Above & Beyond | Canada's Arctic Journal 2015 | 04

2015 | 04 • $5.95

An Intimate Wilderness Travels Across a Land of Vast Horizons

A Photographic Legacy

PM40050872

o www.arcticjournal.ca

Tuniit Drums from Bylot Island Wooden Gifts from the Sea

The Hudson Bay and Strait Expeditions of the 1880s

Jobie Tukkiapik / JW bexW4

Brock Friesen / XÇ4 K‰n8

Dear Guest, As we approach the summer flying season, we’re excited to implement a codeshare cooperation with two new partner airlines: Calm Air and Canadian North.

These agreements will help us reduce costs, benefit from efficiencies, improve flight schedules and connections, and provide greater choice for customers.

Codesharing is a common practice within the airline industry, where cooperating airlines can sell and market seats and cargo space on codeshare flights. A seat can be purchased through each airline, but the flight is operated by only one of them. The benefit of codesharing is that all parties can continue to operate independently, set competitive prices and offer seats and cargo space to their respective customers.

Customers can still confidently make reservations through all of the normal booking channels. Better schedules, improved connectivity and same-day connections (both southbound and northbound) will lead to significantly improved customer service and sustainable operations.

I can confidently say that upon implementation of the new schedule with Calm Air, expected to be on July 1, 2015, the air services between the South and the North have never been more frequent and more convenient whether you are connecting via Rankin Inlet or Iqaluit.

We are pleased to work with our two new airline partners and build on this proven and successful airline cooperation model.

As the Airline of the North, we look forward to flying all our customers with safety as our number one priority.

Welcome onboard!

Brock Friesen First Air President & CEO

ᑐᕌᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᔪᓄᑦ,

ᖃᓂᓪᓕᕙᓪᓕᐊᓕᕐᒥᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐊᐅᔭᐅᓂᖓᓂ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑦᑕ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᓐᓂᐊᕐᓂᖏᓄᑦ, ᖁᕕᐊᓱᑦᑐᒍᑦ ᐊᑐᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᐊᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒥᖅᑲᖃᑎᖃᓕᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᒪᕐᕉᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᓐᓂᒃ: ᑳᓪᒻ ᐃᐊᕐ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑲᓃᑎᐊᓐ ᓄᐊᔅ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᔨᖏᓂᒃ.

ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐊᖏᕈᑎᖏᑦ ᐅᕙᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᑭᒋᔭᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᒥᑭᓪᓕᒋᐊᕈᑎᐅᓕᕐᓂᐊᖅᐳᑦ, ᐊᑐᕐᓂᖃᑦᑎᐊᕐᓕᕐᓂᖏᓂᑦ ᐃᑲᔪᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᕐᓗᑕ, ᐱᐅᓯᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓂᖃᕐᕕᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓯᖏᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓄᑦ ᐃᑭᔭᕆᐊᖃᕐᓂᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᖏᓂᖅᓴᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᐃᑭᒪᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᓂᕈᐊᖅᖠᔪᓐᓇᖅᓯᑎᑕᐅᓗᑎᒃ ᓇᓪᓕᐊᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓄᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᔪᒪᓂᕐᒥᓐᓂᒃ. ᐊᒥᖅᑲᖃᑎᖃᓕᖅᐸᓐᓂᐅᓂᕋᖅᑕᖅ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥ ᒪᓕᒃᑕᐅᒐᔪᒻᒪᑦ, ᑕᐃᒃᑯᐊ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒌᓕᕐᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᑦ ᓂᐅᕝᕈᑎᖃᖃᑦᑕᕈᓐᓇᕐᓂᖏᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓂᐅᕕᖅᐸᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᑭᒪᕕᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᖁᑎᓄᑦ ᐊᒃᔭᖅᑐᐃᕕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒥᖅᑲᖃᑎᒌᖕᓂᖅᑎᒍᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓂᒃ. ᐃᑭᒪᕕᒃᓴᖅ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒥ ᓂᐅᕕᖅᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᓯᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᑐᓂ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᓂᑦ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓗ ᖃᖓᑕᓂᖓᑦ ᐊᐅᓚᑕᐅᓂᐊᕐᓗᓯ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᑐᐃᓐᓇᕐᒥᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᓂᑦ. ᐊᒥᖅᑲᖃᑎᖃᕐᓂᕐᒥᑦ ᐃᑲᔪᖅᑎᐅᓂᖃᓕᖅᓯᒪᒻᒪᑦ ᐃᒪᓐᓇ ᑕᒪᕐᒥᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖅᑎᐅᔪᑦ ᐃᓛᒃᑰᖓᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᓯᓂᖃᕈᓐᓇᕐᓂᖓᓂᒃ, ᐋᖅᑮᓯᒪᓕᖅᐸᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐱᓯᒪᖔᓕᕋᓱᐊᕈᑎᓂᒃ ᐊᑭᒋᓂᐊᖅᑕᖏᓂᒃ ᐃᑭᒪᑎᑦᑎᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᕐᒥᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᒃᔭᖅᑐᐃᔨᐅᕙᓐᓂᕐᒥᓐᓄᑦ ᐱᖁᑎᓂᒃ ᐃᑭᒪᕙᒃᑐᖁᑎᒥᓐᓄᑦ.

ᐃᑭᒪᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᑲᔪᓯᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᑭᒪᔾᔪᑎᔅᓴᒥᓐᓂᒃ ᐋᖅᑮᔪᓐᓇᖅᑎᑕᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᐅᓯᐅᕙᒃᑐᑎᒍᑦ. ᐱᐅᓂᖅᓴᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᕙᓐᓂᖏᑦ, ᐱᐅᓯᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑐᑎᒃ ᐊᓯᖏᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓄᑦ ᐃᑭᔪᓐᓇᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᖏᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᖓᑕᕝᕕᒋᔪᓐᓇᖅᑕᖏᑦ ᑖᔅᓱᒪᓂᑦᓴᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᐅᓪᓗᕐᒥ (ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒧᑦ ᑕᒪᒃᑭᓐᓂ) ᓇᓗᓇᐃᒻᒪᕆᒃᑐᒥᒃ ᐱᐅᓯᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᕐᓂᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᓯᓂᐅᕙᒃᑐᓄᑦ. ᖁᓚᖖᒋᓪᓗᖓ ᐅᖃᕈᓐᓇᕋᒪ ᓄᑖᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓂᕆᕙᓐᓂᐊᓕᖅᑕᖏᑦ ᑳᓪᒻ ᐃᐊᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᑐᓕᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓕᖅᐸᑕ, ᓂᕆᐅᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐊᑐᓕᖅᑎᑕᐅᓂᐊᕐᓂᖏᑕ ᔪᓚᐃ 1, 2015-ᒥ, ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑎᒍᑦ ᐱᔨᑦᑎᕋᕐᓂᕆᕙᒃᑕᕗᑦ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑦ ᓄᓇᖏᓂᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥᐅᓂᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᒐᔪᒃᓯᕙᓪᓕᐊᓂᖏᑕ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᖢᐊᕐᓂᖅᓴᐅᓕᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᑲᖏᖅᖠᓂᕐᒥᑦ ᐃᖃᓗᓐᓂᓪᓘᒻᓃᑦ ᐊᓯᐊᓄᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒧᑦ ᐃᑭᔭᕆᐊᖃᕐᓂᐊᕋᔭᕈᕕᑦ. ᖁᕕᐊᓱᓪᓚᕆᒃᑐᒍᑦ ᒪᕐᕉᓐᓂᒃ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᓕᕆᔨᐅᔪᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᖃᕐᓂᐊᓕᕐᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᕈᖅᑎᒋᐊᕈᓐᓇᓕᕐᓗᑎᒍᓗ ᑖᔅᓱᒪᖖᒐᑦ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᑦᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᖓᓄᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᔪᒧᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒋᓗᒋᑦ.

ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥᐅᑦ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᒋᑎᓪᓗᓂᑎᒍᑦ, ᓂᕆᐅᓐᓂᖃᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᒍᑦ ᐃᑭᒪᕙᒃᑐᖁᑎᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒃᔭᖅᑐᐃᔪᓐᓇᖅᐸᓐᓂᐊᕋᑦᑕ ᖃᓄᐃᖖᒋᑦᑎᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᓐᓂᕗᑦ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐸᐅᑎᓐᓂᐊᕐᓗᑎᒍ. ᑐᖖᒐᓱᒋᑦᑎ ᖃᖓᑕᓲᑦᑎᓐᓄᑦ!

ᐸᕌᒃ ᕗᕇᓴᓐ ᕘᔅᑎᐊᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᖓᔪᖅᑳᖅ & ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎᔨᒻᒪᕆᒃ

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

Chers invités, À l’approche de l’été, nous sommes ravis de mettre en œuvre une coopération en partage de code avec deux nouvelles compagnies aériennes partenaires : Calm Air et Canadian North.

Ces accords nous aideront à réduire les coûts, profiter de gains d’efficacité, améliorer les horaires des vols et des correspondances, et offrir un meilleur choix pour les clients.

Le partage de code est une pratique commune au sein de l’industrie du transport aérien, où les compagnies aériennes coopérantes peuvent vendre et mettre en marché des places et des espaces de chargement sur les vols. Une place peut être achetée auprès de chaque ligne aérienne, mais le vol est assuré par une seule d’entre elles. L’avantage du partage de code est que toutes les parties peuvent continuer de fonctionner de manière indépendante, établir des prix concurrentiels et offrir des places et des espaces de chargement à leurs clients respectifs.

Les clients pourront continuer de faire des réservations en toute confiance au moyen de tous les canaux de réservation habituels. De meilleurs horaires, l’amélioration des correspondances et celles offertes le jour même (tant en direction du nord qu’en direction du sud) mèneront à l’amélioration considérable du service à la clientèle et à la durabilité des opérations.

Je peux dire en toute confiance qu’après la mise en œuvre du nouvel horaire avec Calm Air, prévue pour le 1er juillet 2015, les services aériens entre le Sud et le Nord n’auront jamais été aussi fréquents et aussi commodes, qu’ils soient via Rankin Inlet ou via Iqaluit.

Nous sommes ravis de travailler avec nos deux nouveaux partenaires aériens et de mettre à profit ce modèle de coopération éprouvé et réussi. À titre de Ligne aérienne du Nord, nous nous réjouissons d’offrir à nos clients des vols dont la priorité principale est leur sécurité. Bienvenue à bord!

Brock Friesen Président-directeur général de First Air

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

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

Like us!

/firstair

Book online at firstair.ca or call 1 800 267 1247

In the News Building International relationships First Air’s significant northern legacy was duly recognized and honoured when our (retired) Boeing 727-100 was featured as one of only five selections portrayed in Greenland’s popular aviation stamp series.

For seven years between 1994 and 2001, First Air, in collaboration with Grønlandsfly, operated this unique bridge-building North American route linking Ottawa, Iqaluit and Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. The route opened new international opportunities for entrepreneurs and stakeholder outreach between Greenlanders and Canadians alike.

Helping create the leaders of tomorrow H F Air generously sponsored air travel to the Iqaluit, Nunavut, First g gathering of the Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship program. We are p proud to be associated with an organization that nurtures inspired young n northerners, aged 25 to 35, whose personal goal is to build a healthier, m more self-reliant and sustainable North.

© Jane Glassco Fellows

TThe Fellowship provides access to the key supports, tools, and mentor aand peer guidance opportunities that give voice to a deeper understanding o of the important issues facing their region, within a framework of respect fo for the importance of traditional knowledge and skills.

TTo learn more: h http://gordonfoundation.ca/north/jane-glassco-northern-fellowship/apply

Iqalummiut i t wow R Reality lit TV Sh Show Guest G t

“La Petite Séduction,” boasting over a million viewers a week, is loosely based on the concept of sending celebrities to a small community in Canada. The plot thickens as the local population must orchestrate events that will “seduce or charm” their special visitor(s).

For the Iqaluit segment, the show’s host Danny Turquotte was joined by special guest celebrity, popular Quebec singer-songwriter, Louis-Jean Cormier.

© La Petite Séduction

First Air, in conjunction with Carrefour Nunavut, is proud to have had a supporting role in bringing celebrities, cast and crew to Iqaluit to film a segment for one of Quebec television’s biggest reality TV programs.

