Ilinniarnaqsivuq!

I've been waiting for an 'app' in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit of northern Canada. It's taken a while, but this spring children, and grown-ups as well, will be able to quickly learn to use the syllablic symbols used in Canada's eastern Arctic to write in Inuktitut.

For those wishing to learn a bit more about how this 'app' came into being, there's a news item online to read. For people dying to try the 'app' for themselves, there's a demo as well. I couldn't get the demo to work completely, but the image above comes from it and gives an idea of what it will be like. Perhaps you'll have better luck with the demo! Soon everyone paddling in the arctic will be able to read and write in the local language when dropping into the local hunting or fishing camp!

Update! Update!

'Tusaalanga' the new Inuktitut app is now available on iTunes. Check it out here!

Speaking In Qajaq!

Obviously it's no secret, kayaks or qajait were invented and refined long ago by Inuit people in Canada and Greenland. Today we benefit from their skills and knowledge and use that information to produce the boats that most of us paddle in places around the world. Some of us have tried our hand at reproducing the original kayak designs by building 'skin-on-frame' (SOF) boats of various sorts. This endeavour has enabled the builders to get a bit closer to the Inuit and their way of thinking.

Now there is another way to get closer still. Learn to speak the language of the Inuit themselves: Inuktitut! The one hour audio book called Inuktitut will get you started hearing the sounds of the language and provide you with some useful phrases and vocabulary. As most SOF builders chose to build Greenland style kayaks, this audio book is particularly helpful as the dialect taught in the book is 'Greenlandic'. This dialect varies somewhat from the Inuktitut dialects spoken in arctic Canada, however there are many similarities between the various dialects (and some often amusing differences as well!). Clicking on the link above will bring you to the site at Audible.com, however it's also available from the iTunes store by searching for 'Inuktitut'.

Why Not Drive?

Many kayakers dream of paddling in the far north around ice bergs and seals and all that arctic stuff. Most of us are held back by the frightening cost of air transporting our kayaks and other gear from wherever we live to a decent put-in beach in the high latitudes. Well, that's about to change!

In the above photo, you can see the answer! Get yourself one of these buggies and you're good to go wherever you want. Made to tackle the polar ice, the bears, the darkness and cold, you'll be assured of being first at the launch site.

Personally, I'm taking a wait and see approach and thinking of doing some warm water practice session in the meantime. Still, they are kinda cool-looking...

Tumasi's New Boots

You're right, the picture is missing. As soon as I get permission to post it, I will. If you really, really need to see it before you begin reading - or during - then click 'here'. It won't take you exactly to the picture, but scroll down a bit and I think you'll see which one I want to use...

Ever since I started writing this blog, I've shut the office down at Christmas, doubled the staff's pay and told a Christmas story. This year, even in these tough economic times, I've been able to extend this gift again. I hope you'll enjoy this year's offering! Thanks for reading and Happy Holidays!

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tumasi close the door to the trailer classroom building where he taught and start to head over to where I was in the main school building. I turned and watch him as he made his way to the school door. I was thinking about how our lives had slowly come together. He'd been born in a sod house out on the tundra and I'd been born in a hospital in a southern Canadian city. So far apart and now here we were together. We were the same age, teaching the same grade and spending our weekends hunting and fishing out on the same landscape.

The door slammed shut and I could here him speaking to one of the teaching assistants in Inuktitut. He was excited. He'd got a call from the post office. A long awaited parcel from Sears had finally arrived after several delays. His footsteps were silent as he made his way down the hall to my class, but his excitement told me he was at the door.

"Johnni-ai!" He spoke the common greeting style in the Inuit culture of northern Quebec. I smiled.

"So we're headed to the the post office…! I'll be ready in a sec."

"Ya, finally my boots are in. Can't believe it's taken so long. I thought I'd be going hunting barefoot this Christmas!"

I looked down at his feet. He was wearing beautiful homemade kamiik, sealskin boots his aunt had made. Everyone in the community wanted a pair of those boots and Tumasi wanted Baffin skidoo boots from Sears. What a crazy world!

"Ya, right. You look barefoot in those kamiik. Real shame to have to cut your frozen feet off, especially at Christmas. It might keep you working regular hours though, without those fast moving feet…!"

