Above & Beyond | Canada's Arctic Journal May/June 2012 by above&beyond

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Canada’s Arctic Journal

MAY/JUNE 2012 • $ 5.95

Canadian Arctic Sovereignty Alternative points of view

Top Secret Mission Martin Bay

Home to Tasiujaq End of the HBC Post era

Long John Jamboree

PM40050872

Yellowknife celebrates spring!

Featured on

www.arcticjournal.ca

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ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑑᖓᔪᑦ ᒪᑉᐱᖅᑐᒐᖓᓂ 6-ᒥ

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Jobie Tukkiapik / ÔW g3exW4 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

Kris Dolinki / fE{ go8r President & C.E.O., First Air xzJ6√6 x7m xsM5tp7mE, {5 wsf8k5 Le président et directeur général, First Air

Fly. Charter. Anywhere.

ᖃᖓᑕᕕᒃᓴᖅ. ᓵᑕᒃᓯᕕᒃᓴᖅ. ᓇᒧᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ.

Vols réguliers.Vols nolisés. N’importe où.

Welcome back – we are pleased to see you onboard First Air. Our 15th annual Easter intercommunity seat sale was a success once again as we connect the high Arctic communities and provide convenient schedules for families and friends in the Qikiqtani, Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions. Our customers recognize First Air’s ability to provide this unmatched service, and we particularly thank Igloolik, Arctic Bay, and Pond Inlet for your unwavering support and continuing to choose First Air.

ᑐᓐᖓᓱᒋᑦᓯ ᐅᑎᕈᓐᓇᕋᔅᓯ – ᖁᕕᐊᓱᑦᑐᒍᑦ ᕘᔅᑎᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖓᒎᕈᓐᓇᕋᕕᑦ. 15-ᒋᓕᖅᑕᖓᓂᒃ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᑕᒫᖅᓯᐅᑎᕗᑦ ᒪᑭᕝᕕᐊᓂ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᓂᒃ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᖃᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᕗᑦ ᐊᐅᓚᓂᖃᑦᑎᐊᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᖁᑦᑎᒃᑐᒥᐅᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕐᓗᑎᒍᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑦᑕ ᑎᑭᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖏᑕ ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᓚᒌᓄᑦ, ᐱᖃᓐᓇᕇᓄᑦ ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᖕᒥ, ᑭᕙᓪᓕᕐᒥ, ᐊᒻᒪ ᕿᑎᕐᒥᐅᓂ. ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ ᕘᔅᑎᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂ ᑕᒪᑐᒥᖓ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᖅᑎᑦᑎᐊᕙᐅᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ,ᐊᒻᒪ ᖁᔭᓕᔪᒪᕗᒍᑦ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᖕᒥᐅᓂᒃ, ᐃᑉᐱᐊᕐᔪᖕᒥᐅᓂᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪ ᒥᑦᑎᒪᑕᓕᖕᒥᐅᓂᒃ ᐃᑲᔪᖅᓱᑦᑎᐊᖏᓐᓇᕋᑦᓯ ᐊᒻᒪ ᓂᕈᐊᖃᑦᑕᕋᑦᓯ ᕘᔅᑎᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂᒃ.

Bienvenue à nouveau – nous sommes heureux de vous voir à bord de First Air. À l’occasion de Pâques, notre 15e solde annuel de places en vue de relier les collectivités du Haut-Arctique et d’oﬀrir aux familles et aux amis des horaires pratiques pour les régions de Qikiqtani, Kivalliq et Kitikmeot a connu de nouveau un franc succès. Nos clients reconnaissent la capacité de First Air de fournir un service inégalé, et nous souhaitons remercier particulièrement Igloolik, Arctic Bay et Pond Inlet de leur appui et leur choix soutenu de First Air.

Spring is a season with lots of charter activity as we move thousands of tons of goods and supplies for the resource industry required to service their busy summer season. Both Hercules are busy positioning supplies to the various mining and exploration locations, while charters for our other aircraft are moving people and equipment for their active summer season of arctic activities.

ᐅᐱᕐᖓᒃᓵᒃᑯᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᖃᕐᔪᐊᖅᐸᒃᐳᒍᑦ ᓵᑕᒃᓯᓯᒪᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐊᒥᓱᐊᓗᖕᓂᒃ ᐅᓯᑲᖅᑕᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᓄᓇᒥᐅᓂᒃ ᕿᓂᖅᑎᓄᑦ ᒪᑯᓂᖓ ᐅᔭᕋᖕᓂᐊᖅᑎᓄᑦ ᐊᐅᔭᒧᑦ ᐸᕐᓇᒍᑎᖃᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᕐᔪᐊᕗᑦ ᐅᓯᑲᖅᑕᐅᑏᒃ ᕼᐆᑭᓖᔅ ᐅᔭᕋᖕᓂᐊᖅᑎᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᓄᓇᒥᐅᑕᓯᐅᖅᑎᓄᑦ ᒫᓐᓇ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᖃᕐᔪᐊᖅᐳᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪ ᐊᓯᖏᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᕗᑦ ᓵᑕᒃᑕᐅᕙᒃᐳᑦ ᓅᑦᑎᕆᓪᓗᑎᑦ ᐃᓄᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᓱᓇᒃᑯᑖᓂᑦ ᐊᐅᔭᒃᑯᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᑕᖅᑐᒥᑦ.

The 767 Freighter has become a vital component to the construction industry, and we are looking forward to supporting the developments taking place across the North this summer. One of our special projects is the delivery of pews to Iqaluit’s St. Jude’s Anglican Cathedral in preparation for the Dedication Service on June 3rd.

ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖅ ᐅᓯᑲᖅᑕᐅᑎ 767 ᐊᑐᕐᓂᖃᒻᒪᕆᓕᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᕗᖅ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᐅᖅᑎᓄᑦ/ᓴᓇᔨᓄᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪ ᓂᕆᐅᓐᓂᖃᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᒍᑦ ᐅᓯᑲᖅᑕᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᓴᓇᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᓄᑦ ᑕᒫᓂ ᐊᐅᔭᒥ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓚᖓᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᖃᑕᐅᔾᔪᑎᒋᔭᕗᑦ ᐃᒃᓯᕙᐅᑕᒃᓴᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑎᑭᑎᑦᑎᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖅ ᐃᖃᓗᐃᑦ ᑐᒃᓯᐊᕐᕕᒡᔪᐊᒃᓴᖓᓄᑦ ᓴᐃᓐᑦ ᔫᑦᔅ ᐋᖏᓕᑲᒃᑯᑦ ᐸᕐᓇᒃᐸᓪᓕᐊᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᒪᑐᐃᖅᑕᐅᓛᕐᓂᖓᓄᑦ ᔫᓂ 3,2012-ᒥ.

Le printemps est une saison très active pour les vols aﬀrétés qui transportent des milliers de tonnes de produits et d’approvisionnements pour l’industrie primaire qui doit desservir sa clientèle lors de sa saison estivale très occupée. Les deux Hercules acheminent leurs produits à divers emplacements miniers et d’exploration, tandis que les vols nolisés transportent du personnel et du matériel pour les activités estivales dans l’Arctique.

With so many reasons to travel this summer, whether ﬂying south on vacation or across our network to enjoy the many festivals and events, we truly appreciate your decision to choose First Air. From our unparalleled service, special Beneﬁciary fares and commitment to the communities we serve, we work hard to help make your decision an easy one.

ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐱᔾᔪᑕᐅᔪᒐᓚᐅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᐅᔭᒃᑯᑦ, ᖃᓪᓗᓈᓅᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᕿᑲᕆᐊᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓅᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᔪᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᓇᑯᖅᓴᒻᒪᕆᒃᐳᒍᑦ ᓂᕈᐊᕈᓐᓇᕋᑦᓯ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖅᑎᓂᒃ ᕘᔅᑎᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂᒃ. ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕈᓐᓇᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᕗᑦ, ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᓂᒃ ᐊᑭᑭᓪᓕᒋᐊᕈᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᓂᒡᓗ ᓄᓇᕘᑖᕈᑎᒥ ᐊᑎᖃᖃᑕᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐱᓇᓱᐊᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᕗᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓄᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐱᔪᒥᓇᖅᓴᐅᑎᒋᕙᕗᑦ ᐅᕙᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᓂᕈᐊᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ.

Quelle que soit votre raison de voyager cet été, pour des vacances au sud ou pour assister aux nombreux festivals et événements, nous apprécions votre décision de choisir First Air. Nous faisons tout en notre possible pour faciliter vos déplacements, grâce à un service inégalé, des tarifs spéciaux pour les bénéﬁciaires et un engagement envers les collectivités que nous desservons.

We look forward to seeing you on our next ﬂight. Thank you for choosing First Air, The Airline of the North.

ᖃᖓᑕᓂᐊᕐᓂᕈᕕᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᒃ ᓂᕆᐅᒍᒪᕗᒍᑦ. ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᒃ ᓂᕈᐊᕈᓐᓇᕋᕕᑦ ᕘᔅᑎᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂᒃ,ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᕗᑦ.

Nous serons heureux de vous retrouver lors de votre prochain voyage. Merci d’avoir choisi First Air, la ligne aérienne du Nord.

L’aéronef cargo 767 est devenu un élément vital de l’industrie de la construction et nous anticipons soutenir les activités qui auront lieu partout dans le Nord cet été. Un de nos projets spéciaux est la livraison de bancs d’église pour la consécration de la cathédrale anglicane Saint-Jude à Iqaluit, le 3 juin.

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.

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

above&beyond Publisher & Editor Tom Koelbel About The North Josh Pearlman Advertising Doris Ohlmann (Ottawa) 613-257-4999 Circulation Patt Hunter Design Robert Hoselton, Beat Studios email: editor@arcticjournal.ca Toll Free: 877-2ARCTIC (227-2842) PO Box 683, Mahone Bay, NS B0J 2E0 Volume 24, No. 3

May/June 2012

Mission Martin Bay – 1943 U-537’s Top Secret Incursion into Canadian Waters In 1969, the modern world had not quite reached Port Burwell. Yet, only some 50 kilometres to the southeast of the village, in small, well-protected Martin Bay, unknown to all of Canada, German agents had secretly installed a very advanced electronic weather station. — Gerard Kenney

25 Canada’s Arctic Sovereignty Canada’s strongest sovereignty argument is in the very existence of Inuit communities across the North. Both ITK and the Government of Nunavut, representing a Territory that comprises the largest of the four Inuit regions in Canada, are clear in their view that Canada’s sovereignty position internationally is weakened and compromised by the unacceptable social and economic imbalance that exists between southern Canada and Inuit regions. — Whit Fraser

33 Going Home to Tasiujaq NUNAVIK MUSHER, BILLY CAIN, TREATS LOCAL CHILDREN TO A FUN-FILLED FREE RIDE DURING LAST YEAR’S IVAKKAK 2011 CLOSING FESTIVITIES IN SALLUIT. © PIERRE DUNNIGAN

Cover Price $5.95

It’s a dramatic moment on the flight from Rankin Inlet north to the most magnificent fiord in western Hudson Bay, when the view below suddenly opens up over the waters of this inland sea. For Tatty, the drama had an extra edge of emotion, as she peered eastward toward her childhood home at Piqsimaniq, beside a cascading river mouth on the north side of Ukkusiksalik. — David F. Pelly

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Read online:

arcticjournal.ca Celebrating 24 years as the popular in-flight magazine for First Air, The Airline of the North.