Accentuating the Positive (about Entrepreneu Entrepreneurship)

DEFY THE CONVENTIONAL The Campaign for uOttawa

Four Enactus uOttawa leaders recently ventured North with the assistance of First Air to deliver a community-based brainstorming session on developing a custom-designed entrepreneurship training program for Nunavut. Touting the positive life-changing benefits of establishing one’s own business, the group of entrepreneur students from the University of Ottawa worked in close collaboration with the Nunavut Department of Education and with the support of First Air and RBC.

From the Flight Deck Why do we have turbulence?

In a nutshell, turbulence is simply the result of winds. Just like the water in a river is always moving, the sky is really just a sea of air which is also always in motion and winds are everywhere. Simply having wind, though, isn’t enough to make turbulence.

Just like you can sit comfortably in a raft drifting down a river with a strong current, it is quite possible (and common) to be flying in an area of very strong winds but yet experience smooth flying conditions.

Turbulence happens when the aircraft flies through areas where the winds are changing. It’s that change that causes the bumps.

To understand why we have turbulence, we really need to understand why the winds change, since each time we fly through a change, we’re likely to experience turbulence. Depending on where we are flying, the main reason for changing winds will vary.

When strong winds run into obstacles — trees, buildings, hills, mountains — the air starts to swirl and spin. (You can see the same behaviour from the water as it flows around rocks in a fast moving stream.) Any time that an aircraft flies through one of these patches of swirling air, turbulence is sure to happen. The stronger the wind, or the larger the obstacle, the more noticeable the turbulence will be. This phenomenon is known as ‘mechanical turbulence’.

Anyone that has flown on a hot summer day has also likely experienced ‘convective turbulence’ which results from the sun heating the ground during the day. As the ground heats up, the air above the

© BAFFIN PHOTOGRAPHY/JASON MILLER

Hopefully you’re relaxing in your seat, enjoying a smooth ride while reading this. Unfortunately, at some point during the flight you’ll likely come across some turbulence.

ground is also warmed. Since hot air rises, a column of rising air develops. In the areas beside these columns of rising air, columns of descending air develop to replace the air that is rising. Any time that the aircraft moves from an area of rising air to one of descending air, once again turbulence will be felt. (This is the kind of turbulence that is often also described as an ‘air pocket’ since it leads to a sinking feeling.)

unusual cloud formations. (It’s not actually clouds that cause turbulence but rather the air currents that make the turbulence also lead to the formation of clouds.) Some cloud formations are pretty indicative of turbulence so we’ll alter our course to avoid them (and the turbulence) whenever possible. Unfortunately, not all turbulence generates clouds so we can’t always see it coming and we can’t always avoid it.

Since mechanical turbulence and convective turbulence are all related to the ground (either the parts that are heating or the obstacles that are on the ground) that turbulence tends to dissipate the further we get from the ground. This is why we often experience more turbulence during takeoff and landing but as we climb it reduces.

We always do our best to avoid turbulence but it’s inevitable that we’ll run into it from time to time. Seatbelts must be fastened immediately when the seatbelt sign is switched on; the best practice is to have it on throughout the flight whenever you are seated. Rest assured that the flight crew is busy doing whatever they can to find smoother flying conditions. Depending on the weather or other traffic, it may take some time but soon we’ll find that smooth air again.

Depending on the weather systems that are around the aircraft in flight, the winds can also change dramatically, which generates the turbulence we sometimes encounter even though we’re a long way from the ground. In some cases, this turbulence is easy to spot since it may lead to some

Captain Aaron Speer Director Flight Operations and Captain ATR First Air

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

Employee Spotlight René Armas Maes René Armas Maes joined the First Air team as the new Director Sales & Marketing in April.

With over 15 years of global aviation experience, including 10 years in leadership roles, René brings expertise in sales, business development, strategy development and revenue growth. In his past positions, as well as during time spent consulting in the industry, René has demonstrated high business acumen and a strong analytical focus, resulting in a successful track record for revenue generation and business development. His skills and experience, combined with an inquisitive, outgoing personality will make him an effective mentor to lead our Sales and Marketing team.

He enjoys water sports, is a wine and cheese-pairing enthusiast, is a yoga and studio cycling instructor, and Formula 1 follower.

He has lived in the U.S., Latin America and the Middle East. Most recently he worked in Montreal and Saskatoon.

René looks forward to the challenge of growing First Air and targeting opportunities for development in reaching two key goals: business sustainability and growth. He welcomes the opportunity to meet with and build stronger relationships with First Air customers and colleagues.

Although based in Ottawa, René will do a significant amount of travel. He looks forward to meeting you.

René Armas Maes rarmas@firstair.ca 613-254-6269

© BRIAN TATTUINEE

In his new role, and as a member of the Senior Management Team, René will be responsible for planning and executing aggressive growth.

Working with his Sales Managers, Marketing and Customer Contact team, he will solidify existing customer relationships and identify opportunities for expanded and/or new business such as our in-flight sales and ancillary revenues.

René has flown over 5,000 hrs professionally as a commercial pilot and maintains a U.S. ATPL license. He is also a freelance writer for Wings magazine.

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

www.firstair.ca

2015 | 04 • $5.95

An In mate Wilderness Travels Across a Land of Vast Horizons

Tuniit Drums from Bylot Island Wooden Gi s from the Sea

The Hudson Bay and Strait Expedi ons of the 1880s

A Photographic Legacy

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TWo youNG GIrLS IN AmouTIIT. © NICk NEWBEry

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The views and opinions expressed in editorial content, advertisements, or by contributors, do not necessarily reflect the views, official positions or policies of First Air, its agents, or those of above&beyond magazine unless expressly stated.

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Features

08

A Photographic Legacy Documenting Inuit history

15 Living Above&Beyond

An Intimate Wilderness Travels Across a Land of Vast Horizons

44 Culture Women’s Qulliq making Program — Pamela Gross

The Nick Newbery Photography Collection provides an accurate historical record of diverse aspects of life in Nunavut over several decades.

— Nick Newbery

23

An Intimate Wilderness is an account spanning 45 years of journeys in Canada’s Arctic.

— Norman Hallendy

29

Tuniit Drums from Bylot Island Wooden Gifts from the Sea

The two most complete Late Dorset drum frames ever found come from Button Point on Bylot Island, Nunavut. — Tim Rast & Christopher B. Wolff

35

The Strait Story The Hudson Bay and Strait Expeditions of the 1880s

In the winter of 1884-85, 16 men were left at five different observation posts for a year to assess an Arctic shipping route. — Season Osborne A B oV E & B E yo N D — C A N A DA’ S A rC T I C J o u r N A L

21 Resources

41 Education Enactus uottawa — mike Foster

47 Science NASA’s Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment — Eric S. kasischke, Elisabeth k. Larson, and Peter C. Griffith 51 Bookshelf

53 Inuit Forum The Late-Summer Harvest — Terry Audla 54 Guest Editorial — Dennis Bevington

7

Dog teams on the sea ice at midnight in Qaummaarviit Territorial Park. Š Nick Newbery (4)

A Photographic Legacy Documenting Inuit history At a ceremony in April 2015, 3,600 photographs taken by Nick Newbery in Nunavut between 1975 and 2014 were oďŹƒcially donated to the Government of Nunavut (GN), represented by Joe Kunuk, Deputy Minister of Culture and Heritage. At the same time, it was announced that a new website had been established (www.newberyphotoarchives.ca) to which all the pictures have been transferred so that all the images are now accessible to the public, including the permitting of free downloading of 4x6 prints of any photograph.

The GN was interested in acquiring The Nick Newbery Photography Collection as it provides an accurate historical record of diverse aspects of life in Nunavut over several decades and can now be used by the government to promote the territory, its people and their culture. Nick was interested in donating his pictures to the GN as a legacy, to share them with Nunavummiut via a government website and as a thank you to Inuit for always making him feel welcome to record them and their culture.

8

2015 | 04

Below: Drum-dancers.

Bottom: Inuit cozy inside an igloo.

Below: Woman in caribou skin amoutik in Pangnirtung.

The Nature of the Collection

change. Although he lived in Taloyoak, Pangnirtung, Qikiqtarjuaq

e collection is neither a comprehensive study of Nunavut nor a picture-perfect

and Iqaluit, Nick travelled widely in the Territory, visiting every

masterpiece full of artistic subtleties. It is simply a broad-based come-by-chance

community and oen using his summers to further explore the

accumulation of images, primarily documentary, occasionally creative, taken

land, its wildlife, its history and the culture of its people.

by an amateur photographer on a limited budget over four decades.

is took him on walrus, seal and caribou hunts, to Dorset and

For Nick, photography was an outlet that provided another way of experi-

ule sites, to Inuit outpost camps, to long-abandoned HBC and

encing life. He had no training and until 2000 was using a manual, film-loaded

RCMP posts, to national parks and to historic sites such as Kadlu-

Pentax K1000, which travelled happily in an old beaver hat in his grub box and

narn Island, used as a base camp by Martin Frobisher. He sensed

only ever froze up once. He used colour slide film, which meant having to send

the history in the air and was fortunate enough to be able to record

it south for developing, waiting four to six weeks to get the results back and then

significant northern political events such as the signing of the 1993

more oen than not throwing away much of what he’d shot anyway!

land claim agreement and the creation of Nunavut in 1999. As a

Many photographs were taken on the run, in difficult circumstances, in very

result, his pictures have appeared in a variety of publications, in-

low temperatures, with pictures restricted by the number of frames per film and

cluding three coffee table books published by the Iqaluit Branch of

oen not as crisp and well lit as those produced by digital cameras today. But as

the Royal Canadian Legion, all in an attempt to promote life in

a collection of diverse images documenting an interesting time in Inuit history,

Nunavut to the outside world.

they can perhaps justify a place in the archives of the Government of Nunavut.

The Importance of Identifying Inuit

The Broadening Interest

e collection is divided into 10 sections: (in colour) communities,

Although involved in photography before going North, Nick’s interest really

parks, trips, events, people, culture, birds and animals, flora, ice

took off aer moving to Nunavut to teach. Initially his picture taking was simply

and sky and (in black and white) igloo building and Inuit games.

to satisfy his own curiosity. But over time, it expanded from capturing aspects

All pictures are catalogued and captioned in English, French,

of life in a small northern community to recording the activities of his students

Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun, recording the names of the people,

and Inuit friends, especially when out on the land. It eventually morphed into

places and dates they were taken. e GN asked that as many

a desire to document every aspect of a unique culture on the cusp of major

people as possible in the pictures be named so, with the support of

A B oV E & B E yo N D — C A N A DA’ S A rC T I C J o u r N A L

9

Below: First sitting of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut.

Bottom: Participants with the Inuit Naming Project, in preparation for the website. © Nick Newbery (3)

Young girl and inuksuk.

many sponsors, a tour was arranged for Nick to visit the four

world as anyone else. us we now have the northern photographic record

Nunavut communities where he and his wife had formerly lived.

beginning to be made through an Inuit lens, giving a local perspective,

Local researchers were hired with the result that all but a handful

documenting the northern treasures oen overlooked by southerners, bringing

of individuals in the collection’s approximately 3,600 pictures were

to mind the lines in ‘No Strange Land’ by Francis ompson:

successfully identified.

Portraits of the North Until as recently as the 1950s, non-Inuit institutions sponsored much of the photography done in the North for propaganda purposes

e angels keep their ancient places Turn but a stone and start a wing ‘Tis ye, ‘tis your estranged faces at miss the many-splendoured thing.

directed at a southern audience. e federal government used

In many ways Nunavut is still a hidden gem. rough his legacy of photo-

photography to support their northern sovereignty claims, the

graphs Nick hopes that more Canadians will come to appreciate their North

Hudson’s Bay Co. to enhance their image and the churches to

and the Inuit who have made it their home for centuries while also offering

fundraise for their missions. Although Inuit featured in many of

Nunavummiut a snapshot of an important era in their history.

the pictures, unlike non-Inuit they were oen objectified, with their names rarely recorded. Today, that has changed. e oen underappreciated beauty of Nunavut and the culture of its original inhabitants are now getting regular worldwide media coverage. But no longer is it just outsiders who record and publicize Nunavut and its people. From Peter Pitseolak’s black and white documentary photographs of camp life near Cape Dorset taken with a box camera in the 1940s to the imaginative digital colour images of Nunavummiut and their world today captured by people such as David Kilabuk of Pangnirtung, it is comforting to know that modern Inuit are becoming as keen and able to photograph their

10

Launch of the website. © Culture & Heritage GN

Nick Newbery would particularly like to acknowledge Dr. Doug Stenton, Director, Culture and Heritage, Government of Nunavut, without whose guidance and support this website project would not have been possible and Brent Crooks, VP, NCC Properties, whose assistance with fundraising for the Inuit Naming Project in four communities was invaluable.

