Shingle Point Summer GameS: the beginnings

By Maung Tin

For many generations, Shingle Point has been a place for whaling, hunting and fishing. This seven-mile stretch of gravel off the Yukon’s picturesque Artic Coast has also had a significant history of a settlement and society that survived despite many colonial hardships that it encountered. It was this very place where The Hudson’s Bay Company thrived in its commercial success; a place where the DEW Line sat on 2682 acres of the coastal plain providing advance warnings of potential hostility; and most importantly a place where missionaries established “experimental” residential schools. The fragmented past is now a place of beauty that seeks to recapture culture and tradition.

today, Shingle Point has become a summer destination for families to enjoy and practice harvesting of beluga whales, fish, birds and land mammals. In 1997, the notion of family gathering expanded with the establishment of Shingle Point Summer Games. This all began one evening when a handful of friends and a few families sat around listening to elder stories. Amongst them were Carol Arey and her colleague Annie B. Gordon who became fully absorbed in the excitement; after the stories, they were left to contemplate, “why not make this a yearly event?” An event that could involve a cookout, fun games and skill competitions, which will bring the community closer together. With much preparation, organization and gathering of funds, they inaugurated the event, the Shingle Point Summer Games.

The first year of the event was a tribute to the memory of those that passed on. The event was a great success with planes chartered and boats commissioned, bringing in people from Inuvik, Aklavik and Alaska. Excitement was at its peak “which included drum dancing, singing, arctic sports, games, Kipotuk (ring-toss) and cooking food around the clock… and everyone volunteered,” says Arey. The tradition continues from that point on, bringing in more people and new faces including tourists, keeping the folklore alive.

This year the event commenced with fierce wind and heavy rain. Little children, youths and adults joined in on the scavenger hunt, lining up to hand in their findings. As the weather became more forgiving the games and the cookout took their natural course bringing everyone to rejoice in mouthwatering foods ranging from muktuk to freshly grilled hamburgers.

Given the turbulent history of Shingle Point, culture and tradition is revitalized through great support and devotion year after year by community members. They are trying to maintain an identity for present and future generations. Arey conveys it is these positive aspects of “sharing, caring, respect for the land and animals that needs to be continued to keep the tradition going…and only than we can enjoy the land we have been blessed with”.∞

By K E v IN F LOYD