A Light in Darkness

Family by Heart

by Nadine Kuneluk, Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories

70 degrees north and 117 degrees west, with a population of just around 450 people

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In small communities such as Ulukhaktok, it’s always good to keep close to your family and friends, especially in times of need.

I grew up here, and I always had a place to go, whether it was my grandparents’, auntie’s, uncle’s, cousin’s or just a friend’s house. I knew I was going to be okay.

Living and growing up here has allowed me to connect with those who live here, who have faced the same problems that my family and I had, to find and pay for food, electricity, housing and all the other accommodations society has recently developed.

We all share the same responsibilities. We all face hardships, and when one family member is going through an unfortunate time in their life and needs help emotionally, financially or would just like company, there is always someone right beside you.

A long time ago, our ancestors would have gatherings when someone wasn’t having any luck with their hunting and fishing, and would provide food or shelter for the entire family. To this day, that tradition still lives amongst our people, the Inuit.

I am proud to be who I am because I know I’ve recognized and helped others in their time of need. It really is amazing how strongly tied families and friends can come together and form a bond like no other and expect nothing in return.

My dad taught me that you should always share what you have, and I’ve been following that lesson since I could remember, and will continue to practise it for the rest of my life.

The traditions we have here will continue not only because they are successful, but because we are closer than one would think, because we are a family not by blood, but by heart.

Koana.

Surviving the S.A.D.

by Allysa Felix

The sun for me is really something special. She gives us life.

I will forever love the uniqueness it has in the Arctic, how it never rises in the winter and never sets in the summer, like it is sorry for being gone so long and trying to make it up to us.

But the dark winter can cause Seasonal Affective Disorder, or S.A.D. – a common form of depression characterized by a lack of energy, sleepiness and overeating, the bleh feeling of no light.

This particular disorder is descriptive of people who are affected by the decreasing amounts of sunlight and the colder temperatures as the fall and winter progress. There are those who suffer from this condition during the summer instead of, or in addition to, the fall or winter.

Did you know that in some areas in Alaska the 24- hour darkness can last for 60 days? I honestly think I’d get cabin fever from that.

S.A.D. is caused not by the cold, long months but the loss of light. While not everyone will experience this, a majority of the population does. Treatment includes the social aspect of your life but a new treatment is light therapy, such as sun lamps. But these lights are expensive and not often seen in small communities.

Outside the bigger cities in the North, seemingly simple solutions to seasonal depression – eating right, getting out of the house to socialize, exercising during daylight hours – seem a greater challenge.

This is why spring is my favourite: fishing in the warmth, the peace and tranquility of the quiet, untouched land, no bugs. If things didn’t cost money and the world wasn’t melting away, I’m sure I’d be out on the land somewhere living alone and providing for myself. The beauty of the sun makes the cold bearable.

In places like Inuvik and its Delta neighbours, seasonal depression is likely to stick around, even if that famous Arctic 24-hour darkness isn’t quite all it’s cracked up to be.