He smiled. He knew I was always bugging him about his 'just-in-time' style of working, never wasting a moment in school that he could spend on his skidoo out on the land.

We headed to the post office and picked up the boots. I was a bit surprised by how heavy the box seemed to be, but decided not to say anything.

"Come over for some tea." Tumasi said as we exited the building. "We'll see how these beauties fit!" We strolled down the snow covered main road through town. I noticed they'd raised the price of gas again at the Coop. It was $0.75 a gallon! Incredible! It just keeps getting more and more expensive these days. I was glad we didn't have cars in the North. Can you image running a car with gas at that price!

I couldn't believe how long it took Tumasi to finally get around to opening the box and trying on his new boots. He made tea, we ate some dried caribou his cousin had dropped off last weekend and then Tumasi decided he wanted to change all the lights on his Christmas tree for ones that blinked on and off. Better his place than mine, I thought. Blinking lights? Oh gawd…

The wrapping on the boot box seemed to be tougher than steel, but Tumasi finally took his pocket knife to it and off it came. In shreds. Next the box itself, which proved to be a bit easier. He raised the flaps and looked inside.

"Waaaa…?" I looked in the box. It was full of light blue foam peanut-like things. Tumasi shoved his hand into the peanuts and felt around.

"Aaaaaaiiii…? What the…?" He pulled out a Hohner button accordion! Shiny, red, and so not boot-like!

"Did you order an accordion boots?" I said, pretending to be shocked. Now Tomasi can't play an accordion. In fact, he can't even hold a tune as far as I knew.

"Are you kidding?" He fished around in the box as if the boots were still down there hidden somewhere in the peanut pile, but of course they weren't. "I don't believe this! An accordion? Where are my stupid boots…? Sears! What idiots Kabloonat are!"

"I tell you what. Let's trade boots. You can have my boots and I'll take your kamiik." I lived in hope although his feet were smaller than mine by a couple of sizes. Maybe I could get them stretched...

"No can do, friend. My aunt would have me stretched, dried and sewn into a parka if I did that."

Tumasi was clearly confused about the marvels of southern Canadian culture when people down there didn't know the difference between skidoo boots and accordions, but what could he do.

I left him with his problems and headed home to work on my own for a while. It certainly was a costly error on Sears' part. I checked the mail-order catalogue and discovered the accordion cost over $300 while the boots were less than $50.

At school the next day, I noticed that Tumasi wasn't wearing his new accordion 'boots', but he was smiling. "So what happened?" I asked. Here's what he told me.

"Well it turns out my aunt's husband used to play the accordion. I never knew that, but he says he used to borrow one and play one when he was young. His mother had learned to play accordion when the old traders used to come up here long ago. When he herd about the mixed-up package I'd got, his eyes lit up like Christmas lights. There's no way he could afford to buy an accordion, so thanks to Sears, he's now the owner of his first accordion. He's offered to order me some new boots from his cousin the skidoo dealer the Coop uses. They'll be in on the next plane!"

"So can he still play?" I asked.

"A little bit, but he's rusty. He said with a few days of practice, he'll be ready to play again. He already told everyone there'll be an old time Christmas party in the school gym with step-dancing, just like in the old days. Pretty cool, ai?"

"Ya, pretty cool!" And it was!

The Search For Franklin

You cannot be a fan of all things arctic without wondering what happened to Sir John Franklin and his two ships, the Erebus and the Terror. Despite years of searching, very little in the way of remains have ever been found which is odd considering both ships contained locomotive steam engines which surely would show up on some kind of sensor and the location where they were last known to be is recorded in the only document found.

This past summer, yet another group, Parks Canada, went looking for the ships, but again, to no avail. They did find a ship however! This one was a bit easier to locate as detailed records were kept locating where it had been abandoned in 1854 by Captain Robert McClure and his 66-man crew. The ship was the HMS Investigator. The ship had been locked in ice after wintering twice in a dead end bay finally forcing McClure and his crew to abandon the ship and leave behind a cache of equipment and provisions on the shore. They made it to safety eventually and returned to England bearing the sad news that Franklin remained lost.


This summer's search has produced some remarkable photos of the Investigator as she lies upright on the bottom of the shallow bay where she was abandoned years ago. As the area is now part of Aulavik National Park, one might assume that kayaking trips will soon be organized to visit the wreck and go diving on her... Well, one can dream, at least!

