑐᓪᓘᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᒋᔭᐅᓲᑦ ᖃᓂᒻᒪᓰᑦ. ᑕᕝᕙᓂ ᖃᐅᔨᓇᓱᐊᕐᓂᐅᔪᒥ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᓂᖀᑦ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᒍᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᓱᒫᓗᑕᐅᒻᒪᕆᓐᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᕕᒻᒥ, ᑖᓐᓇ ᑐᓴᕈᑎ ᑲᔪᓯᔪᓐᓇᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᐊᐱᖅᑯᓯᐊᖑᓯᒪᔪᑎᒍᑦ. ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᒻᒪᕆᐅᔪᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᒻᒪᑦ ᐱᓇᓱᐊᒃᑲᓐᓂᕈᒪᓕᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᑖᑦᓱᒥᖓ ᐱᖕᒪᕆᐊᓘᔪᒥᒃ ᑲᒪᖃᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕈᓯᖅᑎᒍᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓇᓱᐊᖅᑕᐅᔪᓄᑦ, ᑲᔪᖏᖅᓴᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥᐅᑦ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᐃᓱᒪᒋᐊᖁᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑭᓱᓂᒃ ᓂᕆᖃᑦᑕᕐᒪᖔᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓱᒻᒪᑦ.

March/April 2011

smoking, and infectious and chronic diseases. While this survey identified food insecurity as a major concern in Nunavik, this information came only through formal questionnaires. Researchers therefore wanted to pursue this crucial matter further through participatory research methods, encouraging Northern residents themselves to consider what they are now eating and why.

One of the most effective methods for encouraging this kind of participation is a technique known as photovoice. Individuals in a community are outfitted and trained with cameras, then asked to take pictures based on a key question. After several days, the group meets to share their pictures and identify the themes that make up a response to that question.

Photovoice has been employed by members of the Qaujigiartiit/Arctic Health Research Network, the first Canadian tri-territorial health research network linking Northern regions through health research centres based in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Marie-Pierre Lardeau, a researcher with McGill University’s Department of Geography, immediately appreciated the potential of photovoice to shed new light on food security in the North. With the support of ArcticNet and Nasivvik she has adopted this innovative method of teasing out the details of people’s everyday lives through a combination of candid photography and storytelling.

“The participants are no longer participants per se — they’re co-researchers,” explains Lardeau. “They’re all working with you, and they become sort of journalists within the community. They’re documenting an issue and then decide as a group what to do with this information. They’re really the owners of the information.”

ᐃᓚᖓ ᐊᑐᕐᓂᓕᒻᒪᕆᐅᔪᖅ ᐱᔾᔪᓯᕐᓂ ᑲᔪᖏᖅᓴᐃᒐᓱᐊᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓄᖓ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓱᕐᕆᐅᑕᐅᔪᖅ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᐅᔾᔪᑎᓕᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᒐᒃᑯᑦ ᓂᐱ. ᑭᒃᑯᑐᐃᓐᓇᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᓐᓂ ᑐᓂᔭᐅᕙᑦᑐᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕈᑎᓂᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕈᓯᕆᓂᕐᒥᒃ, ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕆᖃᑦᑕᖁᔭᐅᓕᖅᑐᑎᒃ ᑐᓐᖓᕕᖃᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᐱᖅᑯᑎᓪᓗᐊᑕᐅᔪᒥᒃ. ᐅᓪᓗᐃᑦ ᐊᒥᓱᒐᓚᐃᑦ ᐊᓂᒍᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ, ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑲᑎᑎᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖁᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑕᒥᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᓯᓗᑎᒃ ᑕᐃᒎᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑭᐅᔾᔪᑎᒋᔭᒥᓂᒃ ᐊᐱᖅᑯᑎᒧᑦ. ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᒐᖅᓂᐱ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᕆᔭᐅᑎᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᔪᖁᑎᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒋᐊᖅᑏᑦ/ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᐃᓗᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕐᓂᖅ, ᓯᕗᓪᓕᐹᑦᓯᐊᖅ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᐱᖓᓱᓂ−ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᖏᓐᓂ ᐊᕕᑦᑐᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂ ᐃᓗᓯ-

March/April 2011

above & beyond

13

ᖏᓐᓂ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓕᕆᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕐᓂᐅᔪᖅ ᐊᒃᑐᐊᒍᑕᐅᔪᖅ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᓕᒫᒥ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓗᓯᕐᒥᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕐᕕᐅᔪᓂ ᑖᒃᑯᓇᓂ ᔫᑳᓐ,ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᕗᑦ.ᒪᕇ−ᐱᐊᕆ ᓛᑑ,ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᕐᔪᐊᖅ ᒪᒡᒋᐅ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕕᔾᔪᐊᖓᓂ ᓄᓇᓕᕆᕕᖕᒥ,ᑕᕝᕙᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᖁᔭᓕᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐱᕕᒃᓴᖃᖅᑎᑕᐅᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᒐᑦ ᓂᐲᑦ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑦᓯᒍᑕᐅᓚᐅᕐᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᓄᑖᒥᒃ ᖃᐅᒪᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᓂᖀᑦ ᐊᑦᑕᓇᑦᑕᐃᓕᒪᓐᖏᔾᔪᑎᒃᓴᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ. ᐃᑲᔪᖅᓱᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᓂᒃ ArcticNet ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓇᔅᓯᕕᒃ ᑎᒍᓯᓯᒪᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᑖᑦᓱᒥᖓ ᓄᑖᒥᒃ ᓴᖅᑭᖅᑕᐅᓵᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᐱᔾᔪᓯᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᐅᖃᖃᑎᒌᓐᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᑐᖅᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᑕᒫᖅᓯᐅᑎᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᓕᒫᑦ ᐃᓅᓯᖏᓐᓂ ᐃᓚᖃᕐᓗᓂ ᐅᑉᐱᓇᑦᓯᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᒐᕐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᐊᓂᒃ. “ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᔪᓐᓃᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐃᒪᐃᑦᑑᖓᓕᖅᑐᓪᓕ −ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕐᓂᕐᔪᐊᒥ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑕᐅᔪᑦ,” ᐅᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᓛᑑ. “ᐃᓕᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᖃᖅᑐᐃᓐᓇᐃᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᓕᕆᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᖃᒐᓚᓕᖅᑐᑎᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᒻᒥ. ᑎᑎᕋᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᔪᑦ ᐃᓱᒫᓘᑕᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᐊᓱᐃᓛᒃ ᐃᓱᒪᓕᐅᕈᑎᒋᓕᖅᑐᒍ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᕈᑎᒋᓂᐊᕐᒪᖔᕐᒥᐅᒃ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑕᕝᕙ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖃᓪᓚᑦᑖᖅᑐᑦ ᑐᓴᕈᑎᓂᒃ.” ᐅᖃᒃᑲᓂᖅᑐᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᔪᖅ ᑐᕌᖓᑎᑕᐅᓂᖅᓴᐅᓯᒪᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᐊᖏᔫᑕᐅᓂᖅᓴᓄᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᓐᓄᑦ, ᐃᓅᓯᕆᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᕙᑖ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᐸᓪᓕᐊᓗᐊᖅᑐᓂ ᓱᒃᑲᓕᔪᒥᒃ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓗᐊᓂᓐᖏᑦᑐᓂ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᐅᑏᑦ ᓲᕐᓗ ᓂᕿᓂᒃ ᓄᐊᑦᓯᕖᑦ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᖃᔪᖅᑐᕖᑦ. 2009-ᒥᓂᒃ, ᓛᑕᐅ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᒐᑦ ᓂᕇᑦ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂ ᐃᓅᕕᒻᒥ, ᐊᕐᕕᐊᓂ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓂ, ᓄᓇᓕᓐᓂ ᑖᒃᑯᓇᓂ ᖃᓄᐃᒻᒪᖔᑕ ᓂᕿᖃᑦᓯᐊᕐᒪᖔᑕ ᖃᐅᔨᓇᓱᐊᖅᑕᐅᒍᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂ. ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓂ, ᓲᕐᓗ ᐊᔾᔨᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᑕᓪᓕᒪᑦ ᐊᕐᓇᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᖓᓱᑦ ᐊᖑᑏᑦ ᑐᓂᔭᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕈᑎᓂᒃ, ᐊᐱᖅᑯᒻᒥᒃ ᑐᓂᔭᐅᖃᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓱᒪᒃᓴᖅᓯᐅᕈᑎᖃᖁᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ: ᓇᓕᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᖃᐅᑕᒫᖅᓯᐅᑎᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᓅᓯᓐᓂ ᐊᒃᑐᐃᓂᖃᖃᑦᑕᖅᑲ ᓂᕆᖃᑦᑕᑕᕐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᓄᑎᒋ ᓂᕆᖃᑦᑕᖅᑭᑦ?ᑕᕝᕙᓐᖓᑦ ᓴᖅᑭᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᒐᑦ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᒐᑦ ᑐᑦᑐᒥᓃᑦ,ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᑕᐅᒍᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐱᔪᒪᔭᐅᓂᖅᓴᐅᕙᓐᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᒃᓯᐅᑎ ᓂᕿ. ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᐊᖑᓇᓱᑦᑏᑦ ᐱᔭᑦᓴᖃᓗᐊᕈᓐᓃᕋᐃᒻᒪᑕ, ᐊᓪᓛᑦ ᒪᓕᓲᑦ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᓂᖀᑦ. ᐊᓯᖏᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᒐᑦ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᓯᒍᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᑭᖑᕝᕕᐅᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᓂᕿᓂᒃ ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᔭᓂᒃ,ᐊᑭᑐᔪᕐᔪᐊᕌᓗᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐱᕈᖅᑐᒥᓃᑦ ᐊᑭᖏᑦ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐸᐅᕐᖔᓘᑉ ᐃᑦᑎᖓ ᐊᔪᕆᔭᐅᑦᓯᐊᖅᑐᓂ ᐃᓚᒌᓄᑦ ᐅᓄᖅᑐᓄᑦ, ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᑎᒥᒧᑦ ᐊᑐᕐᓂᖃᓐᖏᓂᖅᓴᓂᒃ ᐴᖅᑲᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐱᖔᓕᖅᑐᑎᒃ. ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐊᔪᕐᓇᖅᓯᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐱᔭᑦᓴᒫᑦ ᐊᓪᓛᑦ ᑎᑭᑕᑦᓴᐅᒍᓐᓃᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ, ᐃᓚᖏᑦ ᓵᒋᐊᖃᖃᑦᑕᓲᖑᔪᑦ ᓂᕿᓂᒃ ᓄᐊᑦᓯᕕᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᖃᔪᖅᑐᕕᓐᓄᑦ, ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᒪᓂᒪᑎᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᓇᓂ ᓱᓇᖃᓗᐊᓐᖏᒃᑲᓗᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᐊᑭᖃᕋᑎᒃ ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᑦᓯᐊᖑᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ. ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂ ᓄᓇᓂ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ, ᐊᑐᕆᐊᖃᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖅ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᐃᑲᔪᖅᑕᐅᕕᑦᓴᓕᐊᖑᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᓅᖃᑎᒌᓄᑦ ᑲᓐᖑᑦᓯᒍᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᓲᖑᔪᑦ. ᑕᐃᒪᐃᒃᑲᓗᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᐱᔾᔪᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᓱᖅᑯᐃᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᓐᖏᑦᑐᖅ, ᐊᑐᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ ᐅᓄᖅᓯᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᒻᒪᕆᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᒧᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖑᓚᐅᖅᑐᓂ ᐊᒥᓲᓗᐊᓐᖏᑦᑐᓂ. ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓂ, 7,000-ᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᓕᒻᒥ, 360-ᓃᑦᑐᑦ ᐃᓪᓗᒥᐅᖃᑎᒌᑦ ᐊᑐᓚᐅᓪᓚᒋᐊᖃᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑎᐅᖏᓐᓇᖅᑐᑦ ᓂᕿᓂᒃ ᓄᐊᑦᓯᕕᒻᒥᒃ. ᑐᑦᓯᐊᕕᒃᑯᑦ-ᐊᐅᓚᑕᐅᔪᖅ ᖃᔪᖅᑐᕐᕕᒃ,