Tundra

11 About the North 39 Arts, Culture & Education Long John Jamboree by Kyle Thomas

45 Travel & Tourism Chasing the Char by Frances Vander-Reyden 51 Nunavut Tourism Conference by David Reid

55 Northern Bookshelf 57 Inuit Forum Invisible Darkness by Mary Simon 58 Exotica The Arctic by Lee Narraway

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

May/June 2012

above & beyond

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“We should have gone into the wilderness. That is where healing is, and sanity. When you go into the land, you go into yourself also, in dreams, in memories, in talk with the spirits … Things get clarified in the wild.” — Wayland Drew

TUNDRA - the word was imported from Russian in the early 19th century. The same word, spelled toundra, was known in French before English. Russia got the term from the Sami people, who live in northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and western Russia. The direct source was Kildin Sami, spoken around Kola, near Murmansk. Though Sami belongs to the same language family as Finnish and tunturi in the latter language is related, the source of tundra is not Finnish. So transition was from Sami to Russian and then to English, possibly via French. As an aside, tundra is the only word in English that is known for sure to derive from Sami. (Source: www.worldwidewords.org/nl/rkma/htm#3)

“My father, you have spoken well; you have told me that heaven is very beautiful. Tell me now one thing more. Is it more beautiful than the country of the musk ox in summer, when sometimes the mist blows over the lakes, and sometimes the water is blue, and the loons cry very often?” — Saltatha, Dene hunter, late 19th century 8

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May/June 2012

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Tundra “The living person and the land are actually tied up together because without one the other doesn’t survive and vice versa. You have to protect the land in order to receive from the land. The land is so important for us to survive and live on, that’s why we treat it as part of ourselves… What you do to the land, the land will do to you.” — Mariano Aupilaarjuk, Aivilingmiut, Rankin Inlet, 1992

May/June 2012

above & beyond

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First Air Focus ᕗᔅ ᑎᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂ ᑕᑯᒋᐊᕐᓂᖅ

Mary Ashoona, Bess Kennedy, Manager Customer Service Iqaluit Airport, and Melina McDonald.

featuring the Medical Travel Desk

ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᓄᑦ

At First Air, there are so many outstanding em sure our operation runs smoothly and our cust great example is First Air’s Medical Travel Desk in Iqaluit. First Air’s Iqaluit based Medical Travel Desk looks after all travel bookings for the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) Nunavut wide. With over a thousand patients and escorts requiring travel on a monthly basis,Travel Coordinators Mary Ashoona and Melina McDonald ensure every detail is looked after for travel on First Air, Qikiqtani First Aviation and Sakku First Aviation.

ᕘᔅᑎᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᖃᓗᖕᓂ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᑖᕐᕕᖓᑦ ᑲᒪᔨᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᐳᖅ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᑦᑕᐃᓕᒪᔪᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᓄᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᕕᖓᓐᓂᑦ ᑐᒃᓯᕋᐅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᕗᓕᒫᕐᒧᑦ ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᑐᕌᖓᓪᓗᓂ. ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖃᑎᒋᔭᖏᑦ ᐊᒥᓱᐊᓘᕙᒃᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑕᖅᑭᑕᒫᖅ,ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᓕᕆᔩᑦ ᒥᐊᓕ ᐊᓲᓇ ᐊᒻᒪ ᒥᐊᓚᓂ ᒪᒃᑖᓄᓪᑦ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᑲᒪᔨᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᐴᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓂᐊᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᕘᔅᑎᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂ, ᕿᑭᖅᑕᓂ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᒃᑯᓐᓂ, ᐊᒻᒪ ᓴᒃᑯ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᒃᑯᓐᓂ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᖅᑕᐅᑦᑎᐊᕈᓐᓇᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ.

Providing service in Inuktitut, English and French, the Medical Travel Desk is a vital link in coordinating travel for patients, escorts, doctors and nurses from every community across Nunavut. Often, due to the nature and urgency of the patient’s condition, travel is critical and the MedicalTravel Desk takes immediate action to get the patient to the care facility they need. If travel to a Southern medical facility is required, the Medical Travel Desk coordinates the most direct routing possible.

ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᕗᑦ ᐅᖃᕈᓐᓇᖅᐳᑦ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ, ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑎᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐅᐃᕖᑎᑐᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᖃᑕᐅᕗᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᐅᑎᑖᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᐅᑦᑎᐊᕈᓐᓇᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᐅᓪᓚᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᑦ, ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖃᑎᒋᔭᖏᑦ,ᓘᒃᑖᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᓯᐅᖅᑏᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᓕᒫᓄᑦ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ.ᐃᒪᐃᒐᔪᒃᐳᖅ,ᑐᐊᕕᕐᓇᕐᓂᖃᓲᖑᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᑖᕐᕕᒃᑯᑦ ᑲᒪᑦᑕᐅᑎᒋᔪᓐᓇᓲᖑᕗᑦ ᐅᐸᒋᐊᖃᖅᑕᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᑲᑦᑐᖁᓇᒋᑦ. ᖃᓪᓗᓈᓄᑦ ᐊᐅᓪᓚᕆᐊᖃᖅᐸᑕ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᖕᒧᑦ, ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᑖᕐᕕᒃ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎᓲᖑᕗᑦ ᓇᒧᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓂᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑕᕝᕙᓐᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᒋ.

Attention to detail is of the utmost importance to the efficient operation of the MedicalTravel Desk. In addition to booking travel, processing changes to bookings and phoning DHSS to advise of delays or weather issues, the Medical Travel Desk also coordinates special needs for medical passengers. On occasion, a medical passenger may have special requirements in order for them to be able to fly. Coordination of wheelchairs, oxygen bottles, and stretchers need to be arranged prior to flight departure, so the medical passenger is adequately prepared for travel and appropriately greeted at the point of arrival.

ᐱᔭᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᑲᒪᑦᑎᐊᕈᓐᓇᕐᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐊᐅᓚᑕᖏᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᑖᕐᕕᒃᑯᓄᑦ ᐱᒻᒪᕿᐅᕗᑦ. ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᓕᕆᓂᐅᑉ ᐊᓯᖏᒍᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᑲᒪᔪᓐᓇᕆᕗᑦ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᓂᒃ ᐊᓯᕈᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᑎᑦᑎᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᑦᑕᐃᓕᒪᔪᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᓯᓚᕈᔪᖕᒧᑦ ᑭᖑᕙᕆᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᔭᕆᐊᖃᕌᖓᑕ ᐊᐅᓪᓚᕐᕕᒃᓴᖏᑦ,ᐊᒻᒪ ᑲᒪᓲᖑᒋᕗᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᑕᐃᒫᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᐱᓐᖏᑦᑐᓄᑦ. ᐃᓛᓐᓂᒃᑯᑦ, ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᑐᕆᐊᖃᓲᖑᕗᑦ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐊᓂᖅᑎᕆᔾᔪᑎᒥᒃ ᐊᑲᖅᓴᑦᑎᐊᕈᓐᓇᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓂᐊᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑲᒪᓲᖑᕗᑦ ᐊᔭᐅᕈᑎᓂᒃ, ᐊᓂᖅᑎᕆᔾᔪᑎᓂᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᓄᖕᒥᒃ ᐊᔾᔭᖅᓯᔾᔪᑎᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᐅᑕᖅᑭᑐᐃᓐᓇᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᔭᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᓂᒃ, ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐊᐅᓪᓚᕆᐊᓖᑦ ᐸᕐᓇᒍᑕᐅᑦᑎᐊᖅᓯᒪᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑎᑭᕝᕕᒋᔭᖏᓐᓂ ᓂᐅᕝᕕᐅᕆᐊᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᑦᑎᐊᕈᓐᓇᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ.

Although they never speak directly to a patient and all arrangements are made through DHSS Coordinators, Mary and Melina recognize the importance of their job in supporting the health and well being of medical travel passengers. They work hard to process the hundreds of incoming phone calls and faxes each day, and provide the highest level of service to ensure Nunavut medical passengers are prioritized in order to receive the medical attention they need.

ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᓕᕆᔩᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᒐᓚᖃᑦᑕᓐᖏᑦᑑᒐᓗᐊᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᒃᓴᖏᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᑦᑕᐃᓕᒪᔪᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᐅᕙᒃᑑᒐᓗᐊᑦ,ᒥᐊᓕ ᐊᒻᒪ ᒥᐊᓚᓂ ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᐴᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᖏᑕ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐱᔭᐅᑦᑎᐊᕈᓐᓇᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ. ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕐᓂᖃᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᑦ ᐊᒥᓱᐊᓗᐃᑦ ᐅᖄᓚᖃᑦᑕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᓱᒃᑲᔪᒃᑯᑦ ᑐᒃᓯᕋᕈᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᑕᒫᖅ, ᐊᒻᒪ ᐱᓇᓱᐊᑦᑎᐊᖃᑦᑕᖅᐳᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᖅᑎᐅᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᐅᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᐅᑦᑎᐊᕈᓐᓇᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ.

Thank you Mary and Melina, as well as the Reservations Department and Iqaluit Ticket Counter who provide Medical Travel back up support, for going above and beyond in customer service every day. If you share our commitment to safety and service, we encourage you to join our team. To learn more about employment opportunities within First Air visit firstair.ca/employment.

ᓇᑯᕐᒦᒃ ᒥᐊᓕ ᐊᒻᒪ ᒥᐊᓚᓂ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᑦᑕᐃᓕᒪᔪᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᓕᕆᔨᖏᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᖃᓗᖕᓂ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᐅᑎᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᑲᔪᖃᑎᒌᒃᐸᖕᒪᑕ ᐱᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕕᓕᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ, ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᕐᓂᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᔾᔭᓐᖏᑦᑐᒥᒃ ᖁᓕᒃᑲᓐᓂᐊᒍᓪᓗ ᑐᓐᖓᓇᖃᑦᑕᕐᒪᑕ ᐅᓪᓗᑕᒫᖅ. ᐱᓇᓱᐊᑦᑎᐊᕈᒪᖃᑕᐅᔾᔪᑎᖃᕈᕕᑦ ᐊᑦᑕᕐᓇᓐᖏᑦᑐᒥᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐱᔨᑦᓯᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ, ᐊᑏ ᐅᕙᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᐅᖃᑕᐅᓇᓱᒍᓐᓇᖅᐳᑎᑦ. ᑐᑭᓯᒋᐊᕐᕕᒃᓴᖅ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᖅᑖᖑᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᕘᔅᑎᐊᒃᑯᓐᓂ ᐅᕗᖓ ᑕᑯᓂᐊᕐᓗᓂ ᖃᕆᓴᐅᔭᒃᑯᑦ firstair.ca/employment.

