Ivvavik National Park:

9,750 km sq. Ivvavik means ‘ A Birthing Place’; Sadie Whitbread from Aklavik named this park.

Timeline: 40,000 years ago: The wildlife of the Yukon North Slope included mammoths, horses, bison and lions

23,000 BC: A woolly mammoth dies in the British Mountains. 25,000 years later in 2001 a group rafting the Firth River finds its tusk.

10 to 15 thousand years ago: The first people probably came to North America from Central Asia. People have been living in Alaska and the Northern Yukon for at least 12,000 years and possibly as long as 30,000 years.

6,000 BC: People camping at Engigstciak left projectile points to be found by archaeologists 8,000 years later.

1984: Ivvavik, then Northern Yukon National Park, becomes the first Canadian national park established as a result of an aboriginal land claim.

Together with Vuntut National Park and the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve in Alaska, protects much of the calving grounds and migration corridor of the Porcupine caribou herd.

Today: The park is co-operatively managed by Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope), the Inuvialuit and Parks Canada, administered from Inuvik.

Rafting the Firth River

Water skimming is a controversial topic. Concerned parents would rather make this a taboo topic, because accidents during water skimming can be fatal, and the less youth that know about it or attempt it, the better. Yet there is no denying that water skimming has caught on as a major source of summer entertainment for youth, and like skateboarding, it is best to arm youth with knowledge about safety concerns than to not discuss it.

“Come quick!!! There’s water skimming by the water, they are starting!” An excited group of children who were seconds ago skipping stones and playing on the ice (another dangerous activity) urges us to join them. The news seemed to have spread really quickly, as there are about another 20 youth already gathered. The cheer as the water skimmers build up their momentum and take their skidoos across the open water, defying gravity and causing a wake of waves and spray along their path.

water skimming is popular with youth. Danny is considered one of the pioneers of water skimming. He said, “People like to come and watch. It’s fun, but you get cold and wet after that.”

He began water skimming about three years ago, when his brother and him saw some skidoos running on water one day. They were watching TV, and seeing the skidoos made them decide to go outdoors to give it a try. “A lot of young kids want to try, but we tell them to wait till they are older, till they get their own machines.”

“It’s fun,” said Kelly. He had learnt how to from Danny and Randy, and he said it is more fun when all the ice is gone. He stressed that he only began learning when he was “old enough for his family to let him”. He had watched Danny for three years before giving it his first try. Some adults think youth take risks more recklessly with skidoos they did not have to pay for. To Kelly’s credit, he is using his own skidoo. He works part time, one of his jobs being with GNME, a mining company, helping to unload cargo from planes. “You’ve got to go fast or you’ll sink and the skidoo will get water in it. Then you will have to clean that out,” he said.

Water skimming is just one of the activities that Kelly likes, he also enjoys going out on the land, fishing in the lakes and driving his skidoo on snow. However, given that there are fewer opportunities for youth in Ulukhaktok to go out of town for sports, he said, it is good that he has lots of friends and family to enjoy time with, and that they can amuse themselves with water skimming whenever they get a chance to.