14

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

Left and below: The PhotoVoice research project in full swing, Inuvik, NWT. ᓴᐅᒥᐊᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᑖᓂ: ᑖᓐᓇ PhotoVoice ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕐᓂᖅ ᑲᔪᓯᓯᒪᑦᑎᐊᓕᖅᑐᖅ, ᐃᓅᕕᒃᒥ, ᓄᓇᑦᑎᐊᕐᒥ.

© MARIE-PIERRE LARDEAU (2)

She adds that the work has focused on larger communities, where social and environmental conditions are changing rapidly, but where there has been very little investigation of services such as food banks or soup kitchens. Since 2009, Lardeau has taken part in photovoice projects in Inuvik, Arviat, and Iqaluit, communities where these aspects of food security can be explored.

In Iqaluit, for example, a group of five women and three men were given cameras, along with a question to consider: what aspects of your everyday life affect what you eat and how much you eat? The resulting photographs included images of caribou meat, reinforcing an ongoing preference for country food. But when hunters are in scarce supply, so too is this kind of food.

Other pictures outlined alternatives such as grocery stores, where high prices make fresh fare like orange juice inaccessible to many families, who must then settle for less nutritious packaged food.

When even these commodities are out of reach, some people turn to food banks or soup kitchens, where the offerings may be plain but they are freely available. As in other parts of Canada, the use of these institutions carries a certain social stigma. Nevertheless, for reasons that remain unclear, the number of people using them has been increasing over the past few years. In Iqaluit, which has a population of around 7,000, some 360 households have become occasional or regular users of the food bank. The church-run soup kitchen, which has been open for five years, has seen its lunchtime traffic double to almost 70 people per day.

Lardeau also draws attention to a third institution, called Tukisigiarvik, which takes a very different approach to food and community services. Looking much like a family home, this drop-in centre features a kitchen where visitors can make country food that has been supplied by local hunters. The site also has sewing machines, a shower, and laundry facilities, as well as counselling services for everything from personal problems to job hunting. Local elders also serve as advisors on traditional matters, including instruction on skills such as cleaning sealskins.

Unfortunately, Tukisigiarvik may soon be closing its doors. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation, which has provided most of the centre’s operating funds since 2004, has itself lost its funding from the federal government.

March/April 2011

above & beyond

15

© PIERRE DUNNIGAN (2)

Local organizers are hoping to overcome this loss with piecemeal support from other programs, and Lardeau hopes they succeed. She cites the inherent value of a holistic approach that sets food within a greater social and spiritual context. People may simply refuel at the food bank or the soup kitchen, but they can find a more profound form of sustenance at Tukisigiarvik.

Above all, she explains, this culturally appropriate approach makes much more sense to most Inuit, who are still coming to grips with the broad spectrum of foods that are now available to them, and the negative consequences some of those foods can have.

The results of the Iqaluit project were displayed throughout last summer at the town’s Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum, helping to foster discussions surrounding the Nunavut government’s first anti-poverty strategy.

“It became a really interesting way for community members to convey a message to policy makers using photography,” concluded Lardeau.