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About the North

Kiatainaq wins sixth Ivakkak Cup

ÂŠ PIERRE DUNNIGAN (2)

Willie Kulula arrives in sixth position in a whiteout, some 16 hours after race winner Peter Kiatainaq.

Crossing broken ice on the first day of the Ivakkak, teams challenged the rough terrain in the race for the 2012 Ivakkak Cup.

Peter Kiatainaq celebrates a victory in the Ivakkak 2012 dog sled race for the sixth time in nine years. The race sees Inuit participants brave the elements on a 650 km trip from Kangiqsualujjuaq to Kangirsuk. Kiatiainaq finished the race with his teammate and son, Peter, nearly four hours ahead of second place finishers Willie Cain Jr. and Willie Cain Jr. Jr. The underpinning of Inuit nomadic lifestyle, sled dogs were almost wiped out in the 1950s

May/June 2012

and â&#x20AC;&#x2122;60s as authorities tried to encourage a sedentary existence in the North. In 2001, the Makivik Corporation initiated the first Ivakkak dog sled race in an effort to bring the dogs back to Nunavik, and with them revitalize an influential aspect of Inuit culture. Besides the adventure, winners shared prizes of $12,500 in cash from Makivik Corporation, a $12,000 gift certificate to FCNQ and two First Air return flights to Montreal.

above & beyond

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About the North

Kunuk scores with Sirmilik

Capturing the collision of Sirmilik National Park with musical creativity on the set.

Acclaimed Nunavut film director Zacharias Kunuk can add another Genie Award to his collection. His film, Sirmilik, was awarded the Best Documentary Short at the March event that honours excellence in Canadian film. The 10-minute film was part of The National Parks Project,an endeavour that saw Canadian filmmakers and musicians teaming up to

create short films in and about 13 of Canada’s National Parks. Translated as the ‘place of glaciers,’Sirmilik National Park’s vast landscape is matched perfectly by the haunting vocals of Cambridge Bay throat singer Tanya Tagaq.Delicately understated scenes from the nearby community of Pond Inlet and a sparse and subtle narration

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arcticjournal.ca

by local elder Ham Kadloo speak to the environmental and cultural changes that so deeply influence the Arctic of today. This film as well as 12 other unique cinematic partnerships can be viewed online at www.nationalparksproject.ca.

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About the North

Maud’s final voyage

Maud Returns Home Project Manager Jan Wanggaard inspects the Maud at its current location in Cambridge Bay.

An undated photo of the polar ship Maud moored in Vollen, Norway where it was built nearly 100 years ago.

After resting half submerged in Cambridge Bay for over 80 years, the polar ship Maud will undertake one last voyage, 3700 nautical miles through Arctic waters before settling into her final resting place in Vollen, Norway. This spring, the Norwegian initiative, Maud Returns Home, was given final approval by the Canadian Cultural Property Review Board to

lift the ship and repatriate it to the place it was built nearly a century ago. The ship was sailed by legendary polar explorer Roald Amundsen between 1918 and 1925.Legendary in his home country,Amundsen was the first explorer to traverse the Northwest Passage and first to reach the South Pole. He set sail on Maud with a research agenda

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that would see the ship intentionally stuck in the ice and drifting across the Arctic Ocean to the North Pole. Although valuable meteorological, geophysical and oceanographic data was collected aboard the Maud,the voyage never completed its agenda and the ship was sold to the Hudson Bay Company in 1925.It was used after as both a floating warehouse and a radio station before sinking in her moorings in Cambridge Bay in 1930.

above & beyond

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A geo-engineered future? The painstakingly slow global movement to curb climate change needs to pick up the pace. A team of professors and researchers from across the globe are lending their voices to the Arctic Methane Emergency Group (AMEG) to publicize an immediate threat.Large methane stores held in permafrost and the seabed are escaping into the atmosphere due to warm arctic temperatures,a phenomenon that could speed global warming to a runaway pace. Long looked at as a last resort, geoengineering solutions are seeing increasing consideration as a climate solution. The creation of huge seawater mist towers is one avenue with the support of academics like Edinburgh University professor Stephen Salter. The treatment, called cloud seeding would see dozens of towers releasing seawater into the air as a very fine mist. These would initiate the formation of man-made clouds that could reflect solar radiation back to the atmosphere, leading to cooler Arctic temperatures. Despite widespread acknowledgement that any geo-engineering strategy would require testing and refining, there is increasing consensus that the time to act is now. We want to know your thoughts. Is geoengineering the solution to climate change? Tell us at editor@arcticjournal.ca. 14

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May/June 2012

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About the North

Seeking a solution

d Hans Island ownership no longer in dispute.

Hans Island — such a tiny Arctic promontory rising out of the Nares Strait — a humble little rock, somewhat ill-situated it seems, in near equal proximity between Canada’s Ellesmere Island and Denmark’s Greenland. The island — tiny as it is — has become best known for the big, big headlines it somehow manages to generate. On more than one occasion these were embellished by a patriotic

fervour that ran anywhere from the angry and indignant all the way to the laissez-faire and outright comical. No resolution true, but at least these did lighten things up a little. Rumours (who starts these anyway?) were published here and there lately that — finally, at long last, a shared responsibility model for ownership,rights and responsibilities regarding

Hans Island was, in fact, in principle agreed to by Canada and Denmark. Finally, we’re told, there’s a solution found to a longstanding diplomatic problem that works to the satisfaction of both nations. So at last, all’s good now with Hans Island if you’re a Greenlander or Canadian. Or is it?

And the nominees are… The Honourable Edna Elias, Commissioner of Nunavut, is calling on Nunavummiut to submit their nominations for the 2012-2013 Nunavut Commissioners’ Art Award.This year, the award will honour an established performing artist whose artistic achievements and quality of work have made a significant impact in Nunavut and beyond.The award comes with a cash prize of $10,000.The nomination deadline is May 31, 2012. Find out how to nominate at http://www.gov.nu.ca/commissioner/.

May/June 2012

above & beyond

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About the North

Science, history and community converge in

People of a Feather

Arctic Eider ducks dive below the sea ice to eat mussels and urchins. Bearing the warmest feather in the world, the ducks do not migrate south in the winter, congregating on areas of open water around the Belcher Islands called polynyas.

In the late 1990s, the Inuit community of Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, raised concern over large die offs of Eider ducks that spend the winter around the Belcher Islands in Hudson Bay. This concern initiated the interest of researchers

including Joel Heath who began filming the birds underwater to determine how changes in sea ice were impacting their ability to survive the harsh winter conditions. For seven winters he filmed and worked closely with the people of Sanikiluaq to develop an understanding of how the community was adapting in the face of significant changes. People and Eiders alike have evolved intimate relationships with the natural cycles of the landscape.These relationships are being challenged as hydro dams on the mainland force significant changes to the hydrologic cycle of Hudson Bay.In a convergence of science and art, man and nature, past and present, Heath and the people of Sanikiluaq have succeeded in bringing these challenges to the screen with an award-winning documentary, People of a Feather. With sparse dialogue,the film gives powerful breathing space to Heath’s mesmerizing,often heart-wrenching footage of Eider ducks finding their way through unfamiliar conditions.With

energizing hope, his lens follows a parallel journey of the community as they take action to recalibrate a relationship with their shifting landscape. The film is punctuated by beautifully rendered sequences that recall life on the Belcher Islands 100 years ago.A sealskin qajaq weaves a route through a maze of shifting summer sea ice to a colony of nesting Eider ducks. An elder coaxes metallic sounds from a plucked Eider feather.Illuminating the role of a people not as components in but components of a landscape, these glances to the past carry further purpose as the narrator explains ‘’…by seeing how we have changed, we can better adapt to the future…” People of a Feather has picked up awards at the Vancouver International Film Festival,The Vancouver Film Critics Circle andThe San Francisco Ocean Film Festival. Visit their website for more information and a list of screenings.

Traditional igloo life on the Belcher Islands, where eider duck clothing was the key to keeping warm. For the first time in many years, three generations wear traditional clothing, created for People of a Feather.

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With no caribou on their islands, Inuit on the Belcher Islands have relied on Eider ducks for food and clothing for generations. Here, an Inuit woman wearing a traditional Eider skin parka collects duck eggs.

Sanikiluaq residents Dora and Rebecca Kavik find an Eider nest. They're collecting eider down that will be used to fill warm winter parkas.

View from the bottom of a polynya, an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;oasisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of open water in the sea ice maintained by strong currents. An Eider duck feeds on mussels and sea urchins while others dive from the surface above.

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above & beyond

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Mission Martin Bay – 1943 U-537’s Top Secret Incursion into Canadian Waters by Gerard Kenney n 1969, I worked for Bell Telephone Company of Canada, today Bell Canada. As a telecommunication engineer, I was given the responsibility of overseeing the expansion and maintenance of a high frequency radiotelephone network. That network covered the Inuit Communities of the eastern half of Canada’s Arctic, including those in Labrador and Nouveau Québec. The first Inuit community I visited in my new job was Port Burwell in the Northwest Territories, now Nunavut. My task was to fly from Quebec City to Port Burwell via Fort Chimo, today Kuujjuaq, to plan and design a high frequency radio system that would provide Port Burwell with radiotelephone communications with other northern communities, as well as the rest of Canada. Port Burwell — it no longer exists* — was located on Killiniq (Killinek) Island where Ungava Bay meets the Labrador Sea.

* In 1978, the village was abandoned and most residents were re-settled at Kangiqsualujjuaq in Nunavik, formerly known as George River.

U-537 at anchor in Martin Bay 1943.

ACCESSION NUMBER CWM 20030149-001 #2, GEORGE METCALF ARCHIVAL COLLECTION © CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM

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above & beyond

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Second World War was to promote the destruction of the Allied forces. *** Route of U-537 in 1943

In 1943, the world was just entering the fifth year of the Second World War. Atlantic Ocean waters were crawling with German U-boats whose area of activity included the American and Canadian eastern seaboards. It even reached deeply into the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. U-boats penetrated more deeply into Canadian waters than most Canadians realized. The Ottawa Government spread a veil of secrecy over most of such information. U-boats prowled the Atlantic, hunting down and attacking convoys of ships carrying food and war material

A little mother in the making with a doll in the hood of her amautiq, Port Burwell, 1969.