Image sourse: http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/culture/expeditions/introduction.aspx

The End Or The Beginning...

Neither! If you're one of those nostalgic about the long ago days when Inuit paddled skin boats and lived in snowhouses, you might be concerned to see what's just happened in Iqaluit. The coffee chain 'Tim Horton's' has moved into town. I understand from fellow blogger from Igaluit, Townie Bastard that there may be more than one outlet for the chain. How times do change!

Mind you, you can still build a snowhouse and paddle a skin covered kayak if you want to, but now you can have a hot coffee at the same time!

(Image from Townie Bastard's blog)

Before Tomorrow

If you saw Isuma's film Atanarjuat several years ago you may remember there is a kayak scene in it. It was interesting to see that kayak as it's design was quite different from the more commonly seen kayaks of Greenland on which modern glass and plastic kayak designs are often based.

In the more recent film Before Tomorrow, a Greenlandic story is told, produced by Inuit from Igloolik and filmed in Nunavik, in the Puvurnituq area. Of interests to kayakers is the presence of several traditionally built boats as well as a larger umiaq. The kayaks seem to be a mix of traditions, flat bottomed and long as seen in northern Quebec, yet using a bent rib construction method more common in Igloolik and Greenland. It would be interesting to learn more about these craft and who made them. They remind me of a kayak I saw years ago in Igloolik and certainly the dialect of the actors was north Baffin Inuktitut. Interesting...!

Springtime In The Arctic

The other night I finally had a look at Isuma's feature film The Journals of Knud Rasmussen. From what I could tell, most of the filming was done in the springtime, which is probably the best time to be in the arctic. The light is wonderful, the snow conditions perfect for travel and generally people are happy to be out on the land after a long, cold winter.


That was the upside to watching the film. The downside was knowing I wasn't in Igloolik where the film was made. It's been over ten years now since I've visited this special place. Some old friends have passed on, particularly Nathan Qumaniq whose name appeared in the credits of the film. He was listed as an elder. I knew him long before he reached that status, but to me he was always a wise elder and a wonderful teacher with the patience to teach me and others his way of life.

I wish we could all return to those days...

Let The Dogs Out!

I should have been on this one a bit earlier as the race is already underway, however for those into racing traditional eastern arctic style dog teams, here it is! This year's race is around the shores of western Ungava Bay, from Quoartaq to Kuujjuaq. The last I heard, the leading teams had already passed through Kangirsuk, my old home town and are headed south. You can catch the updates by clicking here.

Happy Holidays!

Here, once again, is a Christmas story to enjoy during the Holidays. I will be closing the Ckayaker office for the next week or so, but look forward to returning in the New Year. Stay well!

The three Inuit stood beside their snow-machines and stared at the snow shelf. It clung precariously to the dark cliff and jutted out towards the black curling water. The last time they'd passed this point, the shelf had stretched out into the middle of the river making for an easy passage. At that time only a small smokey hole indicated the presence of a river beneath the ice. Now the unusual warm weather of the past few days had changed things dramatically.

"Looks dangerous, doesn't it?" Alaku nodded ahead at the narrow snow shelf barely wide enough for a snow-machine. "What should we do?"

"Still wide enough to get by, but it won't be there when we return. We'll have to find another route home..." Kudlikuluk was obviously ready to try running it in spite of the clear danger of sliding sideways into the cold, rushing water.

It was decided to undo the snow-machines from the kamotiks, the wooden sleds each man pulled behind his snow-machine. Instead, the sleds were attached by ropes. They would follow several meters behind the snow-machines, but more importantly, should anything go wrong, the driver could quickly reach behind and cut the rope, freeing the snow-machine, thus allowing it to escape if need be.

Kudlikuluk was first to go. He circled his machine below the shelf and then gaining speed, headed right for the cliff. At the last moment he turned onto the shelf, carving a wide arc in the snow as he passed up-stream to the safer ice beyond. At that moment his kamotik was jerked into following his track as the trailing rope went tight. The first sled was over safely. Following the same maneuver, each of the other men guided their snow-machines and sleds across the tricky bridge. There was a heart stopping moment when Anguti's snow-machine suddenly started sputtering and briefly lost power just as he accelerated towards the shelf, but then it caught and ran the shelf without incident. From there, they followed the river-side cliffs further up the river without incident.

