Above & Beyond | Canada's Arctic Journal Sep-Oct 2013

CANADA’S ARCTIC JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013 • $ 5.95

Aboriginal Day

APTN rocks in Iqaluit Inuit Knowledge Helping navigate differing worlds

The Arctic A Global Frontier

The Watchers Filming with the Canadian Rangers

PM40050872

1989

o

2013 Featured on

www.arcticjournal.ca

Jobie Tukkiapik / JW bexW4 President, Makivik Corporation & Chairman, First Air xzJ6√6, mr=F4 fxS‰nzk5 x7m w4y?sb6, {5 wsf8k5 Président, Société Makivik et président du conseil, First Air

Brock Friesen / XÇ4 K‰n8 President & C.E.O., First Air xzJ6√6 x7m xsM5tp7mE, {5 wsf8k5 Le président et directeur général, First Air

A message from our CEO The newest addition to the First Air fleet is our highly anticipated all-passenger Boeing 737-400 aircraft, C-FFNC, the first of three to enter service. Consistent with our unique northern livery, the tail of this aircraft depicts our support of the Inuit hunt with the image of Inuk hunter Kavavow Kiguktak of Grise Fiord.

With 135 seats, C-FFNC is a larger, more fuel efficient aircraft compared to the Boeing 737-200. Together with our partners Qikiqtani First Aviation, we are proud to introduce C-FFNC to our customers as flight 7F860/861 on the Ottawa-Iqaluit route for a premium flying experience.

Expanding our fleet enables us to enhance service on the Ottawa-Iqaluit market with an additional flight on Mondays and Fridays. Effective September 16, a second flight using a Boeing 737-200, will leave Ottawa in the afternoon and arrive in Iqaluit early evening. The two flights allow for same day business travel in Iqaluit with a few hours on the ground. This service enhancement also provides new same day connections from the Kivalliq region to Ottawa on First Air, as well as increased connections to other destinations with other air carriers.

This flight schedule marks the first time there has been more than one frequency per day between Ottawa and Iqaluit on a regular basis by one airline — another FIRST by First Air. I encourage you to visit our Marketing and Sales team at the Nunavut Tradeshow, to learn more about our new service enhancements and the two Boeing 737-400 combi aircraft entering service in early 2014.

See you onboard and thank you for flying First Air, the Airline of the North.

ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑳᑦᑕ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᒃᓴᖓ

ᑎᖕᒥᓲᖁᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᓄᑕᐅᓂᖅᐹᖅ ᓂᕆᐅᒋᔭᐅᒻᒪᕆᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᔪᓄᑐᐊᑦᑎᐊᖅ ᑐᕌᖓᔪᖅ Boeing 737-400, C-FFNC, ᑖᓐᓇ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᖅ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑦᑐᑦ ᐱᖓᓲᓂᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᑐᖃᑦᑕᓕᓛᖅᑕᕗᑦ. ᐊᓯᖏᑎᑐᑦᑎᐊᖅ ᐸᐱᕈᖓ ᐊᔾᔨᙳᐊᖃᕐᒥᔪᖅ ᑕᑯᑎᑦᑎᔪᒪᓪᓗᑕᓕ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᖑᓇᓱᒃᐸᖕᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᖁᑎ ᐃᓄᒃ ᐊᖑᓇᓱᒃᑎ ᖃᕝᕙᕙᐅ ᑭᒍᑦᑕᖅ ᐊᐅᓱᐃᑦᑐᕐᒥᐅᑕᖅ.

135-ᓂᒃ ᐃᒃᓯᕙᐅᑕᖃᖅᑐᖅ, C-FFNC ᐊᖏᓂᖅᓴᖅ ᐅᖅᓱᖅᑐᙱᓂᖅᓴᐅᓪᓗᓂᓗ ᑕᐃᒃᑯᓇᙵᑦ Boeing 737-200 ᑎᖕᒥᓲᖁᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ. ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒋᔭᕗᑦ ᕿᑭᖅᑕᓂ ᕘᔅᑎ ᑎᒥᖕᓲᓕᕆᔨᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᕙᒍᑦ ᐅᐱᒍᓱᖃᑎᒌᒃᑐᒍᑦ ᐊᑐᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᒥᒃ C-FFNC ᑎᖕᒥᓲᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᔾᔪᑕᐅᓕᖅᖢᓂ ᑎᖕᒥᓲᒃᑰᕐᓂᖅ 7F860/861-ᓂᒃ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒃᑯᑕᓕᒃ ᐋᑐᕚᒥᑦ ᐃᖃᓗᖕᓄᑦ ᐅᑎᒧᓪᓗ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᓐᓇᔮᕈᑕᐅᕙᖕᓂᐊᕐᓗᓂ.

ᐅᓄᖅᓯᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᕐᓂᕗᑦ ᑎᖕᒥᓲᖁᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᕚᓪᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᒍᑕᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᑎᑦᑎᕙᓐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐋᑐᕚᒥᑦ ᐃᖃᓗᖕᓄᑦ ᐅᑎᒧᓪᓗ ᐃᓚᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᕕᒃᓴᒥᒃ ᓇᒡᒐᔾᔭᒥᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᓪᓗᑐᐃᓐᓇᕐᒥᑦ. ᐱᒋᐊᕐᓗᒍ ᓯᑎᐱᕆ 16, ᒪᕐᕉᕐ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᖃᑦᑕᓕᓛᖅᑑᒃ ᑎᖕᒥᓲᒃ ᐱᖃᑖ ᐊᑐᕐᓗᓂ Boeing 737-200, ᐊᐅᓪᓚᖃᑦᑕᓛᖅᑐᖅ ᐋᑐᕚᒥᑦ ᐅᓐᓄᒃᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑎᑭᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᖃᓗᖕᓄᑦ ᐅᓐᓄᒃᑯᑦ. ᒪᕐᕉᒃ ᑎᖕᒥᓲᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓃᑎᑦᑎᔪᖕᓇᖅᓯᓕᓛᖅᑐᖅ. ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐱᕚᓪᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᒍᑕᐅᔪᖅ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᖅ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᖅ ᑎᑭᒍᖕᓇᖅᑎᑦᑎᓕᓛᖅᑐᖅ ᑭᕙᓪᓕᕐᒥᑦ ᐋᑐᕚᒧᑦ ᕘᔅᑎᐊᒃᑯᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᙳᑎᔪᖕᓇᖅᑎᑦᑎᓗᓂ ᐊᓯᖏᑎᒍᑦ ᑎᖕᒥᓲᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ. ᑖᓐᓇ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᔪᖕᓇᕐᓂᖅ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᖑᓕᓛᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᐅᙱᑦᑐᒥᒃ ᑎᖕᒥᓲᖅᑕᖃᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖅ ᐋᑐᕚᒥᑦ ᐃᖃᓗᖕᓄᑦ ᐅᑎᒧᓪᓗ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᕐᒧᑦ ᑎᖕᒥᓲᓕᕆᔨᒧᑦ.

ᐅᕐᓂᒋᐊᖅᑕᓛᖅᐸᑎᑦ ᐱᔫᓯᓵᓕᕆᔨᕗᑦ ᓂᐅᕕᒐᒃᓴᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᔨᕗᓪᓗ ᑕᐃᑲᓂ ᓄᓇᕗᑦ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᓖᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖓᓐᓂᑦ, ᑐᑭᓯᒋᐊᒃᑲᓐᓂᕐᓂᐊᕋᕕᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᕚᓪᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᒪᕐᕉᒃ Boeing 737-400 ᑎᖕᒥᓲᒃ ᐊᑐᖃᑕᐅᓕᓛᕐᒥᔭᕗᑦ 2014 ᐱᒋᐊᓕᓵᕐᓂᖓᓂᑦ.

ᑎᖕᒥᓲᒥᑦ ᑕᑯᓂᐊᖅᐸᒋᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᒃ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᒐᕕᑦ ᕘᔅᑎᐊᑯᑎᒍᑦ, ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑑᑉ ᑎᖕᒥᓲᓕᕆᔨᖓᑦ.

Message de notre directeur général Le C-FFNC est le dernier ajout à la flotte de First Air. Il s’agit du premier de trois Boeing 737-400 toutpassager dont l’entrée en service est très anticipée.

Conformément aux couleurs uniques du Nord, l’empennage de l’aéronef dépeint notre appui à la chasse inuite avec l’image du chasseur inuit Kavavow Kiguktak de Grise Fiord.

Avec ses 135 sièges, le C-FFNC est un aéronef plus large et plus économique en combustible que le Boeing 737-200. Avec nos partenaires de la Qikiqtani First Aviation, nous sommes fiers de présenter le C-FFNC à nos clients sur le vol 7F860/861 OttawaIqaluit, une expérience hors de l’ordinaire.

L’expansion de notre flotte nous permet d’améliorer le service offert au marché d’Ottawa-Iqaluit avec un vol additionnel les lundis et les vendredis. À compter du 16 septembre, un second vol utilisant le Boeing 737-200 quittera Ottawa l’après-midi pour arriver à Iqaluit en début de soirée. Les deux vols permettent les voyages d’affaires la même journée à Iqaluit avec quelques heures au sol. Cette amélioration du service offre aussi des correspondances aériennes entre la région de Kivalliq et Ottawa sur First Air, ainsi qu’un plus grand nombre de correspondances pour d’autres destinations avec d’autres transporteurs aériens.

C’est la première fois que plus d’un vol quotidien est offert entre Ottawa et Iqaluit de façon régulière par une compagnie aérienne, une autre PREMIÈRE pour First Air. Je vous encourage à visiter notre équipe de marketing et ventes à la Foire commerciale du Nunavut pour en apprendre davantage sur nos améliorations de service et sur les deux Boeing 737-400 mixtes qui entreront en service au début de 2014.

Nous vous remercions d’avoir choisi de voyager avec nous. Nous sommes toujours heureux de vous retrouver à bord de First Air, la Ligne aérienne du Nord.

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.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

17 Aboriginal Day APTN rocks in Iqaluit For 17 years, Canada has honoured the traditions and cultures of its aboriginal people by celebrating Aboriginal Day on the summer solstice, June 21. In between acts, I snooped behind the scenes to check things out. It had taken over a year to plan this three-and-a-half hour event and the logistics required to put on a show of this magnitude were astounding.

— Text and Photos by Lee Narraway

Publisher & Editor Tom Koelbel Contributing Editor Teevi Mackay Inuktitut Translation Kevin Kablutsiak Advertising Doris Ohlmann (Ottawa) 613-257-4999

33

Circulation Patt Hunter Design Robert Hoselton, Beat Studios email: editor@arcticjournal.ca Toll Free: 1 • 877 • 2ARCTIC Volume 25, No. 5

September/October 2013

CANADA’S ARCTIC JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013 • $ 5.95

The Arctic A Global Frontier

The rapidly changing Arctic remains a tantalizing terra incognita — its evolving environment only partly understood, its economic potential largely unknown, its place in human history an unsettling mystery. The Arctic Ocean is on its way to becoming a global political lynchpin. The Arctic Council meets regularly for discussions about the future of the North. — By Tim Lougheed

39 The Watchers The office of Picture This Productions looks a bit like base camp for explorer Roald Amundsen’s Northwest Passage trip… one century on. Every available space in the television production company’s office is laid out with organized piles. The piles of cargo being prepared are for the crew of Watchers of the North, a new docuadventure series set to premiere on APTN’s airwaves.

The series follows the on and off-duty adventures of Canadian Forces reservists called the Canadian Rangers.

— By Maureen Marovitch

Aboriginal Day

APTN rocks in Iqaluit Inuit Knowledge

The Arctic

Helping navigate differing worlds

A Global Frontier

The Watchers Filming with the Canadian Rangers

PM40050872

1989

o

2013 Featured on

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ARTCIRQ PERFORMERS SING AN INUIT JUGGLING SONG. © LEE NARRAWAY

Cover Price $5.95 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Within Canada 6 issues $27.00 12 issues $52.00

US/Foreign 6 issues $40.00 12 issues $78.00

9 above&beyond Message 10 NORTHERN YOUTH Inuit knowledge

by Teevi Mackay

(Prices Include applicable taxes)

Read online:

arcticjournal.ca Celebrating our 25th year as the popular In-flight magazine for First Air, The Airline of the North.

September/October 2013

25 LIVING ABOVE & BEYOND

45 TRAVEL & TOURISM Akpatok Island, Nunavik

by Isabelle Dubois 48 ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE DNA Bears

by David Smith

51 NORTHERN BOOKSHELF 53 INUIT FORUM Ode to George

by Terry Audla 54 EXOTICA

by Dwight Reimer

29 RESOURCES 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

above & beyond

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above&beyond message

Celebrating the North’s Future

I

n the face of the foreboding headlines and dire editorial

predictions about the future of the Arctic news media

publishes on a daily basis, it is, sadly, on occasion becoming eerily easier to imagine that the entire circumpolar Arctic, its environment, its social fabric and entire economic future are so at risk, under such threat, that the North as we know it is fatefully doomed to a meltdown all on its own.

A recent headline that ran from one media source read, “Canada falling behind Arctic shipping — Russia is 50 years © above&beyond files/BILL BRADEN

ahead.” That may be true. Responding and adapting to climate change and its many implications (some still unknown) could well indicate a global race of sorts. How we are coping to eventually adapt to the changing Arctic does prompt serious concerns and promotes dialogue amongst people and stakeholder nations. But such headlines or similar could leave many to surmise that the overall prospectus for Canada’s North is

Dayna Zoe from Behchoko, NWT on mine simulator.

not very good. Makes one wonder why everything must be

or adept countries, or most powerful corporations, but also

couched in such negative or competitive terms.

to those who have lived, worked and thrived in the North for

While the northern hemisphere’s sea-ice and glaciers continue to diminish in concentrations and therefore affect

millennia — its aboriginal peoples.

For 25 years this publication’s mandate has chosen to

all inert and living things in the Arctic, there is still a great deal

focus on such stories: the many triumphs of human spirit and

of good news to be found. The majority of Arctic stakeholders,

effort, stories of commitment to the North, and outstanding

be they regional, national or international, public or private,

social achievements in education, culture, the arts, business,

are finding ways to work together. More than any other time

travel and more. All are presented in honest tribute to the

in the North’s history they are working to be socially and

Arctic, to the northerners who call it home, and to those

economically inclusive and motivated to find positive

many readers who share our fascination and passion for

solutions intended to accrue not only to the most aggressive

the Arctic.