Times had already started to change at a rapid pace in

essential for the Allied war effort in Europe. They succeeded

the Arctic, but Port Burwell, being in a relatively isolated

in sending countless tons of essential supplies down to

area of the North, had yet to feel much change. In the

Davy Jones’ Locker, depriving the Allied war effort of them.

winter, the Inuit travelled by dog team. There were dogs

However, on September 18, 1943, when U-537 quietly

everywhere. There were very few skidoos in town and

slipped her moorings in Kiel, Germany, and headed west

government employees mainly used those. Seal meat and

across the Atlantic toward Canada, it was on a different kind

fish were the staple fare for both man and dogs. Walking

of mission, a top-secret mission that did not directly involve

through the village one morning, I crossed paths with an

torpedoing enemy ships. Twenty-three-year-old Kapitän-

elderly Inuk who spoke a bit of English. Concerned with all

Leutnant Peter Schrewe (Captain Schrewe) was on his first

the loose dogs running around, especially as I was limping

wartime submarine sortie.

along like a wounded animal from a badly sprained ankle, I

On his Atlantic crossing from Kiel, Captain Schrewe

asked him, “Do the dogs bite?” “No, no bite,” he reassured

discovered that the open sea could be very rough at times

me with a big smile. Feeling better, I carried on our separate

for vessels as fragile as a submarine. U-537 was fitted with

ways. But then, from a distance behind me, I heard him yell,

the usual anti-aircraft ack-ack deck gun, but before the

“Only sometime!”

U-boat reached the Canadian coast, a ferocious Atlantic

In 1969, the modern world had not quite reached Port

storm had ripped it off the deck.

Burwell. Yet, only some 50 kilometres to the southeast of

Once the ship had safely reached the Labrador coast, its

the village, in small, well-protected Martin Bay, unknown

next moves were, of necessity, very, very delicate. That part

to all of Canada, German agents had secretly installed a very

of the coast is littered with innumerable craggy rocks, small

advanced electronic weather station. Its ultimate role in the

islands and dangerous shoals. Captain Schrewe carefully

Water delivery system, Port Burwell, 1969.

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threaded his sub through the natural obstacles as if through a minefield to reach a safe harbour and complete his mission, protected from the turbulent open sea. On October 22, 1943, the captain guided his slim ship south into Ikkudliayuk Fiord between Home Island and Avayalik Islands, past Oo-Olilik Island and into a tiny cove named Martin Bay, which is completely protected from any storms that might rage out in the open sea. (Martin Bay was not officially part of Canada at that time because Labrador had not yet joined our country). © GERARD KENNEY

Once safely anchored in Martin Bay, Schrewe and his men executed their top-secret mission. Their first job was to muscle ashore the heavy components of an electronic, automatic, unmanned, weather reporting station. Inflatable rubber boats were used to float the heavy components of equipment to shore. Once the equipment was safely landed, the technicians

The station would record atmospheric conditions and

assembled the parts into a working weather reporting

report them back to German receiving stations by radio

station.

signals. Being able to know the atmospheric conditions that

Siemens, the same German company that still supplies

prevail, or will prevail at any one time in sea and air battle

electronic equipment to the world, had designed and built

areas, is obviously a crucial factor for the success of military

26 such weather stations, one of which was KURT, as the

operations. Once the weather station was in operation and

station in Labrador was named. KURT comprised a mast,

tested, Schrewe and his men carefully turned their ship

an antenna, a radio transmitter, various meteorological

around, snaked out of the perilous position they were in,

measuring instruments, as well as ten 220 pound steel

and disappeared over the horizon into the Atlantic —

barrels that contained nickel-cadmium dry-cell batteries. It

mission accomplished. The whole time U-537 spent in the

took the better part of two days for the sub’s technicians to

shallow waters of Martin Bay, she had been in an extremely

assemble KURT and put it into service.

vulnerable position had she been discovered. She could not

Food for man and dog, Port Burwell, 1969.

ACCESSION NUMBER CWM 20030149-001 # 5, GEORGE METCALF ARCHIVAL COLLECTION © CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM

KURT assembled, as left in Martin Bay by the German mission, 1943.

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Crew of U-537 prepares rubber boats to transfer KURT’s various parts to shore, Martin Bay 1943.

have dived, or otherwise navigated to escape the prison she had

In 1979, a retired Siemens engineer in Germany, Franz

put herself into. In other words, she would have been a sitting

Selinger, was writing a book on Arctic weather reconnaissance

duck in any attack. However, unknown to Canada, Germany

during the Second World War. He contacted Dr. Alec Douglas,

had successfully built a weather station on the coast.

official historian for Canada’s Department of National Defence. Selinger was looking for details on two weather

***

stations that had operated during the Second World War, one of which was supposed to have been on the coast of

A family outing, Port Burwell, 1969.

When I travelled to Port Burwell in 1969, some 24 years after

Labrador. For a long time, Dr. Douglas searched, but could

the Second World War had ended, Canada and Canadians

find nothing in military files or archival records about such

still knew nothing about the wartime weather station that

a Labrador operation. In Germany, Selinger doggedly

had operated from their shore.

persisted in his search over a period of several years. He paged through hundreds of German submarine logbooks for clues. Then, one day he came across the logbook of U-537, signed by Captain Peter Schrewe, detailing his orders to proceed to the Labrador coast to erect an automatic weather station. The logbook, of course, held the key to the exact location of the German weather station! On finding the logbook, Selinger was ecstatic. It was like discovering the mother lode. He lost no time in calling Douglas, in Canada, to tell him the good news. Douglas immediately called an old buddy of his in the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), James (Jim) Clarke, to see if it would be possible for Selinger to hitch a ride on a CCG ship

to Martin Bay to find the German installation. A CCG icebreaker on its yearly trip North along the Labrador coast passed just a few kilometres away from KURT. Not only was it possible, replied Clark, getting into the spirit of the hunt, 22

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but he suggested that all three of them, Selinger, Douglas and himself, board the Louis S. St-Laurent icebreaker On July 16, 1983, the three men and Donna Andrew, a Transport Canada Marine Liaison Officer left Dartmouth aboard the icebreaker and five days later dropped anchor just off the Labrador coast at approximately the latitude of Martin Bay. All four piled into the Louis S. St-Laurent’s helicopter. The pilot was able to fly them to the exact location of KURT in Martin Bay because of the precise nautical ACCESSION NUMBER CWM 20030149-001 # 6, GEORGE METCALF ARCHIVAL COLLECTION © CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM

ACCESSION NUMBER CWM 20030149-001 #3, GEORGE METCALF ARCHIVAL COLLECTION © CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM

together on her yearly trip.

information in Schrewe’s log. The weather station was still there, but as expected, it had deteriorated quite a bit. It could still be recovered, though. The remains of KURT were brought back south to Ottawa where the weather station was restored to a condition, if not new, that reflected a more realistic amount of wear and tear of a working unit. The weather station is now on exhibit in the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. *** Unanswered questions still remain about the KURT episode, questions that time may answer, and no doubt some that will never be answered. • Numerous signs left behind over time that indicated the passage of visitors to the site after its installation. One was a live British 303 cartridge with British Dominion inscribed on it. There were signs of attempts made to destroy KURT. Who were the visitors? Did Inuit visit the site? Could they have come across KURT, and in

Kapitän Peter Schrewe in the conning tower of U-537, 1943.

their innate curiosity to understand, rendered the

• After about two months of sending out radio signals,

weather station inoperative? If so they may have unknowingly contributed to the Allied war effort. • A geomorphologist and professor of geography at Carleton University, J. Peter Johnson, actually came across the remains of KURT while working in the

KURT’s radio frequency was jammed. Who did the jamming? There are no definitive answers found in the records. • What was KURT’s contribution, if any, to the prosecution of the Second World War?

area in 1977, but did not stop to examine them. He suggested that Inuit had frequently visited the site. • A Labrador coastal pilot, Captain W. F. Shields, heard stories from the Labrador Inuit about the “umilakalu”

One question that did get answered, though, concerns the history of U-537 after her 1943 mission to the Labrador coast. In November 1944, after being transferred to the Asian

that went under the water like a duck, suggesting that

theatre, U-537 received detailed, encoded radio signals

the Inuit spoke of the submarine. He also mentioned

ordering her to patrol off the coast of Bali. Unfortunately

that there were many Inuit in the general area of

for U-537, her detailed orders were also received by American

Martin Bay.

code-breakers. The American military quickly mounted a

• How long did KURT send weather information back

three-submarine co-ordinated search and attack group

to its German masters? KURT’s technical specifications

under the USS Flounder to meet U-537. Flounder met her

indicated it was built to continue operating for only

with torpedoes. U-537 sank with all hands on-board.

three months. U-537’s log indicated that meteorological data were transmitted for at least two weeks.

Kapitän-Leutnant Peter Schrewe was at the helm of U-537 when she was destroyed. May/June 2012

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Security or Insecurity? One Journalist’s Reflections on Canada’s Arctic Sovereignty by Whit Fraser or a Northern reporter beginning in the late ’60s, Arctic

both boasted about visiting every community

Sovereignty became the story that kept on giving — and still

in the Northwest Territories, which includes

does. It turns out it seems that every major Arctic initiative,

what is today known as Nunavut.

past or present, has either had an implicit or explicit sovereignty

What our current Prime Minister Stephen

angle — sometimes stated, but most often denied.

Harper shares in common with former Liberal

None denied, equalled the human pain and tragedy of the relocation

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau is their

of 19 Inuit Families from Inukjuak in Northern Quebec (Port Harrison)

northern travels and flag waving photos. In

in 1953 and 55 more to Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay in the High Arctic. For more than 20 years, the relocates or “Arctic exiles” as they became known told their story to any reporter who would listen, on how they

The SS Manhattan followed by CCGS John A. Macdonald as she makes her way through Melville Sound in the Northwest Passage.

Harper’s case, he’s often on ice floes with the military in the background. Trudeau, on the other hand, made his

became “human flagpoles,” so Canada would have a human presence in

Whit Fraser on location for the CBC in 1971.

the High Arctic to bolster its sovereignty claims.

times on oil drilling rigs in the Beaufort sea, just as his Government was

The “exiles” finally got their day in court before the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, which resulted in a 10-million dollar trust fund

presence felt sometimes in a canoe, some-

pouring hundreds of millions of “sovereignty” dollars into High Arctic oil and gas exploration.

from Ottawa in 1996 and 14 years later, in August 2010, a formal apology

One early “payoff” was a huge natural gas discovery on Melville Island

for “the extreme hardship and suffering.” However, the Government still

by Pan Arctic Oil, a corporation that had been created as a Government-

did not acknowledge the original motive was sovereignty, because no

owned Oil Company.

doubt strategically it might have been viewed as an admission by Canada that it was unsure of its sovereignty position.

More than once Commissioner Hodgson took visitors and national media to the wellhead at Drake Point and demonstrated true Arctic riches by

Similarly, there has been little historic sovereignty research on the

opening a valve and sending a 150-metre blowtorch high into the Arctic

timing and relocation of the Government of the Northwest Territories

sky. Make no mistake, with the ground trembling beneath your feet, and

from Ottawa to Yellowknife beginning in 1967.

a roar louder than a dozen jumbo jets taking off, this was a much stronger

Then Commissioner Stuart Hodgson, who described himself as a oneman Government, and his boss, Northern Affairs Minister Jean Chrétien,

symbol of flag-waving than could ever be achieved with a silk red maple leaf. May/June 2012

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In retrospect, one wonders today

We were on the Twin Otter chartered by the patriot protestors and

if those “vast untapped Arctic riches”

recorded pilots manoeuvring a series of low overpasses across the deck of

photo-ops served only to bring even

the Polar Sea until they got their positioning and timing just right.

more challenges to our sovereignty,

The young Council of Canadians protestors, including Inuvialuit

considering other nations would also

Roger Gruben and Eddy Dillon of Inuvik and Tuktoyuktuk, dropped the

see what was at stake.