16

arcticjournal.ca

ᒪᑐᐃᖓᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᑕᓪᓕᒪᓂᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᓂᒃ, ᐅᓪᓗᕈᒻᒥᓴᕐᓇᒥ ᓂᕆᔭᖅᑐᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᒪᕐᕈᐃᓱᓪᓗᐊᖅᑐᒥ ᐅᓄᖅᓯᕙᓪᓕᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ 70-ᑲᓴᐅᕙᓕᖅᑐᑦ ᖃᐅᑕᒫᑦ ᓂᕆᔭᖅᑐᖅᑐᑦ. ᓛᑕᐅ ᐅᔾᔨᕆᔭᐅᑎᑦᓯᒋᐊᕐᒥᔪᖅ ᐱᖓᔪᐊᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᐸᑦᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᓲᒥᒃ, ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᑐᑭᓯᒋᐊᕐᕕᒃ, ᑖᓐᓇᓕ ᐊᔾᔨᒋᓐᖏᑕᒻᒪᕆᖓᓂᒃ ᑲᒪᖃᑦᑕᓲᖅ ᓂᕿᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᓕᓐᓄᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕋᐅᑎᓂᒃ. ᐊᖏᕐᕋᕐᔫᔮᖅᑐᓂ ᐃᓚᒌᓄᑦ, ᑖᓐᓇ ᒪᑐᐃᖓᐃᓐᓇᖅᑐᖅ ᑰᖃᕐᕕᖃᖅᑐᓂ ᐳᓛᕆᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᓄᑦᓯᐅᑎᓂᒃ ᓂᖅᑎᐅᕈᓐᓇᖅᑎᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᓐᓂ ᐊᖑᓇᓱᑦᑎᖏᓐᓃᖔᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ. ᑕᕝᕙᓂᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᒥᖅᓲᑎᖃᕐᒥᔪᖅ, ᓴᐅᕙᕐᕕᖃᖅᑐᓂ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓐᓄᕌᓂᒃ ᐅᐊᓴᕐᕕᓕᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓅᓯᓕᕆᔨᖃᖅᑐᓂ ᑕᑯᔭᖅᑐᖃᑦᑕᕈᒪᔪᓄᑦ ᑭᓱᓕᒫᓄᑦ ᐃᖕᒥᒨᖓᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᑲᐅᓐᖏᓪᓕᐅᕈᑎᓕᓐᓂᒃ ᑎᑭᑦᑐᒍ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᑦᓴᖅᑖᕋᓱᐊᕐᓂᕐᒧᑦ. ᓄᓇᓖᑦ ᐃᓐᓇᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᕝᕙᓂ ᐅᖃᐅᔾᔨᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᖃᕐᒥᔪᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐱᖅᑯᓯᖏᑎᒍᑦ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᕆᐊᓕᓐᓂᒃ, ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑕᕝᕗᖓ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᓂᖅ ᐊᔪᓐᖏᓐᓂᐅᔭᕆᐊᓕᓐᓂᒃ ᓲᕐᓗ ᕿᓯᓕᕆᓂᖅ. ᐅᒡᒍᕐᓇᕋᓗᐊᖅᐳᖅ, ᑐᑭᓯᒋᐊᕐᕕᒃ ᒪᑐᓂᐊᓕᕐᓂᖓᓂᒃ. ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᓄᑦ ᒪᒥᓴᖅᑐᓕᕆᔨᕐᔪᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᑐᓐᖓᕕᖓ, ᑐᓂᓯᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᓘᓐᓇᑲᓴᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑐᑭᓯᒋᐊᕐᕕᐅᑉ ᐊᐅᓚᔾᔪᑎᒃᓴᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᖅᑑᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ 2004-ᒥᓂᒃ, ᔭᒐᐃᓚᐅᕐᒪᑕ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᖃᖅᑎᑕᐅᒍᑎᒋᕙᑦᑕᒥᓂᒃ ᒐᕙᒪᑐᖃᒃᑯᓐᓂᒃ. ᓄᓇᓕᓐᓂ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᑦᑐᑦ ᓂᕆᐅᓐᓂᓕᐅᒐᓗᐊᑦ ᔭᒐᐃᑐᐃᓐᓇᓂᐊᓐᖏᓂᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᓂᕆᔭᑦᓴᖅᑖᖃᑦᑕᓂᐊᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᑲᔪᖅᑕᐅᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓃᖓᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᑎᒍᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓛᑕᐅ ᑲᔪᓯᑦᓯᐊᕐᓂᐊᖁᔨᒻᒥᔫᒐᓗᐊᖅ ᑖᒃᑯᓂᖓ. ᑕᑯᓐᓇᖅᑕᖓ ᑭᖑᕝᕕᖅᑕᐅᓂᐊᕐᓂᖓ ᐊᑐᕐᓂᓕᒻᒪᕆᐊᓘᔪᖅ ᐃᓘᓐᓈᒍᑦ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᐅᑦᓯᐊᕐᓗᓂ ᓂᕿᖃᑦᑎᑕᐅᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓅᖃᑎᒌᑦᓯᐊᕈᓐᓇᓂᖅᓴᐅᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᕐᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᐅᑉᐱᕐᓂᖃᕐᓂᒃᑰᖓᔪᒥᒃ. ᐃᓄᖏᑦ ᐆᒻᒪᑎᑦᓯᒋᐊᕐᓗᑎᓪᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᓂᕿᓂᒃ ᓄᐊᑦᓯᕕᖕᒥ ᐱᑕᑦᓰᒋᐊᒃᑲᓂᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᖃᔪᖅᑐᕕᒻᒥ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᓇᕝᕚᕈᓐᓇᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐱᖕᒪᕆᐅᓂᖅᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᓂᕆᔭᑦᓴᖃᖅᑎᑕᐅᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᑐᑭᓯᒋᐊᕐᕕᒻᒥ. ᐃᓛᒃ ᑕᒪᓐᓇᐅᒐᓗᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᓯᒋᐊᖅᑐᖅ, ᑖᓐᓇ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᕐᒨᖓᓂᖅᓴᐅᔪᒃᑯᑦ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᐅᓂᓕᒃ ᑐᑭᖃᑦᓯᐊᓂᖅᓴᐅᔫᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᓘᓐᓇᑲᓴᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ, ᑎᒍᓯᒐᓛᕝᕕᑦᓴᕆᖃᑦᑕᖅᑕᒥᓂᒃ ᓂᕆᔭᑦᓴᒐᓛᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᑎᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᖕᒥᓐᓄᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᓂᖀᑦ ᐊᑭᖏᑕ ᐃᓚᖏᑦ ᑎᒥᒧᑦ ᐊᑐᕐᓂᖃᓗᐊᓐᖏᒍᓐᓇᕐᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ. ᓴᖅᑭᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓂ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᐅᔪᒥ ᓴᖅᑭᐅᒪᑎᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᐅᔭᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᐅᔭᓕᒫᖅ ᓄᓇᓕᐸᐅᔭᒃᑯᑦ ᓄᓇᑦᑕ ᓱᓇᒃᑯᑖᖏᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖓᓂ, ᐃᑲᔫᑕᐅᓇᓱᐊᖅᑐᑎᒃ ᑎᒍᓯᕙᓪᓕᐊᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐋᔩᕋᕈᑕᐅᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᕗᑦ ᒐᕙᒪᒃᑯᖏᑕ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᐹᑦᓯᐊᒥ ᑳᖕᓂᖃᕆᐊᖃᓐᖏᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᑐᑭᒧᐊᒍᑎᒃᓴᓕᐅᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ. “ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᑕᑯᔪᒥᓇᑦᓯᐊᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᓄᓇᖅᑲᑎᒌᓄᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᕆᔪᒪᔭᒥᓂᒃ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖃᕈᑕᐅᓇᓱᐊᕐᓂᖓ ᐊᑐᐊᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᓄᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᒐᑦ,” ᐃᓱᓕᒍᑎᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐅᖃᖅᑐᓂ ᓛᑕᐅ.

March/April 2011

D E D I C A T E D

T O

your SEALIFT NEEDS

in Nunavik

We serve you as a partner. We are proud of your success! wvJ3SA5 WoEctŒ4v5b. sWAh4SA5 vJy5yx3ymi5y8i4¡

6565, Hébert Boulevard, Ste-Catherine, Québec J5C 1B5

|

Tel: (450) 635-0833

|

Fax: (450) 635-5126

— TOLL FREE 1(866) SEA-LIFT — www.arcticsealift.com —

Do you have a story about the North?

The 2011 Great Northern Canada Writing Contest Fiction or non-fiction prose up to 1,000 words about life in Canada’s North.

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

Mail entries to: Great Northern Canada Writing Contest, Box 1256, Yellowknife NT X1A 2N9 Deadline: Postmarked by April 30, 2011.

Sponsored by:

THE OFFICIAL AIRLINE OF THE NORTHWORDS WRITERS FESTIVAL

First Prize: $500 and publication in above&beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal.

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

(Please indicate “emerging writer” on entry.)

Winners announced at the 6th Annual NorthWords Writers Festival in Yellowknife, NWT, June 2-5, 2011

Full contest details at:

www.northwordsfestival.ca 18

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

About the North

Social Media Spreads Inuit Message Motivated by the knowledge that their homeland and critical aspects of their traditional way of life are seriously threatened by climate change, Inuit are effectively embracing visual and social media in all its forms to have their concerns about climate change heard around the world. Facebook, Twitter, U-Tube, and others, made largely relevant by the efforts of heralded Inuit filmmakers such as Zacharias Kunuk (ISUMA PRODUCTIONS) continue to produce and expand access to Inuit comment and content on the subject.

Š SHUTTERSTOCK

Avataq Cup the Talk of the Kivalliq March 2 sees the start of

this year hosted by the Rankin Inlet Senior

the 2011 First Air Avataq

Men’s Hockey League, is made possible with

Cup Hockey Tournament.

the support of major corporate and local

Hockey is serious busi-

sponsors. Ten teams from around the region

ness around the North

and as far away as Iqaluit are participating.

with not only the eyes of teams and players

Visit rankinhockey.com for schedules, stand-

fixed upon the standings and the grand prize,

ings and results.

but entire communities too. The tournament,

March/April 2011

above & beyond

19

Š PIERRE DUNNIGAN

Oil Giants Team up with Canada’s Coast Guard Like it or not, global demand for both oil and gas could make drilling in the High Arctic an economic priority. Better to gain the scientific knowledge now, than after the fact should any problems or issues arise.

Do oil and water mix? Possibly. Questions (and affront in some circles) were raised recently over media reports that oil company giants, BP and Imperial Oil, were funding High Arctic climate change research with the assistance of the Canadian Coast Guard vessel, Amundsen.

Ironic, even improper though it may have seemed to some, especially those already in vocal opposition to Arctic drilling for oil or gas, a strong case can be made that invaluable research is being conducted now, in advance of the inevitable. That being that one day, like it or not, global demand for both oil and gas could make drilling in the High Arctic an economic priority. Better to gain the scientific knowledge now, than after the fact should any problems or issues arise.

20

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

About the North

Š ADVENTURE CANADA

Arctic Cruising Joint-Venture Announced

Two well known and highly regarded Arctic

to be in full swing by the 2012 Arctic cruising

and enhanced Arctic cruise offerings and

adventure cruise companies, ADVENTURE

season. The companies, building on shared

experiences. Visit: adventurecanada.com or

CANADA and CRUISE NORTH EXPEDITIONS

capacity and their unique strengths in the

cruisenorthexpeditions.com for details on the

announced in February, their joint-venture

industry, will be able to provide their clients

2011 season of Arctic cruise opportunities.

initiative beginning this year and promising

from around the world unsurpassed service

2 Locations

Car Rental

in Yellowknife Airport • Downtown Daytime 867

873-3424

Evening

867 920-2970

Daily, Weekly & Monthly Rates Insurance Replacement Vehicles Great Weekend Rates Complimentary Customer Pick-Up

1-866 878-5557 Fax 867 920-2932 Reservations, Out Of Town & World Wide Toll Free

1 800 387-4747 March/April 2011

above & beyond

21

About the North

© BHP BILLITON

BHP Billiton’s Ekati Spirit Truly Special BHP Billiton’s, stunning 78-carat, Ekati Spirit, The Ekati Spirit diamond.

fetched a remarkable $6M USD plus purchase price at the company’s February 14th Antwerp, Belgium hybrid auction for special stones. And, the Ekati Spirit lived up to its billing as “special” indeed, bringing in (by wide margin) a new record price for a single BHP Billiton stone.

Some 70 industry customers from around the world gathered to participate for the first time in BHP Billiton’s unique new ‘Uniform Price Auction’ (open and transparent) system to bid on the amazing stone. To date, the Ekati Spirit represents the most significant gem quality diamond discovered at the Ekati Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories, since operations began in 1998.

22

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

About the North

© JOSH PEARLMAN

How Cold Was It? A late January wind drops the temperature in Arviat, Nunavut, to a bone-chilling -56C and gracefully shapes the snow around the skeletons of four tupiiq, (traditional summeruse tents) standing strong in the late afternoon light. Not suited for winter use, these structures await the summer months when, covered in canvas or caribou skins, they might offer suitable shelter from more moderate temperatures. On this particular day, few of Arviat’s estimated 2,400 residents were found

© SHUTTERSTOCK / HUNTA

outside without a good reason.