September/October 2013

above & beyond

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NORTHERN YOUTH

ᑲᓪᓗᖓᓐᓇᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᖅ ᑕᑯᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᒃᓱᕈᖅᑐᑦ. ᐅᓄᖅᑐᑦ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᕐᒥᑦ ᓂᕆᒍᑎᒃᓴᖃᑦᑎᐊᖃᑦᑕᖏᑦᑐ ᓴᙱᓂᖃᖅᑑᔭᖃᑦᑕᖏᖦᖢᑎᒡᓗ. ᐄᓛᖑᒐᓗᐊᖅ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᓕᒫᕌᓗᐃᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᙱᒻᒪᑕ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᐅᓄᖅᑐᖅ ᐋᓐᓂᖅᓯᒪᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᓇᓗᓇᖃᑦᑕᖏᑦᑐᖅ ᐅᔾᔨᕆᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐅᓄᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᖕᒥᓃᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ. ᒪᒥᓴᕐᓂᖅᑕᖃᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᖅ. ᒪᒥᓴᕋᓱᖕᓂᖅ ᐅᖃᖃᑎᖃᕐᓂᒃᑯᑦ, ᐱᓗᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᐃᑦ ᓯᓚᑐᔪᐊᓘᖕᒪᑕ, ᐅᖃᐅᓯᕆᓗᒋᑦ ᐃᖢᐃᓪᓕᕈᑎᒋᓯᒪᔭᑎᑦ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐊᓗᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᕚᓪᓕᕈᑕᐅᔪᖕᓇᒻᒪᕆᒃᖢᓂ. ᐄᐳᕼᐋᒻ ᐄᑖᖅ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᖅ ᐃᓄᒃ ᑲᑎᑎᑦᑎᕙᒃᑐᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓅᑖᖑᓂᖅᓴᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖃᑦᑕᓕᖅᑕᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ. ᐊᕐᕕᐊᕐᒥᐅᑕᖅ ᐱᕈᖅᓴᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐋᔾᔨ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᒫᒃ ᐄᑖᕐᒧᑦ, ᑖᒃᑯᐊᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᐅᑦᑎᐊᕐᒪᕆᒃᖢᑎᒡᓗ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᕐᒥᖕᓄᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᒻᒪᕆᖃᑦᑕᖅᖢᑎᒡᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓄᑕᕋᖏᓐᓄᑦ. ᐄᐳᕼᐋᒻ, ᐃᙱᖅᑎᐅᔪᖅ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖃᑦᑕᖅᖢᓂᓗ, ᓇᓗᓇᙱᑦᑐᖅ ᐊᑐᖃᑦᑕᓕᕐᒪᑦ ᐃᓕᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑳᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᓂᐱᓕᐅᕆᕙᒃᑯᖅ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᐃᙱᐅᑎᓕᐊᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᑐᖃᑦᑕᖅᖢᓂ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᑕᐃᒎᓯᕐᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᓗᐊᖅᑕᐅᕙᒍᓐᓇᐃᖅᑐᕐᓂᒡᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ.

I

t is disheartening to see Inuit youth struggling today. Many youth in the North feel hopeless and powerless. This is not the case for all, but the pain of many is evident today with the high rate of suicide among Inuit. Healing is fundamentally needed. Healing through talking to others — with elders equipped with an abundance of Inuit knowledge — about what is bothering you is so important and can be of great benefit.

Abraham Eetak is a young Inuk who bridges Inuit knowledge and the modern world. An Arviat Inuk, he was raised by Angie and Mark Eetak, both renowned artists who passed on a lot of traditional Inuit knowledge to their children. Abraham, a musician and a carver, clearly inherited those traits. He records his own music in Inuktitut where he even uses old Inuktitut words rarely used today.

Inuit knowledge

© VINCENT L’HÉRAULT

The compass to a brighter future

“We are floating between two worlds — the traditional way and the modern way — but we are both struggling with each of them. We are no expert in any as we are disconnected from our elders. Let’s say I went back in time during the 1920s and met with one of my ancestors; it would probably be hard to understand each other,” says Eetak of today’s rapidly changing Inuit culture.

I believe today’s imbalance is caused by a loss of identity and deeprooted pain among Inuit. The sources of these ailments can be traced to colonialism beginning with exploration and also whaling in the 19th century, exacerbated in the mid-20th century with tremendous and destructive cultural and social changes, including the terrible residential school trauma, which has left many with buried pain, many of whom are unaware of it. I believe that youth should really learn more about this terrible era in order for them to fully understand where their parents or grandparents are coming from as it has left generational effects.

My aunt once told me that when one suffers with emotional pain, their worldview is tunnelled — in other words, they are unable to focus on the world around them — just their pain. Healing is a fundamental necessity for Inuit to open their minds and take full advantage of the many opportunities we have today.

Once healing is achieved, then I believe that Inuit should use traditional Inuit knowledge to help guide them in today’s world. I have learned from Janet Tamalik McGrath recently about the late Mariano Aupilarjuk’s teaching, through my work at Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.

Aupilarjuk was a highly respected Inuit elder who taught that we should

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arcticjournal.ca

ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᖏᑦ

ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᑦᓯᐊᕐᒧᑦ ᑐᑭᒧᐊᒍᑕᐅᔪᑦ

by Teevi Mackay / ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑐᖅ ᑏᕙᐃ ᒪᑲᐃ

“ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᑖᒥᒃ ᐃᓅᓯᕐᒥᒃ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᕋᓱᒃᑐᒍᑦ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᕋᓱᒃᑎᓪᓗᑕ ᐊᔪᕐᓇᖅᑐᒻᒪᕆᐊᓗᒃ. ᓇᓕᐊᖕᓂᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᐊᓘᙱᓕᖅᖢᑕ ᑭᐱᓯᒪᓗᐊᓕᒧᓪᓗ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᕆᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ. ᓲᕐᓗ ᐅᑎᕋᔭᕈᒪ 1920-ᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᖃᖃᑎᖃᕋᓱᒡᓗᖓᓗ ᑕᐃᑉᓱᒪᓂ ᐃᓅᓯᒪᔪᕐᒥᒃ, ᑐᑭᓯᐅᒪᖃᑎᒌᑦᑎᐊᕋᔭᖅᑰᖏᑦᑐᒍᑦ,” ᐅᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐄᐴᕼᐋᒻ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᖓᓐᓂᒃ ᓱᑲᑦᑐᐊᓗᖕᒥᒃ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᑎᓪᓕᒋᑦ. ᐅᒃᐱᕈᓱᒃᑐᖓ ᑮᓇᐅᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᑦᑎᐊᕈᖕᓇᐃᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐋᓐᓂᖅᓯᒪᒻᒪᕆᐊᓗᖕᓂᖅ ᑐᙵᕕᖃᑦᑎᐊᕈᖕᓇᐃᕈᑕᐅᓯᒪᖕᒪᑕ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᓕᖓᓂᖏᑦ ᑕᑯᓐᓇᖅᑐᖅ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᖕᒪᑕ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᓄᓇᕐᔪᐊᕐᒥᐅᓄᑦ ᑎᑭᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ, ᑎᑭᖅᑳᓚᐅᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕆᐊᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᕐᕕᒐᓱᒃᑎᑦ 1800-ᖏᓐᓂᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓅᓯᕆᔭᖏᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᕆᐊᓗᐊᒃᑲᓐᓂᓕᖅᖢᑎᒃ 1950-ᖏᓐᓂᕋᓗᒃ, ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕆᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᓕᖅᖢᑎᒃ, ᐃᓅᓯᖏᑦ ᓱᕈᖅᑕᐅᕙᓪᓕᐊᒪᒋᓐᓇᖅᓯᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᒧᑦ ᑎᑭᓪᓗ ᐃᓗᒃᑯᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᖅᓯᒪᒍᑎᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓱᓕ. ᐅᒃᐱᕈᓱᒃᑐᖓ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓕᑦᑎᐊᕆᐊᖃᕐᒪᑕ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓂᖓᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᕙᓚᐅᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᑐᑭᓯᐊᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑳᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᓈᓇᑦᑎᐊᑯᖏᓐᓂᒡᓗ ᐊᑖᑕᑦᑎᐊᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᒡᓗ. ᐊᓈᓇᒃᓴᕐᒪ ᐅᖃᐅᑎᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔮᖓ ᑭᓇᑐᐃᓐᓴᖅ ᐃᓗᒃᑯᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᖅᓯᒪᓕᕌᖓᑦ, ᐊᑕᐅᓯᓗᐊᕐᒥᒃ ᐋᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᒥᖕᓂᑐᐊᑦᓯᐊᖅ ᐅᔾᔨᕆᔭᖃᓕᓲᖑᖕᒪᑕ, ᓲᕐᓗ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓅᓯᕆᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᔾᔨᕆᔭᖃᓗᐊᕈᖕᓇᐃᖅᖢᑎᒃ. ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓱᒪᖏᑦ ᒪᑐᐃᕆᐊᒃᑲᓐᓂᕐᓂᐊᕐᓂᕈᑎᒃ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᓗᐊᕐᒧᑦ ᐅᔾᔨᕆᔭᖃᕈᖕᓇᐃᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᑕᐃᒫᒃ ᒪᒥᓴᕐᓂᖃᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ ᐱᕕᒃᓴᒻᒪᕆᐊᓗᖕᓂᒃ ᐱᕚᓪᓕᕈᑎᖃᕈᖕᓇᕐᓂᐊᕈᑎᒃ. ᒪᒥᓴᖅᓯᒪᓕᕈᑎᒃ ᐅᒃᐱᕈᓱᒃᑐᖓ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᑐᕆᐊᖃᕐᒪᑕ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᓯᐅᖅᑎᒋᓂᐊᕐᓗᒋᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᓅᓯᕆᓕᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᐃᓕᑦᑎᕝᕕᒋᓵᓚᐅᖅᑕᕋ ᔮᓇᑦ ᑕᒪᓕᒃ ᒪᒍᕌᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᓯᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᒋᔭᖃᖅᖢᓂ ᐊᐅᐱᓛᕐᔪᖕᒥᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᒋᕙᓚᐅᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒡᓗ, ᑕᐃᑲᓂ ᐱᓕᐊᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᐱᕇᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ-ᒃᑯᓐᓂᑦ. ᐊᐅᐱᓛᕐᔪᖅ ᐅᐱᒋᔭᐅᒻᒪᕆᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᖅ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᖅᖢᓂ ᑐᙵᑦᑎᐊᕆᐊᖃᕋᑦᑕ ᐊᑐᕋᓱᒃᑎᓪᓗᑕ ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓱᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᑖᒥᒃ ᐃᓅᓯᐅᓕᖅᑐᕐᒥᒃ, ᐊᑐᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᑎᓪᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᖏᑦ ᑕᓯᐅᕈᑎᒋᓂᐊᕐᒋᑦ ᓄᑖᒥᒃ ᐃᓅᓯᕆᓕᖅᑕᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ.

September/October 2013

NORTHERN YOUTH

Hunter Alogut learns the traditional Inuit hunting ways from his father, Poisy.

© VINCENT L’HÉRAULT (2)

balance the Inuit way with the modern day, while privileging Inuit knowledge in order to help guide us in this new world order.

After learning about this concept, I have become very intrigued by the power of Inuit knowledge and how it can help you live a better life.

It is profoundly rich in wisdom. My mother says that there is a sea of Inuit knowledge and I have only just scratched the surface. I find this incredibly interesting and encouraging. For example, I recently learned how rich pisirq, traditional ajaja songs (poems), are. When I was quite young I loved pisirq so much that my mom gave me a pendant of a drum dancer. I recently learned that pisirq are songs about experiences and lessons learned in life that are then communicated to help others.

This is quite powerful as an extraordinary spiritual knowledge transfer practice of Inuit.

My current journey of learning more about Inuit knowledge has been an enlightening experience; however, it has also given me a sense of heartache because it is vanishing quickly with the passing of our beloved elders.

Today: Creating meaningful partnerships We are living in a modern world with increased connections with the South and the need for a mutual understanding of both cultures is fundamentally important. Globally, the Arctic is in the spotlight and this interconnectedness is more apparent today than ever before.

September/October 2013

Hunter Alogut, 13, of Rankin Inlet was raised traditionally by his parents Poisy and Bernadette Alogut.

above & beyond

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NORTHERN YOUTH

© VINCENT L’HÉRAULT

Left: Teevi Mackay speaks to a group of Southerners in Québec City about harvesting traditional Inuit food.

© PAULINE SUFFICE

Below: ARCTIConnexion’s Windows on the North workshop — an initiative meant to inform Southern students and researchers about historical, cultural and contemporary realities of the North through guest speakers and discussions.

Eva Putuguq (left) teaches university graduate students in April 2013 at the Nunavik Information Center in Québec City.

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arcticjournal.ca

September/October 2013

NORTHERN YOUTH

September/October 2013

ᑕᒪᑦᑐᒥᖓᑦ ᐃᓕᓯᒪᓕᕋᒪ ᑐᑭᓯᒋᐊᒃᑲᓐᓂᕈᒪᓯᒪᒻᒪᕆᓕᖅᑐᖓ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖏᑦᑕ ᓴᙱᓂᐊᓗᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᓄᖅ ᐃᓅᓯᖃᑦᑎᐊᕈᑎᒋᔪᖕᓇᕐᒪᖔᕐᓃ. ᓱᓚᑐᓂᐊᓗᖃᖅᑐᑦ. ᐊᓈᓇᒐ ᐅᖃᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᐊᓘᖕᒪᑕ ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᖄᖏᓐᓇᑯᓗᐊᓂᒃ ᑐᑭᓯᓯᒪᒐᑦᑕ. ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐱᔫᒥᒋᓪᓚᕆᒃᑕᕋ ᓂᕆᐅᖕᓇᕈᑎᒋᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᒃᑯᓪᓗ. ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᓕᑦᑎᓵᓚᐅᕐᒥᔪᖓ ᐱᓰᑦ ᑐᑭᖃᒻᒪᕆᐊᓗᖕᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᒪᒃᑯᖕᓂᖅᓴᐅᑎᓪᓗᖓ ᐱᓯᕐᓂᒃ ᑐᓵᒍᒪᒃᑲᐅᓗᐊᕋᒪ ᐊᓈᓇᒪ ᑐᓂᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔮᖓ ᐅᔭᒥᒃᓯᐅᑎᒥᒃ ᕿᓚᐅᔾᔭᙳᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ. ᐃᓕᑦᑎᓵᓚᐅᕐᒥᔪᖓ ᐱᓰᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖃᑦᑕᕐᒪᑕ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓅᓯᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓕᒍᑎᒋᔭᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᙱᑕᐅᓕᕌᖓᑕ ᐃᓕᒍᑎᒋᔭᐅᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ. ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᓴᙱᔪᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑎᒋᖃᑕᐅᖕᒪᔾᔪᒃ. ᒫᓐᓇ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᑎᓪᓗᖓ ᐃᓱᒻᒥᑦᑎᐊᒻᒪᕆᖕᓇᖅᑐᖅ; ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᐆᒻᒪᑎᒃᑯᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᕈᑎᒋᖃᑕᐅᖕᒥᔭᕋ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓗᐊᕈᖕᓇᐃᒪᒋᓐᓇᕐᒪᑦ ᐃᓅᔪᖕᓇᐃᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᕆᔭᖅᐳᑦ.

© VINCENT L’HÉRAULT

I believe there is so much we can learn from other cultures and so much they can learn from Inuit but we must take the time to sit down and share with one another. Open-minded and engaged dialogue is therefore needed so we can reach a holistic balance.

I met many Southern scientists at the 2012 ArcticNet Scientific Meeting in Vancouver last December. Many were genuinely interested and open-minded young researchers who work in the Arctic. Refreshingly, many see the importance and true value of Inuit knowledge to a point where they incorporate it into their research. This made me realize that real and meaningful partnerships are possible between Inuit and Southerners.

One of them was Vincent L’Hérault, a young non-Inuk who recognizes and is genuinely interested in the intellectual culture (Inuit knowledge) of Inuit. L’Hérault is a biologist who does extensive work with Nunavut Inuit, where he documented Inuit knowledge with hunters and elders in his completed Masters project and in his current Ph.D. work.

When we first met in Vancouver he talked about a new notfor-profit organization, ARCTIConnexion, launched in January 2012 housed within the Université du Québec à Rimouski. L’Hérault told me that the idea to start ARCTIConnexion began as a result of his own experience with Inuit. Interactions between himself, other Southern researchers and young Inuit from Pond Inlet at a workshop at Laval University in 2011 also provided inspiration for the initiative. He was deeply astounded and impressed by these young Inuit because of their strength, self-confidence and open-mindedness.

L’Hérault remembers, “A lot of barriers were broken that day when a group of young Inuit connected with Southern researchers. The Inuit were hungry for more education while researchers reciprocated that interest catalyzing a powerful synergy. We then saw the potential for quality, meaningful partnerships between Inuit and Southern researchers.”

After this special encounter, he began the work of creating ARCTIConnexion with his colleagues, aiming to help Inuit and non-Inuit work together for mutual benefits. On one side, ARCTIConnexion aims to build Inuit capacity through developing local educational opportunities in the North. For example, last March in Pond Inlet, L’Hérault met with Inuit students and the hamlet council to create an environmental research training program designed for Inuit called ilikausitigivat (learning a new way), an Inuktitut term suggested by the young Inuit.

Ilikausitigivat would aim to explore the scientific way in depth while still encouraging students to practice the Inuit way in their own community. I know that learning in your own communities is a fundamental right, especially in Canada but Inuit unfortunately do not always have the same educational opportunities as Southerners.

ARCTIConnexion also aims to educate Southerners about the Inuit way. L’Hérault explains, “We work like interpreters between Inuit and researchers and we wish them to engage in meaningful dialogue, so both parties can learn new perspectives and work together toward a balanced future. Through this work, I’ve learned that we need to focus on serving others.”

I believe it is important to recognize this type of calibre among Southerners, one that allows them to see the holistic intellectual culture of Inuit while bridging it with Southern ideologies — a genuine exchange for mutual benefit. Fundamentally acknowledging and using Inuit knowledge to help guide our work today would make the difference needed for young people, as Aupilarjuk taught and a sentiment I believe should be fully recognized.

Teevi Mackay during a fishing trip with Alexis and Candice Vincent-Wolfe — the children of Sadie Vincent-Wolfe and Pierre Wolfe of Iqaluit.

ᐅᓪᓗᒥ: ᐱᓕᕆᑕᒌᙱᓂᖅᑕᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᖅ

ᐃᓅᓯᖃᓕᖅᑐᒍᑦ ᐊᒃᑐᐊᒻᒪᕆᒃᑐᒥᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᑦᑕ ᓯᓚᑖᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᑭᓯᐊᖃᑎᒌᒋᐊᖃᕐᓂᖅ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᖕᒥᔪᖅ. ᓄᓇᕐᔪᐊᖅ ᑕᐅᑐᒡᓗᒍ, ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᖅ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑕᐅᒻᒪᕆᖕᒪᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑖᓐᓇ ᐊᒃᑐᐊᖃᑎᒌᖕᓂᖅ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ ᑕᑯᓐᓇᕐᓂᖅᓴᒻᒪᕆᐊᓘᓕᖅᑐᖅ. ᐅᒃᐱᕈᓱᒃᑐᖓ ᐃᓕᑦᑎᒍᓐᓇᑦᑎᐊᒻᒪᕆᒃᑲᑦᑕ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᕆᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᒍᓐᓇᑦᑎᐊᒻᒪᕆᒃᖢᑎᒡᓗ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᒋᖃᑎᒌᑦᑎᐊᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᒍᑦ. ᐃᓱᒪ ᒪᑐᐃᖓᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᓂ ᐅᔾᔨᕆᔭᖃᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᓂᓗ ᐅᖃᖃᑎᒌᒡᓗᓂ ᐱᔭᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᖅ ᑐᙵᕕᒃᓴᖃᑦᑎᐊᕈᖕᓇᓛᕋᑦᑕ. ᐅᓄᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᒻᒪᕆᖕᓂᒃ ᑕᑰᑎᖃᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᖅᑐᖓ ᑕᐃᑲᓂ 2012 ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᑐᑭᓯᓂᐊᖃᑎᒌᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᑲᑎᒪᓂᖓᑦ ᕚᓐᑰᕗᒥᑦ ᑎᓯᐱᕆᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ. ᐅᓄᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᓚᐅᔪᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᕐᒥᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ ᐱᔫᒥᒋᔭᖃᑦᑎᐊᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᓕᒍᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᑎᒡᓗ. ᐊᓱᐃᓛᒃ ᐅᓄᖅᑐᑦ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᓱᒋᑎᑦᑎᓕᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒡᓛᓪᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᔪᒪᓕᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕐᓂᕆᔭᒥᖕᓄᑦ. ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐅᔾᔨᓕᕈᑎᒋᓕᓚᐅᖅᑐᕋ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᑦᑭᐊᕈᖕᓇᕐᒪᑕ ᐃᓄᐃᓪᓗ ᐊᓯᖏᓪᓗ. ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᖃᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᕕᓐᓴᑦ ᓚᕉ, ᐅᐃᕖᖑᔪᖅ ᐃᓕᑕᖅᓯᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐱᔫᒥᓱᖕᓂᖃᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᓂᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᓚᕉ ᐆᒪᔪᓕᕆᔨ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᖃᖅᓯᒪᒻᒪᕆᒃᑐᖅ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᕗᑦᒥᐅᓂᒃ, ᑖᕙᓂ ᓂᐱᓕᐅᕆᕙᓪᓕᐊᓚᐅᖅᖢᓂᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᖑᓇᓱᒃᑎᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᑐᖃᕐᓂᒡᓗ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᕈᑎᒋᓪᓗᓂᒋᓪᓗ ᓯᓚᑦᑐᖅᓴᕐᕕᒡᔪᐊᕐᒧᑦ ᐳᖅᑐᓂᖅᓴᐅᑉ ᑐᒡᓕᐊᓂᒃ ᐱᔭᕇᕈᑎᒋᔭᖓᓄᑦ Masters ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᒫᓐᓇ ᐳᖅᑐᓂᖅᓴᒥᒃ ᐱᔭᕇᖅᓯᒐᓱᖕᓂᖓᓄᑦ Ph.D. ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᒥᒃ ᑕᑰᑎᒐᓐᓄᑦ ᕚᓐᑰᕗᒥᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᓄᑖᕐᒥᒃ ᑮᓇᐅᔾᔭᒐᓱᖕᓂᐅᖏᑦᑐᕐᒥᒃ ᑎᒥᐅᔪᒥᒃ, ARCTIConnexion, ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᔭᓄᐊᕆ 2012-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᑐᙵᕕᖃᖅᖢᓂ ᑯᐸᐃᒃ ᓯᓚᑦᑐᖅᓴᕐᕕᒡᔪᐊᖓᓂᑦ ᕆᒨᓯᑭᒥᑦ. ᓚᕉ ᐅᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᑖᑉᓱᒥᖓᑦ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᔪᒪᓕᓚᐅᕐᒪᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᖃᖅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ. ᐊᒻᒪᓗᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᖃᓚᐅᕐᒥᒐᒥ

above & beyond

13

© VINCENT L’HÉRAULT

NORTHERN YOUTH

Nunavut Arctic College 2012 Environmental Technology Program alumni with ARCTIConnexion director Vincent L'Hérault during a March 2013 workshop in Pond Inlet.

Front left to right: James Simonee, Vincent L'Hérault and Andrew Arreak. Missing Eenookie Inuarak, Randy Quarak and Terry Kudluk. Top row left to right: Daniel Inuarak, Trevor Arreak, Tim Soucie, Sam Arreak, Ezra Arreak and Ivan Koonoo.

I had a deeply meaningful experience as I took part in one of L’Hérault’s ARCTIConnexion Southern projects. Last June, in Quebec City, I guided a photo exhibition dedicated to showcasing Inuit knowledge. The exhibition, titled ‘Inuit Tautunga Iyimut: through the eyes of Inuit,’ took a year to coordinate and was the result of several years of L’Hérault’s work in the North. The exhibition was a collaboration with the Town of Québec City that kindly provided the venue — a historic, patrimonial gallery and museum. L’Hérault was impressively committed

My grandmother says that if young people have a balance of learning and practicing Inuit knowledge as well as mastering how the world works today, then they can become very successful leaders. ᐊᓈᓇᑦᑎᐊᕐᒪ ᐅᖃᐅᑎᕙᓚᐅᖅᑖᖓ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᑦ ᑐᙵᕕᖃᑦᑎᐊᖅᐸᑕ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᑐᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ

ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᑭᓯᐊᓕᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᓄᖅ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᖅ ᐊᐅᓚᖕᒪᖔᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ,

ᑕᐃᒫᒃ ᐊᔪᙱᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᐅᔪᖕᓇᖅᓯᓛᕐᒪᑕ.

14

arcticjournal.ca

ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᒥᑦᑎᒪᑕᓕᖕᒥᐅᓂᒃ ᓚᕚ ᓯᓚᑦᑐᖅᓴᕐᕕᒡᔪᐊᕐᒥᑦ 2011ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐃᓱᒻᒥᕈᑎᒋᑦᑎᐊᓚᐅᕐᒥᔭᖓᑦ. ᐅᐱᒋᔭᖃᒻᒪᕆᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᑕᐃᒃᑯᓇᙵᑦ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᕐᓂᒃ ᓴᙱᓂᖃᑦᑎᐊᕐᒪᑕ, ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᐅᒃᐱᕆᔭᖃᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓱᒪᖏᑦ ᒪᑐᐃᖓᑦᑎᐊᖅᒪᑕᓗ. ᓚᕉ ᐊᐅᓚᔨᔪᖅ, “ᑐᓗᕈᑎᑦ ᐅᓄᖅᑐᑦ ᓯᖁᒥᑕᐅᓚᐅᕐᒪᑕ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᒻᒪᕆᖕᓂᒃ. ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᒍᒪᒃᑲᓐᓂᒻᒪᕆᓕᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᒻᒪᕇᑦ ᐱᓕᒍᒪᖃᑕᐅᑦᑎᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐱᕚᓪᓕᕈᑕᐅᔪᖕᓇᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᑕᑯᓐᓇᖅᓯᓕᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ. ᑕᑯᓕᓚᐅᖅᑐᒍᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒌᑦᑎᐊᕈᖕᓇᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ.” ᑲᑎᓕᒪᓕᕇᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ, ᒪᕉ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑦᑎᒐᓱᓕᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ARCTIConnexion-ᒥᒃ ᐃᑲᔪᖅᑎᖃᖅᖢᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒋᔭᖏᓄᑦ, ᑐᕌᒐᖃᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓯᖏᓪᓗ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒌᖕᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑦᑎᐊᕈᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐱᕚᓪᓕᕈᑕᐅᖁᓪᓗᓂᔾᔪᒃ. ᐱᖃᑖᒍᑦ, ARCTIConnexion ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᐱᔪᖕᓇᖅᓯᕙᓪᓕᐊᑎᑦᑎᒍᒪᔪᖅ ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓱᐃᓗᓂ ᓄᓇᓕᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᒃᓴᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᓗᓂ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᕐᒥᑦ. ᓲᕐᓗ, ᐊᕐᕌᓂᑦ ᒫᓪᔨᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᒥᑦᑎᒪᑕᓕᖕᒥᑦ, ᒪᕉ ᑲᑎᖃᑎᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᕼᐋᒻᒪᓚᒃᑯᑦ ᑲᑎᒪᔨᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑦᑎᒐᓱᒃᖢᓂ ᐊᕙᑎᒥᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕈᖕᓇᖅᓯᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᒃᓴᒥᒃ ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᑐᕌᖓᔪᒥᒃ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓕᑲᐅᓯᑎᒋᕙᑦ, ᑖᓐᓇ ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᕐᓄᑦ ᓂᕈᐊᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᖢᓂᓗ ᑕᐃᒍᓯᖅ. ᐃᓕᑲᐅᓯᑎᒋᕙᑦ ᑐᕌᒐᖃᕋᔭᖅᑐᖅ ᑐᑭᓯᑎᑦᑎᒋᐊᒃᑲᓐᓂᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕐᓂᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᑲᔪᖅᑐᐃᓗᓂ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᕆᔭᖓᑎᒍᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᖏᓐᓂᑦ. ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔪᖓ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᖅᓯᒪᓗᓂ ᓄᓇᓕᒋᔭᕐᒥᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᖕᓇᕐᓂᖅ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᐅᑎᒋᒐᑦᑎᒍ, ᐱᓗᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᑲᓇᑕᒥᑦ ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐱᕕᒃᓴᖃᑦᑎᐊᖏᓐᓇᖃᑦᑕᖏᒻᒪᑕ ᐊᓯᖏᑎᑐᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥᐅᓂᒃ ᑲᕙᒻᒪᐅᓂᖅᓴᐅᔪᓂᒃ.