Canadian Maple Leaf Flag squarely on the deck of the U.S. icebreaker.

In my 24 years with CBC National

For a few days they were local and national heroes. The official Canadian

Television News, no issue attracted a

Government response was to charge the pilot for safety infractions and

larger audience than sovereignty

temporarily suspend his pilot’s license.

challenges, especially those voiced by

In 1969, I travelled with the Territorial Court to Spence Bay, now

our immediate neighbour and ally,

Taloyoak, where a traditional hunter with a single name, Tookalik, was

the United States.

charged under the Territorial Game laws for “killing a female polar Bear

In 1969, the Americans dispatched

with young.”

the super tanker Manhattan to “conquer the Northwest Passage, and demonstrate it could bring oil from the then recent discoveries at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to east coast markets. The Americans stated clearly then — and they still do — that the Northwest Passage is, in fact, an “International waterway,” and accordingly Canada cannot assert ownership and control. All Canada could do in 1969 to assert its claim, short of firing shots, was dispatch its aging but “gutsy” icebreaker, the CCGS John A. Macdonald to accompany it. When the Manhattan became stuck in the ice, The CBC’s Chief Correspondent Norman Depoe reported the “rescue” on film for National Canadian style”. The Manhattan was freed and Depoe’s crisp, flag-waving writing and tone left the clear message that in the Arctic, it is Canada who rules the waves and the ice.

Television: “the gusty little Canadian ice breaker showed them how it does

In 1971, NWT Commissioner Stuart Hodgson demonstrates his view of asserting “sovereignty Canadian style” a 150-metre earth-shaking blow torch erupting from the first major natural gas discovery at Drake Point on Melville Island, NWT.

At the time and to this day I wondered: Why, was this guy charged in the first place? Isn’t the court asserting sovereignty by just being here? However, Tookalik’s court appointed lawyer, the late Mark DeWeert who later became Chief Justice of the NWT, had bigger fish to fry. He argued the court had no jurisdiction because the bears were killed on the sea ice outside the 12-mile limit, therefore making it a compelling “sovereignty” argument. The Court predictably affirmed Canada’s sovereignty and, unfortunately, Tookalik was found guilty. DeWeert appealed and the second judge avoided sovereignty altogether by “ruling” Tookalik was innocent because the game laws were “ambiguous”. All the time, I wondered if Tookalik had any idea what was happening

Situated on the Mackenzie River, Norman Wells, Northwest Territories, is home to an active crude oil sector.

to him. Here was a traditional unilingual Inuk, a hunter, who had never

In 1986, myself and a camera crew begged, borrowed or rented

been to school, and moreover was a deaf mute. In front of him in the

helicopters, boats, navy planes and twin otters to follow the American

little schoolhouse were men in black robes speaking a foreign language

icebreaker USCGC Polar Sea through the Northwest Passage.

that he couldn’t hear anyway, talking about “Canada’s sovereignty.”

This time, Canada and the United States “agreed to disagree” on the

A wise Arctic sage, I believe it was Abe Okpik, once commented that

sovereignty issue, with the U.S. only consenting to inform Canada when

“Canada’s position on sovereignty has always been about as clear as the

it intended to send ships through the passage. This formal “disagreement”

muddy water that flows down the Mackenzie to the Arctic Ocean in the

remains in 2012.

spring”.

A citizens group, “Council of Canadians,” led by Edmonton publisher Mel Hurtig, undertook to defend our sovereignty and national honour. 26

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That is, unless you ask northern people, in which case the answer is very clear. They will say the Arctic belongs to the people who live there.

A beautiful vista on the road to Arctic Bay, Nunavut.

Inuit View on

Canada’s Arctic Sovereignty by Whit Fraser

anada’s current Prime Minister frequently advances

vessels (the first ready by 2014) as well as

Canada’s position on Arctic sovereignty with the words

a costly program to purchase new fighter

“use it or lose it” and just as frequently demonstrates

jets to replace our aging CF-18’s, a plan

Canada’s “use” by dramatically increasing the levels of

that is today still very much a hot topic

military activity in the North.

in national media.

Under the present government’s watch, the North has seen a robust © QIA/COMMUNICATIONS

Still, there are also those who criticize

increase in military-related exercises, some unprecedented in their size and scope. Plans are also in place to deliver new ice-strengthened patrol Overlooking Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories.

the Prime Minister and his Government for not doing more. But the simple fact remains this government, comparatively speaking, has been far more assertive on northern sovereignty in terms of posture,

Nunavut statesman, John Amagoalik.

tone and implementation than any that came before.

Across the Arctic Regions however, particularly among Inuit, whether it is the Government of Nunavut, or the National Inuit organization, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), or “distinguished citizens,” the Prime

Minister’s “use it or lose it” words might seem to unintentionally widen the historic gulf between an Ottawa-entrenched government mentality and those in fact living the northern reality. “It’s insulting,” is the blunt response from John Amagoalik, who comes as close as one will find to an elder statesman in the Inuit community. May/June 2012

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When he was barely 10 years old he was moved with his family and others from their community in Northern Quebec more than 2,000 kilometres north to Resolute Bay. “The relocation was and remains very painful,” says Amagoalik, adding the Prime Minister’s statements “do little to acknowledge the contribution Inuit have made and continue to make in the High Arctic.” Amagoalik has said that painful and cruel relocation helped shape him to work tirelessly and successfully on confirming Inuit rights in Canada’s Constitution, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and the creation of Nunavut as Canada’s newest territory in 1999. He believes Inuit are among the Government’s strongest Sovereignty assets. “It is we Inuit that are using the Northwest Passage as an inland waterway that is also surrounded by our settlements. It is a homeland!” Neither does Amagoalik agree with the massive military spending This Iqaluit playground is usually filled with laughter and games.

because“our communities are in such need. The cost of living is so high and our people are prisoners in their own

basic and clear — Inuit are the strongest sovereignty card Canada has,

communities.”

but it doesn’t use it effectively. “The bedrock of Canada’s status as an Arctic nation is the history of use and occupation of Arctic lands and waters by Inuit for thousands of

argument is in the very existence of Inuit

years. Inuit are, and expect to remain, the permanent majority population

communities across the North.

of the Arctic. Our Arctic homeland comprises one-third of Canada’s land © PATRICIA D’SOUZA / ITK

The President of ITK, Mary Simon, also believes Canada’s strongest sovereignty

“Sovereignty Begins at Home,” is the message she and the organization have been carrying across Canada to major newspapers, Boards of Trade and Universities in major cities, including Vancouver and Toronto. The ITK position is profoundly

Mary Simon, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

mass and 50 per cent of its shoreline. Simon always reminds and provides southern Canadians with a lesson in basic Canadian geography. “It’s an area roughly one-third of all Canada, where 55,000 Inuit live, but now spread across two provinces and two territories in communities ranging in population of more than 3,000 to as small as 200.” She then adds,“Inuit lived here long before there

Archaeological dig at old Thule site a few kilometres outside of Resolute Bay, Nunavut

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Heading out to hunt — Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories.

foundation of healthy communities across Canada,” says Simon. Many southern Canadians are shocked by the contrasts in the social statistics between the Arctic and the South, beginning with a life expectancy that is 10 © GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT

years shorter for Inuit, suicide rates 11 times higher than the rest of Canada and overall health conditions. “Inuit do not want to be in the headlines for our tuberculosis rate which is 14 times the overall Canadian rate,” Simon told a

Nunavut Premier, the Honourable, Eva Aariak.

supportive Vancouver audience in the autumn of 2011.

were provinces and territories.” Both ITK and the Government of Nunavut, representing a Territory

Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak agrees “the human dimension” is an

that comprises the largest of the four Inuit regions in Canada, are clear

essential element to the overall sovereignty debate as well as “Inuit Land

in their view that Canada’s sovereignty position internationally is weak-

Claim agreements” that can strengthen Canada’s overall position.

ened and compromised by the unacceptable social and economic imbalance that exists between southern Canada and Inuit regions.

“There is an ancient and on-going connection between the people of our territory and the lands and waters within our boundaries. The Nunavut

“For Canada to legitimately assert its sovereignty in the Arctic it must

Land Claims Agreement acknowledges this and is a strong demonstration

also ensure that Inuit are treated as all other Canadians are — with the

of Canada’s sovereignty. The land claim also makes clear that, as people

same standards of education, healthcare and infrastructure that is the

of the Arctic, we have the right to make the decisions about how the land,

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More than anything it says that Inuit - and the public governments that represent them in the Arctic - have the right to make the big decisions.” In the Nunavut Premier’s view, “the declaration establishes our right to continue to use our resources to improve the quality of life in our communities and contribute to the wealth of the nation. It answers the questions, who gets to decide, and, who benefits from those decisions?” The issue is far more complex than Canada asserting its sovereignty internationally, because key domestic sovereignty questions remain © PIERRE DUNNIGAN (5)

unresolved.“Nunavut is about to become the only jurisdiction in Canada that is not in control of its land and resources. This is about much more than how we draw the lines between countries on a map; the future of our communities hangs in the balance.” At the core of the domestic sovereignty question is “devolution,” the

Pond Inlet children look out over Eclipse Sound.

term that describes the negotiations between the Territory and the

waters and resources within our boundaries will be managed, developed

Federal Government over dividing the responsibilities and royalties from

and protected. If ‘Sovereignty’ is based on ‘use’ as the Prime Minister says,

non-renewable resources.

then look at the Inuit reality,” says Premier Aariak.

“This is why as Premier, a top priority is to negotiate an agreement

“Look at all the wonderful Inuit place names that are being

to devolve control over Nunavut’s lands, waters and resources from the

documented. There are literally thousands of them. They identify every-

federal government to Nunavummiut. We support Canada’s position on

thing from waterways to rock formations to areas where you can find

Arctic sovereignty. But, by the same token, we expect Canada to recognize

certain resources or wildlife. They speak to how people have used the

Nunavut’s sovereignty over the lands, waters and resources within our

land and water over the centuries. And they fill the map — from Kugluktuk

boundaries.”

in the west to the tip of Qikiqtaaluk in the east.”

Premier Aariak says the traditional economy will remain key to the

Premier Aariak adds that Canada’s overall sovereignty position is

future economy. “We will do our utmost to protect it but we won’t be put

strengthened by Inuit internationally through Canadian Inuit involve-

in a box or turned into a giant international park just to make people living

ment in the Inuit Circumpolar Conference. Inuit in Greenland, the

in the developed world feel better about the damaged environment.”

United States and Russia adopted a Declaration on Resource Development.