The short few hours of day-light had long since turned into night when the three reached their destination, a small windowless cabin built years previously from discarded panels of plywood filled with rigid insolation. For the next several days, the men checked the gill nets which they'd strung under the ice earlier in the fall. Gradually a pile of lake trout and arctic char piled up on their kamotiks. Another day and they'd begin the trip home for Christmas. Each one was looking forward to their arrival in their small community. They already had enough fish to see that everyone would enjoy a good meal on Christmas Day and beyond.

To pass the time during the brief day, each of the four had dug a hole in the flat ice of the bay under the cliff. Lying on their tummies and peering into a hole dug through the ice, they fished in the old way using a bright dog's canine tooth as a lure and a three pronged fishing harpoon. Slowly bobbing the lure up and down would attract the fish and a quick jab with the spear could catch them - if you were skilled. Alaku wasn't happy however. It had been getting more humid than he liked. The weather was about to change and he was uneasy. The others still wanted to catch more fish. After all Christmas was still more than a week away. Having lots to eat would be welcomed by the community. When the wind picked up during the night and the cabin began shaking, Alaku's words were on everyone's mind, but they said nothing.

With two days to go before Christmas, the weather finally cleared enough to try heading home. With luck, there was still time to make it before Christmas. The three of them were tired of being cooped up in the tiny cabin with little but fish to eat. The days of waiting had dragged slowly by and with little to do, the three men spent most of the time in their sleeping bags trying to stay warm. Now that the storm had broken, they quickly began the task of digging out the sleds and snow-machines from the new-formed snow drifts and began securing the load of fish onto the kamitiks. Wrapping the loads of fish up inside large canvas tarps, the cargo was then laced to the cross-stringers of the wooden sleds using seal-skin ropes which didn't freeze like modern rope. With a last look around,the three snow-machines roared into life and one behind the other, the men headed a few miles upstream to where a small tributary entered the main river. At this point, the cliffs were lower and in one spot a gully had formed where the snow-machines had a chance of climbing out of the river valley to the plateau above.

Alaku was the first to try the gully. Half way up his snow-machine began bogging down. The two men watching at the bottom ran up to help. First the sled was unattached and slowly lowered back to river level. Alaku pulled the front skis around and gunned the engine, spinning it around and then headed down. Another version of the rope trick was decided upon, this time Kudlikuluk attached his machine to the front of Alaku's. Both men circled to gain speed and then charged the gully. Just as Alaku began to bog down in about the same spot, Kudlikuluk's rope went taught and he was able to pull with enough force to bring the heavy load to the top of the gully. This tactic was used to bring all four of the kamotiks up to the plateau above the river and glad to be out of the river gorge at last, the men headed home happy to know there were no more obstacles between them and home to slow them down.

The sun lit the southern sky briefly at mid-day, then darkness set in again. They stopped a few times to make tea and have something to eat. Once again the weather was turning against them by late afternoon. They all noticed the snow starting to drift across their tracks. Two machines roared to life. Anguti's wouldn't start. Try as he might, the machine would sputter and die as soon as he touched the accelerator. It sounded like there was ice in the carburetor. Anguti quickly dug into his toolbox and came up with some tools. The other two cut out some blocks of snow with an old saw and made a snow-screen. This would make working in the wind a bit more pleasant. Within a few moments Anguti had the carburetor removed and dismantled, Sure enough, he could see ice blocking one of the tiny jets. By holding the still warm tea-kettle against the carburetor inside his parka, he had it melted. Checking to see no more ice was there to cause problems he had the machine re-assembled quickly and it started! The men headed out into the dark landscape, one behind the other homeward bound.

The land was mostly small rolling hills and somewhat monotonous. Suddenly sensing something unusual, Kudlikuluk looked behind him to make sure everyone was together. He was alone! Swinging around in a wide circle, he retraced his route. "Now what...?" he said almost aloud. Coming around an outcrop a few minutes later, he found the others once again huddled around Anguti's stalled snow-machine. By now the snow was drifting higher into the air and making visibility more and more difficulty. He must have water in his gas as the same problem was recurring. They decided to leave the machine and it's load of fish and continue on. To stay and repair it would leave them out in the coming storm. To leave immediately, they could probably make the community in time for Christmas. Making others happy was their primary goal.