ARCTIConnexion ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᒍᒪᖕᒥᔪᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᒪᕉ ᐅᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ, “ᓲᕐᓗ ᑐᓵᔨᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᑎᒻᒪᕆᖕᓄᓪᓗ ᐱᕚᓪᓕᕐᓇᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᐅᖃᖃᑎᒌᖁᑦᑎᐊᕋᑦᑎᒍ, ᑕᐃᒪᐃᓐᓂᒃ ᑐᑭᓯᓕᕈᖕᓇᕐᒪᑕ ᓄᑖᓂᒃ ᐊᓯᖏᑦᑕ ᓇᑭᙶᕐᓂᕆᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒌᓕᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑐᙵᕕᖃᑦᑎᐊᕋᓱᖕᓂᐊᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᒥᑦ. ᑕᒡᕘᓇ ᐱᓕᕆᑎᓪᓗᖓ ᐃᓕᑦᑎᓯᒪᔪᖓ ᐊᓯᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᕆᐊᖃᕋᑦᑕ.” ᐅᒃᐱᕈᓱᒃᑐᖓ ᐃᓕᑕᕆᔭᐅᔭᕆᐊᖃᒻᒪᕆᖕᒪᑕ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑦᑐᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᑦᑕ ᓯᓚᑖᓂᑦ, ᑕᐃᒃᑯᐊ ᑕᑯᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓗ ᑲᑎᑎᕆᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓯᖏᑦᑕ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ — ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖃᑎᒌᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᖅ ᐱᕚᓪᓕᕈᑎᖃᖃᑎᒌᖕᓂᐅᖕᒪᑦ. ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖏᑦ

September/October 2013

NORTHERN YOUTH

to ensuring the photos reflected Inuit perspectives with the purpose of informing and educating Southerners about Inuit.

A Nunavut-specific photo contest launched on Facebook last year gave Inuit the opportunity to illustrate Inuit knowledge through photos, many of which were used in the exhibition. This type of work, I believe, is a great example of creating an Inuit-Southern partnership through art.

For more information about the exhibition visit: www.arcticonnexion.ca.

As I guided about 50 keenly interested Southerners through the exhibition, I felt a great sense of cultural pride and was especially thankful and relieved that all the education I had attained in the last five years prepared me well for that day. I talked for three hours about the Inuit way of life: our knowledge, culture, and the challenges we face today.

More broadly, my life growing up in the North was the overarching theme and served as a compass for how I communicated who I was to them, because that is a unique experience only I can communicate as an Inuk from Nunavut. I also talked about Inuit knowledge and how it can help lead Inuit today.

It was exhausting to speak for those three hours to say the very least.

It was my first time having to speak for such a long period of time. Also Inuit, by nature, can be quietly humble about who we are and we do not always readily or naturally share our sacred cultural personal identity.

I set this reservation aside that day; partly because I have learned that if you really care about others then you will put them first and not yourself.

For preparation purposes, before leading the exhibition I told myself that I was there to teach Southerners about Inuit, a pressure that I tried my best to live up to. I was also there as a representative of Inuit with the duty to inform Southerners about who we are, where we come from and where we need to go.

Throughout the exhibition I also had a great sense of gratefulness to those in attendance because I knew they were genuinely interested in being there that day, a fact that made it easier for me to sincerely engage with them and share my experience, mostly through personal stories.

Our Future My grandmother says that if young people have a balance of learning and practicing Inuit knowledge as well as mastering how the world works today, then they can become very successful leaders. This echoes Aupilarjuk’s teaching that I mentioned earlier. I believe this type of philosophy is transferable to anyone because I think Inuit knowledge is a gift to better, quality living if honed and adhered to.

Elders who were born on the land and grew up traditionally are sadly passing on and the need to document their Inuit knowledge is becoming crucial. I would like to encourage people to document Inuit knowledge (through audio or video conversational recordings) in your own communities while learning more about how this valuable knowledge can help guide you today.

In the words of Mariano Aupilarjuk: “[N]ow that we have Nunavut, if we do not treat each other with kindness, and if we have animosity, and if we are not considerate of one another, and if we fight one another or ignore the needs of one another we will certainly fail.”

I believe that the kindness I showed to those who attended the Inuit photo exhibition made for a very meaningful and engaged afternoon.

I know they appreciated my honesty and my willingness to teach them about Inuit as best I could, considering we were in a Southern city. This type of exchange, I believe, is vitally important for the North’s future, as understanding breaks down barriers.

September/October 2013

ᐃᓕᑕᕆᔭᐅᓯᒪᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᑎᒡᓗ ᑕᓯᐅᕈᑎᒋᓗᒋᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᕆᔭᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᕚᓪᓕᑎᕈᑕᐅᔪᖕᓇᖅᑐᖅ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᑦ ᐱᔭᕆᐊᖃᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ, ᑕᐃᒫᑐᑦ ᐊᐅᐱᓛᕐᔪᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᓚᐅᕐᒪᑦ ᐅᒃᐱᕆᑦᑎᐊᕋᒃᑯᓪᓗ. ᐃᓚᐅᖃᑕᐅᓕᓚᐅᕐᒥᒐᒪ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᕐᒥᒃ ᓚᕉ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖓᓂᒃ ARCTIConnexion-ᑯᑎᒍᑦ. ᔫᓂᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᒥᑦ ᑯᐸᐃ ᓯᑎᒥᑦ ᐅᖃᖅᑎᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖓ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕐᓂᑰᔪᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᕋᓐᓈᖅᑎᑦᑎᑎᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᑕᑯᕋᓐᓈᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᖅ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᐅᑦᑐᖓ ᐃᔨᒧᑦ, ᐊᑕᐅᓯᖅ ᐅᑭᐅᖅ ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓱᖅᑕᐅᒐᓱᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓚᖃᖅᖢᓂ ᐅᓄᖅᑐᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᓂᒃ ᒪᕉ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᖅᑕᕕᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᕐᒥᑦ. ᑕᑯᕋᓐᓈᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑦᑎᒐᓱᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᑯᐸᐃᒃ ᓯᑎᒃᑯᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓂᒃᓴᓂᒥᒃ — ᐃᑦᑕᕐᓂᑕᖅ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᐅᖏᓐᓇᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ. ᒪᕉ ᐊᒃᓱᕈᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᓂ ᑕᑯᑎᑦᑎᒐᓱᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑐᑭᓯᐊᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᒐᓱᒃᖢᓂ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᒃ ᒥᒃᓵᓄᑦ. ᓄᓇᕗᑦᒧᑦᑎᐊᖅ ᑐᕌᖓᔪᖅ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᒡᒎᑎᑦᑎᓂᖅ Facebook-ᑯᑦ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᐱᕕᒃᓴᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᓕᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᑕᑯᑎᑦᑎᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᒃᑯᑦ, ᐅᓄᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓕᓚᐅᖅᖢᑎᒡᓗ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᕐᒥᑦ. ᐅᒃᐱᕈᓱᒃᑐᖓ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑦᑐᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒃᓴᑦᑎᐊᖑᖕᒪᑕ ᖃᓄᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᖃᑦᑎᐊᕈᖕᓇᕐᒪᔭᖔᑕ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓯᖏᑦ. ᑐᑭᓯᒋᐊᒃᑲᓐᓂᕈᖕᓇᖅᑐᑎᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᕐᒥᒃ ᐅᕗᙵᕐᓗᑎᑦ: arcticonnexion.ca. ᐅᖃᖅᑎᐅᑎᓪᓗᖓ ᐃᒻᒪᖄ 50 ᖃᓂᒋᔭᖓᓂᑦ ᑕᑯᓴᕆᐊᖅᑐᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑐᓴᕈᒪᓪᓚᕆᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑲᐅᑎᑎᓪᓗᒃᑭᑦ, ᐅᐱᒍᓱᒻᒪᕆᓚᐅᖅᑐᖓ ᐃᓅᓂᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖁᔭᓕᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᖓ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᒋᓚᐅᖅᑕᒃᑲ ᑕᓪᓕᒪᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᑦ ᖄᖏᓵᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᑐᕐᓇᖃᒻᒪᕆᓕᓚᐅᕐᒪᑕ ᐅᕙᓐᓄᑦ. ᐱᖓᓱᑦ ᐃᑲᕐᕋᓂᒃ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᓚᐅᖅᑐᖓ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ: ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᕗᑦ, ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᕗᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᒃᓱᕉᑎᒋᖃᑦᑕᖅᑕᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᓕᖅᑐᖅ. ᐊᒻᒪᓗᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᐱᕈᖅᓴᓂᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᕋ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᕐᒥᑦ ᑐᑭᓯᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑎᒋᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᕐᒥᔭᕋ ᑭᓇᐅᓂᓐᓂᒃ, ᓲᖃᐃᒻᒪ ᐅᕙᖓᑐᐊᑦᑎᐊᖅ ᐅᓂᒃᑲᐅᑎᒋᔪᖕᓇᕋᒃᑯ ᐃᓅᓪᓗ ᓄᓇᕗᑦᒥᐅᑕᐅᓪᓗᖓᓗ. ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖃᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᕐᒥᔪᖓ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᓄᖅ ᐃᑲᔪᕈᖕᓇᕐᒪᖔᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᐅᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ. ᑕᖃᓇᓚᐅᖅᑑᒐᓗᐊᖅ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᕋᓱᒃᖢᓂ ᐃᑲᕐᕋᓂᒃ ᐱᖓᓱᓂᒃ. ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᒥᒃ ᑕᐃᒫᑎᒋ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᒋᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖓ. ᐊᒻᒪᓗᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᒫᕌᓗᒃ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᐃᓐᓇᖅᑎᐅᒻᒪᕆᙱᒻᒥᒻᒪᑕ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᕌᓗᓗᐊᖅᐸᖏᖦᖢᑕ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑦᑕ ᖃᓄᐃᒻᒪᕆᖕᓂᖓᓂᒃ. ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐊᑐᙱᑲᐃᓐᓇᕆᐊᖃᓚᐅᖅᑕᒃᑲ ᐅᖃᖅᑎᐅᑎᓪᓗᖓ; ᓲᖃᐃᒻᒪ ᐃᓚᖓᒍᑦ ᐃᓕᓯᒪᓕᕋᒪ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑲᒪᑦᑎᐊᕈᒪᒻᒪᕆᒃᑯᕕᑦ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᐅᑎᖔᕆᐊᖃᕋᕕᒃᑭᑦ ᐃᒡᕕᐅᖏᖔᕐᓂᖅᓴᐅᓗᑎᑦ. ᐸᕐᓇᒃᑎᓪᓗᖓ, ᐅᖃᖅᑎᐅᓚᐅᖅᑳᖅᑎᓐᓇᖓ ᓱᓕ ᐅᕙᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᖓ ᑕᐃᑲᓃᓛᕋᒪ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᒐᓱᒡᓗᖓ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᒥᒃᓵᓄᑦ. ᑕᐃᑲᓃᓚᐅᕐᒥᔪᖓ ᐃᓅᖃᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᑭᒡᒐᖅᑐᐃᓪᓗᖓ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᒐᓱᒃᖢᖓ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᒍᑦ ᑭᑑᒻᒪᖔᑦᑖ, ᓇᑭᙶᕐᒪᖔᑦᑖ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓇᒧᙵᕆᐊᖃᓕᕐᒪᖔᑦᑖ. ᑕᑯᕋᓐᓈᖅᑎᑦᑎᑎᓪᓗᑕ ᖁᔭᓕᕆᖃᒻᒪᕆᓚᐅᕐᒥᔪᖓ ᑕᑯᒋᐊᖅᑐᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᓲᖃᐃᒻᒪ ᐃᓕᒍᒪᑦᑎᐊᓚᐅᕐᒪᑕ ᑕᐃᑲᓃᒍᒪᓪᓗᑎᒡᓗ, ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐊᔪᕐᓇᖏᓐᓂᖅᓴᐅᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐅᕙᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᖃᖃᑎᖃᕆᐊᒃᓴᖅ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᕆᐊᒃᓴᕐᓗ ᐊᑐᖅᓯᒪᔭᓐᓂᒃ.

ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᕗᑦ

ᐊᓈᓇᑦᑎᐊᕐᒪ ᐅᖃᐅᑎᕙᓚᐅᖅᑖᖓ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᑦ ᑐᙵᕕᖃᑦᑎᐊᖅᐸᑕ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᑐᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᑭᓯᐊᓕᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᓄᖅ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᖅ ᐊᐅᓚᖕᒪᖔᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ, ᑕᐃᒫᒃ ᐊᔪᙱᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᐅᔪᖕᓇᖅᓯᓛᕐᒪᑕ. ᑕᐃᒫᑐᑦ ᐊᐅᐱᓛᕐᔪᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᓚᐅᕐᒥᔪᖅ. ᐅᒃᐱᕈᓱᒃᑐᖓ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᓯᓚᑐᓃᑦ ᐃᓕᑕᐅᔪᖕᓇᕐᒪᑕ ᑭᓇᑐᐃᓐᓇᕐᒧᑦ ᓲᖃᐃᒻᒪ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖏᑦ ᐃᓅᑦᑎᐊᕈᑕᐅᒍᓐᓇᕐᒪᑦ ᑲᒪᒋᔭᐅᑦᑎᐊᑐᐊᕈᓂ ᒪᓕᒃᑕᐅᑦᑎᐊᑐᐊᕈᓂᓗ. ᐃᓄᑐᖃᐃᑦ ᐃᓅᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᓄᓇᒥᑦ ᐱᕈᖅᓴᓚᐅᖅᖢᑎᒡᓗ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐃᓅᔪᖕᓇᐃᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᒪᒋᓐᓇᖅᑐᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᔭᕆᐊᖃᒻᒪᕆᓕᖅᑐᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖏᑦ. ᐃᑲᔪᖅᑐᐃᒍᒪᔪᖓ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᓂᐱᓕᐅᕈᓗᑎᒡᓘᓐᓂᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᖃᑦᑕᕐᓗᑎᒡᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᒫᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᓄᖅ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐊᑑᑎᖃᓪᓚᕆᒃᑐᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓃᑦ ᑕᓯᐅᕈᑕᐅᔪᖕᓇᕐᒪᑕ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ. ᐊᐅᐱᓛᕐᔪᒃ ᐅᖃᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ: “ᓄᓇᕗᑦᑕᖃᓕᕋᑦᑕ, ᐃᓅᖃᑎᒌᑦᑎᐊᖅᐸᙱᒃᑯᑦᑕ, ᒪᒥᐊᒋᑐᕋᐅᖃᑦᑕᕈᑦᑕ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑲᒪᒋᖃᑎᒌᑦᑎᐊᖃᑦᑕᖏᒃᑯᑦᑕ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᖓᑕᖅᑕᕈᑦᑕ ᐃᓱᒪᒃᓴᐃᖏᒥᐊᖃᑦᑕᕈᑦᑕᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐃᓅᖃᑎᑦᑕ ᐱᔭᕆᐊᖃᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᔪᓕᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᒍᑦ.” ᐅᒃᐱᕈᓱᒃᑐᖓ ᐃᓅᑦᑎᐊᕐᕕᒋᓚᐅᕋᒃᑭᑦ ᑕᐃᒃᑯᐊ ᑕᑯᒋᐊᖅᑐᖅᓯᒪᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᓐᓈᖅᑎᑦᑎᑎᓪᓗᑕ ᑲᔪᓯᓂᖃᑦᑎᐊᕈᑕᐅᓚᐅᕐᒪᑦ. ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔪᖓ ᖁᔭᓕᔾᔪᑎᖃᓚᐅᕐᒪᑕ ᓱᓕᔪᓂᒃ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᓚᐅᕋᒪ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᒍᒪᓂᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᒥᒃᓵᓄᑦ ᐊᔪᙱᓂᓕᒫᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᖓ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᑦᑕ ᓯᓚᑖᓃᑎᓪᓗᑕᓗ. ᑕᐃᒪᐃᑦᑐᑦ ᐅᖃᖃᑎᒌᖕᓃᑦ, ᐅᒃᐱᕈᓱᒃᑐᖓ, ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᖕᒪᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑑᑉ ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᖓᓄᑦ, ᑐᑭᓯᐊᓕᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᖅ ᑲᑎᑎᑦᑎᐊᕈᑕᐅᕙᖕᒪᑦ.

above & beyond

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arcticjournal.ca

September/October 2013

Nelson Tagoona thanks the crowd for their applause after his throat-boxing performance.

Aboriginal Day APTN rocks in Iqaluit Text and photos by Lee Narraway

For 17 years, Canada has honoured the traditions and cultures of its aboriginal people by celebrating Aboriginal Day.

September/October 2013

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Terry Uyarak performs with Artcirq.

Saali and Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory enjoyed performing together.

Popular songstress, Leela Gilday gave a dynamic performance.

Iqaluit elder Inuapik Sagiaktok lights the qulliq to begin the concert.

The APTN crew works behind the scenes to edit the live-on-air show.

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September/October 2013

Artcirq performers are silhouetted behind a screen as they sing an Inuit juggling song.

This year I was in Iqaluit for the festivities. The Celebration of the Seal was held out at Sylvia Grinnel Park and many people had dressed up in sealskin for the event.

The beauty and practicality of their clothing was enhanced by the intricate sewing and varied styles of parkas, mitts and kamiit (boots) on parade. There was a biting wind that evening and I was envious of the windproof quality and warmth of their sealskins.

The hunters stood in a ragged line, overlooking the frozen river. They aimed their wooden guns and with a shouted, “Kerpow!” …shot the seal and dragged it up the slope. They cheered as a young girl used a cardboard ulu to “cut” up the toy seal and then all knelt on the ground and happily pretended they were eating it. This performance by young preschool students was a celebration of their culture and also an important reminder of Inuit traditions: hunting to provide both food and clothing, sharing with others and the sense of accomplishment, self esteem and joy in a successful hunt.

As a final tribute to the seal, we shared in a feast of fresh seal meat, barbecued seal, char soup, seal stew and bannock.

One of the highlights of Aboriginal Day was the concert held at the Winter Games Arena and broadcast nationally on Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN).

I spent the day before the actual concert watching and photographing some of the performers as they rehearsed. A backup group of teenaged girls synchronized their drum dancing to the rocking rhythms of Sinuupa. It was hard to sit still as his dance music filled the arena and easy to see why a CD from this singer-songwriter Edward (Etua) Snowball was voted Best Rock CD by the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards in 2012.

Saali, an Inuk singer-songwriter, blended his beautiful voice together with the steady rhythmic throat singing of Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory into a poignant melody. In another song, he creatively incorporated a Jew’s harp, one of the oldest instruments in the world.

When Leela Gilday began her rehearsal, her powerful voice and vibrant energetic performance made it obvious why this talented Dene singer-songwriter is so popular.

September/October 2013

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Skilled jugglers from Artcirq thrill the audience with their humorous antics.

In between acts, I snooped behind the scenes to check things out. It had taken over a year to plan this three-and-a-half hour event and the logistics required to put on a show of this magnitude were astounding. A million dollars worth of equipment had been shipped up by First Air from Winnipeg. It took 14 truckloads to move the 30 thousand pounds of gear from the First Air cargo to the arena. Then a crew of 40 people worked for five days to get everything set up.

At last, it was the summer solstice and the long awaited concert would begin. The town had been buzzing for days. All the free tickets to Aboriginal Day Live had been claimed from the local stores yet still more people were trying to find a way to see the show.

Out at the arena, the crowds turned up early to enjoy a free barbecue sponsored by the RCMP. When the doors were finally opened, they poured in. Seats rapidly filled, children ran and shrieked and laughed and adults visited with friends.

Co-hosts Madeleine Allakariallak of Iqaluit and Don Kelly, a star of the APTN series Fish Out of Water opened the show. Kelly explained how the evening would proceed.

Because the show was being simultaneously blended with another Aboriginal concert held in Winnipeg, there would be down times when the cameras would not be on us.

There was no need to encourage this audience to respond when we were at last on air‌ the cheers nearly raised the roof. And then the show began.

The Inuk stood in the middle of the stage, staring straight ahead. A young woman walked out and slowly climbed up to stand on his shoulders, then triumphantly raised her arms high. No one made a sound as she bent low and carefully placed each hand precisely in the middle of his palms, then rested all her weight there and bit by bit unfurled her body into a perfect handstand. The audience went wild. Artcirq continued its tradition of top notch entertainment with a blend of juggling acts, acrobatics, comedy and circus arts that combined traditional and Inuit performance styles.

As musician Nelson Tagoona sang, Mathew Nuqingaq drum danced to the music, his body swaying slowly back and forth. Then Tagoona took hold of the mike and began 20

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September/October 2013

Delighted members of the audience applaud one of the many performances.

Many came to Iqaluit’s Sylvia Grinnel Park wearing beautiful sealskin clothing for the Celebration of the Seal event.

A colourfully dressed Nunavummiut youngster mimics cutting up a seal using her cardboard ulu.

Seal carcasses rest on a blue tarp while the crowd gathers for the feast.

Government of Nunavut, Deputy Minister, Culture and Heritage, Simon Awa, jokes with the crowd as he welcomes them to the Celebration.

September/October 2013

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Russian performer, Saina shares her enthusiasm with others through dance and song.

A giantess strolled across the stage then slowly her clothing collapsed to reveal these two performers from Artcirq.

An officer obligingly takes a photo for some visitors to Iqaluit during the RCMP sponsored barbeque.

Jocelyn Arreak displays her prize winning flag with one of the show’s hosts Madeleine Allakariallak.

Guillaume Saladin and his young daughter enjoy the performances.

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September/October 2013

Susan Aglukark and Iqaluit children join together in song on the APTN stage.

his popular vocal percussion, a catchy blend of throat singing and hip hop style beat boxing that has become his trademark and gained the quirky name of throat boxing.

The throbbing beat was infectious.

For the last seven years, APTN has sponsored an Aboriginal Day flag competition.

This gives young aboriginals from across Canada a chance to share their vision and pride in their heritage and culture. This year, Jocelyn Arreak from Igloolik created a vibrant flag that included many elements from the Inuit culture and way of life including northern lights, qulliq (seal oil lamp), qamutik (sled), caribou, igloo, polar bear and seal. Her flag was bright and beautiful and her poise and confidence while being interviewed on national television was remarkable.

Saina delivered a unique act that was based on music from the elders of rural Yakutia in northern Russia. Her haunting melodies and graceful dance movements allowed the audience to comprehend the story without understanding the language. Her performance was unforgettable.

Seasoned entertainer Susan Aglukark invited over 40 young children onto the stage for her opening number. Dressed in matching amautiit, they solemnly stood and looked out at the audience. Cell phones and cameras clicked madly as they began to sing with the star. It was certainly a crowd-pleaser. Aglukark, a celebrated singer-songwriter and one of Nunavut’s best-known performers, closed out the evening with a polished performance.

I wandered home after the concert, humming an Inuktitut tune, interspersed with my own rather pathetic version of throatboxing. As I approached the rise of the hill, I came to a sudden, breathless stop. There, spread before me was the Super Moon rising over Frobisher Bay. Although the scientific explanation for this extra large, full moon is that the moon has just reached its nearest point to the earth... I prefer to think that it was there only to provide the perfect final touch for the celebration of Aboriginal Day in Iqaluit.

September/October 2013

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IQALUIT, NUNAVUT September/October 2013

LIVING ABOVE & BEYOND

NWT signs devolution agreement The Northwest Territories celebrated a milestone June 25 with the signing of the final devolution agreement in Inuvik. The deal comes after decades of work and negotiating by the Northwest Territories government, First Nations and the federal government. The deal gives the territory control over its land and resources, as well as a greater share of the territory’s royalties.

The NWT will now split royalties from oil, mineral and diamond resources equally © ED MARUYAMA

with Ottawa. The five aboriginal groups that signed the deal will get half of the territorial government’s share.

The territorial legislature must pass

Master carvers left to right, Looty Pijamini of Grise Fiord, Paul Malliki of Repulse Bay and Inuk Charlie of Taloyoak stand with the 14-foot monument they created to commemorate Nunavut’s 20th anniversary.

24 pieces of new legislation and shift

New monument celebrates 20 years of NLCA

175 jobs from the federal to the territorial

On July 9 in Iqaluit this year, Nunavut Day was

Charlie of Taloyoak, Paul Malliki of Repulse Bay

government to make this happen.

celebrated with a special commemoration

and Looty Pijamini of Grise Fiord.

Inuvik is also surrounded by massive

ceremony to mark the 20 years since the birth of Nunavut.

The Qikiqtaaluk Corporation in partnership with the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. commis-

deposits of natural gas. Under this agree-

At the Igluvut building downtown, Nunavut

sioned the monument and landscape garden

ment those resources could provide the

Tunngavik Inc. president Cathy Towtongie joined

located on their main headquarters property

the artists to unveil the 20th anniversary 14-foot

to recognize the 20-year anniversary of the

monument. The three master carvers were Inuk

Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA).

NWT with royalties if extracted.

September/October 2013

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LIVING ABOVE & BEYOND

© D.G. FROESE, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA

Northern musical talent on the show circuit

Late Pleistocene horse skull, Equus lambei, from the Klondike region, Yukon.

Ancient Yukon horse DNA provides insights into horse evolution Using new technology, researchers have been able to piece together the genome of a 700,000-year-old horse. Duane Froese, an earth sciences professor at the University of Alberta, and his colleagues were looking for fossils in the Thistle Creek gold mine, about 100 kilometres south of Dawson © ISABELLE DUBOIS

City, Yukon about a decade ago. They found fossils in the permafrost and since then have been meticulously sequencing 200 DNA molecules from the find to compare A rising star from the small Nunavut community of Sanikiluaq is beginning to take the musical world by storm. Kelly Fraser, a 19 year-old musician and recent graduate of Nunavut Sivuniksavut, the Ottawa-based college for Nunavut Inuit, along with her Sanikiluaq-based band “Kelly Fraser and the Easy Four,” played a series of concerts across Nunavik and Nunavut this summer.

They performed at the Alianait Music Festival in Iqaluit, Wakeham Bay for the Eastern Arctic Winter Games, the Akulivik Iqaluapik Festival, the Kujjuraapik Wild Berry Festival and the Aqpik Jam in Kuujjuaq.

Sanikiluaq is a remote island community in Hudson Bay with only 800 residents.

to other ancient horse genomes.

To find out about Fraser’s future appearances, check out www.facebook.com/kellyamaujaqfraser.

the biggest changes were the genes that

Their results show a lot about horse evolution. They found that the common ancestor of the species they found arose around four million years ago — twice as early as previously thought. Over time, some parts of the genome that showed control the ability to smell and the animal’s immune system. The DNA analysis also showed that horse populations fluctuated with the climate over the ages.

The researchers hope to be able to refine the horse genome in the future so they can look at other genes in other fossil bones and potentially discover more about our own origins and the evolutionary history of almost every single species living on Earth.

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September/October 2013

LIVING ABOVE & BEYOND

© SARAH JEROME, GSCI.

GNWT officially recognizes Gwich’in place names

Documenting information up the Peel River at Chii Tsinjahch’uh (trans: Rock-strange looking) during the Teetł’it Gwich’in Place Names Project 1996. From left to right: Eunice Mitchell, Erika Kritsch, Troy Alexie (background), Ingrid Kritsch, Walter Alexie, Robert Alexie Sr.

On June 21, 2013, the Government of the Northwest Territories officially recognized 414 traditional Gwich’in geographical or place names reflecting their land use across the Gwich’in Settlement Area of the NWT. During the 19th and 20th centuries, many traditional place names were replaced by colonial names for rivers, lakes, mountains and settlements.

Through the efforts of the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute working closely with Gwich’in Elders between 1992 and 2012, these names have been restored to reflect the Gwich’in heritage and culture.

The NWT Cultural Places Program at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre is responsible for geographical names of features and places in the NWT. The Program coordinates official recognition for place name changes, placing special emphasis on the recognition of Aboriginal language place names as directed by the NWT Geographical and Community Names Policy.

The Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute has also installed an exhibit at the Museum featuring the new place names and their cultural and historical significance.

For more information, visit www.pwnhc.ca/gwichin or the NWT Place Name Gazetteer.

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© DREXEL UNIVERSITY

LIVING ABOVE & BEYOND

A lower jaw bone fossil from Holoptychius bergmanni.

New fish species fossils found in Nunavut A team of researchers from the United States have named a new Devonian fossil fish species “Holoptychius bergmanni” in honour of the late Martin Bergmann, former director of the Polar Continental Shelf Program. That organization provided logistical support during the team’s Nunavut research trips where the fossil was found.

The complete fish would have been two to three feet long when it was alive 375 million years ago.

Dr. Ted Daeschler and his colleagues from Drexel University returned to Ellesmere Island this summer for another field expedition to search for fossils in older rocks at a more northerly field site than the one where they discovered T. roseae, known as Tiktaalik, and H. bergmanni.

Photographer swims with “Unicorns of the Sea” in Nunavut A Brazilian photojournalist Daniel Botelho, commissioned by the Disney Corporation, recently visited the waters of Nunavut to swim with the narwhals.

His assignment to capture underwater images of the “Unicorns of the Sea” was successful. On June 12, his crew of 16 set out from Arctic Bay, Nunavut, on snow machines to their base camp. About 100 meters from the edge, narwhals were sighted.

Botelho suited up and within minutes was swimming side by side with three to four narwhals.

Upon his return to Arctic Bay, he was invited to every house to tell the story of his swim with the narwhals.

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September/October 2013

RESOURCES

Sahtu board approves ConocoPhillips fracking project

© DE BEERS

The Sahtu Land and Water Board has approved a proposal to drill and frack two horizontal wells near Tulita, Northwest Territories. It has granted ConocoPhillips Canada a land use permit and a water licence for the exploration project with conditions.

The board said it has determined this development will not cause a significant adverse environmental impact and that it will not be a cause of public concern, adding the effects of this development would be insignificant or could be mitigated with known technology.

The project is at the exploration stage and the oil drilling program still needs to get approval from the National Energy Board.

Gahcho Kué Project advanced exploration camp at Kennady Lake.

Fortune Minerals’ proposed NICO mine receives approvals The Tlicho government and the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development have agreed with the Mackenzie Valley board recommendation that the Fortune Minerals’ proposed NICO mine near Whati, Northwest Territories, move ahead.

Fortune is planning to start building the gold, cobalt, bismuth and copper mine next year.

The company still has to arrange financing to develop the mine. It’s also still working on an all-weather road to ship concentrates from the mine to Saskatchewan for processing.

The mineral reserves from the mine will sustain operations for 19.8 years.

September/October 2013

GNWT and De Beers Canada sign Gahcho Kué agreement The Government of the Northwest Territories

The proposed mine is located not far from

(GNWT) and De Beers Canada (DBC) have signed

De Beers’s other Northwest Territories diamond

a Socio-Economic Agreement (SEA) for the

mine, Snap Lake. Mountain Province owns

proposed Gahcho Kué Project in the North

49 per cent of the project, De Beers 51 per cent.

Slave Region. The SEA relates to DBC’s plans

The opening of the Gahcho Kué mine (the

to establish a mine and related facilities at

territory’s fourth diamond mine) will provide

Kennady Lake for the commercial production

economic opportunities for people throughout

of rough diamonds.

the North and South Slave Regions and across

The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board has also recommended De Beers’s Gahcho Kué Diamond Project proceed, but with a number of conditions to

the territory and will stimulate the mining industry and diversify the NWT economy.

The federal government will have the final say if the mine is approved to go ahead.

minimize impacts on caribou.

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© CANADIAN ZINC CORPORATION

RESOURCES

Prairie Creek Mine site main yard facilities.

© TERRAX MINERALS INC.

Prairie Creek Mine receives permits for ore mining

Veronique Bjorkman and Joe Campbell, president TerraX Minerals Inc, re-logging and re-sampling historical core from Northbelt.

TerraX Minerals continues gold mine development in Yellowknife Work on developing new gold mines in the Yellowknife area is going according to plan.

TerraX Minerals has completed an airborne geophysical survey and field exploration program at the Northbelt gold property in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. These programs included a detailed airborne magnetic, electromagnetic and radiometric survey as well as a three-week field program. TerraX’s initial fieldwork concentrated on locating historical drill collars and preliminary surface sampling.

The Northbelt gold property encompasses 3,562 hectares on the Yellowknife belt, 15 km north of the city of Yellowknife, and covers 13 km of strike on the northern extension of the geology that contained the Giant and Con gold mines. The property is host to multiple shears in the Yellowknife camp that contain innumerable gold showings.

President and CEO Joe Campbell of TerraX Minerals says there’s still lots of work to do before any drilling begins, likely next January.

The Mackenzie Land and Water Board has issued Canadian Zinc two key land use permits for the Prairie Creek Mine: a Type “A” Water Licence and a transfer station build permit.

The licence has been forwarded to the federal government for approval.

The transfer station would be located at the junction of the mine’s existing access road and the Liard Highway.

Canadian Zinc’s long-term aim is to bring the 100 per cent-owned Prairie Creek Mine in the Mackenzie Mountains of the Northwest Territories into production at the earliest possible date. The mine, surrounded

by Nahanni National Park Reserve, is a silver and base metals property already in the advanced stages of development, with substantial resources of high-grade silver, zinc, and lead.

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www.langcom.nu.ca 30

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The

ARCTIC

A GLOBAL FRONTIER

W

e may have harnessed the ability to map our

world from space with a precision in the order of a few centimetres, but that does not

mean humanity has run out of frontiers. The rapidly changing Arctic remains a tantalizing terra incognita — its evolving environment only partly understood, its economic potential

By Tim Lougheed

largely unknown, its place in human history an

Š SARAHTHEO / FOTOLIA.COM

unsettling mystery.

September/October 2013

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The Council has emerged as a primary point of departure for dealing with these matters, a role that was highlighted in 2011,

© above&beyond, CANADA'S ARCTIC JOURNAL

when its members approved the first legally binding agreement to govern search and rescue activities

© COURTESY THE OFFICE OF MP LEONA AGLUKKAQ

taking place on land, sea, or water.

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq with Veronica Tattuinee (left) and Bernadette Tutanuak (right), both from Rankin Inlet.

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Laval University scientist Louis Fortier, one of the key figures behind Canada’s push to open up this frontier, has dubbed the region “a new Mediterranean”. And, just as the Mediterranean Sea has for centuries served as a focal point of competition or cooperation among its bordering nations, so too is the Arctic Ocean on its way to becoming a global political lynchpin.

That status became more formal during the 1990s, as the eight countries with Arctic territory — Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States — began to meet regularly for discussions about the future of the North.

By 1996, this interaction had spawned the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum for reviewing priorities such as economic development and environmental protection.

Since then there have been plenty of priorities to review. Increases in the annual thinning and retreating of sea ice are widely regarded as a bellwether of physical changes that will alter the Arctic in unprecedented ways, such as opening up new lanes for shipping, new waters for fishing, and new lands for prospecting. The Council has emerged as a primary point of departure for dealing with these matters, a role that was highlighted in 2011, when its members approved the first legally binding agreement to govern search and rescue activities taking place on land, sea, or water.

Even more revealingly, the Council’s proceedings have expanded to include permanent participation by six organizations representing Arctic indigenous peoples, as well as admitting other bodies as observers. Some 12 non-Arctic countries have now been given observer status, as have 20 governmental and non-governmental organizations.

The guiding role of council Chair rotates between the original eight member states every two years. Canada was the first to assume that post, and now, almost two decades later, our turn has come again. As further testament to how much the Council has evolved, the new Minister for the Arctic Council is Leona Aglukkaq, an Inuk who grew up in Gjoa Haven, a town on King William Island made famous after its inhabitants taught Roald Amundsen the survival skills that enabled him to lead the way to the South Pole. Her family still lives there and she calls it home, a fact that will undoubtedly colour her contribution to the Arctic Council.

September/October 2013

© MARTINA HUBER (REGERINGSKANSLIET)

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq accepting the Arctic Council Chair’s gavel from Swedish Foreign Minister, Carl Bildt, as Sweden’s Minister of the Environment, Lena Ek, looks on.

“Having been born and raised in Canada’s North, and having lived the aboriginal way of life, I think I bring a unique perspective to the table,” she said, speaking soon after the May 2013 meeting in Sweden that transferred the chair to Canada. “We have a real opportunity during our chairmanship to tell the Canadian story.”

That story is captured by the current chair’s stated theme: “Development for the People of the North”. Among other things, this theme emphasizes food security, especially the need to hunt animals that many non-Northerners would prefer to protect.

Aglukkaq has little time for the romantic image of polar bears touted by Coca-Cola, which helps to portray the taking of these animals as an affront to Arctic wildlife, rather than as a key part of a lifestyle that has sustained Inuit for centuries. Nor does she countenance arguments that hunting must stop before changing sea ice patterns doom the bears to extinction.

“Nobody talks about the wildlife adaptation to change,” she said. “Also not talked about is that we have negotiated a land claims agreement for over 30 years that protects the land, the water, and the wildlife. And we’ve got a very comprehensive program in place that does that.”

Her view is echoed by Ron Wallace, a senior fellow with the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, a charitable, independent research agency dedicated to a range of international issues. He insists that Aglukkaq’s appointment to the Arctic Council amounts to a declaration that native people are the principal players in northern affairs, superseding the ambitions of outsiders who would prefer to see the entire region turned into some sort of massive nature reserve.

September/October 2013

That story is captured by the current chair’s stated theme: “Development for the People of the North”. Among other things, this theme emphasizes food security, especially the need to hunt animals that many non-Northerners would prefer to protect. Aglukkaq has little time for the romantic image of polar bears touted by Coca-Cola, which helps to portray the taking of these animals as an affront to Arctic wildlife, rather than as a key part of a lifestyle that has sustained Inuit for centuries.

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“The high-profile Arctic Council Chairmanship falls to a Canadian aboriginal woman and Cabinet Minister precisely at a moment when these issues will unquestionably emerge into this intergovernmental forum. It’s not only high time that a distinguished northern aboriginal leader be allowed to assume the duties of Chairmanship of the Council, but that we should reflect with pride that it is Canada that has brought forth such capable, and diverse, aboriginal leaders to the global circumpolar diplomatic stage.”

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“It’s really a phenomenal event,” he says. “It’s a huge change, not only in Canada, but across the whole North. The Inuvialuit and the Inuit people are slowly starting to take control of the agenda, and Leona is the front edge of that wedge.”

Wallace credits the current federal government with moving further and faster in this direction than any of its predecessors. By way of example, he points to the fast tracking of devolution in the Northwest Territories, which will see this region take on the full equivalent of provincial powers by April 2014. This accomplishment has also been watched closely beyond our borders.

“We’re now getting a devolutionary movement in Greenland that’s effectively modelled on what’s happening in Canada,” he says.

Writing in the National Post as Aglukkaq took on the chair, Wallace was even more pointed about the implications that are being demonstrated for all the world to see.

“The high-profile Arctic Council Chairmanship falls to a Canadian aboriginal woman and Cabinet Minister precisely at a moment when these issues will unquestionably emerge into this intergovernmental forum,” he wrote. “It’s not only high time that a distinguished northern aboriginal leader be allowed to assume the duties of Chairmanship of the Council, but that we should reflect with pride that it is Canada that has brought forth such capable, and diverse, aboriginal leaders to the global circumpolar diplomatic stage.”

Nevertheless, Michael Byers, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia, has pointed out that the Council chairmanship must reflect the interests of all members. He has outlined a suggested agenda for Canada’s term which would do just that, bringing governments and indigenous populations into conversations that have never before occurred in an Arctic context, on topics like fisheries management, oil spill prevention, and the notorious haze cited as evidence of the atmospheric pollution that is changing the climate.

“As melting sea-ice opens the region to shipping and resource extraction, the Arctic Council has become essential; if it did not exist, it would have to be created,” wrote Byers in a paper for the Rideau Institute, a non-profit research and advocacy group.

He added that the presence of military forces is another fundamental feature of northern affairs, though it was explicitly excluded from the Council’s mandate. That position made sense at the time, when the ultimate political impact of this newly minted body was unclear. Byers suggests that the time is right for just this kind of added responsibility.

“Today, in quite different circumstances that include a marked decline in military tension as well as a successful track record on the part of the Arctic Council, the member states would be well advised to revisit that decision,” Byers advises. “Canada could and should initiate this discussion during its chairmanship of the Council.”

For his part, Wallace argues that the military remains an overlooked and under appreciated partner in the transformation of the modern Arctic. By way of example, he points to Operation Nunalivut 10, a joint mission between the Canadian Rangers, a northern reserve of the Canadian Forces (CF), and the Sirius Dog Patrol, a Greenland contingent of the Danish military. In April 2010, the two groups worked together on the sea ice off Ellesmere Island and Greenland, demonstrating their ability to coordinate complex manoeuvres in this challenging setting.

“It is perhaps regrettable that so few Canadians could witness the concluding ceremony,” wrote Wallace in a policy paper on Operation Nunalivut 10. “Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Chief of Defence Staff General Walter Natyncyzk led the procession of Canadian Ranger snowmobiles and the Danish Sirius patrol dog team into Alert. Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak, Danish Rear Admiral Henrik Kudsk, former Canadian circumpolar ambassador and current President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) Mary Simon [at the time], and Brigadier General David Millar, took the salute from the arriving Ranger-Sirius patrol members. The occasion was further enhanced by the parachute appearance of CF air search and rescue personnel who demonstrated their capabilities to land with pinpoint accuracy. It was an impressive display.”

He acknowledged that many critics could regard these proceedings as more show than substance, a modest display of Canadian sovereignty in a new Arctic where the military and political stakes are high. Wallace maintains that it is precisely such displays

September/October 2013

that will overcome inevitable disputes, such as the debate between Canada and Denmark over ownership of tiny Hans Island, and resolve those differences in a tidy, satisfactory way.

“Through operations like Nunalivut 10, the CF may be accomplishing much more than a de-escalation of international political tensions in the Arctic,” he concluded.

“The CF may be pathfinders for better operational relationships and understandings between southern and northern Canadians, as well as expanding the ‘northern dialogue’ among circumpolar nations.”

