We are living in a drastic time....

by Carol Arey

There is so much I have heard since I could remember, and I still like to listen to what the elders have to say; one of them is my nanuck (Grandmother) Sarah Meyook, and some others that have left us, like my grandparents Tom and Jean Arey, Charlie Soupay, and so many more.

Iremember them talking about how, as young children, they would listen to their grandparents and others predicting what had happen, and what will happen today. The predicted the television; I was told they would talk about seeing people through a box and hearing them talk. Sarah Meyook said when she was a kid she used to laugh at them because she thought they were crazy, “how they knew, what were they talking about?" T hen there were the changes in weather, ocean currents, and the animals we survive on....

One of the predictions was about the eagles and crows, she said that her elders used to say, “In the future the Tingmiakpaks and Tuluguaks (eagles and crows) will bunch together, when that starts to happen the animals we eat will be harder to get… just remember that even just twenty years ago we were lucky to see an eagle, and now there are plenty. Crows are now living and nesting along the coast, when there were none until a few years ago. There used to be many ground squirrels at Running River and Shingle Point, but now there are so many eagles , we would be lucky to see or even hear a ground squirrel.

Has it ever been this hot in September before? Since when and for how long? We now rarely see ice down at the coast during summer and fall. The ocean is warmer, and the currents are changing. I remember when I was a kid at Running River; we would go swimming in the ocean. The water was pretty cold, but there would be no currents until about the end of August. Now by mid July, I am afraid to let the kids go swimming without any of us adults nearby to grab them if the need arises. The current is getting so strong that by mid July, our fishnet just pulls and is difficult to set. Usually we wait until the currents slow down before trying to set it again.

As for whales, well my goodness, no one had the chance to get a whale (beluga) at Shingle or Running River this year. It is not that they did not go out, they were just hard to find. The talk of Killer Whales are true, I know of someone who filmed it on video, he said he will send me a copy. There were more than one killer whale (aaggalu), and also a shark, around Herschel Island. I am not surprised about the killer whales as my Mom said she used to see them in the 50's and 60's around Herschel Island. BUT, A SHARK!!! Aallii, what next?

By Melinda Gillis

Our adventure began when we launched our rafts into the roaring Firth River, carefully holding aloft a Canada Winter Games Torch. Our team was made up of two Inuvialuit youth athletes, two Patrol Persons from Vuntut National Park, and three Parks Canada staff members from Inuvik. We were traveling with the torch to generate awareness of the 2007 Canada Winter Games, and to give northerners an opportunity to be part of this great event. The torch relay coincided with Parks Canada’s annual travels to monitor campsites and resources along the river, which runs through Ivvavik National Park.

We departed from Sheep Creek, also in Ivvavik National Park on August 19. There were smiles all around as we lit the torch and posed for photos with the Yukon Territorial flag and the Canada Winter Games flag.

The highlights of our journey down the Firth are the river sculpted canyon walls, breathtaking in their variety of shapes and colors. Green and purple rock fold together creating patterns along the canyon. We saw sheep climbing cliffs, a grizzly bear high in the hills and eagles flying. The water was alive, flowing swiftly around and over rocks that shaped it into boils, holes, eddies and standing waves. The Big Bend Rollercoaster section, with its class IV rapids, is by far the most exciting and memorable part of this paddling adventure.

Travelling in the North always requires flexibility; our demanding environment determines schedule and pace. Weather and river conditions affected our plans and we had to cut our trip short, but that just means there will be more to see next time. Accompanying the torch down the Firth River was a great experience for all of us. We had a wonderful time and learned a great deal about rafting, camping and the importance of teamwork. Although we did not raft the entire river, it was an amazing trip that personally connected us to the Canada Winter Games. It was an honour to be part of such a nationally significant event, hosted in the north!

The Canada Winter Games will be held in Whitehorse, Yukon. Three torches are traveling through communities north of the 60 th parallel for a year. They will be reunited at the Canada Winter Games opening ceremonies in February 2007. For more information, please see http://www.2007canadagames.ca