2015 | 04

THANk you

above&beyond is so much more than an inflight magazine.

In every single issue, diverse, eclectic and interesting stories are accompanied by stunning, imaginative and compelling photographs. To those flying on First Air flights, it’s a constant companion. To those living in the North, it’s a staple on any coffee table or bookshelf. And to those just visiting, it’s a “take home reminder” of just how compelling and fascinating the North is.

Not just in the North but all over the world, people enjoy reading about those they know, people they’ve heard of, people they’re interested in and those they admire and respect. e magazine serves as a constant, a link, connecting everyone in the Arctic. is summer Tom is retiring as publisher and with him goes the unwavering force and energy he brought to the magazine. Tom’s passion for the North was and is unquestionable. From the Yukon in the West to Baffin Island in the East, the pursuit of Northern (and Northerners) © Pierre Dunnigan

stories has taken him the length and breadth of Canada’s three very different Arctic territories. No stranger to adventures of his own, Tom has done everything from mountain biking on glaciers to being on assignment aboard

Tom Koelbel For more than 23 years, through the pages of above&beyond

one of Canada’s naval vessels on a High Arctic exercise.

Despite the sometimes-frigid environments, Tom’s warm and friendly demeanour was matched only by those he met, spoke to and spent time with along the way. ose bonds and friendships, created over the years, mean the most to

magazine, publisher Tom koelbel has promoted the North and

him and will last a lifetime.

Whether it is on a short First Air scheduled flight between two

part behind the scenes of the magazine, for many years

Australia, thousands of people enjoy every issue of Canada’s

administrative duties. We thank Patt for her diligent efforts

has brought news and stories of Arctic Canada to the world. remote Arctic communities or by subscription on a beach in Arctic Journal.

Along with Tom’s departure from above&beyond, will be his partner and colleague Patt Hunter. Playing an integral Patt has ensured the magazine’s smooth and efficient distribution and circulation, as well as handling many other over the years.

Tom’s vision and talent for steering the journalistic ship with a trusted crew of writers, photographers, editors and designers creates a magazine that can proudly be called Canada’s Arctic Journal. Tom has built a strong team of professional experts. Doris Ohlmann, promoted as the new Managing Editor, and a great team at First Air will continue to bring the spirit and news of the North to its faithful

We invite you to help the above&beyond and First Air team congratulate Tom for his many years of sharing his talents and passion. Share your thoughts and experiences with Tom koelbel by sending a tweet or a post on Facebook.

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readership.

To Tom, from all your friends, colleagues, contributors, readers and thousands of First Air passengers, ank you!

2015 | 04

Top: Tom tenting on Bylot Island, Nunavut. © Bob Brown Middle left: Tom enjoys a flight in a Waco. © Dan Pearlman

Middle right: Patt Hunter and Tom Koelbel receive a lovely Inuit carving as a parting gift.

L to R: Patt, Tom, Alexandra Pontbriand (VP Finance, First Air) and Bert van der Stege (VP Commercial, First Air). © Doris ohlmann

A B oV E & B E yo N D — C A N A DA’ S A rC T I C J o u r N A L

Bottom left: Tom (second from left) and friends on Bylot Island, Nunavut. © Bob Brown

THANk you

Bottom right: Tom onboard the HMCS Montreal en route for the first “Operation Nanook” in August 2006. © Pierre Dunnigan

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2015 | 04

LIVING ABoVE & BEyoND Left: Tatiana Maslany and Dane DeHaan (on the skidoo) on the shoot for Two Lovers & A Bear. © Philippe Bossé

Below: Tatiana Maslany and Dane DeHaan with director Kim Nguyen (centre) in Iqaluit, Nunavut. © Philippe Bossé

Production crews film in Nunavut Tatiana maslany, 29, star of the Canadian

the ability to speak to polar bears. Set in a

Bear, the upcoming feature film by academy

ican actor Dane DeHaan, 29, who has starred

elements, the vastness, the emptiness and the

montreal. It’s a story about the Great North,

the last five years, play the two lead roles.

Film crews were in Iqaluit and Apex, Nunavut, in April to capture scenes for Two Lovers & A award-nominated director kim Nguyen, of resilience, paradoxes, humanity, struggles and love.

science fiction series Orphan Black, and Amer-

in a string of successful u.S. feature films over maslany plays the role of a young Inuk woman,

and DeHaan a non-Inuk, who has a rare gift:

A B oV E & B E yo N D — C A N A DA’ S A rC T I C J o u r N A L

small, modern town, the struggle against the harsh cold is a reflection of the two characters inner struggles.

The cast also includes a “talking white bear”

and more than 50 Nunavummiut in small roles.

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2015 | 04

LIVING ABoVE & BEyoND Carving by Geeta Etorolopiaq, just one of the carvings at the TAKU exhibit. © mENu ET CIE

TAku exhibit this summer

makivik Corporation and the Native Friendship Centre of montréal are exhibiting TAku (to see), the work by Inuit youth carvers who visit

the mikinak youth Coop of the Friendship Centre, this summer.

This unique partnership between makivik

and the Centre allow Inuit youth carvers to

develop their skills, self-esteem and culture strength, and explore economic opportunities to market their art.

The art gallery is located at Galerie Carte

Blanche, 1851 Amherst Street in montréal, Quebec. The gallery will be open July 29 to

August 5, 2015 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The official vernissage is July 30 at 6 p.m.

The Festival Présence Autochtone montréal,

a major annual festival of Aboriginal peoples, will take place at the same time.

The Native Friendship Centre of montréal

is one of makivik’s five partners in montréal providing medical services and social programs to Inuit in need there.

A B oV E & B E yo N D — C A N A DA’ S A rC T I C J o u r N A L

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LIVING ABoVE & BEyoND Brock Canyon in Tuktut Nogait National Park. © Parks Canada/Charla Jones

Google maps Northern national parks Thanks to a partnership with Google Canada,

Nogait National Park near Paulatuk, Northwest

Northern national parks can now do so online

mountains and Firth river Valley in Ivvavik;

those who love to explore Canada’s spectacular as well.

With Google maps and Google Earth you

can access incredible virtual tours or panoramic images of Ivvavik National Park in northern

yukon; the canyons and waterfalls of Tuktut

Territories; the fiords in Auyuittuq; the British towering peaks of the Torngat mountains, and

Canada’s only salt plains; and the historic Sweetgrass bison corrals of Wood Buffalo

National Park – Canada’s largest national park.

repulse Bay gets new name repulse Bay will be celebrating in July when it officially becomes known as Naujaat, a

traditional Inuktitut name meaning, “nesting place of seagulls”.

English sailor Christopher middleton named

the “Bay of repulse” in 1742 when he discov-

ered it was a bay and not the entrance to the

Northwest Passage like he had hoped. The

Naujaat. © Lori Tulugak

with the hamlet’s original incorporation date

Harbour Islands, and ukkusiksalik National

official name change date of July 2 coincides and its annual hamlet day festivities.

Naujaat is home to historical sites such as

the Naujan Thule Site, John rae’s Stonehouse

at Fort Hope on the North Pole river, Ship

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Park.

repulse Bay is the 10th Nunavut commu-

nity to officially change its community name to Inuktitut.

2015 | 04

LIVING ABoVE & BEyoND The full panel for the discussion on “Differing Perspectives on Northern Writing,” L to R: Richard Van Camp, Annelies Pool, Kathleen Winter, Patti-Kay Hamilton, and Paul Andrew (Moderator). © Valerie Conrad

NorthWords celebrates 10 years

NorthWords NWT was delighted to celebrate its 10th Anniversary Writers

NorthWords uniquely gives local writers the chance to share the

Festival over four days at the end of may, the only such festival in

stage with internationally renowned authors. Festival authors this year

The Festival included a kick-off barbecue, workshops, readings, open

Hayden Taylor, Joanna Lilley, Alexander macLeod, richard Van Camp, and

Canada’s North.

mikes, panel discussions, and the De Beers Gala readings, sponsored by De Beers, premier sponsor of NorthWords.

Traditional Inuit art captures the beauty, truth and spirit of Canada’s Arctic

included Steve Burrows, Garry Gottfriedson, Jacqueline Guest, Drew

kathleen Winter. Northern writers included myranda Bolstad, Jacq Brass,

Patti-kay Hamilton, Cathy Jewison, Jennifer knowlan, Andrea Leask, Annelies Pool, and mindy Willett, among others.

“Bear Mother and Child”

by Norman Quamautuq, Pangnirtung Nunavut.

northern images A Division of Arctic Co-operatives Ltd.

Yellowknife 867-873-5944

Visit Our Website www.northernimages.ca A B oV E & B E yo N D — C A N A DA’ S A rC T I C J o u r N A L

Supporters and Promoters of Inuit and Dene artists and their art

19

LIVING ABoVE & BEyoND

NWT Environment & Natural Resources Minister Michael Miltenberger has made it his mission to establish a biomass market and an industry in the territory by converting government buildings to pellet boilers and committing to Forest Management Agreements with First Nations hoping to source fuel for future pellet or wood chip operations. © meagan Wohlberg/NWT Biomass Energy Association

The 2015 Great Northern Canada Writing Contest

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES AUGUST 31, 2015 To enter, submit a piece of prose, either fiction or non-fiction, of up to 1,000 words about life in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut or Nunavik.

Previously published items are not eligible.

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

GNWT sources biomass solutions The Government of the Northwest Territories

is reinvested back into other biomass projects

Or emailed as a WORD attachment to:

with clean energy solutions. Their territorial

many biomass projects have already been

info@northwordsnwt.ca with CONTEST ENTRY in the subject line. Please do not put your story in the body of the email.

to run on biomass energy with wood pellets.

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

Deadline is August 31, 2015.

That means they must be postmarked by that date.

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

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

Winners will be announced in Fall 2015.

For more information go to:

www.northwordsnwt.ca

has taken the lead in the North in coming up

in the territory.

biomass strategy includes converting buildings

installed in yellowknife, Norman Wells, Fort

Not only is biomass more efficient in

Work is also continuing to set up standard

Simpson and Behchoko.

handling Northern winters, but by switching to

modern regulations and policies for biomass

already saved about $2 million dollars, which

the new technology.

this source of fuel for heating, the GNWT has

krG cuts food costs

and having more certified inspectors trained in

The kativik regional Government (krG) has spent the last few years examining different

types of food production possibilities for

Nunavik to cut down on the cost of shipping

southern foods North. This summer the local hunter and trappers organization in kuujjuaq

will oversee a heated chicken coop and egg production facility, which will sell eggs in the

community. A second coop is being planned for the Hudson Bay community of Akulivik.

The department has also helped launch

a greenhouse in kuujjuaq, with another planned in Salluit, with efforts being made The following are not eligible: Staff and contractors of above&beyond magazine and their families, and writers who have been published in above&beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal in the last five years.

20

to create value added products from berries and fish.

Etua Koneak visits a facility in the south on a factfinding trip to support the Kuujjuaq chicken coop. © Steven Grasser

To help replenish Arctic char in local

bodies of water, krG staff have been working to create an Arctic char fish hatchery.

2015 | 04

rESourCES

NuNAVuT

Gold and silver project could net $4 billion

The latest feasibility study for the Sabina Gold

and Silver project at Back river shows it could have

The most promising section is a diamond-bearing

Summer program to define targets

inferred resource of 26.1 million carats.

Corp.’s redemption Diamond Project have

Qilalugaq covers an area of 7,143 hectares.

deposit of 12.5 hectares that carries a total Bulk sampling shows larger, high-value

a lifespan of 10 years and produce up to 20 million

yellow diamonds. The proportion of yellow

3.4 million ounces of gold that could produce

weight as the diamonds move into larger size

tonnes of ore. The company hopes to recover net revenues of over $4 billion in that time.

The initial phase of the project would

require building a winter road to Bathurst Inlet

and one connecting the site to NWT’s Tibbitt to Contwoyto winter road. re-supply would take place by sealift. The mine could employ a workforce of about 1,333.

Sabina will hand off its final environ-

mental impact statement to the Nunavut Impact review Board this year. Construction on the site could begin in 2016.