The Arctic could eventually offer up a showcase of this sort of geopolitical civility for others to witness. P. Whitney Lackenbauer, chair of the history department at St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo and another fellow of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, said just that in his own National Post article commenting on Canada’s acquisition of the Arctic Council Chair. He referred to the growing number of non-Arctic countries in places like Asia that are monitoring the Council’s progress and weighing the fate of that region against the interests of their own region.

“Alienating Asian states will feed perceptions that the Arctic countries view the region as a private backyard, dismissing international interests and simply dividing the spoils amongst themselves,” he says. “Instead, Canada should work with its Arctic neighbours to foster a sense of Asian Arctic-mindedness that is sensitive to the region’s unique environmental and human attributes. During its chair, Canada must look at the region through global, regional and national lenses to ensure that its interests, those of the Council, and those of a growing array of interested stakeholders are balanced and maintained.”

If that sounds like a heavy burden to bear, you get no hint of it from Leona Aglukkaq, whose enthusiasm for her new job is undiminished.

“The Arctic regions should be experts in the Arctic regions, as opposed to solutions we’re trying to get from the south,” she says. “We should be coming up with research and innovation in the North. So it’s an exciting time for the Arctic regions to be collaborating further, opening up those doors.”

“Canada should work with its Arctic neighbours to foster a sense of Asian Arctic-mindedness that is sensitive to the region’s unique environmental and human attributes. During its chair, Canada must look at the region through global, regional and national lenses to ensure that its interests, those of the Council, and those of a growing array of interested stakeholders are balanced and maintained.”

© COURTESY THE OFFICE OF MP LEONA AGLUKKAQ

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq with residents from Rankin Inlet.

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In Focus at the Top of the World

© PAUL RICKARD / WATCHERS OF THE NORTH

Filming with the Canadian Rangers

By Maureen Marovitch

Ranger Mary Ugyuk inside a one person snow shelter she helped construct.

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he office of Picture This Productions looks a bit like base camp for explorer Roald Amundsen’s Northwest Passage trip… one century on. Every available space in the television production company’s office is laid out with organized piles. There are giant plastic bins sealed with duct tape and neatly labelled “fragile,” tightly rolled bedding, crisp new sheets and pillowcases, bags of cough drops, crates of lights and tripod stands, boxes of hard drives, piles of batteries, and Ziploc bags stuffed with cooking supplies.

T

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© PAUL RICKARD

Rangers ride their V-formation in salute to the crew.

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ing a tense search and rescue exercise to seeing if the newest eager recruits have what it takes, the theme of Watchers of the North is to get to know the Rangers and their communities while weaving an adventure story at the same time.

Cinematographer Paul Rickard and soundman Nick Huard have packed a strippeddown camera kit as carry-on bags in advance, knowing that they’ll need to hit the ground ready to shoot as soon as they arrive. The tripod, extra batteries and lighting equipment will have to wait for the next flight, not an unusual occurrence in the North.

There, passenger and cargo loads and weight factors are especially critical.

But then, as the last equipment package finally arrives, it’s discovered that there’s one more missing piece: a mistakenly left-behind camera filter. This unassuming piece of glass, the size of a chocolate chip cookie, reduces the amount of light going into a camera lens — essential for managing the intensely bright glare that bounces off the expanses of endless snow in the North. Without it, Rickard knows he’ll have a tough time giving texture and form to the endless expanses of snow and sky. If the crew had been shooting in Calgary or Halifax, the filter would be in his hands in hours. With the

© TOBI ELLIOTT / WATCHERS OF THE NORTH

David Finch, series director of APTN’s new series Watchers of the North, weaves his way through the makeshift aisles carrying two large shopping bags and drops them onto a table. “We cleaned out the entire supply of hand warmers at Mountain Equipment Co-Op,” he says. “Where are we going to find 200 more hand warmers at the end of April?”

This isn’t a question a television show producer typically finds himself asking three days before a film crew takes off to spend seven weeks filming in April to early June. But then, most producers aren’t sending their crews to spend 50 days in the northernmost community on Canada’s mainland. It takes careful preparation to pull it off if the team is to come back with exquisite footage and fingers and toes intact.

The piles of cargo being prepared are for the crew of Watchers of the North, a new docu-adventure series set to premiere on APTN’s airwaves starting September 5. The series follows the on and off-duty adventures of Canadian Forces reservists called the Canadian Rangers. If you live in a big or even medium-sized Canadian city, or anywhere below the 60th parallel, you’ve probably never seen a Canadian Ranger, wearing the iconic red hoody and baseball cap and carrying a 1940s-era Lee Enfield rifle.

Back in Montreal, the TV crew heads to Montreal’s Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport for its own first test: an itinerary that will take two days, flying from Montreal to Toronto, Toronto to Calgary, Calgary to Yellowknife, then Yellowknife to the fly-in community of Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, population 1,300. It’s a distance of 5,565 km as the crow flies. They’ll spend two weeks filming the Rangers there, then board another small plane and head 165 km northeast to the fly-in community of Taloyoak, Nunavut, population 850. There another three-person TV crew will meet the original four and together they’ll capture the stories of Taloyoak’s larger Canadian Ranger and Junior Ranger patrols. From follow-

Soundman Chris Yapp and cameraperson Steph Weimar film Canadian Ranger Louisa Alookee.

September/October 2013

© TOBI ELLIOTT

nearest camera supply shop thousands of kilometres away, there’s no choice but to ship a tiny box to Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, from Montreal. Even an overnight courier service will take nearly a week to get it there and will require a personal escort in Yellowknife to make sure it gets on the plane.

“We felt like we were sending shipments to the International Space Station,” series director and producer David Finch recalls. “Every time the crew needed some supplies or replacement equipment, or we had to receive the material they had shot, we had to deal with complex flights and connections, scheduling, unpredictable weather that would mix things up, and finally, arranging for the shipments to meet the crews where they were at any given moment. We definitely learned as we went along — as far as we were aware, no one had filmed a live-action TV series in this particular region before.”

The camera crew had plenty of experience filming in northern climes, but every shoot day brought a new challenge. Paul Rickard, who grew up in Moose Factory in a Cree community in Northern Ontario, had been on countless hunting trips out on the land. He knew how to layer his clothes to keep warm, and his past Arctic filming experiences had helped him develop ingenious ways to keep camera lenses from becoming uselessly fogged up when going from -45 C outdoors to the warmth of indoor interviews. What he couldn’t master was the vastness of the Arctic landscape, and how long it took to get to deceptively close-appearing places.

“I grew up with trees and rivers that we use to estimate distance,” says Rickard. “But people in Gjoa Haven talk about hills or rocks or valleys. In episode three, we had to snowmobile from Gjoa Haven to “CAM B,” he says, mentioning a radar station that the Rangers were maintaining as part of maintaining the Northern Warning System air defence system. “You can see it from miles away, but we were snowmobiling for hours and it never seemed to be getting any closer.”

Episode director Dennis Allen had no trouble with assessing the landscape. He grew up in Inuvik, in the Western Arctic. Inupiat on his father’s side, and Gwich’in on his mother’s, Allen had spent long hours on a snowmobile and camping out on the land.

But he’d never had to do it pulling a qamutik (wooden sled) loaded with 1,200 kg of

Getting down to filming in Taloyoak.

camera gear, tents, gas — his cameraman and soundman perched on top.

“It’s like trying to control a runaway train,” Allen recalls.

“You have a 20-foot line between the snowmobile and the trailing sled. So you go down the hills fast to keep it under control and from catching up and smashing into the back of the snowmobile. Then suddenly, I spot a big boulder in the way, and I’m thinking, if we crash into that rock, my guys will have broken bones.” He pauses, “I had to learn quickly to overcome my fear, and learn to trust that if I am going a certain speed, I can control that snowmobile.”

Keeping the sled moving was one important skill Allen had to master. Bringing it to a stop was another. “You can’t suddenly stop,” he warns. “As soon as the snowmobile stops,

© CAPTAIN STEPHEN WATTON / WATCHERS OF THE NORTH

Director Dennis Allen with cameraman Paul Rickard and soundman Nick Huard interview Ranger Eva Kegneak in Gjoa Haven.

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© CHRISTOPHER YAPP

Keeping camera gear functioning properly in the Arctic is always a challenge. Bundled up against the elements Stephanie Weimar checks on her camera.

© TOBI ELLIOTT / WATCHERS OF THE NORTH

what you are towing, all 2,000 to 3,000 lbs of gear just keeps coming and you have no control over it.”

A hard stop can have deadly results. In February 2013, Canadian Ranger Donald Anguyoak of Gjoa Haven died tragically during a Ranger exercise when his sled hit him in the back after a sudden stop. It was a stark reminder that being safe on the land in the North is never to be taken for granted.

The Rangers in Taloyoak not only made sure the TV crews were safe on shoot, they also took to engineering special sleds for them to get great footage. Master Corporal Sam Tulurialik designed and built a special qamutik for the

Rangers gather around a map to plan a Search and Rescue exercise, Taloyoak.

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crew so they could film while travelling without being buffeted in the wind. Allen nicknamed it “The Cadillac Qamutik” but like its moniker, the ‘luxury’ sled wasn’t ideal for all situations.

“We were going to film at the Annual Fishing Derby and there were really strong winds that day,” says Allen. “The thing was like a house. We didn’t know the winds would pick it up and blow it around like a big sail. We couldn’t travel more than 10 miles and we had to go back and get a smaller sled.”

Cameraman Rickard lost his protected vantage point inside the “Cadillac,” ending up riding on the back of Allen’s snowmobile for more than 35 miles. “It was bloody cold,” says Allen, “But he never complained. To me, our camera guys had the toughest job.”

For cameraperson and series researcher Stephanie Weimar, the physical challenge was something she relished. She’d already spent three years working for the Inuvialuit Communications Society as a director, cameraperson and editor. But the sheer physicality of working on Watchers of the North took her northern experience to a new level.

“It was extremely challenging,” says Weimar of the times she and 2nd unit sound recordist Christopher Yapp spent shooting the Taloyoak Canadian Ranger patrol. In a docu-adventure series, a cameraperson never wants to miss out on what could be the next big moment — even if you have no idea when that could be.

“The Rangers would just stop anywhere. They would get excited about something and from where we were, we didn’t know what it was,” says Stephanie. “So we’d jump off our skidoo in the blowing wind, unbuckle everything, get out our equipment cases from underneath everything, hook up the camera and the sound gear and then run across the ice.”

The term ‘running’ may be an overstatement. “In photos, the ice looks like a flat lake,” says Weimar, “But when you’re there, you’re wading through jumbled drifts of

September/October 2013

© WATCHERS OF THE NORTH

knee-deep snow.” After their gear-laden sprints, Weimar and Yapp found that eight times out of 10 there was nothing to film — maybe a sea ledge that had disappeared or a hunting opportunity didn’t materialize. So they’d race back to their snowmobile, pack everything up and climb back on, repeating the whole process several times over the next eight hours.

Trying to keep up with the Rangers and not fall over as they bumped over challenging terrain kept them wide-awake — most of the time. Weimar recalls one afternoon when her soundman stopped their snowmobile because he noticed she was tilted over precariously on the seat behind him. He discovered the reason for the unusual position — the exhausted cameraperson had fallen asleep. Despite the physical exertion, Weimar is quick to point out how nourishing she found the emotional experience. She was awed by how welcoming the communities were and how they treated her and the teams more like guests than camera-toting strangers.

Ranger Louisa Alookee with Stephanie and Chris.

© CAPTAIN STEPHEN WATTON

and lives of the Rangers — with the cooperation of the Rangers themselves.

“This was a chance to work on something together with the people who live there, one that shows what its like in the North with all its facets,” says Weimar. “I think the series doesn’t hide the rough spots, but it also shows the fun, the wisdom and the light-heartedness.”

“It was a lot of just trying to capture things as they happen,” adds Rickard, “We weren’t making things go the way we thought they should be. We were capturing how life really is for Rangers in these communities.”

Sergeant Aqqaq adds. “I hope that APTN viewers will have a good time watching it and hopefully learn from it, too, how life really is up North.”

The Gjoa Haven Rangers and the Watchers of the North crew mark the memory of their time together.

“They were really taking care of us, really embracing us and making sure we had everything we needed,” enthuses Weimar. “Once you start thinking, these people have done this all their lives, and their grandparents did this in much harsher conditions with less resources, you realize, ‘Wow this is amazing!’ Just the amount of stuff you need to know to be safe there. You realize you wouldn't know how to survive for three hours without them.”

The Canadian Rangers were equally enthused about having a TV crew documenting their lives and work. Says Taloyoak patrol Sergeant Abel Aqqaq, “ We were pretty excited about it. We voted among ourselves and picked out of a hat about who would go on each patrol and exercise. We had to — there were too many who wanted to do it.”

The crew was rewarded with spectacular filming opportunities: like the night of the super moon. “Going out at 1 am and seeing this enormous disk ring over the landscape — it was like we were on another beautiful planet,” recalls production coordinator Tobi Elliott.

Elliott also notes that their long stay in the communities allowed them to capture a side of the North most southerners don’t often get to see: the general happiness level of these communities. “We are used to hearing down in the South that Native communities have a reputation for depression, high suicide rates, and alcohol abuse. Certainly these issues weren’t entirely absent in the communities we visited. But we found a lot of joy in these towns. When a hunter came back with fish and seal, 30 people would be invited over to share. There were feasts, house concerts…we had a ball,” chuckles Elliott, who had her first try of fresh seal meat in Gjoa Haven.

“There are a lot of films and documentaries and TV series that are made about the Arctic that paint romantically quaint notions of the Arctic, and the people who live there, “ says Weimar. “These shows conveniently gloss over the supermarkets and satellite dishes.” Weimar thinks Watchers of the North avoids that trap by focusing on the work

September/October 2013

To find out more about the series, its schedule and where to view it online, visit www.watchersofthenorth.com and www.aptn.ca.

THE CANADIAN RANGERS The Canadian Rangers were originally called the Pacific Coast Rangers. They were established in 1942 during World War II and based in coastal communities in British Columbia and the Yukon. The 15,000 men who signed on performed surveillance and were ready to defend against Japanese invasion on the home front. Although they were disbanded at the end of the Second World War, the launch of the Cold War saw them reformed less than two years later and renamed the Canadian Rangers. Today there are nearly 5,000 male and female Canadian Rangers. Many are Aboriginal, spread across Canada’s most remote communities; nearly 1,800 patrol the icy waters and tundra of Canada’s North.

The Rangers help maintain a military presence in the Arctic, where the sea ice is melting at an alarming rate and bordering nations eagerly eye the resource riches that lie beneath. But aside from maintaining Arctic sovereignty, in a place where the nearest RCMP office or Coast Guard ship can be hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away, the Rangers’ first responder and search and rescue skills are put to the test as volunteers, and in official capacity, several times a year.