March/April 2011

above & beyond

23

© CANADIAN MUSEUM OF NATURE / MARTIN LIPMAN

About the North

© JOSH ANON / SHUTTERSTOCK

Ends of the Earth: From Polar Bears to Penquins

Produced by Sudbury Ontario’s Science North, a fabulous travelling multi-media Polar exhibition geared specifically to children is now on tour at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa.

This major installation will allow young visitors to explore the many wonders of the Arctic and Antarctic, and gain understanding of the significance of the Earth’s Polar regions within the growing conversation surrounding climate change. The exhibit, which opened January 28th this year, runs until April 10, 2011.

24

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

National Inuit Organization Celebrates 40 Years A much anticipated annual affair, Inuit Tapiriit

as it celebrates 40 years this year. It was a well

Kanatami’s “Taste of the Arctic” evening, held

attended night filled with Inuit cultural enter-

again this year at the Canadian Museum of

tainment and fabulous food wrapped in a

Civilization, carried special significance for the

genuine spirit of outreach and joy. Visit: itk.ca

organization representing the Inuit of Canada,

March/April 2011

above & beyond

25

26

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

About the North

© FIRST AIR

Qikiqtani Region Gains New Inuit Airline

Qikiqtaaluk Corporation President, Harry Flaherty (left) and First Air, President, Scott Bateman, clinch the deal in front of a map of the region.

With prospects for continued development

partners, Qikiqtaaluk Corporation, the Inuit

formed to facilitate increased employment

and growth in the vast Qikiqtani Region of

birthright development entity for the region,

and economic opportunities for the Baffin

Nunavut looking bright, a new joint venture

and Inuit-owned, First Air, The Airline of

Beneficiaries of the Nunavut Land Claims

in the North was announced February 17, by

the North. Qikiqtani First Aviation Ltd., was

Agreement.

Canada’s Leading Retailer of Inuit Arts & Crafts

“Moving Forward”

by Temela Aqpik, Kimmirut, Nunavut

northern images A Division of Arctic Co-operatives Ltd.

Yellowknife 867-873-5944

Inuvik 867-777-2786

Churchill 204-675-2681

www.northernimages.ca March/April 2011

above & beyond

27

© HEIKO WITTENBORN/ARCTIC CRUISES INC.

28

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

arctic exotica The waters off Nunavik’s spectacular Akpatok Island were smooth. Our Arctic Cruises catamaran floated gently in the still sea. It was a calm day. Perfect for shooting close-up images of the island’s amazing cliffs. So enthralling they were, that I had already forgotten about wanting to photograph polar bears.

Suddenly, Johnny Adams, our captain and President of Arctic Cruises shouted “Nanuk” and there he was, walking slowly along the beach ahead of us. Johnny carefully repositioned his catamaran to face 90 degrees to the cliffs, helping me get my shot of the day. And a bear!

March/April 2011

above & beyond

29

Nunavik... Let Us Take You There

1 (800) 361-2965 Charters 1 (800) 661-5850

547 rue Meloche, Dorval, QuĂŠbec H9P 2W2

30

arcticjournal.ca

ŠHeiko Wittenborn

Regularly scheduled flights linking the communities of Arctic Quebec and Montreal (514) 636-9445

March/April 2011

Fax: (514) 636-8916

Abe Okpik, reporting from Whaling camp station east of Tuktoyaktuk, summer 1975.

Then There Were Four © WHIT FRASER

PIONEERS IN NORTHERN BROADCASTING

T

by Whit Fraser

he regulatory approvals and other news surrounding the latest Mackenzie Valley

Pipeline proposal brings back fond memories of the best broadcasters I have ever worked with and they are not names like Mansbridge, Duffy or Halton, all excellent broadcasters and former colleagues.

Certainly their names, Okpik, Tobie, Sittichinli and Blondin, will not ring any

bells with national media watchers, and no doubt their memory is now growing faint across the northern Territories where they pioneered aboriginal radio and television Journalism or “reporting” as we called it then. They made a valued contribution to broadcasting and aboriginal languages and its time to put some of their story and memory on record.

March/April 2011

above & beyond

31

© WHIT FRASER

(L-R) Our technician, Dave Porter with Whit, Joe and Jim.

In 1974 the late Andrew Cowan, then CBC Director of Northern Service, asked me to develop a plan for CBC`s coverage of the now historical Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry. Justice Thomas Berger had just been appointed by the Government of Canada to head a Royal Commission into “the social economic and environmental impact of a pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley”.

At the time, northern broadcasting was at its best, a barebones-make it up as you go — undertaking. I was the senior reporter in a two-person newsroom in Yellowknife, responsible for covering Canada’s vast Northwest Territories. Most communities were just beginning to receive radio or television signals and basic telephone service, from the newly launched Anik satellite system.

The proposal I gave to Cowan was equally basic. The Berger Inquiry and massive oil and gas exploration and development it would examine, was unprecedented in the North and Canada.

Our coverage should match the magnitude of undertaking and it must be done in the languages of the people who would be most impacted by the pipeline.

Cowan agreed and he put his neck and reputation on the line to get the money needed to provide that coverage.

Joe Tobie at the formal Inquiry in Yellowknife. NWT.

© PATRICK SCOTT

At the time, northern broadcasting was at its best, a barebones — make it up as you go — undertaking. I was the senior reporter in a two-person newsroom in Yellowknife, responsible for covering Canada’s vast Northwest Territories. Most communities were just beginning to receive radio or television signals and basic telephone service, from the newly launched Anik satellite system.

32

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

© PATRICK SCOTT

Committing to cover the hearings every day in seven aboriginal languages: Chipewyan, Dogrib, North and South Slavey, Gwich’in, and both the western and eastern Inuktitut dialects plus English was one thing, finding the people to do it, and to get them ready in a few short weeks, was something else.

Occasionally a remote location works in your favour. We were able to fly under the radar of human resource managers and unions to recruit the people we needed. Essentially, five broadcasters committed to provide daily coverage in eight languages.

It was only possible because Louie Blondin (north and south Slavey), Joe Tobie, (Dogrib and Chipewyan) and Abe Okpik (eastern and western Inuktitut) would each cover two languages.

Jim Sittichinli came to us as a retired Gwich’in Anglican Minister from Aklavik.

Abe Okpik translating for Judge Berger in Northstar Harbour.

The producer put his foot down, “we are going do this,” then looking to me he asked, “Are your guys ready?”

In addition to producing and co-coordinating the daily broadcasts, I would provide the English coverage.

Among the four northern recruits, only Joe Tobie had radio experience, working part-time as a translator and disc jockey playing country music on Saturday afternoons.

None had ever been on television, and part of our mandate was to provide northerners with coverage on TV as well as radio. Make no mistake; our TV reporting was even more basic than radio. We called it “brown bag television” because each day one reporter would package a five-minute report, put it in a bag and ship it by air to Vancouver where it would be edited and broadcast back to the North during the Vancouver CBC evening news program. It would still be another decade before production facilities and programming were first established in Yellowknife.

On March 3, 1975, when Justice Berger launched his examination “into the future consideration of a great river Valley and its people,” four new recruits now turned reporters were about to make their mark on Northern Broadcasting.

Recognizing the magnitude of the event, the CBC sent “The National“ to Yellowknife for live opening day coverage led by its anchorman Lloyd Robertson, who had not yet moved to CTV. Unlike today, in 1975, “going live” meant recording content earlier and rolling the tape “live” via a cumbersome, often unreliable satellite connection.

Seeing the opportunity to get all of our TV feeds to Vancouver in one shot, we made arrangements to record our first five-minute TV reports, and feed them via satellite to Vancouver.

March/April 2011

above & beyond

33

© PATRICK SCOTT

For most of that morning, the crew were recording various takes from Lloyd and others for the packaged newscast. When our turn came it was 11:30, (a half hour before the union enforced lunch break), when the producer informed the camera and recoding technicians they weren’t quite finished. The response and outcry was memorable, “are you guys crazy?” meaning that recording four different “on camera hits” in a half an hour was totally unrealistic.

The producer put his foot down, “we are going do this,” then looking to me he asked, “Are your guys ready?”

First up, Joe Tobie — Hollywood handsome — streaks of silver in jet-black hair, dark eyes and a soft, rich voice was surely made for television. Joe looked into the camera and began in Dogrib. He spoke for exactly five minutes. He didn’t pause, stammer or waiver one iota.

He quietly passed the microphone to Abe Okpik, who had been the first Inuk Member of the old NWT Council before it was known as the Legislative Assembly. He had also been a government administrator, trapper, trader, and only three years earlier undertaken Project Surname.

Our broadcasting team together the last day of the Inquiry. Louie enjoys Justice Berger’s chair.

The project interviewed every Inuk family in the NWT, in order to replace the reviled E-disk number, with a family surname.

With his chest huge and a voice that came across Winston Churchill-like, he explained the purpose of the Inquiry, what to expect and the key issues for Inuit. Like Joe, he was five minutes on the button, no flaws, no retakes.

Our Slavey Broadcaster, as it turned out, wasn’t even supposed to be there. Louie Blondin was barely twenty. A dogsledding misfortune several years earlier led to severe arthritis leaving him almost paralysed from the waist down and unable to walk without crutches.

I had recruited his father John Blondin of Fort Norman for the position. After agreeing, he decided to send “the boy” instead. A few days before the inquiry began, here was this young guy in front of me on crutches saying, “My dad sent me. He thinks I can do the job better than he can.”

I asked ‘can you do it?’

“Yes!” ‘Are you sure?’

“Yes!” he said.

And somehow I knew he could.

Now Louie was propping himself up on a table, setting his crutches aside. He had never even been on radio until this week, or spoken publicly. The camera rolled, I pointed my finger and he lit up. His voice was clear, exact. His body may have been half paralysed, but his face, eyes and hands were animated television magic and he delivered exactly five minutes.

One to go: The elder, The Reverend Jim Edwards Sittichinli of Aklavik.