Exploring a new mine in western Nunavut

The kaizen Discovery Coppermine copper-

silver project has high-grade, large tonnage potential deposits. It’s located five kilometres

from a possible port on the Coronation Gulf; is close to kugluktuk, and is along a direct shipping route to Asia, which has the potential to open the kitikmeot region to growth.

diamonds increases by stone count and carat classifications.

more bulk sampling will need to be done

to get the project up to feasibility stage.

NWT

Association of Professional Engineers and the

Dominion

Diamond Corporation with the 2015 Civic Award for the company’s contributions to help

improve the quality of life for citizens in local communities. The award was presented to

Dominion in recognition of its support of the Food rescue program, Habitat for Humanity and Betty House.

Dominion Diamond Corporation has

ownership interests in the Ekati Diamond mine and the Diavik Diamond mine.

reviewing the company’s plan to conduct

Mine expansion plan includes special crossings

Coppermine property. Start-up field opera-

Jay kimberlite pipe at the Ekati mine includes

The Nunavut Impact review Board is

a multi-year exploration program on the tions could begin this summer if all required

stakeholder approvals and permits are received.

The company wants to ensure resources are

Dominion Diamond’s draft plan for mining the building caribou crossings and other mitigation measures to avoid disturbing caribou.

Colour coded signs would help truckers

available to support the project first, enough

identify where they might encounter caribou

basic infrastructure. All plans will be discussed

would come into effect if 40 nursing caribou

to build the $270-million port and most of the

in collaboration with the kugluktuk community.

What are those diamonds worth?

That’s the question North Arrow minerals Inc.

is asking as part of its preliminary evaluation of its Qilalugaq project, nine kilometres north of repulse Bay (Naujaat).

ficial geology evaluations intended to help iden-

tify and define potential drill targets for their winter 2016 drilling program.

Ground magnetic surveys indicate a

number of priority drill targets. Shallow core drilling is planned for the summer program to

better define the glacial till profiles and aid in and geochemical databases.

The Northwest Territories and Nunavut presented

focused on ground geophysical surveys and sur-

interpreting the kimberlite indicator mineral

Mine company helps improve quality of life Geoscientists

ongoing activities at Arctic Star Exploration

yukoN

There’s silver in those hills

Alexco resource Corp. has updated the mineral resource estimates for the Flame & moth and

Bermingham deposits. These resources have resulted in an approximate 10 per cent increase from 50.2 million ounces to 55.4 million ounces of contained silver in the combined indicated mineral resources at the keno Hill properties.

The Flame & moth deposit is the second

largest deposit ever discovered in the historic district. The favourable tenor and thickness of

newly discovered mineralization at Bermingham is also very encouraging.

Alexco’s current exploration program includes

approximately 5,000 metres of surface diamond

drilling to follow up on the successful results

at Bermingham and will continue to explore

the Flame & moth district for new potential finds.

on the road. For example, the highest, red alert or more than 2,000 animals come within 100

metres of the Jay or misery roads. Trucks’ speed would drop to as low as 20 km/h or a

full stop if a caribou is crossing, production

could shut down, and environmental technicians from the company would be dispatched

to monitor caribou behaviour and make sure they’re safe.

A B oV E & B E yo N D — C A N A DA’ S A rC T I C J o u r N A L

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2015 | 04

EXCERPT

An Intimate Preview of AN INTIMATE WILDERNESS

A

Travels across a land of vast horizons

nyone who ever attended one of Norman Hallendy’s outstanding

We are fortunate then, to be able to share in the fruits of one man’s

lectures, heard him interviewed on the radio, or had the good fortune

inspired psyche and accounts of his personal journeys North; to also be

to read his, Inuksuit: Silent Messengers of the Arctic, will appreciate how

drawn in to connect to the stories Inuit elders over time shared with

Hallendy, travelling North, framed an image of the quintessential thinking

the strange but intriguing visitor from the South who would become a

man forever destined to be on a spiritual quest.

close friend.

His sensitive and probing explorations of Inuit life, lore and spirituality have exposed and encouraged many of us to feed on that insatiable, childlike curiosity he owns, so that we too, one day, might feast on that which is unspoken or presently unknown.

Geo-ethnographer, raconteur extraordinaire, cultural tourist, academic, or sociologist? Which of these might describe this author best?

Awarded the Mungo Park Medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society for his work in the Arctic, highly regarded by the Smithsonian

So it is that this new, self-published compendium of northern experiences

National Museum of Natural History and by enlightened academics,

written by Hallendy about his visits to Baffin Island and the Inuit he came

friends and colleagues in Canada and in the North, and as founder

to know and trust, and they him, is authored in that familiar perspicacity

of Tukilik Foundation (see Tukilik.org) Norm Hallendy is, perhaps,

and nuance in interpretation he is known for and so many of us have

somehow all of the above.

admired and respected for so long.

above&beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal is honoured and proud to

Hallendy’s An Intimate Wilderness, Travels across a land of vast horizons

be able to present, in the pages that follow, two brief excerpts from

is rife with short, but long reflected upon accounts that connect readers

An Intimate Wilderness, Travels across a land of vast horizons in this

to a far different sort of history of Inuit (and those that came before) to

exclusive, very special preview. Please enjoy.

make transparent, if to none other than himself, the inner-most, oen secret workings and metaphysical nature of the Inuit world.

A B OV E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A RC T I C J O U R N A L

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EXCERPT

AN INTIMATE WILDERNESS Travels across a land of vast horizons

By Norman Hallendy An Intimate Wilderness is an account spanning 45 years of journeys in Canada’s Arctic. Travelling in the company of Inuit elders, I learned about unganatuq nuna, the deep love of the land oen expressed in spiritual terms. Other journeys were inward, across the last great wilderness within ourselves. ere were times, when travelling on the sea ice to a distant camp, that we ached with cold, and there were times when we snuggled in an igloo beneath warm, so caribou skins.

In a real sense, these journeys made it possible for me to live in two different worlds in a single lifetime. e familiar world was the one defined by the daily requirement to make a living. I spent my career in various capacities within the federal public service; eventually, I became a senior vice-president of one of Canada’s Crown corporations. I married, Reflections of the few weeks of summer. © Norman Hallendy

and my wife and I had two daughters, but our marriage suffered and

I

ended while I worked gruelling twelve-hour days.

place and fly south where summer lingers. Sekkinek, the sun, rises later

intimate way to the land and to a way of life I had never known. ey re-

each day while darkness arrives ever earlier. It is late August, a time when

ferred to themselves as “Inuit,” which means, simply, “the people.” From

caribou shed the so brown velvet from their antlers. Among the shards

the very beginning, I saw myself as a student, continually seeking help

of summer scattered across the tundra, little grey spiders dart in and out

from the Inuit elders to feed an insatiable curiosity. ey helped me to

of silken tunnels spun below the now pale gold leaves of Arctic willow. e

understand why I was so moved by the landscape, the environment, and

women and children have picked the berries. White tus of Arctic cotton

the insights of those who knew and experienced their surroundings so

have been carried away on the wind. Early morning frost has transformed

intimately. Whether living in a settlement or camp or travelling on the

the grey-green tundra into a vibrant landscape of red, orange, yellow, and

land, I assumed my correct place in the pecking order, which was in-

gold. My footsteps on the dry lichen sound as if I am walking on crisp

evitably at the bottom and in need of being “looked aer.”

e other world was one in which I was free to traverse a place of endless wonder and where, for a brief time, I could become the person I had

am visited by a gentle sadness, for soon, like the geese, I will leave this

always wanted to be. Being in the company of elders exposed me in an

snow. Soon, another sound is heard, the moaning of the sea.

Over the years, I found myself becoming attached to certain individ-

ere is a place on a hill that opens to the vast horizon. Here we can

uals and families as their ilisaqtaulaurpunga innarnut, their student, re-

sit and reminisce upon the sweet thoughts of life and wonder what

lationships that lasted throughout our lives. I realize now that certain ex-

lies beyond the horizon of our dreams. We can journey along a trail of

periences gave coherence and a larger meaning to the individual things

memories to places so hauntingly beautiful they have to be seen to be

learned from day to day. e most important of these “learnings” was the

believed, and to places so powerful that they have to be believed to be

attempt to understand what it meant to travel in one’s mind from a world

seen. I will shake the dust off my notes that tell of shamans and a world

believed to be filled with a multitude of spirits to an existence underlined

inhabited by spirits, and share with you all that was given me by men and

by the promise of something better aer death. So began a line of inquiry

women who lived at the very edge of existence in one of the most

that will close at the end of my own earthly journey.

demanding places on Earth. ey were people who had the genius of

It was my akaunaarutiniapiga, great fortune, that these Inuit elders

knowing how to create an entire material culture from skin, sinew, ivory,

shared with me their perceptions, along with their words and expressions

bone, stone, snow, and ice. ey spoke to me of hardship, love, wonder,

now seldom used and in some cases no longer understood. I learned that

and all that defines the human spirit. Sargarittukuurgunga, a word as old

to be moved by the touch, the smell, and the sounds of the land was not

as their culture, suggests travels across a land of vast horizons.

unmanly. is sensual communion, this unganatuq, is a “deep and total

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EXCERPT

attachment to the land” oen expressed in spiritual terms. I am unable to forget how an old woman spoke quietly to me of nuna the land’s fearsome, deadly, and divine qualities with equal reverence.

From time to time, I wondered why the elders with whom I travelled gave so freely of their thoughts and assistance. ey could see me capturing their words and putting them on paper, and with their permission, I made their words available for others to read. On rare occasions, I would be told not to disclose a certain event or fact for personal reasons. As time went on, I found that many elders in Cape Dorset actually looked forward to my visits, when I would record what was said over tea, bannock, and goodies. e range of names I was given reflects the different ways I was known to the Sikusiilaq elders: Apirsuqti, the inquisitive one; Angakuluk, the respected one; Inuksuksiuqti, the one who seeks out inuksuit; Innupak, Big Foot; Ittutiavak, a respected elder; and Uqausitsapuq, the

One of many notebooks filled with observations while in the field.

word collector.

The Journey 1958-2012

A B OV E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A RC T I C J O U R N A L

25

EXCERPT

A BIT OF SILVER PAPER

P

ingwartuk was the first Inuit elder I met in Cape Dorset and the first

and competent hunter and trapper. His laughter, especially following

to take me out on the land, which oen meant going out to sea.

some antic that caused him injury, was infectious. “Laughter,” he once

Compact and deceptively strong, Ping, as we called him, had hands that were as gnarled as ancient Arctic willows yet as dexterous as those of any

said, “is very good when things are bad.”

But his laughter was not reserved for hard times. As I wrote in Silent

artist. His face looked like well-tanned leather, for he was out on his boat

Messengers, Ping was completely at ease with the qallunaat, the white

as oen as weather permitted. At the end of the season, his skin was the

men, who oen sought him out for help, guidance, and the use of his

same hue as a Portugee, the term Cape Dorset Inuit used to refer to black-

boat. One day we were out hunting seal with a well-known writer from

skinned people.

New York City. Unfortunately for the writer, no seals were to be had. As

Ping’s name means a gentle and friendly plaything and in fact he was

the day wore on, one finally surfaced near the boat, dove back into the

well known for his jovial manner and delightful countenance — he was

water, and then returned to the surface where it was met by our hail of

like a smile on two feet — qualities that obscured the fact he was a serious

bullets. e seal seemed to elude us for quite some time until it finally

Pingwartuk who gave me the secret of staying alive. © Norman Hallendy

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EXCERPT Lukta, son of Qiatsuk, brother of my beloved Issuhungituk. © Norman Hallendy

swam away. I don’t believe our guest from New York City ever realized

We were not far into our

that our elusive prey was, in fact, a stone-cold seal animated by a

return trip when I noticed a white

mischievous Ping. He had rigged the animal with fishing lines and was

line quickly approaching us. I

playing it like a puppet.

thought it was ice, but it turned

Of all our trips together, one stands out. e August day began with

out to be a very dense fog that

the two of us lying on a hilltop watching a great flock of sea pigeons. eir

overtook us within half an hour.

singing caused us to abandon hunting. We lay down on the rocks, inhaled

e fog was so thick that I could

the sweet scent of Arctic heather, and gazed out into the icy blue of the

barely make out the other end

Hudson Strait. We watched icebergs sail in the distance and made out

of the motorized canoe seven

the pale mirages of ghostly islands looming on the horizon. e Earth

metres away. Sharing my concern,

shimmered. Aer a long while, I turned to my old mentor and asked him:

Lukta shut down the motor and

“If we were never to see each other again, Angak [Uncle], what words

listened carefully. It was what he

would you choose to leave with me to remember you?”

could not hear — the sounds of waves lapping on the shore — that troubled

“I would tell you,” he replied, “always place yourself in a position to take advantage of that which is about to happen.”

him. He thought back to the time we had set off, when the sun was shoulder high, and estimated we had been travelling roughly an hour.

is formula for staying alive meant doing those things required to

He took out a package of cigarettes, removed the silver foil, and folded

improve one's chances of success and those things required to lessen one’s

it into a tiny boat with a sail. He placed it on the water, where it quickly

chances of disaster. Nothing was more directly related to staying alive

dried off. From its direction, and taking into account the time of day

out on the land than the chanciest thing of all — sila, the weather.

and season, Lukta knew that the tide was going out into Hudson Strait,

Sila’s unpredictable behaviour affected all living things. Neither astute

which was definitely not where we wanted to be.

observation nor magical incantation could remove all risk.