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TRAVEL & TOURISM

UNGAVA BAY BEAUTY

Akpatok Island, Nunavik

omewhere in Ungava Bay, off the eastern coast of Nunavik — Quebec’s Far North — stands an island the size of a small country, rising like a fortress of limestone walls looming 150 m to 250 m over this cold deep blue sea.

Marking the marine waters with a 903 km2 plateau running 23 km wide and 45 km long, this giant freckle named Akpatok is not only the largest of its kind in Ungava Bay, but one of exceptional beauty not many have the chance to set foot on nowadays. Along with a group of British travel writers and tour operators in the region to explore and promote its tourism potential, a few tourism industry colleagues and I were fortunate enough to join in to get up-close and personal with this magnificent island.

On a balmy July 28 morning, one of Air Inuit’s chartered Twin Otters landed us on Akpatok’s only airstrip. Marching between our two armed

September/October 2013

pilots on one of Akpatok’s spectacular raised beaches, we headed down to the clear water, where one of our guides, Jimmy Gordon Jr., was awaiting us with a small inflatable zodiac

to bring us onboard the Alara, Arctic Cruises’ 34-foot expedition catamaran, on which we were to spend the day. There, our captain Johnny Adams, who made the trip from Kuujjuaq,

© ISABELLE DUBOIS (2)

S

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© HEIKO WITTENBORN

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Polar bears prowl the island’s shore.

© ISABELLE DUBOIS (4)

© HEIKO WITTENBORN

Getting up close and personal with ice.

Murres head to Akpatok’s sheer cliff-faces.

Alara's captain, Johnny Adams.

welcomed us onboard, along with another member of his crew, David Mesher.

Although we were all eager to cruise along the island in hopes of spotting polar bears, a huge iceberg just off the coast soon became the centre of attention. Displaying shades of

blue and turquoise, the frozen work of art was made out of an arch through which we enjoyed playing hide and seek for a while with Willie Gordon and his wife Vicky, who had also come along for the ride on their aluminum boat.

Apart from the remains of a Dorset settlement at the southern end of the island and a couple of worn out cabins still standing near the airstrip, surrounded by rusty fuel drums and drilling equipment, remnants of exploratory oil drilling back in 1971 which the federal government plans to clean up, there was no other sign of human trace but our own.

Although Inuit at one time in the past wintered on Akpatok (until the early 1900s) and still travel to its shores in the summer to hunt walrus that migrate in big numbers from Hudson Strait down to the west coast of the island on

Jimmy Gordon Jr. mans the Alara's zodiac shuttle.

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ice floes and leave when it melts, this remote offshore piece of land remains uninhabited.

The Northern Village of Kangirsuk is the closest community, some 70 kilometres away.

But if Akpatok wards off real-estate, it remains, on the other hand, the ultimate holiday hot spot for thick-billed murres who flock by the thousands to the island’s northern and southern reaches for their summer vacation, making it Canada’s largest bird colony and ranking as one of the largest colonies worldwide. On occasion the island’s murre population number an estimated two million. It is therefore no wonder the island gets its name from this short-winged diving seabird wearing a black coat showing off a white belly, resembling a flying penguin, which Inuit call akpa in their own language. The bare cliff ledges provide the ideal haven of maternity for the females

September/October 2013

TRAVEL & TOURISM

David Mesher points out the island’s Southern tip, where polar bears are often seen feeding on thick-billed murres.

to lay and incubate their aqua-blue eggs, a delicacy for Inuit. Although outnumbered by the birds flying overhead, Willie Gordon, his wife Vicky and their grandson Christopher were not intimidated and got off on the shore to go pick some of these delicious treats in the lower level of the coastal ridges.

They were not the only ones scouring the area. A polar bear soon lurked high above the cliff, much to our delight as we were comfortably watching from the safety of our boat.

Willie and his family soon retreated to theirs as well. After all, the bear was way up at the top of the food chain, ruling the island as king.

Since there was no more ice for him to hunt seal or walrus, he was left scavenging for eggs or dead murres fledging beneath the nesting cliffs. A staring contest ensued, which nanuq eventually won, as we had to start heading

back. The plane was waiting for us and the pilots’ duty clock was ticking.

On the way back, some of us were sun bathing in the unusually warm weather while others lounged in the luxurious cabin down below.

Meanwhile, the island stood still, as the polar bears stayed out of sight, probably basking in the shade in one of the deep ravines cutting through the cliffs here and there, or buried in snow. The mystery and attraction remained.

Lulled by the waves gently rocking the boat, we soon had to come out of our daydreams.

Once back on board our plane to fly over the island a few last times, excitement reached a peak when mother bear and cub were spotted, amongst others. These are memories we all will cherish forever... or until Akpatok’s fascination draws us back yet again.

Isabelle Dubois

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GETTING TO AKPATOK ISLAND With the new Nunavik Inuit Land Claims Agreement in effect since 2008, many of the region’s offshore islands such as Akpatok are now protected. Special permits and authorizations are therefore required for tourists to visit, which can be obtained through the use of one of Nunavik’s licensed tour operators (see list below).

Book your expedition cruise to Akpatok Island with: Arctic Cruises Johnny Adams: 819-964-2998 jadams@krg.ca Joseph Companion: 450-622-9956 jcompanion@videotron.ca www.arcticcruisesinc.com Inuit Adventures 514-457-3319 or 1-855-657-3319 toll free www.inuitadventures.com September/October 2013

Fly-over Akpatok Island with: Nunavik Rotors 819-964-1185 pduncan@nunavikrotors.com Air Inuit Charters 1-800-661-5850 charters-nolises@airinuit.com Johnny May’s Air Charters 819-964-1410 or 819-964-2321 in summer

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ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE

P

© iSTOCK

icture a polar bear — a regal white giant. Now imagine a group of polar bears isolated on an island and a pack of male brown bears swimming for that island with the hopes of wooing the females.

David Smth Although far fetched, recent analyses of polar bear and brown bear DNA suggest that this is precisely what happened thousands of years ago on the islands of the Alexander Archipelago off the southeastern coast of Alaska.

The study, published this spring in the journal PLoS Genetics and headed by researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz, looked at genes from various polar bears and compared them to those of brown bears, including ones from Alaska’s ABC Islands

DNA exposes ancient island love affair between polar and brown bears

© DAVE REID

(Admiralty, Baranof, and Chicagof ). The scientists found that polar bears differ very little from each other at the genetic level, but that brown bears are genetically diverse. In other words, if you compare the DNA of one brown bear to that of another, you're likely to find many differences. Not so for polar bears.

The most intriguing observation, however, came when the researchers compared polar bear and brown bear genes. As expected, they observed many genetic differences, but something surprising jumped out of the genes from the ABC Islands brown bear: long stretches of polar bear-like DNA. The brown bears that inhabit the ABC Islands look and act just like other types of brown bear, such as the grizzly. They're large and stout, have a gorgeous dark brown coat, and enjoy fishing for salmon in streams and rivers. Nothing about their appearance indicates that they harbour large segments of polar bear DNA. In fact, polar bears aren’t found anywhere close to the ABC Islands. So then where did the polar bear genes come from?

When the scientists looked closely at the ABC Islands bears’ DNA, they discovered that the parts most similar to polar bears are found

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September/October 2013

ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE on genes inherited only from the mother, such as those on the X chromosome. This suggests that the ABC Islands bears are the product of an ancient rendezvous between female polar bears and male brown bears. But if polar bears are not found on or around the ABC Islands, how could this romantic encounter have taken place?

The authors of the study, after considering data on fossils and climate, think that at the peak of the last ice age, around twenty thousand years ago, polar bears roamed the frozen seas that surrounded the Alexander Archipelago. “As the climate warmed and ice retreated,” they argue, “polar bears may have been stranded on or near the ABC Islands.”

Rising temperatures and an increasingly hospitable habitat could have also attracted mainland brown bears to the area. If a lonely male brown bear stumbled upon a stranded female polar bear, he may not have been able to resist her beautiful blonde fur. Not too bad for a “how I met your mother” story. If true, the offspring of these early encounters would have probably looked like a mix between a brown bear and a polar bear — sometimes called a pizzly bear or grolar bear. But a steady influx of male brown bears onto the island could have gradually eroded the polar bear genes from the population, converting it to one that is essentially brown bear. This theory is supported by recent observations of polar bear/brown bear hybrids in northern Canada, proving that the two types of bear are genetically compatible and do mate in the wild.

Increasing Arctic temperatures and receding sea ice are causing polar bears to spend more time on land and brown bears to spread northward into traditionally polar bear territory.

This means that these two magnificent creatures will come into contact with each other more and more often, and that a similar situation to that proposed for the ABC Islands bears may start playing out in diverse regions across the Arctic. The broader consequences of interbreeding between polar bears and brown bears are unknown, but if the ABC Islands story tells us anything, it is that with time the iconic polar bear could slowly melt away.

David Smith David Smith is an assistant professor in the biology department at Western University.

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www.arcticjournal.ca

Celebrating

25 years showcasing the North read it online www.issuu.com/arctic_journal

find us on

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September/October 2013

NORTHERN BOOKSHELF

Planet Arctic: Life at the Top of the World Dr. Wayne Lynch Firefly Books September 2012

Polar Law Textbook II May 2013 Dr. Natalia Loukacheva (ed.)

Nordic Council of Ministers This pioneering educational material deals with various legal and political developments in relation to the Arctic and Antarctica. This new textbook reflects on changes that have taken place since 2010 in Polar law and focuses on a variety of legal issues in those regions, including: major trends in polar law, geo-politics, security, climate change, marine biodiversity, polar bears agreement, continental shelf, energy, resources, indigenous peoples, search and rescue agreement, devolution in the North, self-determination of small nations, good governance, institutions and tourism. It is important to show the role the law has on current and future issues in the Arctic and Antarctica that have global, regional, national and sub-national impact.

Polar Law Textbook II can be downloaded for free at www.norden.org.

September/October 2013

The Arctic is so different from other regions of Earth that natural history author and wildlife photographer Wayne Lynch presents the Arctic as though it is a different planet. From 30 years exploring and photographing this vast region, Lynch shares with the reader his captivating colour photographs while describing the many natural inhabitants of this frozen yet beautiful land. You’ll learn about Arctic birds, plants and animals from the polar bear, Arctic fox, seal, walrus and musk ox to the vast array of seabirds and exquisite, hardy wildflowers and ancient lichens.

Arctic calls – Finland, the European Union and the Arctic Region Markku Heikkilä and Marjo Laukkanen Europe Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland May 2013 As the Arctic continues to undergo dramatic changes from global warming to plans for future shipping and resource development, countries from around the world are taking an interest. In the book, Arctic Calls — Finland, the European Union and the Arctic Region authors Markku Heikkilä and Marjo Laukkanen, both from the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland, provide readers with the background to the changes in the Arctic. Personal experiences, diverse illustrations and numerous interviews provide a more personable view of the Arctic region. The book is available in Finnish, Swedish, English and North Sami.

Electronic versions are available on the Europe Information website at www.eurooppatiedotus.fi and the Arctic Centre website at www.arcticcentre.org.

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September/October 2013

INUIT FORUM

Ode to George ing George III of Britain had a problem. There was unrest among the indigenous inhabitants of the land he had just conquered in war. Aboriginal relations, as they existed in George’s time, were brutal and unforgiving. So the King took a different approach — one he hoped would impose order and inject a note of fairness to the system. In the middle years of the 18th Century, this was no small thing.

This October, we mark the 250th anniversary of the King’s pronouncement, known as the “Royal Proclamation of 1763.” In doing so, we recognize our first real land claims policy, the foundation of two and a half centuries of treaty negotiation, and the birth of our relationship — as partners — with the Crown.

The Proclamation, delivered by the King on October 7, 1763, said that Aboriginal Peoples living adjacent to the lands occupied by the colonies “should not be molested or disturbed,” as these lands had not “been ceded to or

purchased by us” and “are reserved to them as their hunting grounds.”

Furthermore, he recognized that “great frauds and abuses have been committed”against the original inhabitants, and he directed that no sale of Aboriginal occupied land could be carried out without prior assembly and approval of the peoples of that land.

In this manner, and beyond a line set by the Proclamation, he said, Aboriginal territory could be sold only to the Crown, which in turn would sell it to settlers at a tidy profit. This was a time of grand-scale pillage and plunder, remember. If you traded with the British you were used to receiving smallpox-infected blankets. So a newly imposed system of even reasonably fair exchange was significant, and remains so today.

As the American expansion began in earnest, the British moved westward too, negotiating treaties with Aboriginal Peoples in accordance with the rules set out in the Proclamation.

It should go without saying that the King had no concept of what constituted Inuit lands at that time, nor did he even gaze in our direction. “The northern boundary of the

Proclamation extended from the Labrador border to the Great Lakes, so the King’s benevolent protection didn’t extend to Eskimos,” Zebedee Nungak wrote in the Winter 2011 issue of Inuktitut magazine.

But the Proclamation can be seen as the first legal recognition of the concept of Aboriginal rights and sovereignty, rights that are reaffirmed in the Constitution Act, 1982, and which duly extend to Inuit.

Inuit have embraced the treaty-making process wholeheartedly, and the basic rules of the 1700s guide our dealings today. The implementation of treaties is not so different from the negotiation of treaties, in that both processes should be mutually beneficial and rely on the goodwill and honesty of both sides to succeed.

Some 250 years ago, King George III of Britain defined, through a few well-chosen phrases and an abundance of diplomacy, the terms of a relationship that would endure for centuries.

The most fitting testament to his legacy is no less than the fair and honourable implementation of the terms of the treaties that emerged from his historic Proclamation one day in 1763.

Terry Audla

© ROBERT FLAHERTY/ LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA PA-113962

© ITK

K

Though Inuit Nunangat was far beyond the gaze of King George III of Britain, the key points of his Royal Proclamation of 1763 duly extend to Inuit.

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

September/October 2013

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arctic exotica

PHOTO COURTESY DWIGHT REIMER

Hudson Strait Silhouette Typically a land-based bird happy to spend its summer months nesting and hunting North of 60, this curious snowy owl chose to venture off-shore into the Northwest Passage to ensure that all was appropriately shipshape and in order aboard the CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent.

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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

© PIERRE DUNNIGAN

The Arctic Char Inn, Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories

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.

Introducing the 400 The newest addition to the First Air fleet, the Boeing 737-400 aircraft promises a greener, smoother, more comfortable ride.

Serving flight 7F860/861 Ottawa – Iqaluit and return.