Thirty years at the pulpit as a Minister with the Anglican Church in northern Yukon and the Mackenzie Delta makes for a skilled communicator. His delivery and voice were captivating.

Just when I was about to flash him a promised ten seconds to go signal, he broke into English. ”I just want to say good night to my grandchildren, but I have to do it in English because they don’t speak our language. That is a shame, but it is also in part what this inquiry is about.

34

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

© WHIT FRASER

This is Jim Edward Sittichinli reporting.” Thirty-five years later, I still remember that broadcast.

Four “novice” broadcasters had just delivered perfect performances that most seasoned broadcasters could never equal, and in every corner of the conference room turned studio, people were applauding approval, including CBC National anchor Lloyd Robertson.

For the next two years, we travelled up and down the Mackenzie Valley and Western Arctic, through the Yukon, and across Canada. Sixteen-hour days were common. No one quit and no one complained and nobody missed a deadline.

Some were forced to take breaks for health, or family, or in the case of Abe, to go to Ottawa to receive his richly deserved Order of Canada for Project Surname.

What I believe stood them apart from other broadcasters was their superior knowledge of their own language, and the land and environment that was central to the key technical issues the inquiry confronted.

Above all, it was their understanding of their primary audience and the ability to impart evidence presented to the inquiry back to their communities in a manner that people there could relate to.

Louie and Jim on the Air in a community Hall.

Antoine Liske, Peter Liske and Joe Tobie in Dettah.

Committing to cover the hearings every day in seven aboriginal languages: Chipewyan, Dogrib, North and South Slavey, Gwich’in, and both the western and eastern Inuktitut dialects plus English © PATRICK SCOTT

was one thing, finding the people to do it, and to get them ready in a few short weeks, was something else.

March/April 2011

above & beyond

35

© WHIT FRASER (2)

Our broadcasting team at the CN Tower (Toronto) during Berger's southern Hearing.

(L-R) Joe, Jim, Whit, Abe and Louie with camera.

At the media desk.

(L-R) Abe, Joe, Jim and Louie at back.

Some days, our reports could be strikingly similar. More often than not, there could be four accounts of the day’s proceedings, depending what was relevant to each region.

At the beginning a lot people had cautioned me with, “Whit, you’re going to kill these guys with all this technical jargon”. Immediately, we discovered that rather than becoming confused or intimidated by technical and environmental evidence, all looked forward to comparing notes and experiences with dozens of the noted scientists.

Those friendly discussions brought immediate and enormous respect from the dozens of PhD’s who appeared as witnesses to the extent that early morning greetings were often in the vein of “Good Morning Dr. Okpik” or “How are you today, Dr. Tobie?”

The matter of burying a pipeline under Shallow Bay at the mouth of the Mackenzie River was a particularly touchy environmental issue. Nobody knew the possible adverse impacts on the Beluga that migrate to the area each summer to calve. Moreover, no one seemed to know when, or where, the calves were born. There were tense moments, and questions had been going back and forth for some time with the company, Canadian Arctic Gas, saying it spent several summers and a million dollars researching, and would continue to do so until it found the answers.

At the beginning a lot people had cautioned me with, “Whit, you’re going to kill these guys with all this technical jargon.”

Immediately, we discovered that rather than becoming confused or intimidated by technical and environmental evidence, all looked forward to comparing notes and experiences with dozens of the noted scientists.

36

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

© PATRICK SCOTT

Children watch Jim Sittichinli doing a Remote Broadcast in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories (1976).

As a testament to the quality of the work of the northern broadcasters, Berger himself often said the success of his inquiry was in part because people in the northern communities, especially the aboriginal population, understood the issues.

Justice Berger called a break. Jim looked at me, smiled and said, “I know where and when the calves are born” and he motioned to the head of the research team.

I can still see their heads together over the coffee cups and a map. Fifteen minutes later when the inquiry resumed, to his everlasting credit, Dr. Richard Webb said, “Mr. Commissioner, during the break. Mr. Sittichinli of the CBC was good enough to share his knowledge on this, and tells me the calves are born in this particular bay, pointing to a map and usually on the second of July”.

He went on to say the construction would be scheduled accordingly.

That evidence went into the record and, to my recollection, was the only “scientific fact” that was not challenged by one or all of the other participants.”

As a testament to the quality of the work of the northern broadcasters, Berger himself often said the success of his inquiry was in part because people in the northern communities, especially the aboriginal population, understood the issues.

Only a few years after the Inquiry concluded, Louie, still employed with CBC, tragically slipped on ice with his crutches and died within hours from head injuries. Joe worked only a few years more, retired and died suddenly of a heart attack.

Abe relocated back to Iqaluit where he succumbed to a lengthy illness in 1997 at the age of 68. Only Jim made it to old age before he passed away in Aklavik in the mid 1980s.

Sadly, none were alive to see, participate, or comment on the current Mackenzie Valley Pipeline debate or decisions. I won’t speculate on what they may have said but I believe their contribution, made during Berger’s Inquiry in ’76, continued to inform many of the people (then and still) living in the communities along the proposed route and beyond.

When Berger took his hearings into the settlements along the route, frequently community organizers, recognizing the extent the broadcasters knew and understood the issues, he often requested they become interpreters. It certainly wasn't in their job description, it added considerably to their workload, but they never refused.

Whit Fraser is a longtime northern journalist and freelance writer now living in Kuujjuaq, Nunavik. You can email Whit at: whitfraser@yahoo.ca.

March/April 2011

above & beyond

37

38

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

Fort Chesterfield alongside the bank at Wager Inlet, 1925. © LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA/PA-99323

UKKUSIKSALIK T H E

H B C

A R R I V E S ,

1 9 2 5

by David F. Pelly

e went to Ukkusiksalik. Toota and Jimmy Thom, Iqungajuq and Niaqukituq, and Iqungajuq’s brothers. They started building the Hudson’s Bay post. Iqungajuq’s mother went along too. My mother was Toota. My real father was Jimmy Thom. I have heard that my real father left when I was a year old. My Inuit [adopted] father was Iqungajuq.”

These reminiscent words come from the youngest member, Tuinnaq Kanayuk Bruce, of the group that arrived in Wager Bay in 1925. She was less than a year old at the time. Today, she is 86, living in Coral Harbour with her husband of 65 years, Mikitok Bruce. Much of what we know of the history of the HBC post at Ukkusiksalik has been recorded for us by Mrs. Bruce.

The Hudson’s Bay Company’s schooner Fort Chesterfield sailed into Wager Bay in September 1925, looking for a suitable site to establish a new trading post. Jimmy Thom, the HBC manager assigned to the new post, travelled with this group of Inuit from Repulse Bay to Wager Bay by smaller boat, where they met the Fort Chesterfield. On the shores of a small lake above the reversing falls at the head of the inlet, they built the future trading post, beside Tasiujaq (named Ford Lake by the HBC), at the western extremity of Wager Bay, called Ukkusiksalik in Inuktitut.

“W

March/April 2011

above & beyond

39

© DAVID F. PELLY

A view across the lake at Tasiujaq.

© LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA/PA-099327

It was a time of expansion for the HBC. Posts were already operating at Baker Lake, to the south, and at both Chesterfield Inlet and Repulse Bay along the Hudson Bay coast. The people who lived around Ukkusiksalik were certainly well aware of this access to trade goods. The new post at Tasiujaq was not principally for them, however.

The HBC had in mind to attract the people from farther inland, the country near the Back River, extending down to the river mouth in Chantrey Inlet. By coincidence, this area around the Back River’s mouth was also known by Inuit as Ukkusiksalik. And the connection between the two Ukkusiksaliks was already well established as a traditional hunting route.

When the schooner sailed a week later, leaving Jimmy Thom in charge of the new post, with the assistance of Sam Voisey as clerk, along with Iqungajuq and his brothers, the post journal records that the house was boarded up all but the roof, and the store was floored. With the incentive offered by the arrival of winter’s first snowfall that week, construction moved along quickly. As hospitable as Tasiujaq may seem today, in the autumn of 1925 it must have felt the most desolate place on Earth to the early traders.

Their story is recorded in detail in the daily entries to the post journal; the mundane routine, the good humour, the pain, and the joy are all there. The five-room, uninsulated house in which the two traders lived was 30' x 18', the nearby store slightly smaller.

Around them were the tents or iglus, depending on the season, of the few Inuit families who attached themselves to the post.

EVEN AS THE TRADERS SETTLED INTO ROUTINE OVER THAT FIRST WINTER OF 192526, MINDFUL OF THEIR ULTIMATE PURPOSE IN ESTABLISHING THE NEW POST, THEY WERE NOT LONG IN LAYING PLANS FOR A TRIP TOWARD THE BACK RIVER COUNTRY. WITH IQUNGAJUQ LEADING THE WAY, THE SMALL PARTY LOADED UP TWO SLEDS AND SET OUT OVERLAND IN EARLY FEBRUARY 1926.

40

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

© DAVID F. PELLY

Tuinnaq Kanayuk Bruce and Mikitok Bruce crossing Wager Bay on a Peterhead boat in 1996, en route to Tasiujaq. “I remember those hills,” she said as she looked across the water toward the shores of Ukkusiksalik, which she last saw in 1945.

Even as the traders settled into routine over that first winter of 1925-26, mindful of their ultimate purpose in establishing the new post, they were not long in laying plans for a trip toward the Back River country. With Iqungajuq leading the way, the small party loaded up two sleds and set out overland in early February 1926. They were gone just over a month, but eventually found some camps near the mouth of the Hayes River, just to the east of the Back River. Here, with Iqungajuq’s assistance, they announced the establishment of a new trading post just five days away.