The Premier and the Government of Nunavut are well in tune with

This declaration “is neither pro-development, nor is it pro-conservation.

today’s economic reality and recognize that their Territory’s economic

A beautiful September day — Pond Inlet, Nunavut.

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A Nunavut contingent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police proudly displays the Force’s link to Inuit heritage.

future and the future of Inuit depends on resource development that must be managed with extreme care. “It is our communities that face the greatest risks from development and so it follows that we should also receive the greatest benefit.” Similar views, though not specifically related to Inuit issues, are echoed in the Northwest Territories.Premier Bob MacLeod is already closer to a devolution agreement with the Federal Government, an agreement that he expects will be completed by September of this year, but adds, “there

The Honourable, Bob MacLeod, Premier of the Northwest Territories.

A silent expression of the sacred Inuit relationship to the land.

are a number of critical domestic sovereignty issues that Ottawa needs

and conference held in Ottawa where Canada’s Arctic sovereignty was

to resolve with the territories in order to enhance its overall sovereignty

arguably the most highly attended session on the jam-packed five-day

position.

agenda. However, discussions about the extent of Canada’s sovereignty

Asked to name the three most important, he quickly responds, “healthy sustainable communities, an action plan on climate change in northern areas and moving forward on governance issues.”

position, as influenced by the complex social, economic and constitutional domestic questions, are rarely discussed. It is clear that Inuit leadership supports Canada’s sovereignty position

Constitutional experts would agree that control over resources comes

but at present it remains “a qualified support” tied to positive moves and

with becoming a Province but the Northwest Territories Premier notes

signs of tangible and honest recognition of the Inuit presence and

that, “when the complex Federal Territorial or Federal Provincial

contribution in Canada’s Arctic.

funding arrangements are factored into the size of the NWT population

Whit Fraser is a freelance writer living in Ottawa and Kuujjuaq and can be contacted by email at whitfraser@bell.net.

and its vast geography, the economics of province-hood doesn’t work in the best interests of the Territory and the people who live here”. He also suggests there is a constitutional or jurisdictional middle ground that in the end would strengthen Canada’s overall position nationally and internationally. He also shares the view with Amagoalik, Simon and Aariak that Ottawa puts too much emphasis on military activities, because they come “at the expense of larger nation building projects,” such as highways, pipelines or large renewable hydro projects. Increasingly, academics, diplomats, legal observers and constitutional experts continue to focus on the large international Arctic sovereignty debate, most often at major national or international conferences. One of the most recent was in February 2012 at the Northern Lights trade show

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Going Home to Tasiujaq The end of the HBC Post era by David F. Pelly nnie Tatty, 81 years old, spry and engaged as ever, leaned in close to the tiny window of our single-otter chartered plane as we passed low over the cliffs that line the southern edge of Ukkusiksalik, Wager Bay. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a dramatic moment on the flight from Rankin Inlet north to the most magnificent fiord in western Hudson Bay, when the view below suddenly opens up over the waters of this inland sea. For Tatty, the drama had an extra edge of emotion, as she peered eastward toward her childhood home at Piqsimaniq, beside a cascading river mouth on the north side of Ukkusiksalik.

ÂŠ DAVID PELLY

The Old HBC post at Tasiujaq.

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used to catch many fish, with those fish spears, kakivak, and sometimes we would use nets – the ones that Inuit made.” Annie remembers her father leaving their camp at Piqsimaniq or Tikiraarjuk to take his fox skins to the trading © HBCA N9300 BY HILTON E. GEORGE 1976/128/28

post, either at Repulse Bay or at Tasiujaq, at the very western (inland) extremity of Ukkusiksalik. Sometimes she went along. She knew the people who lived there – Iqungajuq, who eventually became the post manager, his daughter Tuinnaq, and his son Tatty – but she never imagined then that she would one day marry into that family, and live at the post. As she relates it, “Inuit used to make plans who is who that will marry,” meaning it was an arranged marriage, put into effect when she was not quite 16 years old. Iqungajuq, aka Wager Dick or Native Dick, manager of the HBC Post at Tasiujaq 1933-45, and the adoptive father of Robert Tatty.

•••

The waters of Ukkusiksalik sparkle benignly on this calm sunny day in late July,

Robert Tatty’s father was W.E. “Buster” Brown, post

2010. There is next to no ice left in the bay. The hills rising up behind us are green. It’s

manager at Ukkusiksalik for the outfit year 1926-27, but he

as inviting a scene as one could want for a return home. With Annie Tatty on the plane

left before his son was born. Tatty’s mother, Toota, was one

are a few members of her family, who share her physical and spiritual connection to this

of Iqungajuq’s wives, so naturally Tatty became an adopted

land in a way that the rest of us can only imagine, though the beauty and allure of the

son. When the last of the qallunaat managers left in the

place is clear to everyone.

summer of 1933, Tatty was not quite six years old. Iqungajuq

After our plane landed, and we settled into camp, Annie began to reminisce.

took over as the post manager, and soon young Tatty was

“I really liked living here. It is beautiful in Ukkusiksalik. Maybe because I was a

helping out, in effect helping to run the family business.

child, it has always seemed to be beautiful at that time. We were usually alone. My father always tried to be where there were fewer people around because the food could run out early if there were too many people.”

Tasiujaq was home, in the deepest sense possible. Fast forward many years, and it is no surprise that Robert and Annie Tatty decided in 1978 to move their family back

Annie Tatty was adopted at birth, in 1929, by Joseph Kakak and Paula Angnaujuq,

to the old Tasiujaq post in Ukkusiksalik. He loaded some of

who lived near present-day Repulse Bay. They later moved down to Piqsimaniq

his family and an array of supplies onto his Peterhead boat

because the hunting for caribou and seals, and the fishing for Arctic char, provided

in Rankin Inlet – where he and Annie had raised their

such a reliable source of food.

family since 1959 – and they headed north to Ukkusiksalik.

“The animals that we eat were the only food that we had at that time so we had to keep on moving in order to survive. We would travel inland to hunt caribou. We would cache the meat so that they can go get them in wintertime. [In September] we would start hunting seals because we would have to use the qulliq to make water, boiled meat and tea. We would travel where the seals were closer, to hunt, and we would have a camp there, at Tikiraarjuk. We had a huge iglu, [so big] we had to use four qulliq. The qulliq was the only thing that can make heat either in summertime or winter. The ringed seals and the caribou were hunted most often. When it was springtime and summer we 34

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May/June 2012

She remembers it well.

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“Tatty wanted to come back here. We heard about polar bear hunters, those qallunaat from America. If they were to come here to hunt polar bears he [Tatty] wanted to make money because the mine was closed at that time in Rankin Inlet. He needed a job. We have some pictures of the polar bear hunters that went hunting in this area. In the winter when the spring was near, he guided them at Nuvukliit area. I think there were two hunters. There are pictures of them. You could tell it was cold, cold winter – they have all their thick caribou parkas.” The family lived at the old HBC post from the summer of 1978 until the summer of 1980. Tatty and his wife stayed in the larger building at the back, known by the HBC as the “Native house.” Others came with them. The Ukaliq family stayed in the old store, the smaller building on the west side of the site. “Kaluk’s [son Paul’s] family came here with us at the same time” – they stayed in the old manager’s house, the building to the east. “When Kaluk’s family went home to Rankin Inlet, Kakak’s [son John’s] family

Robert Tatty.

Robert Tatty at Tasiujaq in 1978-79.

May/June 2012

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Annie Tatty during her return visit to Tasiujaq in 2010.

came here to live with us.” At this time, the generators were moved to the old manager’s house, the porch of that building was shifted over to the old store, and John Tatty’s family lived in that porch. Robert and Annie Tatty continued to live in the old “Native

a hint of sadness, sitting by the shore at Tasiujaq during the

house,” with Simeoni’s family (wife Minnie and young daughter Dorothy) living

2010 trip, going home for one last time. It was a long while

upstairs in the loft. Food from the land was abundant. Life, it seemed, was good. Tatty

since 1980, when Robert Tatty moved his family back to

was back at his true home.

Rankin Inlet, and was never to return again.

“During the summer we would go buy food supplies, but people from Rankin Inlet

With that, the long and storied history of the HBC

would travel to where we were [and bring some store-bought food]. We got many fox

buildings at Tasiujaq came to an end, 55 years after their

skins. We have some pictures – the fox skins are hanging. They caught many foxes. The

hasty construction started in the autumn of 1925. All three

fox skins are easy to clean but the wolf skins are harder to clean because they are very

buildings soon began to decay, and may one day return to

thin. I did not have any help. People mostly from Repulse Bay used to visit. People who

nature. But, fortunately, the colourful stories of the lives,

went hunting to this area. They knew they can fill up their gas from here, so they used

which unfolded in those buildings, are preserved.

to come here to hunt. “If Tatty did not get ill – he was ill for a while – we would have stayed there longer. When he got ill, we went to Rankin Inlet and right after we went to Rankin Inlet, he went away for medical – he had to have surgery. He was ill and I also told him our children have to go to school as well. He started to think that I was homesick so we went home. After the two years we have stayed here, we never did come back here,” said Annie, with

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May/June 2012

Long-time contributor David Pelly (www.davidpelly.com) wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the family of the late Robert Tatty (1927-2009) in the preparation and illustration of this article.

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

Yellowknife’s Newest Must-Have Fashion Accessory Fun… fun and more fun… and oh yeah, Long Johns! earing long johns in Yellowknife is now a stylish fashion statement since the success of the first annual Long John Jamboree. The three-day Jamboree on the shore of Great Slave Lake took place over a March weekend. Much excitement was scheduled for the weekend as people hoarded to Yellowknife Bay, which resulted in over a thousand vehicles parked on the ice at the same time. The name Long John Jamboree has no real significance to Yellowknife but it certainly sticks in your mind. Organizers really wanted to play on that fact so almost all volunteers could be seen strutting their stuff in flashy long johns. Most notably was the weekend’s emcee, Janet Pacey, Yellowknife artist and entrepreneur, who sported bright red long johns plastered with jamboree patches and her famed creation“ptarmi”stuffed in her belt. Jamboree goers were encouraged to not be shy and wear long johns and many did. They came in all sorts of colours, shapes and configurations to participate in the weekend events.

Janet Pacey cheers on the start of the “Abominable Snowman“ Race.

The Long John Jamboree occupied most of Yellowknife Bay over the festival weekend.

May/June 2012

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The “Komotik Pull” was only one of the many Corporate Challenge events.

Stephan (left) and Mike Koch from Indiana with their piece Wave Walkers. It was the first place carving and also won the people’s choice award.