Lukta restarted the motor and continued in the direction opposite

e power and influence of weather is reflected in the vast number

to the driing silver paper. We would go along slowly, stop, listen, then

of words and expressions describing it in the Inuit language. Words

continue. Listening was the most important thing. en, suddenly, we

enabled the intelligent person to carry out a multitude of observations,

bumped into an outcrop, something not indicated on the map I had. In

classify them, and assess the nature of the prevailing conditions. e

the middle of the still dense fog, we quickly got out of the canoe, and

particular colour of the landscape, the structure of snow and ice, the

Lukta looked around. He could tell by the presence of lichens that the

pattern and formation of clouds, the direction of the tide and wind, ice

outcrop was not covered at high tide. Aware that it would be all too easy

crystals, the behaviour of the sun, aurora, mirages, sound, and most

to slip off the rock and fall into the icy water, we carefully sat down facing

important, the relationships among all these required a highly specialized

where we thought the land would be and waited.

vocabulary. If you could choose an example where science and magic

It took a few hours and then, sure enough, the fog dissipated and we

came together, it would have to be in the language of weather. Sila also

could see the land facing us. e first thing Lukta did was to pick up some

means intelligent thought and wisdom.

loose rocks and build an inuksuk that pointed toward the land. In his

On one memorable occasion, I was travelling with Lukta, the son of

mind, he recorded the image of precisely what the outcrop looked like.

the angakok (shaman) Qiatsuq, who was taking me to his father’s old

When we finally returned safely to Cape Dorset, Lukta told his fellow

camp. I wanted to visit Qiatsuq’s now abandoned camp because I was

hunters all that had happened; that if ever they came upon the outcrop

curious to learn why some people were afraid to go there. Heading off

out in the bay and saw an inuksuk in the shape of a pointer, it indicated

by boat with neither map nor compass, Lukta and I navigated safely

the direction toward the land.

through a dangerous narrows and across the yawning bay to reach the camp. Aer I had finished documenting the area, we got back into our

And so a new image was added to the cognitive maps carried in the minds of the hunters of Sikusiilaq.

boat and began crossing the bay.

A B OV E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A RC T I C J O U R N A L

27

Tuniit Drums from Bylot Island Wooden gifts from the sea

By Tim Rast & Christopher B. Wolff

More than 1,000 years ago, the sounds of

drums could be heard thrumming across the Arctic. Although these drums were related to the large wood and skin-covered drums found throughout the region today, they were smaller and played by a very different group of people. We don’t know what they called themselves, as they vanished

about the same time that the ancestors of the Inuit moved into the region within the last millennia, but in Inuktitut they are known as the Tuniit and

archaeologists call them the Late Dorset. Everything we know about them comes from archaeological sites and stories of contact told by Inuit.

Button Point, Bylot Island.

Photo by Cam Gillies

A B OV E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A RC T I C J O U R N A L

29

T

he two most complete Late Dorset drum frames ever

instruments in a range of sizes, but with a consistent and uniquely Late Dorset style.

found come from Button Point on the southeast corner

e two complete drums have relatively small diameters compared to many other

of Bylot Island, Nunavut, and date to the centuries surround-

documented Arctic drum styles, with diameters of a little over 17 cm and just under

ing A.D. 1000. e wooden drums were salvaged decades

15 cm. e frame of the smaller of the two drums has unrolled slightly so the diameter

ago by Father Guy Mary-Rousselière, along with thousands

is an estimate.

of other Late Dorset artifacts now housed in the Canadian

Both drum frames are made from a single piece of wood that has been bent into a

Museum of History (CMH). Unfortunately, the drum skins

loop. e wood grain of the drums suggests that they are made from large diameter

and lashing decomposed long before they were found, but

driwood logs, perhaps spruce or larch, rather than the Arctic willow that grows locally.

the frame and handles of the two complete drums are intact.

e wood is a gi from the sea and at Button Point many of the most intricate and

e authors and Lori White re-examined the Button Point

ornate artifacts were craed from it. Each end of the loop was carved to a long, slanting

wood fragments and, using the two complete drums as a

scarf joint that was further notched so that it could be bound firmly in place using

reference, recorded more than a dozen new and previously

lashing. Both drums have an incised groove running around the outside circumference

identified drum frame fragments. ese pieces represent

of the frame to tie down the drum skin.

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2015 | 04

e drum handles are very slight wooden sticks with square or rectangular crosssections. e handles are inserted through matching gouged slots in the wood frame.

No trace of lashing grooves or glue on the handle or frame suggests that the handles were attached by any means other than friction. It is possible that the handles are designed to be removed to make the drums easier to store or transport between use. ere are additional holes gouged into the drum frame, not drilled as you see among Inuit specimens. In each drum, one hole is placed directly opposite the drum handle. e larger drum has a second hole in the same general area of the frame, but offset slightly. We aren’t certain what the function of these holes might be. Generally, they appear opposite the drum handle, but are a smaller diameter than the drum handle, so if a stick of some sort fits in them, they would be smaller than the already very light handles. ey don’t have any obvious grooves or channels running from them that suggest they were lashing points for threads or cords.

We searched through all of the wood fragments in the Button Point collection at the CMH and identified a total of 13 drum fragments in addition to the two complete drums. Many of these were previously identified as drum parts, but we did find a few new ones. Even very short drum frame fragments could be identified based on the carefully constructed cross section of the frame. In cross section, the wood fragments are rectangular with a flat base opposite a peaked and bevelled edge. ey have a flat interior surface and their exterior surface is incised with a lashing groove around the entire circumference of the frame. Since the drum handles on the complete drums are very simple sticks, we weren’t able to identify any of the other wood fragments as handles. e drum frame fragments showed some variability in size, but no matter how slight or hey the frame, the unique cross-section was present, so it appears that relatively large and small drums did not differ significantly in construction methods, only in size.

To hear what they may have sounded like when they were played, Rast made reproductions of the drums. Making a reproduction of an object using the same materials and techniques available to the original builders is one way to better understand the ancient cra of drum making among the Late Dorset. e drum reproductions were skinned with caribou rawhide, which were lashed to the frames with braided sinew. During Rast’s initial detailed examination of the original drums to aid in building their duplicates, an exciting discovery was made. e drums were adorned with incised lines forming a sequence that appears to count up and down as you follow them around the drum frame.

On the larger drum, there are 13 sets of tick marks incised into the drum frame. ey are spaced evenly around the circular frame like the numbers on a clock. e pattern is not random; instead it counts up and down from the handle towards the top of the drum, where two sets of eight tick marks are carved with a central line running through, identical to the pattern seen on Dorset carvings of animals to suggest the spinal column or backbone of the animal. e pattern appears to be mirrored on the le and right side of the drum. Starting at the frame just above the handle, there are three tick marks and if you go clockwise or counter clockwise, the next mark is a single tick mark, then a gap and two tick marks, a gap and three tick marks, a gap and four tick marks (probably), a gap and six tick marks, a gap and eight tick marks (with a spinal column) and then the pattern counts down again, eight ticks with a spinal column, six ticks, four ticks (probably), three ticks, two ticks, one tick, and then you are back at the handle. e point where four tick A B OV E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A RC T I C J O U R N A L

Top: The sequence of tick marks on the back of the drum frames are identical to the pattern seen on Dorset carvings of animals to suggest the spinal column or backbone of the animal.

Above: Dorset Drum Frame from Bylot Island.

Photo by Tim Rast. Canadian Museum of History, PfFm-01:1750 Opposite: Wood, sinew, and caribou skin reproductions of the Button Point drums. The pegs at the top of the drums are inserted into gouged holes in the frame. The true function of these holes is not known. Photo by Tim Rast

31

One of two life-size masks carved from driftwood. Trees this size do not grow on Baffin Island, instead it was foraged along beaches: a gift from the sea.

Photo by Christopher B Wolff. Canadian Museum of History, PfFm-01:1772-1777

marks may be located is damaged on one side of the drum

similarities and differences in their design and construction. Aer viewing both the

and overlaps the scarf joint on the opposite edge. At least

archaeological and ethnographic collections, we could see that the drums were clearly

three tick marks can be seen in the damaged area. If you

related, but they developed independently along diverging paths.

continue counting the marks by one from the handle, the

e similarities between the ethnographic and Dorset drums included the use of

sequence is 1, 2, 3, and then 4. If you count the marks down

bent wood for the frame, the general circular shape of the drum frame, a single offset

from the top of the frame by two, the pattern is 8, 6, and

handle, the groove in the outside of the drum frame to lash the skin in place, and the

then 4. Both sequences suggest that 4 is a plausible number

use of scarf joints to secure the ends of the frame together.

to fill in the sequence at that point. On the smaller drum, we observed a similar ascending/descending sequence of seven marks.

e differences were in the specifics of design and construction of each of these elements.

Drums have been a central component of northern shamanic traditions for

We viewed all of the Inuit drums in the Ethnographic

centuries. In Canada’s Arctic, artifacts belonging to the Dorset culture, especially the

collection at the Canadian Museum of History. We did not

carvings and other artistic pieces le by the Late Dorset culture, are oen interpreted

measure every drum and instead focused on the general

as holding important clues to the shamanistic nature of the society.

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Drum Feature Bent Wood Frame Circular shape

Single offset handle Scarf Joints

Dorset

Inuit

Rectangular cross-section with bevelled edge

Rectangular cross-section with rounded edges

Inserted through a gouged hole in the frame

Lashed to the outside of the frame

Small diameter

Placement of the scarf joints around the edge of the frame, away from the handle

Large diameter

Overlapping and often reinforced joints directly under the handle

One of the most common design elements that appears in Dorset art is the incised representation of a skeleton, which archaeologists call the x-ray skeletal motif. ese skeletal motifs, sometimes reduced to an abstract representation of the spinal column, are found on naturalistic animal carvings, but also on abstract carvings and other objects. One theory is that these carvings were religious or shamanistic in nature and some of the figures suggest that humans, most likely shamans, could even transform themselves into animals. ere are several examples of figures in Dorset art that depict people transforming into animals. One explanation put forth for the skeletal motif and depictions of transformation is that in some northern cultures shamans could enter a trance-like state, strip off their own skin down to their skeleton, and then redress themselves in the skin of the animal that they want to change into. We know by analogy with later Inuit groups and other shamanic cultures that rhythmic drumming and chanting can be used to induce a trance-like state. Dorset drums could have filled a similar role. e incised lines on the back of the Button Point drums may represent stages in the development of the spinal columns seen in the x-ray skeletal motif found on other Dorset objects. e patterns of marks on each complete drum frame are different, but they both create a sequence that counts up from the handle (marked with three lines) around the edge of the frame towards the far side of the drum marked by a skeletal motif. And then back down again.

How can we interpret this sequence? One literal interpretation could be to interpret the markings musically, either as marking out drumbeats or a cycle of songs played during a ceremony. Alternatively, within the context of shamanism, the marks could

This tiny Late Dorset carving shows a being, perhaps a shaman, with human legs and parka twisting and changing into a polar bear.

Photo by the McDougall Sound Archaeological Research Project.

Courtesy of the Government of Nunavut.

mark out a progression from a normal state of being to a trance-like state where the

ings take on a transformative meaning and even the simple

shaman or his audience is transported or transformed. e three marks on the frame

driwood that they are constructed from, a gi foraged

are placed at the point where the drummer makes contact with the instrument.

from the sea, takes on religious significance beyond a simple

On wooden facemasks recovered from the same site at Button Point, there are

building material.

sets of three incised lines where the strap to hold the mask in place would have been attached. e three parallel lines seem to be associated with the point of contact with the religious object and the practitioner.