Back at Tasiujaq, on March 16, 1926, the trader wrote in the post journal: “Sik-Sak and Keemalliauckjo arrived in p.m. Keemalliauckjo is the first of the natives from Hayes River,” adjacent to the mouth of the Back River, on the Arctic coast, 250 km to the northwest of Tasiujaq. This is the first recorded instance of Inuit from that distant heartland of undeveloped territory — as seen from the HBC perspective — traveling the long established route down to Ukkusiksalik in order to trade their fox skins.

Although, of course, Mrs. Bruce does not remember that first winter when Jimmy Thom was manager, she does remember some of the later managers and clerks. Her mother worked for many of them as cook and housekeeper. As a little girl nicknamed Tuinnaq, a derivative from the word for “looks like a doll,” she had free run of the house and store, although initially her family lived in a tent on a slight rise behind the buildings.

“I used to come through here for a bath — the white man would give me a bath,” recalled Mrs. Bruce standing in the kitchen door of the traders’ house. Much of the contents of that house were familiar to her, although she found many things had been displaced, when she visited it 70 years later in 1996.

Standing outside her childhood home, Tuinnaq Kanayuk Bruce pointed across the water to the east, to a giant boulder overlooking the bay where a young man, Amitnaq, laid the dead body of one of his dogs, a measure of respect for his late father and the dogs that had carried him and his mother to safety at Tasiujaq after his father’s death.

Just south of that, along the hillside, is another grave, where Samson Ipkarnaq buried his young wife within a year of the post’s establishment, before the couple had been together long enough to produce any children. Then Mrs. Bruce turned to look toward the north end of a ridge lying alongside the post, where a pile of large stones stood out against the horizon — her grandmother Arnnagruluk’s grave. Iqungajuq and his brothers entombed their mother there, protected from marauding animals by the huge stones.

The grave is still evident today.

She has a lot of happy memories too. Mrs. Bruce described visitors, Inuit from far away, walking into the post during the summer. She recalled people coming overland to trade fox skins. “I remember people came from Back River, those people with those wooden sunglasses that they made. I was wondering what kind of people they were, because that was the first time I saw people like that. They seemed different people.

Their dialect was different from ours. How they dressed was different from us.”

Growing up at Tasiujaq was a happy experience for her. “When we were children, we would fish for those small ugly fish that come out from under the rocks. We used to look for sik-siks [ground squirrels] and pick berries. We never used to be bored, even though there weren’t that many people living in the area.” And some special events stick in her mind. “I remember when they used to have square dances. Tommy Taqaugaq was really good at the accordion. Even though he had an injured arm, he was really good at playing accordion.” She recalls one Christmas when, for some reason, her family was not at the post but was camped at Tinittuqtuq out in the main body of the inlet. But the post manager did not forget her — “I remember when it was Christmas, the Bay manager sent me a little doll and candies with the doll.” Nevertheless, she often wishes she knew more of what happened during those years at Tasiujaq. It was all recorded, she remembers, in a diary kept by her father Iqungajuq, but that diary has been lost.

Life at the post beside Tasiujaq consisted mainly of the fox trade for the next few years. A new manager and clerk arrived almost every summer on the annual supply ship and the expanding family of Iqungajuq became an ever more permanent fixture.

By the early 1930s, that family consisted of Iqungajuq, his two wives Niaqukituq and Toota, and all the children: two girls Avaqsaq and Tuinnaq, and three boys Napayok, Tatty and Tattuinee.

March/April 2011

above & beyond

41

The post journals are a telling mix of comments on engines, the first airplanes, and the introduction of short-wave radios, with observations on fish, caribou and seals caught, the weather, and the local people. Almost without knowing, the journal-keepers left us a vivid picture of their life and a record of historic detail that increases its impact with the passing of time.

December 3rd, 1928: Slightly overcast — no wind. Samson off to traps in a.m.

Sicsak in with some fish. Men hauling water and feeding dogs. At office work.

November 4th, 1929: Visibility very poor today — cold northwest wind changing to north towards evening. J. Spence [clerk] with natives Dick & Sutoni left this morning to set some traps up by Kauminalook. Self employed compiling records from Outfit 256 and making out last month’s forms. Lamps have to be lighted at four o’clock. The last few days are really the first winter days we have had, frost showing on windows and doors and generally feeling wintry, especially when one wakes up in the morning.

© LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA/PA-099324

January 13th, 1931: Keeluk has now had a young wife bestowed upon him, she is Samson’s wife’s eldest girl and needless to say Keeluk is all tickled up the back — and elsewhere, I suppose.

© DAVID F. PELLY

December 25th, 1929: Dull and overcast, calm, snowing a little. Had all the natives in tonight, gave them a feed and presents, after which they enjoyed themselves dancing for the rest of the evening. The music was supplied by native Tommy on a five dollar accordion. Everyone enjoyed themselves. Ipooyauak and Enukshuk, being Back’s River natives and as Dick would say “First time see’em Christmas” were greatly amused and no doubt it made an effect upon them.

LIFE AT THE POST BESIDE TASIUJAQ CONSISTED MAINLY OF THE FOX TRADE FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS. A NEW MANAGER AND CLERK ARRIVED ALMOST EVERY SUMMER ON THE ANNUAL SUPPLY SHIP AND THE EXPANDING FAMILY OF IQUNGAJUQ BECAME AN EVER MORE PERMANENT FIXTURE.

42

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

As 1932 passes, the journal notes that the local Inuit have been without food much of the time, and that only one, Samson Ipkarnaq, has come into the post to trade. Foxes are scarce. Spirits are low.

January 4th, 1933: Natives Deaf Johnny, Angatingweak, Sutoxi, & Nowya arrived at post this evening and they all were in a sorry plight with frost-bite, hunger & tiredness. The majority of their dogs had died on them through lack of food and they had but seven dogs amongst them when they arrived here. None of these natives had any [fox] fur [to trade].

January 7th, 1933: Gave the natives a dance tonight to cheer them up, as they all seem very downhearted & miserable owing to the scarcity of fur.

March 27th, 1933: Still no signs of any natives arriving, so I guess they are getting very little fur.

Top left: Tuinnaq Kanayuk Bruce standing in the doorway of the old warehouse and store at the HBC post, Tasiujaq. "I used to live here with all my family. Now I'm the only one here representing that whole family. I felt fine until I walked up to the place where we used to have our tent — the whole family, they were all there — and I couldn't hold my tears back. This place is no longer in the same condition as when we were here, but at least I am able to see it again, as none of them are."

April 4th, 1933: It is time some natives were showing up to trade. They must be getting very little fur, if such is the case the longer they stay away the better.

April 9th, 1933: Native Tommy & wife arrived in A.M. He had 1 fox. Wager Inlet this year is beyond the pale. It is enough to make any self-respecting trader feel like a rest cure patient at a Health Spa.

Below: Tuinnaq Kanayuk Bruce and Mikitok Bruce (foreground) with their extended family gathered beside the old trading post at Tasiujaq, 1996. It was during this week in 1996 that Mrs. Bruce's memories of life at the old HBC post were recorded.

May 31st, 1933: This brings to a close Outfit 263, one of the poorest fur years since this post was established, and it is with absolutely no regrets from either member of staff that we write ‘finis’ to this most disastrous outfit.

© DAVID F. PELLY

Bottom left: Hudson’s Bay Co. establishing in Wager Inlet, 1925.

May 10th, 1933: Natives Arngnawa & Nowya with wives and family arrived at post tonight 12 P.M. They bring in the same story, which we have been hearing all winter – absolutely no fur in the country.

March/April 2011

above & beyond

43

This “disastrous outfit” produced only $1,216.22 profit, barely half of the previous year’s profit. It is not surprising then, that the decision was made by HBC superiors to withdraw the staff from Wager Inlet. What is surprising is that no record of that decision has survived in the journal. The last complete entry is on Saturday, August 26th, 1933.

The next day’s entry seems to have been interrupted in midstream, after only the usual opening line about the weather. Did the summer supply ship come into view just as the manager, W.A. Heslop, was catching up his journal? Did he run out to meet it, only to learn that he was being transferred? The ship’s log of the Fort Severn notes her arrival in Tasiujaq at the Wager Bay Post at 11:56 am on the 28th, whereupon she “commenced loading Wager supplies” which process finished on the 30th in time for the ship to sail at 12:45 pm, with the manager and his journal embarked.

Mrs. Bruce recalls the day clearly. “When my family and I were at Qamanaluk fishing, some people came to us and asked Iqungajuq if he could take over. That ship came to Tasiujaq and those people came to us in their little boat. He really didn’t want to take over, but they told him as long as you write down everything that is sold — they persuaded him. Iqungajuq didn’t want to take over because he didn’t know what to do.”

All of the above excerpts from the Post Journals are from the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives B492 a/1 to a/10.

*** Long-time contributor David Pelly (www.davidpelly.com) wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Tuinnaq Kanayuk Bruce, as well as her daughters Manitok and Leonie, in the gathering of material for this story.

© LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA/ PA-099326

Iqungajuq did take charge, with remarkable success. The story of the HBC post at Tasiujaq, after the withdrawal of the qallunaat traders, will continue in the next issue of above&beyond.

MRS. BRUCE RECALLS THE DAY CLEARLY. “WHEN MY FAMILY AND I WERE AT QAMANALUK FISHING, SOME PEOPLE CAME TO US AND ASKED IQUNGAJUQ IF HE COULD TAKE OVER. THAT SHIP CAME TO TASIUJAQ AND THOSE PEOPLE CAME TO US IN THEIR LITTLE BOAT. HE REALLY DIDN’T WANT TO TAKE OVER, BUT THEY TOLD HIM AS LONG AS YOU WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING THAT IS SOLD....

44

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

Follow your nose downstairs for coffee and so much more

Lower Level YK Centre #3 - 4802 50 Ave Yellowknife

867-873-8782

March/April 2011

above & beyond

45

Come check out the newest Inuit Art Gallery!