Anyone who’s been in Yellowknife for at least 10 years would recognize some of the classic events like the Ugly Dog and Truck Contest or eating maple syrup on a stick; even the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce Corporate Challenge has been put on in the past. These events are almost staples for a spring festival in Yellowknife but there was no denying this was a new event, with new life and new excitement. New events included the FlauntYour Skivvies Fashion Show, where participants showed off their clever use of long johns. A man wearing pink, child-sized long johns covered with baby bottles, soothers and toys, with his hair bound with elastics was a particular crowd pleaser. Watching the crowd laugh was really half the show. Another new event was theTerriers andTiara, where our canine friends were the spotlight on the snow stage.Some showed off how they could dance while others just looked adorable. Other new events like the Skijoring races, which involved a dog pulling a cross-country

skier around a dedicated track against other teams, and the Abominable Snowman Race, which had a runner dressed as an abominable snowman run out to Dettah and back, took place throughout the weekend. All the while, the Jamboree was cleverly centred on the Ice Carving event.In the centre of the Jamboree grounds, in a fenced off area, several teams chipped away at their ice blocks. The ice was hauled by truck from other parts of Great Slave Lake to the grounds. Teams from as far south as Indiana and as far north as Tuktoyuktuk started on Friday afternoon and had until Sunday at 3 p.m. to craft their frozen sculpture. No matter when you showed up to the Jamboree or how long you stayed there was always something to see and do. By midday Sunday,spectacular ice carvings were created. Sculptures like Inuk Charlie and Kuzy Curley’s giant eagle, titled Connected; or Eli and Kelly Nasogaluak’s Dragon Slayer. Most notable, however, was the ice carving by Stephan and Mike Koch of Indiana,titled Wave Walkers. It displayed immense detail and precision and resembled two flamingos taking off out of water.

“It’s always great to carve huge blocks of lake ice and Great Slave Lake ice is great.” — Stephan Koch As the weekend came to a close and Sunday’s events winded down, board members, volunteers and organizers of the first annual Long John Jamboree took to the snow stage. Janet Pacey handed over the mic to the ever so passionate Adrian Bell. The Jamboree was Adrian's brainchild and he was ecstatic about the turn out. Having grown up in Yellowknife and experienced Caribou Carnival at its best, he did not want to see a spring festival just disappear. So after many meetings and discussions, the generosity of sponsors and the assembly of one of the best teams possible, the launch of the Long John Jamboree was a success. Next year only promises to be better.

Kyle Thomas

Kyle Thomas lives and works in Yellowknife. He enjoys getting away most weekends to an idyllic little cabin on a lake away from town, except during the Long John Jamboree weekend, that is.

An Abominable Snowman suits up for the race.

May/June 2012

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T R AV E L & TO U R I S M

One of Life’s Journeys The landscape is carpeted with vibrant floral colours.

or as long as I remember I’ve wanted to go to the High Arctic. So did two of my brothers. The urge likely latent in the Murphy family DNA, I suppose. So Spring 2011 we began researching our journey. We were soon to discover that airplane flights (for three) into the farthest regions of the Arctic were difficult to come by. Cambridge Bay though – home of the Arctic Char – was available. My brothers, from Newfoundland,loved to fish.So for the practical reasons of transportation and the promise of angling bliss, our destination was sealed. Cambridge Bay via Yellowknife it would be. Soon images of the remoteness of the High Arctic were replaced with visions of 20-pound char at the ends of my brothers’ fishing lines. Photos of these triumphs would be prominently displayed on office walls and desks. From my loft in downtown Toronto I found myself in new territory hiring an Inuit guide to take us fishing in Nunavut. Over the next few months my brothers,potential guides and I would confer extensively via e-mail and phone. The best tackle, lure(s), gear, clothing, etc. – nothing would be omitted in preparation for catching the big char. So we shopped in sporting goods stores in Toronto

Chasing The Char and in St. John’s and in Newark. We also shopped and sought advice in Yellowknife and grabbed snippets of fish wisdom from overheard conversations at the local Co-op in Cambridge Bay. There would be so many big fish. How would we ship them back? I was to be the photographer who would capture that first moment when the char would dangle from my brothers’ fishing lines. In Cambridge Bay we met our guide, Dennis, and he and my brothers discussed strategy. The morning air was crisp and fresh as we strutted down the hamlet’s main road, all decked out in our gear. “Catch me a fish,” hollered someone. You just wait, I thought. It had been decided it was better to catch char from the boat at the entrance to the bay where the two rivers converged. Once on Dennis’s boat we sped to the middle of the channel where the first river streamed in. Positions were ritualistically and carefully chosen. Then, the serious silence of men engaged in fishing. Cast after cast but no bites. It was early. We moved closer to shore to fish from the shoreline.As the dearth continued I found my own diversion, photographing Arctic flowers peeping from rocks (something

Basil Murphy, exhibiting the patience of the longdistance angler, had come all the way from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to fish in the Arctic.

that I would do a great deal) only to be called back to snap Anthony landing a four-pounder. Then it was back to the boat and onto a small sandbar island. Nothing! We moved to the channel near the second river where a midsize lake trout was caught. “Starvation Cove,” Dennis shouted. “Tomorrow we go to Starvation Cove. Always big char there.Two and a half hours by ATV.” Why was it called Starvation Cove? It sounded so bleak,so empty and considering the morning’s meagre haul – possibly ominous. It reminded me of some of the place names in An inuksuk on the rocky landscape between Starvation Cove and the river contributes to the “other world” nature of our incredible journey.

May/June 2012

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T R AV E L & TO U R I S M

A bracing, sunny morning on Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. L-R Dennis Kaomayok, Basil and Anthony Murphy.

Newfoundland – Famish Gut, Bareneed, or Seldom – Little Seldom. Ah! Maybe the cove was a local secret – so named in order to divert visiting anglers from its riches. In any event, Starvation Cove and its fruits or lack thereof dominated our conversation for the rest of the day. At 8:30 the following morning, on three ATVs we resumed our quest. Our little caravan passed the Dew Line Facility, the airport and the fishing shacks that dotted the shore near town. Soon our only landmark would be the partly ice covered Northwest Passage itself. I recall musing that our presence might be a tiny contribution in the name of Canada’s Arctic sovereignty. “How self-important of me,”I thought.The endless land was separated from the Passage

by mile after mile of golden sand. The blue hues of the sky and water were separated by slob ice. A slither of land lay on the horizon. Small birds sat on mini-icebergs. Arctic terns with nearby nests showed their screeching displeasure at our presence. We followed Dennis over crevasses,through water, and up and down sand hills. If Dennis decided that we couldn’t traverse an indentation, we followed along its embankment until he deemed it passable.The landscape and the beach gave way to small hills of shale rock set in perfectly formed layers. The drive became more challenging. Near noon we reached Starvation Cove – a small sheltered inlet. Four or five other people were already there fishing. They must know. Dennis knew. The char would be here.

But according to those already fishing the char weren’t biting. “Maybe it’s too late in the day,” surmised my brothers spouting Newfoundland fishing wisdom. “Maybe they’ve already fed,” mused one of the fishermen. Maybe they’re the same fish from yesterday morning.They weren’t hungry either, I thought. The men spread out around the cove – all angles now covered. Somewhere in that cove big char lurked hungry enough to be attracted by the red and yellow lure.An hour passed.No bites! Can this be happening? Would Starvation Cove be just that – Starvation Cove? Another hour passed. Dennis shouted, “There is a river about twenty minutes away. Do you want to try?” ‘Yes, yes,” my brothers responded. The sun was high, the flies getting worse.It

“I found my own diversion, photographing Arctic flowers peeping from rocks.”

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T R AV E L & TO U R I S M

L-R: Dennis, his cousin Roland, and Anthony and Basil take a break.

was now mid afternoon. Our gear repacked off we went.The beach long since disappeared, Starvation Cove remained true to its name. A series of peninsulas jutted out into the Passage. Over bogs, across eddies, and over seeming miles of rocks that had previously in the distance appeared as charcoal hills and upon close-up were row after row of shale rock. Up and down and diagonally across the rocks we went for what seemed like hours. At times it felt like we were riding at a 45-degree slant. I noted that we had no cell phones.What if the ATVs were to break down? What if we were injured? Dennis assured us that technology was unnecessary. His family back in Cambridge Bay knew where we were. I liked that. The landscape was starkly beautiful. It grabbed me: had already grabbed me, in fact, from the window seat of our inbound First Air flight from Yellowknife. At times I didn’t know where I was.What country? What head space?

The vastness! The space between thoughts! The space between everything! The sense of another world. This was still Canada. Basil had flown twelve hours to get here and he was still in the same country! Maybe all Canadians should do something like this, I reflected. I had never experienced anything quite like it. Oh, yes, I very much wanted my brothers to catch their 20-pounders. I wanted those prized photos to shine brightly on their desks in St. John’s and Newark. I kept thinking that they might be getting frustrated or even angry with me for having arranged the whole thing. But next break, I was relieved to learn that we were simultaneously all sharing the same sense of awe as Anthony mused, “My God! He’s taking us on the ride of our lives.” Basil followed with, “If it’s all about the journey, then this is it. We need cameras strapped to our helmets to capture this. I feel

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like I’m in a David Suzuki documentary.” Hours passed.Forget“twenty minutes”– the nickname we had by now given to Dennis.We all sensed that we would not be doing this if we had caught that char back in Cambridge Bay. First we were looking for a fish. Now we were looking for a river. Up and down over across the forbidding yet beautiful landscape. Where was the river? One hill after another and it wasn’t there. Gorges would often lead us inland before offering up a way across.Always, we would be led back to the Passage.The sun was on our right now. It was getting late and there was no fish, no river. We joked that we might get back to Cambridge Bay before dark. That gave us a few months I think. Finally, there it was! The River! We stood looking at it like ancient explorers who had finally come upon their long sought after valley or grail. We just stood in silence and looked. There was a sense of something

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T R AV E L & TO U R I S M

Starvation Cove – a milestone along our sensational journey.

bigger.The flies brought us back — to reality. The river flowed from an inland lake. The rapids made it look like the perfect char river.And as if to assure us that our quest had not been in vain, a huge char sprang from the water. We could see his shining back glistening in the sun — taunting us as if to say,“Here I am.You have chased me all the way from Cambridge Bay over sand, bog, rocks and tundra.Wasn’t I worth the quest? Just look at me.”We had arrived at the river beyond the villages and the beaches and beyond “our salvation” Cove and the big guy seemed to tease us. The poles, the gear, the netting came out again! Dennis went upstream. Basil and

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Anthony went into the river. Positions were changed. I continued to photograph the tiny flowers that carpeted the tundra.The colours of land, sea and sky were changing. More casts, no bites! The flies! The flies! They were making it difficult. Dennis muttered,“We have come all this way just to see a fish jump.” Maybe there was truth in that. Perhaps the ride had been about nothing more than — seeing that fish jump — that elusive goal that creates the best of journeys. Serene, we called it a day at around 9 p.m. Our little caravan of ATVs headed back to Cambridge Bay. A return trail took us inland. A herd of musk oxen grazed in the distance.The

tundra dipped and changed and one small elevation became another and another. The colours changed as the midnight sun began its brief descent below the horizon.Then back towards the Passage for the final stretch along the beach. We were silent, reflective, even grateful. We hadn’t caught that big char but the journey had been both prize and surprise. We had been lured. The fish shacks near Cambridge Bay came into view.I knew we were coming out of our little trip.I didn’t want it to end.I don’t think any of us did. Before returning to our accommodation we accepted an invitation to share a barbecue with Dennis’s family.This added a last breaking of bread moment to our day. Dennis would later e-mail to tell us about a 20-pounder caught at the bridge soon after our visit. That fish had gone complete circle and was back in Cambridge Bay. Why hadn’t he wanted us to catch him? Perhaps he had a bigger experience in mind (for us). Had the lured been doing the luring?