At the far end of the drum, away from the handle, we see the skeletal motif, marking that moment of transformation or spiritual travel to another plane. And in between we have a sequence counting up from a normal state of being to the moment of transformation and then back down again to the human realm.

What appear to be simple instruments at first glance become loaded with religious symbolism on closer reflection. Within the context of a shamanistic society, the markA B OV E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A RC T I C J O U R N A L

Tim Rast, from St. John’s, Newfoundland, is a Canadian archaeologist and Flintknapper who specializes in artifact reproductions from the Arctic and sub arctic. You can see more of his work on his blog: www.elfshotgallery.blogspot.com Christopher B. Wolff is an archaeologist and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the State University of New York, Plattsburgh. His work focuses on prehistoric coastal societies throughout the Arctic and Sub arctic. He has been a drummer since he was 10 years old.

33

The Observation Station at Ashe Inlet, on Big Island on the north side of Hudson Strait, like the other stations was built on rocky ground.

LAC, C-052128, photographer - Robert Bell

The Strait Story The Hudson Bay and Strait Expeditions of the 1880s

By Season Osborne

Imagine sitting in a shack on Hudson Strait at 55 degrees below zero.

In the winter of 1884-85, 16 men did just that. They were left at

five different observation posts along Hudson Strait for a year as part

of a Dominion government project to assess an Arctic shipping route.

The first Prairie wheat was shipped east in 1878 via the Canadian

Pacific Railway, which charged exorbitant freight rates. Frustrated farmers began to look at alternatives to get their grain to European

markets. The shortest possible shipping route was via Hudson Bay and Strait to the Atlantic Ocean.

A B OV E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A RC T I C J O U R N A L

35

The map of the route followed by the HMS Alert on the second Hudson Bay and Strait Expedition in 1885.

I

n 1884, the Dominion government decided to make a first-

sacks of hard coal for the stations’ stoves, barrels of salted meat, root vegetables, kegs

hand assessment of this route. It voted to spend $70,000

of vinegar, coffee, lime juice, boxes of cocoa, and provisions enough to sustain the men

to outfit a steamship and set up six observation posts along

for up to 18 months. When it le Halifax, the Neptune carried 833 tons of cargo.

Hudson Strait where men would live and study the strait year-round. Over three summers, a ship would pass through Hudson Strait to assess its navigability. e expeditions would also determine a suitable port on Hudson Bay at either the mouth of the Nelson or the Churchill Rivers. e 33-year-old hydrographic surveyor Lt. Andrew Robertson Gordon would command the expeditions aboard the powerful Newfoundland sealer Neptune.

Fiy-five men made up the ship’s company. Nineteen of them would live at the observation posts for a year. ese men were all under 30 and unmarried. ey had signed up for a year of adventure in the name of science, for 35 dollars per month.

On July 22, the sailing-steamship Neptune cast off from the Halifax wharf. Its decks were piled with lumber and sections of prefabricated observation station buildings. e ship also carried the furniture, and all supplies for the posts, including

36

Port de Boucherville Observation Station on Nottingham Island, at the north entrance to Hudson Bay on the western end of the Strait, August 24, 1884. This rocky island was nicknamed “de Boucherville’s disgust” because of its bleak locale.

LAC, C-086362, photographer - Robert Bell

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The 1885 Hudson Bay and Strait Expedition Company onboard the Alert on the Marine Department wharf in Halifax prior to departure, May 1885. Lieutenant A.R. Gordon is seated front and centre in the bowler hat.

Photographer J. M. Margeson. Courtesy of Bruce B. Gordon Family Archives

e ship wended its way northward from Nova Scotia, through the Strait of Belle Isle, and up the coast of Labrador, giving a wide berth to icebergs.

Aer rounding the tip of Labrador on August 5, Gordon chose the location for the first observation station at the southern entrance to Hudson Strait in a small sheltered

Station men and locals at the newly erected observation station at Stupart Bay on the south side of Hudson Strait, August 17, 1884.

The modern day village of Kangiqsujuaq is located on the same bay. LAC, C-086377, photographer - Robert Bell

Company men shortly after erecting the Laperrière Harbour Observation Station on Digges Island south of Nottingham at the entrance to Hudson Bay, August 29, 1884. The Neptune is anchored in the background to the left.

LAC, C-86359, photographer - Robert Bell

bay on Cape Chidley. Gordon named it Port Burwell, in honour of Herbert Mahlon Burwell, the 21-year-old observer in charge of the station. Stores were landed and the station building erected in three days.

On September 20, the Neptune headed east through Hudson Strait, calling at the stations on its way to drop off

Each observation station was basically a 16 by 20 foot cabin, divided into three

furs and bid a final farewell. It would pick up the men the

rooms with a porch. e buildings were designed with double walls and a sheathing of

following summer. At Ashe Inlet, the three intended for the

tarred paper between for insulation. It was recommended that the men cover the house

sixth station re-boarded the Neptune. But with no signs

with sod as further insulation. is was sage advice, except that the buildings were

of a good harbour, Gordon abandoned the idea of a station

erected on rocky ground with no insulating sod for miles.

on Resolution Island. e Neptune headed south. On

Each station was equipped with a sundial and timepiece, which was to be tested at

September 30, it anchored on the north side of Nachvak Bay

noon when there was sunshine. As well, daily temperature, barometric pressure, tides,

on the Labrador coast. Here they erected the last station,

and weather conditions were all to be noted in detail with particular attention to the

and landed stores. Gordon named it Skynner’s Cove aer

formation, breaking up and movements of the ice. Also, observations of birds, fish,

lead observer William Skynner.

other wildlife, and flora were to be recorded.

e Neptune proceeded to St. John’s harbour, anchoring

Four other observation stations were established along the Strait: one on the east

on October 11. e first Dominion government expedition

coast of Big Island on the north side of Hudson Strait, which Gordon called Ashe Inlet

to the Arctic had been successful. Six research stations had

aer William Austin Ashe, the station observer. A third, on Hudson Strait’s south side,

been established and men le there to carry out important

was named Stupart Bay aer 27-year-old Robert Frederic Stupart. A fourth station,

scientific observations.

Port de Boucherville, was erected on Nottingham Island and named for observer

e following summer, the Hudson Bay and Strait

C.V. de Boucherville. e fih observation station, Laperrière Harbour, with Arthur

expedition headed north aboard the British naval ship Alert.

Laperrière in charge, was erected on Digges Island 45 miles south of Nottingham Island.

Commander Gordon felt the Neptune was not fit for an

ese islands lie on either side of the entrance to Hudson Bay.

expedition ship. is likely had something to do with the

at summer, the Neptune crossed Hudson Bay to Churchill. e harbour at the mouth of the Churchill River is wide and deep, ideal for large ships’ anchorage. A week

pungent smell of the seal oil-saturated wooden sides of the sealing ship.

later, the Neptune departed with a stock of fur clothing for the station men, and headed

e Alert le Halifax at the end of May 1885 to ascertain

south. Gordon was not impressed with the shallow anchorage in the Nelson River and

the earliest the ship could make passage of the Strait.

dismissed it as an unsuitable port.

However, the ship struggled up an ice-riddled Labrador coast,

A B OV E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A RC T I C J O U R N A L

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Local Inuit living on the south shore of Hudson Strait near where Stupart Bay station was constructed in August 1884. Eighteen Inuit starved to death in the winter of 1884-85. Very likely some of them are pictured in this group.

LAC, C-086378, photographer - Robert Bell, 1884

Interior of Ashe Inlet Observation Station looking west, 1885.

LAC, e0110660207_s1, photographer - James Tyrrell

finally driing and was caught in the ice for three weeks.

e third expedition le Halifax June 24, 1886, again encountering ice the entire

e ice tore away the stem piece, and the Alert had to return

way up the Labrador coast. Entering Hudson Strait on July 9, the Alert’s passage was

to St. John’s for repairs. As a result, the expedition didn’t

blocked by a massive field of ice. It laboured through it for 20 days to Churchill before

arrive at the mouth of the ice-clogged Strait until July 27.

carrying on to the Nelson River. Railway advocates preferred Nelson because it was

Fieen men were onboard to replace the men at the five

closer to Winnipeg, but Gordon was adamant that the mouth of the river did not

Hudson Strait stations. (e station at Skynner’s Cove in

provide adequate shelter, and would also require dredging to make it suitable for

Labrador would be closed, as it didn’t add to the knowledge

freight-carrying vessels.

of the ice conditions in Hudson Strait.) e men would be

On the trip back through the Strait in September, the stations were dismantled. e

dropped off to spend the summer with the station men already

men, supplies, and building materials were taken onboard and brought home. Skynner’s

at the posts, who would be picked up on the Alert’s final passage

Cove, however, was sold to the Hudson’s Bay Company. e expedition docked in

east through the Strait. e ice was so thick and hummocky

Halifax on October 10.

at Port Burwell that the ship couldn’t get in, and the new

Gordon tabled his final 125-page report in August 1887. Based on his three-year

observers had to scramble over it to the station. Heavy ice

experience, he felt that the Strait was only navigable from the second week of July to

also prevented the ship getting into Ashe Inlet and the three

the first week in October. His eagerly awaited report fell far short of an endorsement

station men also had to walk the two miles across the bay.

of a Hudson Bay Route, and the government decided not to sponsor the project.

e Alert reached Stupart Bay on August 22 to discover

Gordon’s report was shelved.

the men had abandoned the post. Robert Stupart had

e question of a Hudson Bay Route was periodically revived over the next several

le a note detailing how the winter of 1884-85 had been

decades. However, 40 years later a railway was built to Nelson, but it proved unsuitable

exceptionally hard, resulting in 18 local Inuit starving to

and a port was then constructed at Churchill. e first grain was finally shipped

death. Fearing the ship wouldn’t arrive, the men departed

through Hudson waters in 1929. Today, Churchill is Canada’s only Arctic seaport. e

in an open whaling boat for Fort Chimo 300 miles away.

current shipping season is from mid-July until the beginning of November. Only a few

At Port de Boucherville on Nottingham Island, Gordon

weeks more than Gordon had recommended.

discovered that one of the station men had died of scurvy.

Life at the remote posts had not been easy. e ship visited Churchill and York Factory, on the Hayes River, before making the final voyage back through a stormy Strait. It had been a harrowing trip through the ice that year. e risks of such a route looked like they outweighed the benefits.

38

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

Photographs reproduced with permission of the Library and Archives of Canada, referenced as LAC.

2015 | 04

ADvErTOrIAL

Supporting a strong and independent North

From the moment we took office in 2006, our Conservative Government has made the North a top priority. The North was in need of significant

investment, and I am proud we have been delivering on our commitment to support a strong and independent North.

We have increased federal transfers to Nunavut by more than

77 per cent. These transfers directly support essential investments in the territory, such as infrastructure, education and social programs to help those in need.

In 2013, the Government announced the New Building Canada Plan

— a $53 billion investment in predictable infrastructure funding for the

next 10 years. This plan is the largest federal infrastructure investment

in Canadian history and will continue to provide more than $5 billion each year for territorial, provincial and municipal infrastructure.

Supporting and defending the traditional knowledge, cultures and

hunting rights of Inuit has also been a priority of the Government. For

© Leona Aglukkaq’s Office

To equip Northerners for well-paying jobs, we have invested almost

more than three years, we fought against the European Union’s unfair

$30 million in the Northern Adult Basic Education Initiative and are

or science. As a result of our efforts, the World Trade Organization found

take advantage of the enormous potential of the region. Our Government

ban on seal products, which was a political decision that had no basis in fact that the EU seal ban was arbitrarily and unjustifiably discriminatory against Canadian Indigenous sealers.

To support this important traditional industry, the Government

announced in Economic Action Plan 2015 that we will provide $5.7 million

to help secure greater market access and establish a certification system

that will meet EU requirements for seal products from communities,

supporting college programs focused on training to help Northerners also established the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency

(CanNor) in 2009 to help foster strong, sustainable and diverse economies

in all three territories. Since its creation, CanNor has invested more than $208 million in roughly 950 projects to help create jobs and build prosperous northern communities.