Anguti sat on top of Alaku's kamotik and the two remaining sleds once again headed towards town. About an hour later, it was Alaku who looked back to make sure Anguti was alright. His sled was gone! What the...!! He turned back and this time drove for over a kilometer before finding his sled with Anguti sitting beside it, out of the wind, enjoying the last of his hot tea from his thermos. "About time you got here!" laughed Anguti. "Don't you ever look back?" Embarrassed, Alaku looked down at the broken link which had held the sled bars to the hitch bar on his snow-machine.

Kudlikuluk roared up the trail as they finished attaching the sled this time with a rope instead of the preferred solid pipe arrangement used in this hilly country. Hoping this would be the last problem they'd have to face, they headed home once again, but they all knew these delays were making their hopes for Christmas less likely to happen.

Even in the dark, the men had a good idea of where they were. Their spirits, which had been getting lower as the visibility got worse and their difficulties increased, now began to rise again in the more familiar surroundings. Coming around a low hill, a glowing light suddenly appeared where no light should have been. It would appear for a moment, then disappear in the blowing snow. Slowing down, they cautiously approached the light. It was a snow-house! Someone was out here in the middle of nowhere in a snow house! What were they thinking? Who could it be? Why weren't they celebrating Christmas in the community?

As they drove up to it, they watched someone struggling out of the low doorway and stood up. It was Maggie, probably the happiest and fattest lady in the world! She stood up and greeted them wearing her usual dress, a bulky store-bought parka, baggy leggings, and beautiful, hand-sewn sealskin boots on her feet. She beamed out a big welcoming smile and invited them in for tea.

"Where you guys been? You missed Christmas!" Maggie laughed at them.

"What do you mean, missed Christmas? Christmas is tomorrow..." Alaku grinned back.

"Boy, you guys are really lost! Lost in time too. You've lost a day, somewhere up the river!" Maggie laughed and turned to go into the snow house. "And it looks like you've lost a sled full of fish as well. Some fishermen you guys are...!" Maggie seemed to find this part the funniest of all. She laughed so hard, she started to cough.

The three men looked at each other trying to puzzle this revelation out. Following Maggie into the snow house, they were greeted by her two little children, whose faces peeped out from under thick caribou skin covers. The snow-house was brilliantly aglow. All around the snow house Maggie had stuck candles into the snow walls, lighting the interior up like a giant lantern.

"My husband and a few others have been out looking for you people. Since yesterday. Today is Christmas, or it was." Maggie had become a bit more serious as she looked around for some tea mugs to hand out. "We were beginning to wonder where you three had got to with all that fish you promised us!" The twinkle in her eye seemed to sparkle in the multi-candled snow house.

None of the three could quite believe they'd lost track of the time, but the dark days of being storm-bound in the little cabin must have been the reason. About an hour after arriving and several mugs of tea, frozen fish and dried caribou later, Maggie's husband and two other men arrived. Anguti's snow-machine was on one of their sleds and his fish laden kamotik was being pulled behind the other. Maggie and her husband decided to stay over in the snow-house and treat their children to a few days of living in the old way. The rest all headed to town and to the feast which had been delayed too long already!

2010 - The Year of the Inuit

It's been a while since I've pasted anything about my favourite place, the arctic, but here's something interesting. The Inuit are having a year long festival of sorts to let folks get to know them and their world a little better. I think that's a great idea, especially because so many people here in Canada and around the world still think of people living in 'snow-houses' and eating raw seal blubber for diner every night. There is still a bit of that life-style when Inuit are 'out on the land' as they say, but there is so much more! This new web-site is a great way to see what's really happening in the arctic these days and a chance to bring yourself up to date. Check it out at Inuit2010.

Inuksuit

It's not news to remark that cultures tend to borrow from one another around the world. Just think what our food would be like without all the 'borrowed' spices we add in to make things interesting! Most people reading this blog have 'borrowed' the idea of a qajaq to make their lives more interesting and fun. When paddling Crotch Lake recently, I was reminded of another borrowed item that seems to be popping up with more and more frequency: The inkshuk!