Located at Tumiit Plaza, Carvings Nunavut has a spacious and elegant atmosphere.

Open Monday-Saturday from 10AM-6PM, evenings and weekends by appointment by calling 867-222-1949

Building 626, Tumiit Plaza, Iqaluit, Nunavut carvingsnunavut@gmail.com

www.nunavutcarvings.com

46

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

A R T S , C U LT U R E & E D U C AT I O N

Visitors entering the Centre are greeted by a vibrant display of artists’ works.

The Ulukhaktok Arts Renewal fter decades of successful operation, the much-heralded arts component of the Holman Eskimo Co-operative, known for decades in the art world for its strong drawing and printmaking tradition, had all but faded away into near obscurity. The loss to the community of this main cultural hub was deeply felt. And so it was that respected Yellowknife-based arts consultant, Lynn Feasey, was tasked in 2006 to fly to the hamlet, officially renamed Ulukhaktok, that same year, to look into the possibility of reopening a new local venue for the arts — the Ulukhaktok Arts Centre.

“The print shop had been closed for six years; I was asked to facilitate some development workshops. The week I spent with the artists was full of ‘milestones’ that were as simple as turning on the lights for the first time in six years… and running the lithography press. We applauded each little task with

© DAVE BROSHA (2)

A

March/April 2011

above & beyond

47

A R T S , C U LT U R E & E D U C AT I O N

© DAVE BROSHA (4)

Printmaker, Peter Palvik, prepares the Centre’s press for a run.

(L-R) Pawan Chugh, Chief Executive Officer, NWT Business Development and Investment Corporation; Darrell Beaulieu, Chairperson, Business Development and Investment Corporation; Bob McLeod, Minister of Industry Tourism and Investment and Eugene Rees, Regional Economic Development Officer, Industry Tourism and Investment, examine one of Peter’s prints.

48

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

reverence and excitement, and I watched as the lights turned on inside the artists.”

It was a five year journey from that point, but in January 2011, a small group of NWT MLAs, dignitaries, and representatives from the Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation (BDIC) — which oversaw the work needed to unlock the doors once again — arrived in the community to celebrate a momentous occasion: the official re-launching of the Centre, much to the artists’ and community’s collective joy.

Mohammad Zidoune, the BDIC General Manager of the Centre since January 2010, explains that the significance to the community is strong. “With a population of less than 500 people, Ulukhaktok is similar to small traditional communities in the territories with

A R T S , C U LT U R E & E D U C AT I O N

Ulukhaktok artist, Susie Malgokak, thoroughly at home at the new Arts Centre.

hunting, trapping and fishing as the major sources of income. I am confident that with facilities of printmaking, carving (musk-ox horn, caribou antler and soap stone) and Qiviut knitting inside the Ulukhaktok Arts Centre, these activities will be the primary source of income. This is an important initiative towards economic development of the community that size. We also hope to make it a tourist attraction.”

The artists themselves, who displayed their work proudly to their visitors, echo this thought.

For printmaker, Peter Palvik, the journey was long but rewarding. “We’ve been working 10 years to make this happen. It’s not only great for (our) income, but we hope that it will also allow the younger generation to develop as artists.” Printmaker Julia Ekpakohak, agrees.

“I’m very happy about it. We have far too many old buildings that need to be renewed — I’m honoured to be part of this reopening”.

The vibrant red-sided Arts and Crafts Centre, situated near the centre of the community, not only showcases Ulukhaktok’s strong printmaking tradition (the late Inuk artist, Helen Kalvak — recipient of the Order of Canada for her body of work, which has been showcased around the world — was from Ulukhaktok), but also other art and craft disciplines such as carving and knitting. Each has its own area within the Centre and visitors are free to watch the artists as they work in their respective specialty.

Many in the community shared in the spirit of the day, as did the guests, who both enjoyed a feast in the Helen Kalvak Elihakvik School before being treated to a demonstration from traditional drum dancers, who eventually convinced the guests — including Bob McLeod, MLA Yellowknife South — to dance with them.

With this spirit of happiness and rejuvenation, the day, and the official reopening, ended. As Centre artist Susie Malgokak mused, “This is so exciting. It’s hard to explain, but I feel like I’ve now found something that was lost… inside.”

Dave Brosha (davebrosha.com) Julia Ekpakohak proudly displays her prints for opening day visitors.

March/April 2011

above & beyond

49

ADVERTORIAL

PROFILES IN BUSINESS

© MIKE GARCELON

Investing in Nunavut hen Inuit businesses need a partner to help them grow their businesses, they turn to Atuqtuarvik Corporation. This Rankin Inlet-based financial institution invests in Nunavut’s Inuit-owned businesses by providing loans or by making direct equity investments. To run a business in Nunavut is different than anywhere else. There are many unique challenges. Atuqtuarvik Corporation, as an Inuit-owned company, was established in the North and therefore knows the business environment of the North.

The corporation’s mandate is to deliver returns by investing in Nunavut businesses.

“There aren’t a lot of financing opportunities for big ideas in Nunavut. Our land is big and therefore our ideas need to be big too.

Atuqtuarvik Corporation will be there for those businesses and together we can achieve mutual success,” states Sakiasie Sowdlooapik, Chair of the corporation’s board of directors. “We are doing business with Nunavut. We do this by investing directly into Inuit-owned companies.”

Now 10 years old, the corporation is at a milestone in its evolution. The direction it goes from here will continue to respect the foundation that the corporation has built as well as Nunavut’s traditions and culture. At the same time, Atuqtuarvik Corporation will build and enhance its partnerships with Nunavut businesses and grow its strategic partnerships with other financial institutions such as the First Nations Bank of Canada. When asked what will be most important for the next 10 years, Ken Toner, President and CEO of Atuqtuarvik Corporation said, “Nunavut is at a turning point. When one looks around at all the development and activity you realize our economy is going to take off. If we want to remain relevant to Nunavut businesses, we need to forge active strategic partnerships.”

Atuqtuarvik Corporation has grown to be an important financial partner in Nunavut. It invests in all industry sectors throughout the territory. Not only does the corporation offer financing to viable Inuit businesses, but it

50

March/April 2011

W

arcticjournal.ca

assists these businesses in their paths toward success. The corporation now manages gross assets of over $72 million including a 17.66 per cent ownership in the First Nations Bank of Canada. This investment into First Nations Bank demonstrates the type of strategic activities the corporation will focus on in the years to come. With a First Nations Bank branch now open in Iqaluit and plans to open satellite agencies, First Nations Bank will provide Nunavummiut with more access to financial services and products.

Atuqtuarvik Corporation believes in the success of Inuit businesses and the contribution they make to a healthy and vibrant Nunavut economy. Going forward, the corporation plans to continue to fulfill its role as a premier financial institution and investor in Nunavut.

For more information, visit www.atuqtuarvik.com or email thinkbig@atuqtuarvik.com.

ADVERTORIAL

PROFILES IN BUSINESS

An Enterprising Success Story Leslie and Tia credit Atuqtuarvik Corporation with supporting their business at key times of expansion. “We couldn’t have achieved anything without them,” says Tia. “They recognized our potential and really backed us up. Atuqtuarvik Corporation plays a valuable role in the Nunavut economy,” says Tia. By supporting Inuit-owned business startups the Corporation allows the Nunavut economy to be representative of its people. n 2001, Leslie and Tia Nukiwuak were outfitting and selling carvings out of the back room of their house in Qikiqtarjuaq. They had recently landed a contract selling fuel to the community and needed a large space.

Hearing on local radio about a new financial corporation that was lending money to Inuitowned businesses, they brought their company, Leelie Enterprises, to Atuqtuarvik Corporation.

After providing a business plan and meeting with representatives, their loan was approved.

Leslie and Tia got the critical financing to be able to create a storefront and expand their business. A few years later, their services included accommodations for visitors and outfitting clients for sightseeing, wildlife viewing and eco-tours. They had a chance to expand the accommodations side of their business by buying a bed and breakfast in Iqaluit.

Leslie and Tia had such a positive experience working with Atuqtuarvik Corporation they returned for help financing this new venture as well. It was approved and they were able to purchase and expand Leelie Lodgings.

Both companies have thrived throughout the decade. A few years ago, Leslie and Tia wanted to improve the accommodations for visitors in Qikiqtarjuaq and returned to Atuqtuarvik Corporation to expand yet again.

With the corporation’s help they were able to purchase top-of-the-line AirStream units for

I

visitors. Leelie Enterprises has developed into a solid retail, lodging and outfitting business in the Qikiqtarjuaq region. The company supplements those operations with exporting, fuel delivery, consulting and rental services, as well as passenger services and baggage handling within the community.

Leslie and Tia credit Atuqtuarvik Corporation with supporting their business at key times of expansion. “We couldn’t have achieved anything without them,” says Tia. “They recognized our potential and really backed us up. Atuqtuarvik Corporation plays a valuable role in the Nunavut economy,” says Tia. By supporting Inuit-owned business startups the Corporation allows the Nunavut economy to be representative of its

people. “Their knowledge of the area and having seen the development here from the beginning is a big asset,” she says. “They’re more approachable, have incredible insight and understanding of the ins and outs of business here, and we’re treated like real people rather than just a loan number.”

By acting as a partner that is familiar with Nunavut, its business environment and its people, Atuqtuarvik Corporation really helps businesses succeed more than a hands-off bank or other institution, she says. “It’s just really nice to know that Atuqtuarvik Corporation is there.”