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“Sovereignty is not just patrolling borders; it’s also about protecting culture and natural heritage, sustainable communities, developing leaders and skills and increasing representation.” — Marty Magne, Director of Western & Northern Canada, Parks Canada

The first-ever Nunavut Tourism Conference Iqaluit, Nunavut, March 2012 iven the enormous geographical character of Nunavut, occasions when people involved in the territories tourism industry get together are few and far between. Nowadays, we exist (particularly in the North) so often as names, phone numbers and email addresses.That all changed recently when the first ever Nunavut tourism conference was held in Iqaluit.Delegates and invited

guests from as close as Iqaluit itself and as far away as Vancouver and Greenland spent five days meeting, discussing and listening to all things to do with tourism in Nunavut. From one of the opening day topics “What is Tourism?” to the closing ceremony and celebratory sounds of the Simeonie Keenainak band, it was a busy and eventful week.The importance of the conference was underscored

May/June 2012

by the attendance and speeches given by Premier Eva Aariak and Federal Minister, the Honourable, Leona Aglukkaq. The former, up until recently, operated a small craft and gift store in Iqaluit.The award-winning film Sirmilik by director Zacharias Kunuk and Nunavut Quest were shown alongside smaller budget but nevertheless just as enthralling films such as Tide. Each film clearly showed just how

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Cruise ships rely on community engagement when bringing visitors to Northern communities. Tour operators want to provide a holistic approach to cruise travel. Each community has something intrinsic, which resonates with passengers and they spread the word back home. “Tourism is the exchange of traditional knowledge. Visitors really want to have that authentic Arctic experience.” — Alana Faber-Swan, Adventure Canada

unique Nunavut is as a tourism destination. Those in Nunavut clearly understand and appreciate what the territory has to offer and possesses.It is the responsibility of the tourism industry to tell and effectively communicate that to those outside the territory. Perhaps long overdue, the conference brought together a diverse and eclectic group of people. Each with different backgrounds and experience,all had something to contribute to the conference.Topics such as sustainability, economic benefits, fishing and hunting, marine-based tourism and trends were all discussed. Present were tour operators and outfitters from some of Nunavut`s smallest communities – those at the sharp end that actually deliver the tourism product, trip or experience. Various levels of government

“Cruise ships want to provide a unique cultural experience, not just the arts and crafts opportunities.” Once these memories are sent through the “Tundra Telegraph” (word-of-mouth), visitors will encourage new tourists to travel here. — Vicki Aitaok Cruise Ships/Event Coordinator

Tourism in Nunavut doesn’t just mean collaborating with tour operators, cultural facilities, activities and performers, and Arctic artists in their natural environment; it includes scenic hikes and flights, sled dog tours and qajaqs trips — places for “contemplative wanderers” to explore.

were also present making sure everyone knew what role they played in the development, support and encouragement of the industry. A vital component of the industry, it’s a side of tourism in the North that most do not see. While talks and short presentations were given and well received, in many cases the (arguably more meaningful) conversations and real “nitty-gritty” took place over coffee, lunch breaks and in hallways and corridors. The conference was extremely well attended, organized and run,however,the success of the event will not be so easy to judge.By attending, each and every delegate had the responsibility to learn something from all that was said and discussed. With that newly acquired knowledge and insight from fellow delegates, the key is to take it back to their respective towns, cities and communities and look differently at the way they do things. It’s healthy and worthwhile for a conference such as this one to be held. It’s not, and should never be, business as usual. Nunavut as a tourism destination competes with the rest of the world and in many cases some of the most exotic and expensive adventure holiday destinations. Nunavut, though, is unique and different, something that cannot be duplicated anywhere. In so many ways, Nunavut is what’s real, what matters. While it remains, to many, an unfamiliar destination, that will change and change quickly when every visitor is given the best of what the territory has to offer. Every tourist in turn will then become the best voice the territory has.

Nunavut… more than Meets the Eye — indeed!

David Reid

arcticjournal.ca

May/June 2012

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May/June 2012

above & beyond

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NORTHERN BOOKSHELF

Great reads for all ages Polar Wives: The Remarkable Women behind the World’s Most Daring Explorers Kari Herbert, Greystone Books, 2012 In this engaging book, author Kari Herbert explores the unpredictable, often heartbreaking lives of seven remarkable women whose husbands became world-famous for their Arctic and Antarctic expeditions.Herbert, herself a daughter of a polar explorer, blends deeply personal accounts of longing, betrayal, and hope with stories of peril and adventure. She draws on the stories from sculptor Kathleen Scott; traveller Jane Franklin; poet Eleanor Anne Franklin; Jo Peary, the first white woman to travel and give birth in the High Arctic; Emily Shackleton; Norwegian singer Eva Nansen; and Herbert’s own mother, writer and pioneer Marie Herbert. All these women played essential roles in supporting, publicizing, defending, and financing their husbands’ expeditions.

Changing Cold Environments: A Canadian Perspective

Remarkable Yukon Women

Hugh French, Olav Slaymaker, Editors Wiley-Blackwell, 2011 Changing Cold Environments: A Canadian Perspective is a comprehensive overview of the changing nature of the physical attributes of Canada’s cold environments and the implications of these changes to cold environments on a global scale.The book places emphasis on the broader environmental science and sustainability issues that are of increasing concern to all cold regions if present global climate trends continue. Chapters focus on those elements of Canada’s cold environments that will be most affected by global climate change — the tundra, sub-Arctic and boreal forest regions of northern Canada, and the high mid-latitude mountains of western Canada. The book considers the implications this will have for similar environments around the world.

Claire Festel, illustrated by Valerie Hodgson, Harbour Publishing, 2011 Fifty women who were either born in the Yukon or settled there describe their lives in the Remarkable Yukon Women. AlthoughYukon women live lives similar to their counterparts in the south: they are homemakers, doctors,teachers,businesswomen and government employees, how they live their lives in the Yukon is unique. Their lives are unique because they live in the Yukon. Regardless of what else is going on in their lives, their stories are coloured by circumstances they find themselves in while living in this remote frontier, a land vast and wild, with a harsh and uncompromising climate. Such an environment makes the people resourceful and resilient, as you’ll see in this collection.

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 | Churchill 204-675-2681

Visit Our New Website

www.northernimages.ca May/June 2012

above & beyond

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Bases in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, Churchill and Winnipeg ᐊᒡᕕᓖᑦ ᐃᖃᓗᒡᓂᑦ, ᑲᖏᕐᖠᓂᕐᒥᑦ, ᑰᒡᔪᐊᓗᒻᒥᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᐃᓂᐲᒡᒥᑦ

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CHARTERS

MEDEVACS

PH: 888-831-8472 charters@keewatinair.ca

KIVALLIQ - 888-760-4344 QIKIQTANI - 877-440-8244

arcticjournal.ca

May/June 2012

RESERVATIONS & CARGO PH: 877-855-1500

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INUIT FORUM

Invisible Darkness hen my mental health was getting worse, I experienced the darkest days of my life.I could not feel the hope and happiness that I had previously felt, and thankfully that I feel again today. When I got sick I felt“different”— and I later learned that this feeling was called depression. In my case I was diagnosed with clinical depression. It felt as if life was not worth living, and I carried a heavy burden that I could not seem to let go.There was a sadness in my head and in my heart that would not go away. Eventually I ended up in the hospital, but I was ashamed and didn’t want to talk about my illness. I now realize that mental illness is just like any other sickness — it needs to be treated by medical professionals. In that way, breaking a bone is no different than suffering a devastating depression that leaves you unable to feel happy or whole or be able to function on a daily basis. Having gone through this I know, I know you can be treated and you can get better. We can overcome the stigma and shame that often surround mental health issues simply by talking about them — by acknowledging that they exist and seeking support.I am no longer ashamed of what I went through — it has made me a better person. It is the stigma surrounding mental illness that makes us sometimes think that psychological pain is not as urgent or as worthy of treatment as physical pain. I truly believe that everyone can get better with the right kind of help — medical attention as well as counselling. I know it works. Sometimes it can take many years to overcome depression. It took me a long time.With good support from doctors, psychologists, friends and family I was able to get better and I became stronger for it.

Elder Susanne Signoorie speaks to a crowd gathered on Parliament Hill for World Suicide Prevention Day.

It can be embarrassing to admit that we need help, but we cannot make any situation better by refusing to talk about it. I have decided that I will tell my story and I will not be ashamed. I hope others will begin to tell their stories too, so that we can begin the discussion, so we can begin to heal. We need to break down the barriers that keep people who need help from seeking it. Community-based efforts such as the Kamatsiaqtut Help Line in Nunavut make it easier for people in trouble to reach out. This volunteer-run initiative provides anonymous and confidential telephone support in English and Inuktitut. Something that many people might not know is that the service operates across Canada — and throughout Inuit Nunangat. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation also provided needed support in the form of healing workshops. It offered a welcome flexibility in

allowing communities to develop projects according to their own needs.It is sorely missed. At ITK, work continues on a National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy with the regions. A national plan will allow Inuit to collaborate on this critical issue, to share success stories such as Kamatsiaqtut, and to develop new Inuit-specific initiatives that will work for us. We need to be able to offer proper mental health diagnostic services,care and counseling, and after care in our communities.Those services are currently not available. So talking about mental health is only the beginning. It is the beginning of a movement. And although the pain is great and the statistics are daunting, I have hope, and I know we can turn things around. I have worked hard to bring this issue to the attention of governments.

Mary Simon

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

May/June 2012

above & beyond

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arctic exotica

The Arctic. A place for spectacular adventures... both big and small. A well-timed click of the shutter, a trick of the photographer’s wellchosen lens; both play on our eyes though these young adventurers are well within safe viewing distance of nature’s phenomenal might.

arcticjournal.ca

May/June 2012

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ᓄᓇᓕᓐᓅᖓᔪᖅ, ᐊᑲᕐᕆᓇᖅᑐᖅ, ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᖃᑦᓯᐊᖅᑐᖅ

Nunallaat, Ihuarniq, Atuttiarniq Community, Comfort, Convenience

ᑲᓲᑎᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᓄᓇᕐᔪᐊᑉ ᖄᖓᒍᑦ

Haniliriikhutik Hilarjuap Qulaani Spanning the Top of the World

yi4b3F4, cq6Oi6, kNK5 Siniktarvik Hotel, Rankin 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.

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First in Customer Service Arctic Bayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nanuk Award winners who demonstrated outstanding achievement. Award winners, centre: Tim Reid, Station Coordinator, Arctic Bay Darlene Willie, Station Agent, Arctic Bay

With, left to right: Patrick Akpalialuk, Supervisor, Commercial Operations Eastern Region Liz Camsell , Manager, Commercial Operations Eastern Region Tanya Freeman, Manager, Customer Service Airports Colin Emberley, Director of Cargo and Ramp