I won't pretend to be an expert on the subject, but I do recall being on a small island in northern Foxe Basin years ago with a couple of Inuit hunters. We had stopped, partly because the ice was blocking our progress and partly because we were thirsty and needed to make a tea break. While we had our tea and waited for the tide to release the ice, we wandered around the island. It was covered with inuksuit, built over the years for no apparent purpose. Or so I thought...

With little to do while we waited, we began fooling about, piling one rock on top of another, building inuksuit! We went on to add to some of the others, making them more elaborate and higher. It turns out that people had been stopping on this little island for years and they did exactly what we were doing. They passed the time using the resources at hand: flat rocks.

Today, paddlers and others continue this fine traditional activity all over the place. Crotch Lake had dozens of inuksuit built from the abundant supply of stones by visitors over the years. So here is yet another cultural attribute that's been passed on by the Inuit to to rest of us!

Inuit Nunaat

At the end of last April, the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) published an interesting document declaring to the world their sovereignty to the circumpolar territory they inhabit. The statement was made jointly by Inuit living in Russia, Greenland, Canada and Alaska, which is to say all Inuit on the planet!

While declaring sovereignty these days may seem a bit late in the game, what the Inuit are saying is both modern and enriching. The rest of us can learn from their initiative!

Here is an exerpt...

"Tromsø, Norway – 28 April 2009 – Inuit leaders from Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Russia today launched a Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Arctic Sovereignty.

In developing this declaration, the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) worked with Inuit across the circumpolar Arctic over the past six months to address the increasing focus by outsiders on the Inuit homeland known as Inuit Nunaat. Climate change and the subsequent race for Arctic resources have forced Inuit to address questions such as ‘who owns the Arctic?’, ‘who can traverse the Arctic?’, and ‘who has rights to develop Arctic resources?’
“Our declaration,” said ICC Chair, Patricia Cochran, “addresses some of these questions from the position of a people who know the Arctic intimately. We have lived here for thousands and thousands of years and by making this declaration, we are saying to those who want to use Inuit Nunaat for their own purposes, you must talk to us and respect our rights.”

The Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Arctic Sovereignty emphasizes the unity of Inuit as one people across four countries, and also addresses the unique relationships Inuit have within each respective state. The declaration makes a strong pitch that internationally-accepted human rights standards, such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and other international legal instruments must be respected. It also calls for close cooperation among Arctic states and Inuit on all matters of Arctic sovereignty."

The document goes on to mention various hopes and desires of the Inuit and is well worth reading. The entire declaration can be found here.

Inuit Odyssey Documentary on CBC

Image taken from CBC's Inuit Odyssey web page.
David Suzuki's television program The Nature of Things will present Niobe Thompson's documentary film Inuit Odyssey this coming Thursday night. If you happen to be located in a region where you can pick up this program, I suspect you will be delighted. It tells the story of the Thule Culture people, those we know today as the Inuit, and their journey through time across the arctic landscape from west to east. Their story is a sweep across the top of North America from eastern Russia to the southern tip of Greenland, into Labrador and into the barren grounds of Canada. It promises to be an interesting glimpse into the history of the people who brought us the kayak.

If you cannot get The Nature of Things here are some web sites connected with the program...
- Inuit Odyssey
- Promo clip
- Buy the video!

Paddle To The Ice Age

We all think about the coolest paddling trip, the one we'd love to make, if only we could! Like many people, every now and then, I have another look at my dream trip and try to work out the costs, logistics, partners, time-frame and so on. Each time, I reach a stumbling block, some factor which prevents the trip from actually happening. I'm beginning to think, however, that I'm coming to a point where either I have to get this trip on the road or give it up in favour of some other more practical trip given all the limitations this one has. So what's the trip, you ask?

Take a look at this Google Earth photo. The dominant feature is that blob of white. It's the Penny Ice cap sitting in the middle of Baffin Island, melting away faster than ever now that global climate change is with us. They claim this blob is the last of the giant ice cap which once covered much of North America. What a thrill it would be to walk up to it and touch it! Ten thousand years later this is all that's left and you can walk up and touch it. Imagine, your last chance to visit the fabled Ice Age!