AVERY COOPER FINANCIAL CORP

March/April 2011

above & beyond

51

NORTHERN BOOKSHELF

Great reads for all ages Arctic Eden: Journeys through the Changing High Arctic Jerry Kobalenko, Greystone Books and the David Suzuki Foundation, 2010 Explorer, writer and photographer Jerry Kobalenko shares his love and unique take on the High Arctic in his book, Arctic Eden: Journeys through the Changing High Arctic. He describes a series of adventures he has taken over the past 20 years around Canada’s High Arctic by foot, skis, qajaq, and ship that provides a multifaceted view of this most breathtaking part of the Arctic. The book explores the ice caps and glaciers of Ellesmere Island, introduces Axel Heiberg’s fossil forest of cypress trees and its population of endangered Peary caribou, the landscapes of Devon Island to Alexandra Fiord, and captures wildlife such as walrus, musk oxen, Arctic wolves, Arctic hares and polar bears. His description of the history and natural surroundings, including climate change, compliments the stunning images. Despite -40°C temperatures, Kobalenko’s curiosity and passion for his subject matter shines through in this intimate photographic journey.

Glaciers, Bears and Totems: Sailing in Search of the Real Southeast Alaska Elsie Hulsizer, Harbour Publishing, 2010

Nicole Gombay, Purich Publishing Ltd., 2010

Marine writer Elsie Hulsizer and her husband set out sailing, writing and photographing the towering fjords, immaculate glaciers, throwback fishing villages and overexposed tourist traps of Alaska in search of the authentic spirit of the North. They watch bears feed in green marshes, smell the fresh cedar of newly carved totem poles, watch spouting whales and laughing loons, and follow the path of gold prospectors on the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad. Hulsizer finds the real Alaska in the wild beauty of the ocean, the small coastal villages and even at tourists’ hangouts. Glaciers, Bears and Totems is about adventure travel and the success of discovering a vibrant cultural life hidden amongst the cabins, canneries, villages and history of the surviving towns.

52

arcticjournal.ca

Making a Living: Place, Food, and Economy in an Inuit Community

March/April 2011

In Making a Living: Place, Food, and Economy in an Inuit Community, author Nicole Gombay documents the experiences of an Inuit community as it strives to retain the values rooted in life on the land while adjusting to the realities of life in settlements. Gombay shows that the Inuit’s practice of harvesting and consuming country foods from the local environment is not only an act of self-reliance but is also a cultural convention. Obtaining food for the Inuit involves the active participation of community members in its harvesting, distributing, and sharing so that ideally no one goes without. Gombay spent several months in Purvirnituq, northern Quebec, doing research leading to this book. The challenge for these northern inhabitants, as well as those from many other indigenous communities, is to find a balance between living in a modern society where the commoditization of country foods puts a price on the harvest rather than maintaining the culture of community Inuit have known and valued for centuries.

FIELD NOTES

Life on the Edge Where the ice meets the open sea ravelling by snowmobile and qamutiq you and your guide venture out onto the sea ice off the coast of Baffin Island for a day’s outing.

Four hours and 30 kilometres later you reach what seems to be the edge of the world — a seemingly barren world where the thick sea ice meets the dark open waters of Baffin Bay. Within seconds the ice fog lifts to reveal a habitat teeming with life. Thousands of eider and long-tailed ducks dive for food while the magical chorus of bowhead whales pierce through the stillness of this incredible environment. Fresh tracks from a wandering polar bear and her cub meander close by, sending tingles running along your spine. You are at the Arctic floe edge.

The floe edge is a dynamic environment where the actions of the wind, tides, currents and global temperatures constantly shape and reshape its boundaries each winter and spring.

In the past the edge of the ice appeared fifty or so kilometres off shore while more recently it seems to form closer and closer to land.

Regardless of its position, the floe edge is a crucial place where local hunters gather to socialize and share bannock, tea and fresh meat while patiently waiting for seal, walrus or whales to surface. It also forms an important

© CLAUS VOGEL (2)

T

habitat for countless of marine organisms who depend on the open waters and ice for their survival.

These organisms congregate here en-masse thanks to the rays of the spring sun that penetrate through the icy surface of the water. Suddenly, billions upon billions of microscopic plankton burst to life. This influx of energy triggers a chain of events that many naturalists describe as one of the greatest spectacles in the Arctic. A seemingly endless array of migratory seabirds and ducks join seal, bowhead whales and large pods of narwhal and beluga to feed in these nutrientrich waters. Following close by are polar bear and Arctic fox who closely track these marine animals from the ice.

Standing at the edge of the ice, and surrounded by a rich symphony of sound and soft pastel coloured skies, you begin to scan the horizon for more signs of life. A flock of three hundred king eider flutter by while telltale spray from a pod of beluga signal their return to the surface. This flurry of activity almost distracts you from spotting the twometre spiralled ivory tusk of a narwhal as it slices through the calm waters of this remarkable polar ecosystem.

Claus Vogel Claus has travelled extensively throughout the Arctic. For more images and stories please check out his website at www.tradewindsphoto.ca

Fabulous Creations by the Artisans of Nunavik

Kuujjuaq, QC Box 729 J0M 1C0 CANADA | Tel: 819-964-1848 Fax: 819-964-1950 | e-mail: info@nunavikcreations.com | online shopping: www.nunavikcreations.com

March/April 2011

above & beyond

53

INUIT FORUM

Our time to shine lisapie Isaac likes to say that the Arctic is not the top of the world, it is the centre. That is certainly how it felt on February 1, under the cathedral ceiling of the National Gallery of Canada’s Great Hall. An impending blast of wind and snow held off just long enough for more than 400 guests to come together for an annual celebration of Inuit culture we have dubbed A Taste of the Arctic.

With nearly twice as many people in attendance as last year, including a showstopping line-up of Cabinet Ministers, Senators, Members of Parliament, former Governor General Michaelle Jean — even an astronaut — we shone a spotlight on Inuit achievement, on what we can accomplish with the support of those around us. And, of course, Inuit culture is about sharing, so it was fitting that the evening presented us with an opportunity to share all that we have to offer.

We have talent in abundance. Take Isaac, for instance, a chanteuse extraordinaire from Salluit, Quebec. The crowd was mesmerized by her look, her charm and her sweet, sweet sound. Journalists reviewing her most recent album say that she brings a poetic approach to Inuktitut, but she is no less comfortable singing the familiar refrain of an ABBA tune, as she did during her second encore of the evening.

As Maclean’s reported, Laureen Harper, who joined us for a second year, was so impressed with Isaac that she vowed to lobby Heritage Minister James Moore to have Isaac perform for Canada Day on Parliament Hill. I am confident that she will deliver. And that Isaac, as usual, will capture hearts.

We have resources to spare. Muskox is both milder and leaner than beef, and when prepared as a roasted strip loin with a shrimp and candied char salsa, it is truly out of this world. Parliamentarians revelled in the

© ITK

© ITK ARCHIVES/HANS BLOHM

E

Elisapie Isaac (right) with Shelly Watkins of ITK, co-emcee of A Taste of the Arctic.

With nearly twice as many people in attendance as last year, including a show-stopping line-up of Cabinet Ministers, Senators, Members of Parliament, former Governor General Michaelle Jean — even an astronaut — we shone a spotlight on Inuit achievement. opportunity to sample a tasty ragout of seal with blueberry frangelico.

Indeed, we served a range of foods, from char tartar to smoked goose breast to mini aqpiit dark chocolate ganache tarts, that would be at home on the menu of any fine restaurant in the country. I challenge restaurateurs to expand their menus and their horizons and discover the bounty of Inuit Nunangat.

Finally, in the spirit of reconciliation, we were able to offer a little bit of ourselves in the hope that our guests may better understand us and we may better understand them. That, after all, is what events such as these are all about. And as part of that exchange, we are

able to raise some much-needed funds for a range of activities, from youth initiatives to language development projects and beyond.

Although it may seem counterintuitive to celebrate the delights of the North in a Southern city, Ottawa, Canada’s national capital is ideally suited to play host. If you are able to find a quiet moment to reflect, to cast your gaze on a room full of people with smiles on their faces, then, as Isaac says, our place in the world shifts just ever so slightly and all seems right in the world.

Mary Simon

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami 75 Albert Street, Suite 1101 Ottawa, ON K1P 5E7 t. (613) 238.8181

54

arcticjournal.ca

March/April 2011

ᓄᓇᓕᓐᓅᖓᔪᖅ, ᐊᑲᕐᕆᓇᖅᑐᖅ, ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᖃᑦᓯᐊᖅᑐᖅ

Nunallaat, Ihuarniq, Atuttiarniq Community, Comfort, Convenience

ᑲᓲᑎᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᓄᓇᕐᔪᐊᑉ ᖄᖓᒍᑦ

Haniliriikhutik Hilarjuap Qulaani Spanning the Top of the World

© above&beyond/PIERRE DUNNIGAN

Sauniq Hotel, Pond Inlet, Nunavut

www.InnsNorth.com 1-888-To-North

ᓄᓇᓕᓐᓂ- ᓇᒻᒥᓂᕆᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᑐᔪᕐᒥᕖᑦ, ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᑦᑐᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᓕᒫᒥ.

Nunalinni-namminirijaujut tujurmiviit, kajjiqatigiittut upiuqtaqtulimaami.

Locally-owned hotels, working together across the Arctic.

First in Customer Service Every day our team of 1000 dedicated employees puts YOU FIRST with our commitment to exceptional customer service and the best northern flight schedule to 30 Northern destinations.

ᖃᐅᑕᒫᑦ 1 000 ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᕗᑦ ᐊᖏᖅᓯᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᑎᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᒃ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᐅᑎᑦᑎᕗᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕈᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐱᐅᓂᖅᐹᖑᔪᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᐊᑲᐅᓂᖅᐹᖑᔪᒥᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᖃᑦᑕᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᔪᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᓐᓄᑦ 3 0- ᓄᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒦᑦᑐᓄᑦ.

Arctic Bay Team: (left to right) Hami Shappa, Darlene Willie, Larry Oyukuluk, Tim Reid, Jeremiah Allooloo & Joe Attagutsiak