Canada has also put the interests of Northerners at the forefront of

which depend on the seal hunt to provide for their families and maintain

the Arctic Council’s agenda. When I was appointed Minister for the Arctic

Our Government is also moving forward with a number of initiatives

and prosperity of the people living in the North must be the top priority

their traditional way of life.

to reduce taxes and the cost of living on families in Nunavut. In 2011, we promised Canadians we would balance the budget, lower taxes and

provide families with new and enhanced benefits. Economic Action Plan 2015 delivered on all of these promises.

The benefits we’ve introduced will support 100 per cent of families

with children and, along with other initiatives we’ve implemented since

2006, will provide up to $6,600 in tax relief for an average Canadian family of four. This means parents will have more cash in their pockets for purchases that are important to them and their families.

An important part of these savings is the Universal Child Care Benefit

(UCCB). Under the UCCB, parents of children younger than the age of six will receive up to $1,920 for each child —while parents of children aged 6 to 17 will receive up to $720 for each child.

40

Council in August 2012, Northerners made it clear that the well-being of the Council. That is why for the first time we made “Development for

the People of the North” the overarching theme of the Arctic Council

under Canada’s chairmanship, which concluded in April this year. During our two-year Chairmanship, we saw an unprecedented focus on the importance of traditional knowledge and cultures of Northerners.

Additionally, we hosted the first-ever pan-Arctic Mental Wellness Symposium, which helped raise awareness of an issue vastly important to Northerners.

After achieving so much together, I look forward to pursuing new

initiatives with the support of Northerners and continuing to represent their interests and ensure their voice is heard in the South.

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq MP for Nunavut

2015 | 04

E D U C AT I O N

Left to right: Corey Ellis, Kathleen Kemp, Ajmal Sataar, and Alida Burke in Iqaluit to discuss the entrepreneurship program. © Kathleen Kemp

Enactus uOttawa

Entrepreneurship to empower the North A tourism business run by Inuit youth and a

university students might be thinking of heading

solutions to social, economic and environmental

the town dump: these are just a couple of the

Sataar, Corey Ellis and Alida Burke flew North on

any business model would have to be inclusive

furniture recycling enterprise using wood from entrepreneurial ideas suggested at a recent brainstorming session in Iqaluit.

In February, four intrepid leaders from

south for spring break, Kathleen Kemp, Ajmal First Air to show how the power of entrepreneurship can transform lives.

president of development Amjal Sataar. Last

facility. Ideas and projects were discussed with

of Ottawa, escaped the National Capital’s frenzy

year, they had visited Iqaluit to get to know

program to Nunavut. At a time when many

On this three-day visit, they met with over

100 people at sessions in the parish hall, at a

president Kathleen Kemp and Enactus vice-

to bring a custom-designed entrepreneurship

and sustainable.

It was a second trip to Iqaluit for Enactus

Enactus uOttawa, a group of about 100 volunteer

student entrepreneurs based at the University

challenges. One thing they learned was that

the community and see whether a businessminded approach could help bring about

A B Ov E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A rC T I C J O U r N A L

women’s shelter and at a youth correctional Iqaluit Mayor Mary Wilman and Nunavut Deputy

Minister of Education Kathy Okpik, among others.

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2015 | 04

E D U C AT I O N

Kathleen Kemp and Ajmal Sataar from Enactus uOttawa depart a First Air aircraft on their visit to Iqaluit. © University of Ottawa

“We worked with a number of organizations

Both Kemp and Sataar have now graduated

and agencies,” says Kemp. “And we worked with

from the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School

preneurship as a career path. It was great to

mentoring new Enactus uOttawa recruits, who

young people who were interested in entresee some of our work being used to make an impact in their community.”

Sataar adds, “We brainstormed by talking

about all of the problems that occur in the area. Some pretty cool initiatives came out of

it. One was a furniture recycling business.

of Management but they plan to continue will continue what the duo started. Enactus volunteers plan further trips to Nunavut, and

have been in talks with Nunavut’s Department of Education about providing entrepreneurship training to high school students in the territory.

Enactus uOttawa receives some support

Because furniture is so expensive, one idea

from the University of Ottawa but also relies

it as furniture and resell it. Another idea was

Sataar mentioned that, for example, First Air

was to take wood from the dump to re-purpose for an Inuit tourism business, because a lot of the youth there said they want to be able to start

a business, but they also wanted to maintain

their culture. So there could be a way of building a business out of that, while also experiencing all of the awesome things to do up there.”

The Enactus ethos revolves around turning

the negative into something positive. And En-

on donors to help finance their initiatives. provided two return tickets for half price, and

the Nunavut Department of Education supported

the other two flights, with another $5,000

Sataar adds, “Every Enactus team member

donated by rBC for food and expenses.

has the opportunity, once they have done

say that they, too, have learned new things,

abroad. But I think it is important to stay within

In helping others, both Kemp and Sataar

and will never forget the experience.

“I think it is important to understand that we

something in their own community, to venture our own country and solve problems that we

have here first, before we venture off to the rest of the world.”

actus uOttawa’s track record has seen some

are really fortunate in the south in terms of the

clothes bound for landfills and re-purposes the

use the things we have learned to continue to

and researchers at the University of Ottawa,

the young people we worked with are going to

Mike Foster

success: its EcoEquitable Boutique takes old

fabric into fashion accessories; CigBins em-

ploys people with mental illnesses to recycle cigarette butts and clean up Ottawa streets.

opportunities that we have,” says Kemp. “We’ll empower and inspire, because I know a lot of become front-runners in entrepreneurship.”

A B Ov E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A rC T I C J O U r N A L

To read more stories of students, professors

visit defytheconventional.ca.

University of Ottawa

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C U LT U r E

Igniting the Fire Within

The Women’s Qulliq Making Program

for lamp fuel and gathered Arctic cotton and

young Inuit such as myself struggle to imagine

rocks, which they knocked together to spark a

what life would have been like with no running

water or electricity in our homes. We were born into this modern lifestyle, and it is hard to remove ourselves from its everyday norms.

On cold crisp nights however, as I stay toasty

by the heat of an oil-fuelled furnace, I still think of my granny growing up in her igloo near Kingauk (Bathurst Inlet) and how different it

must have been: an entire family warming

moss to form the lamp wicks. They found flint

fire. These sparks were nurtured carefully in a moss-filled bag, transferred to the qulliq, and

eventually became the flame which spread across the qulliq to generate enough heat to

cook and keep the igloo warm. Just as a woman tended to her children, she fed and

shaped the lamp flame throughout the day and night.

While the art of tending the qulliq lives on

their hands, hearts and minds by the gentle

in today’s society, it is typically only seen in cer-

The qulliq, or soapstone lamp, was the

ings or special events. The Kitikmeot Heritage

light of the qulliq lamp.

central focus of domestic life in traditional Inuit culture. It played many vital roles: a source of

heat against the frigid temperatures, a source

of fire to prepare harvested food, and a source

44

Above: Participant Navalik Helen Tologanak carves out the inside of her lamp.

In this modern age, our ancestors’ traditional

way of life can seem like a distant place. Many

Mary Kaniak demonstrates the proper technique for lighting and tending the lamp. © Pamela Gross (6)

Above left: Annie Atighioyak holds up a miniature lamp she carved.

of light to cast away the darkness of the

long Arctic winter. Lamps also served to define the identity of women, as they were the ones

emonial settings such as the opening of meet-

Society sought to change this practice earlier this year. As an organization dedicated to the documentation and revitalization of Inuinnait

culture, we attempt to find a modern place for both traditional practices and the identities they carry with them.

In February 2015, we organized a gathering

responsible for keeping the qulliq alight.

of 22 females from the community of

throughout the day: Women rendered seal fat

through the creation and use of traditional

The lives of women and lamps intertwined

Cambridge Bay to celebrate their womanhood

2015 | 04

C U LT U r E

Above: Elders Mary Avalak and Mary Kaniak demonstrate the carving of soapstone lamps.

Above right: A group of participants finish up their lamps with polishing.

Below: Women participants and their quliit.

qulliq lamps. ranging in age from 10 to 90,

participants had the opportunity to compare their vastly different life experiences while carving out tangible reminders of the strength

and importance their gender brings to the North. By the time the completed soapstone

lamps were lit, each woman’s flame burned bright with a strong sense of respect for both

her own talents and those of past Inuit women

who have kept the fires of their people and culture burning.

As both the organizer and a participant of

this workshop, I enjoyed the qulliq project

from beginning to end. It’s amazing how tactile work allows us to connect with ancestors whose hands went through the same motions

a hundred years ago. The project strengthened

modern ties, bringing participants and Elder instructors together with bonds that will be

there for as long as we continue to feed that flickering flame.

Pamela Gross

Pamela Gross is Programs Manager at the May Hakongak Community Library & Cultural Centre.

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2015 | 04

SCIENCE

NASA’s Arctic-Boreal vulnerability Experiment

The Earth is constantly changing. Some changes are natural and occur quickly, like a passing storm, or very

slowly, like the retreat of the great glaciers that once covered much of Canada during past Ice Ages. Other changes are the direct result of things people are doing with purpose and forethought, like the harvesting of a

forest for timber, or the damming of a river. But sometimes people do things for good reasons (like burning fossil fuels for energy to power our cars, homes and factories), which produce unintended effects such as climate change.

Experiment, or ABovE. The ABovE Field Campaign will focus on studies

across northwestern Canada and Alaska (Figure 1). While NASA is known for its manned space flight program, it also has a mission “to understand

and protect our home planet”. Thus, since the late 1960s, NASA engineers and scientists have designed, launched, and operated a large

number of Earth observing satellites, and have used data from these

satellites for research to develop a deeper understanding of the processes causing changes to Earth’s oceans, atmosphere and land

surfaces. A “field campaign” involves a large group of scientists who join together to collect and analyze data from satellite and aircraft remote

sensing, along with observations from field studies on the ground to Figure 1. This image presents trends in NDVI (a satellite measurement that can be used to detect changes in vegetation growth) for the period of 1982 to 2010. The green areas experienced increases in vegetation growth, while the brown areas experienced decreases. © Dr. Scott Goetz of the Woods Hole research Center

The Arctic is warming faster than any other region on earth. New development opportunities are being pursued and community populations are changing dramatically. All of these factors may result in rapid changes to northern ecosystems. People who live in the region depend

investigate a variety of topics within a region.

research during ABovE will focus on how and why Arctic and boreal

ecosystems are changing in response to global climate change, human development, and other environmental changes. ABovE will include a four- to five-year long period of collection of data on the ground in con-

junction with airborne and satellite data. In addition, ABovE research

will focus on developing the information people need to plan for and

respond to these changes, especially for the Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups who call this region home.

A key goal for ABovE will be to develop new satellite and airborne

on these ecosystems to provide clean air and water, plants to harvest,

remote sensing information products. For example, a common use of

roads and houses.

present in a region. regular collection of these data over time allows

animals to hunt, and permanently frozen solid ground on which to build Permafrost thawing, changes to snow, ice and river flow, and changes

in timing of arrival and departure of migratory animals, are having direct

satellite remote sensing data is to map the amount of live vegetation for monitoring seasonal patterns of vegetation growth.

Using satellite data collected from the late 1970s into the 21st century,

impacts on the people who live in communities along rivers, among

scientists have determined that vegetation in some areas in northwestern

world, depend on deep frozen soils to stay frozen to keep our planetary

areas have experienced a decrease (Figure 1). The increases in vegetation

boreal forests or on the Arctic tundra. These people, and people around the climate stable by storing carbon for long periods of time and preventing it from moving into the atmosphere.

The Terrestrial Ecology Program of the U.S. National Aeronautics and

Space Administration (NASA) is organizing the Arctic-Boreal vulnerability

A B Ov E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A rC T I C J O U r N A L

North America has seasonally experienced increased growth, while other have mainly occurred in tundra where increased shrub growth has been observed, while decreases have mostly occurred in boreal forests, and

have been attributed to water stress. While some of the reasons for the changing vegetation growth are known, many questions remain.

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SCIENCE

Figure 2. A shrinking lake (red arrow) on the Parry Peninsula, NWT, north of the Great Bear Lake observed by satellite sensors. These images come from the Landsat 5 TM (1990) and Landsat 7 ETM+ (2012) satellites. The red box in the bottom image shows the regional location of the Landsat images. © Mark Carroll, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

In addition to providing data that can be

how and why forests are changing as they

mental characteristics, remote sensing data

in the Northwest Territories last summer will

used to analyze long-term changes in environ-

are also used to routinely generate information that is vital for management of natural resources.

For example, satellites easily detect forest and Changes in hydrology can also be mapped

with satellite remote sensing systems. The

extensive areas of small lakes and ponds in the ABovE region provide habitat for a range of fish and wildlife species, and are important for

winter transportation. Due to changes in climate,

thawing permafrost, and human activities, some lakes and small ponds are draining, while in other cases, they are increasing in size (Figure 2).

As part of ABovE, NASA is developing an

expansive, detailed map of small lake and

ponds for the region for the years 1990, 2000,

and 2010. On-the-ground research during the ABovE field campaign will help scientists

tundra fires with thermal infrared sensors. This

has allowed the U.S. Forest Service’s remote

Sensing Applications Center to develop a system

to produce maps of active wildland fires for Canada and the United States three times

controlling forest recovery in this region during ABovE. In other areas of the ABovE study region, more severe wildfires and northward

migration of tree species are leading to complex

patterns of recovery in black spruce forests across the ABovE study region.

In planning the ABovE research activities,

NASA is actively working on developing part-

experience extensive wildland fires, such as

including federal agencies (e.g., Natural

monitoring burning in remote areas that

Alaska, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories

(Figure 4). Moderate resolution Imaging

Spectroradiometer (MODIS) system fire maps for different regions of Canada can be downloaded at http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/activefiremaps. php?sensor=modis&extent=canada.

In addition to studies of the factors that are

causing changes in the patterns of wildland

observed in the satellite imagery (Figure 3).

observations and field studies to understand

fires, during ABovE scientists will use satellite

Figure 3: (Inset) A lake that was drained through a channel formed by thawing permafrost. © Guido Grosse of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine research

A small pond that is growing from the melting of a deep layer of ice within ground that was previously frozen. © Eric S. Kasischke

48

provide an ideal opportunity to study factors

each day — a valuable information source for

understand the processes that are causing changes to lake area over the past two decades

regrow after fires (Figure 5). The extensive fires

nerships with a range of organizations in Canada,

resources Canada, Environment Canada, the Canadian Space Agency, and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern

Development Canada) and

territorial governments (Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories). A high priority for

NASA is the active engagement of Aboriginal groups and members of local communities

throughout the ABovE campaign. This will include consulting with groups with land

ownership/usage rights in areas where the

Figure 4. Active fires map for the Great Slave Lake region posted for 7 a.m. (MDT) July 27, 2014. This map was created using thermal infrared satellite data collected by the MODIS system. The red areas are fires detected from the past eight hours, the orange areas are detections from the past 12 to 24 hours, and the yellow areas are detections since January 1, 2014. © U.S. Forest Service

2015 | 04

SCIENCE

Figure 5: (Left): In interior Alaska, aspen seedling recruitment is occurring following severe fires that completely burned the surface organic soils. (Right): In central Yukon, the northward migration of lodgepole pine is leading to forests dominated by multiple species, in this case, pine, spruce, and aspen. © Eric S. Kasischke (2)

research will take place, learning about local

For more information about ABoVE, visit the

and regional scientific information needs to

ABoVE website at: above.nasa.gov and follow

knowledge into ABovE research, and meetings

Eric S. Kasischke, Elisabeth K. Larson, and Peter C. Griffith

support planning, incorporating traditional to inform members of local communities about the planned research activities and results.

us on twitter at: @NASA_ABoVE.

Eric S. Kasischke is a professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland, and is currently on assignment as the Terrestrial Program Scientist in the Earth Science Division of NASA. Elisabeth K. Larson and Peter C. Griffith are in NASA’s Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Office.

KIKIAK

CONTRACTIN G LTD.

General contractors serving the North since 1999 Inuit owned and operated General construction, remediation work, plumbing and heating, heavy equipment rental and service, earthworks, vehicle service and rental, expediting, ice road construction, cat train work

#56 Kugluktuk Dr., Kugluktuk, NU Ph: 867-982-4713 F : 867-982-4718 Email: kikiak_gn@netkaster.ca A B Ov E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A rC T I C J O U r N A L

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2015 | 04

BOOKSHELF

The Spirit of the Sea

rebecca Hainnu Hwei Lim, Illustrator Inhabit Media, November 2014

This beautifully illustrated picture book tells the story of the powerful, and at times vengeful, spirit of the sea, often

known as Nuliajuq, Sedna, Takannaaluk, and many other Inuktitut names. Due

to the lies and deception of a traitorous

bird — and her own father’s cowardice —Nuliajuq is destined to a life of solitude at the bottom of the ocean.

Three Feathers

richard van Camp Krystal Mateus, Illustrator Portage and Main April 2015

Three Feathers is a graphic novel written for teens in grades nine to 12. Elders send three young men to live on

the land for nine months as discipline for vandalizing their community. They learn to take responsibility for their actions and learn humility so they can return home.

Three Feathers explores the power and grace of restora-

tive justice in one Northern community and the cultural legacy that can empower future generations. The book is published in three languages: Bush Cree, Dene and South Slavey.

Uqausivut sivummuagutivut.

Our Language, Our Leadership

Edited by Jeela Palluq Cloutier and Louis McComber Iqaluit Nunavut research Institute, 2014

Most Inuit over 50 in Canada were probably born in hunting or fishing camps. In the olden days, Inuit youth grew up solidly attached to a complex kinship network and connection to the land until missionaries and the

controversial residential schools episode interrupted

ancient ways. With the implementation of various

forms of self-government from Alaska to Greenland,

Inuit now face the enormous challenge of building their capacity to manage public infrastructure of governance.

As such, younger generations of Inuit spend more time

staring at a computer or cell phone screen than hunting

beluga whales at the floe edge or caribous on the tundra

in their respective communities. Because of this socially moving context, this book asks whether

the Inuit language and its writing systems will become a working language of future Arctic generations or mostly only spoken by parents and grandparents still connected to their nomadic past?

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2015 | 04

INUIT FOrUM

The late-summer harvest I was speaking to a group of high school students recently about my family’s relocation to the High Arctic from Northern Quebec. The occasion was the closing event of the Truth and reconciliation Commission. Like former students of the residential school experience in Canada, High Arctic exiles are survivors. That is something that is always most evident to me in late summer.

Of course, it was autumn when my mother and her family, along with several Inuit families, landed on a sandy beach on Cornwallis Island, some 1,200 kilometres from Inukjuak, the only home they had ever known. In Inukjuak, they lived among tundra grasses, even trees. They had learned the patterns of roaming caribou. resolute, by contrast, was a desert, a desolate landscape that has been described as the harshest terrain ever inhabited by humans on a permanent basis. It was 20 degrees colder than Inukjuak, and it was dark. Months passed before they saw the sun again.

As the Hon. John Duncan, then minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, said in 2011 in his apology for the Inuit High Arctic relocation, “They were not provided with adequate shelter and supplies. They were not properly informed of how far away and how different from Inukjuak their new homes would be.”

Over the past six years of truth telling and reconciliation, we have shared our stories of residential school and other atrocities. This is our history — and it is Canadian history. But what was done to us is only half the story. The other half is about how we endured.

Inuit hunters gear up for a summer harvest. © ITK Archives (2)

My family and others relocated to resolute Bay and Grise Fiord did what Inuit have done for thousands of years. They adapted. The first years were a desperate time. But they learned the secrets of their surroundings and they forged a connection with the land.

They became familiar with the migratory patterns of beluga and narwhal. Each spring, tens of thousands of whales travel from their wintering grounds in Baffin Bay to Lancaster Sound and Barrow Strait, right past the spot where my mom and her family landed in the fall of 1955.

Several months later, over a few days in late summer, the whales embark on an eastern migration heading back to Baffin Bay and Davis Strait for the winter. It has become a season of celebration in the High Arctic. At the first sight of the whales offshore, hunters spring into action, heading out in boats to corral a number of beluga in the bay. They take only what is needed.

The annual hunt reflects perfectly the

symbiosis of nature, of living in harmony with the land. Out of nothing, we created a home, and we learned to sustain ourselves with what the land and sea offered us.

In his apology to the High Arctic exiles, then-minister Duncan also admitted that the government failed to act on its promise of a return voyage to Inukjuak within two years for any families that didn’t want to stay. What he didn’t mention is that in the late 1980s, when we were finally given the opportunity to return to Inukjuak, many families chose to remain in their new communities.

The scars of our forced relocation remain, and monuments in resolute Bay and Grise Fiord tell the story of our hardships. But when our story is told in classrooms throughout Canada, as I believe it should be, let it be a story of survival — and of the enduring strength of Inuit.

Terry Audla

President, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

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

A B Ov E & B E YO N D — C A N A DA’ S A rC T I C J O U r N A L

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GUEST EDITOrIAL

The North’s new growth opportunity Our high cost of living

Dennis Bevington helps check the nets, Trout Lake NWT. © G Antoine

There is a silver lining to the North’s high cost-of-living, which dominates our daily lives,

cripples our service industries and causes our population to stagnate.

It is no news food costs are through the

roof. Inflation on food is estimated at five per cent in the North.

Energy costs (particularly fuel oil) have

increased 300 to 400 per cent since the year 2000. Housing and utilities have followed suit,

putting much pressure on homeowners, and

renters. Public Housing utility costs drain government coffers.

The situation is dire; the need to change is

great.

So where is the silver lining?

With any challenge must come solutions.

Slave Lake fishermen are turning away from

trades school in Fort Smith. In Sachs Harbour

and governments taking hold of this debilitating

created their own micro processing business,

saving for the community’s only B&B. In Colville

Across the North we see people, businesses

situation, documenting it and looking for answers.

Food security is an issue that is front and

centre in northern communities and one that

sending all their catch to Winnipeg and have marketing to Northerners. They find it hard to keep up with demand and the return on their labour is much better.

On Northern energy issues, a decade ago

has attracted concern across Canada. In Nunavut,

the theme was our need to reduce greenhouse

protest, then to look for active solutions. The

Biomass Conversion is focused on reducing

people have taken to the streets, first to result has been Nunavut’s first “Food Security

Action Plan,” a real effort to address the high

cost of importing and relying on southern food stocks.

Across the North many local food markets

are springing up. We have a northern agriculture training institution opening up in Hay river. In

Inuvik, Fort Simpson, Norman Wells, Iqaluit,

new diesel plant, will make the community of 150 a leader in small grid energy use.

In some ways, we are going “back to the

costs of operation. This effort has been so

peoples for thousands of years and for the early

successful that we now burn 10 per cent of

Canadian produced wood pellets and are planning our own bio energy forest industry.

Success breeds replication and the Yukon

in the North was a way of life for the indigenous

newcomers. Today, with the right attitude, using modern tools and techniques, we are seeing the renaissance of that Northern spirit.

No one suggests we turn our backs on the

government has announced its own Bio Energy

resource development economy — it is going

Solar energy use is increasing as well, with the

years. To be truly successful we need both: strong

Strategy.

Across Northern Canada fish populations

metering policy, a GNWT Solar Strategy, and

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being installed this year which, backed up by a

future”. Sustainability of communities and people

cost of solar panels going down by 80 per cent

are strong and the product is excellent. Great

Lake, a world class solar/battery system is

gas emissions. Now, a program like the GNWT

and Whitehorse the number of Northern greenhouses is increasing.

on Banks Island, solar panels are making a big

in the past decade. The NWT now has a net photovoltaic training tools at the Aurora College

to be a mainstay of the economy for many exports and a vibrant, exciting and people first local economy.

Dennis Bevington

NDP M.P. Northwest Territories

2015 | 04

ᓄᓇᓕᓐᓅᖓᔪᖅ, ᐊᑲᕐᕆᓇᖅᑐᖅ, ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᖃᑦᓯᐊᖅᑐᖅ

Nunallaat, Ihuarniq, Atuttiarniq Community, Comfort, Convenience

ᑲᓲᑎᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᓄᓇᕐᔪᐊᑉ ᖄᖓᒍᑦ

Haniliriikhutik Hilarjuap Qulaani Spanning the Top of the World

cshw5g6 w8{ kx3P, cshw5g6, kNK5 Qausuittuq Inns North, Resolute Bay, Nunavut

1.867.252.3900 Qausuittuq@InnsNorth.coop

EW N R E UND GEMENT MANA

www.InnsNorth.com ☎ 1-888-To-North ᓄᓇᓕᓐᓂ-ᓇᒻᒥᓂᕆᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᑐᔪᕐᒥᕖᑦ, ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᑦᑐᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᓕᒫᒥ.

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Locally-owned hotels, working together across the Arctic.