Okay, now look to the southwest corner of the photo. The water you see is northern Foxe Basin, a great paddling venue, full of seals and walrus, ice pans and all sorts of ancient wonders worth visiting en route. The paddling distance from the nearest community is roughly 200 kms, about a week or so on the water. Now look at the coastline (best seen by clicking on the photo). There is a ruggedly indented shoreline which I've actually visited years ago during a caribou hunt. The landscape rolls gently as it slowly rises to the ice cap itself. The shortest route is about 70 kms, let's say 150 kms round trip.

Part of the adventure would be to arrive in July to give yourself time to build a skin-on-frame expedition qajaq and perhaps pick up some local Inuit up for the adventure. Given the prevailing ice conditions and other considerations, one ought to plan to begin paddling around the beginning of August to reach the Baffin coast sometime early in the second week. I'd give yourself about 10 days to get to the ice cap and then a few days to look around. Repeating this in reverse ought to see you back in the community around the end of the month or early September.

What a trip! What a story you'd have to tell! At the moment, I'm looking at heading out in 2010. What about you?

Hunting Walrus With Small Boats

This is an interesting question because generally speaking dead walrus sink making it difficult if not impossible to tow back to camp after the kill. So what did the Inuit do? There are probably a number of options. One would be to carry a number of floats, usually hollowed out seal-skins which are then filled with air. These avataq could be attached to the carcass to keep it afloat during the return trip. Another option would be to cut the walrus into smaller pieces which could be transported either in the kayak in the case of the larger Canadian style kayaks or on the decks of lower volume boats.

When hunting with large freighter canoes in the Canadian eastern arctic, hunters tended to look for walrus either lying on ice pans or close to ice pans. Having a platform to make the butchering easier was important as we'll see in this sequence of photos. This was likely the case in the old days when kayaks were used to hunt.


Here a walrus was killed while on a rather high pan of older ice. The hunters were about to secure the carcass on the ice when suddenly it slipped off into the water. At that point, it was decided to pull it over to another lower ice pan before it sank.


Walrus weigh at least a ton, so pulling one onto an ice pan is often difficult. In this case there was only one pan available and it wasn't very large. To make matters worse the wind was rising.


We began butchering the carcass as best we could and loading the two canoes with the meat. I can picture something like this being done had we been using kayaks.


With the rising wind came waves and the small ice pan began breaking up into smaller and smaller pieces... We struggled to get as much meat as possible cut and into the canoes.


Finally, there was nothing left of the ice pan and we were forced into our canoes. I can easily imagine tying the slabs of meat onto the decks of kayaks, or storing them inside the hulls of the larger Canadian style kayaks.

Winter Kayaking?

Lots of ice-bound northern kayakers are bemoaning the lack of liquid to paddle on these days. Let's not forget that the Inuit originally developed our qajait for summer use! In the wintertime when all was frozen it was time to turn to other interests.

For example, if you're a woman, there was throat singing as shown in this video on the Canadian Geographic site recently. Recently more men have been giving the technique a try and why not. It's a great way to get your breathing under fine control and perhaps even help with the 'gasp reflex' when rolling in cold water...

Visit the site to see the video and a bunch of other Nunavut related stuff on the 10th anniversary of the territory!

A New Paddling Year

I don't pretend to be a religious person, but I recognize that religious beliefs can serve now and then to produce beautiful things from people. Years ago a priest named Father Fournier lived in Igloolik. Originally from France or Belgium - I don't recall exactly which - he joined the Oblate Fathers and was assigned to be a missionary to the Iglulingmiut.

When he first arrived most people lived in small hunting camps, but during his stay tremendous changes began, the most significant of which was the migration to the new village of Igloolik. With a growing congregation, Father Fournier felt the need for a proper church and he set about building one. Constructed of local stone and cement, he and a group of volunteers built the building seen in the picture above.

The church was full of Inuit expressions of Christianity, everything from the altar to the windows depicted Inuit versions of the well known stories and rituals. When I was last in Igloolik about ten years ago, the old church was abandoned. It had always been impossible to heat and the changing permafrost beneath it was producing dangerous cracks in the supporting arches. I remember first entering the building and discovering a quiet place of stunning beauty where the old and familiar things of two vastly different cultures had come together to produce something new and quite wonderful. It seemed to be a place of hope and imagination, something we all need as we move into a new year where the horizon can look grey and ominous. So no matter what motivates you or what your beliefs, let's all think about new and better vistas as we paddle our way into the future.

Inuit Uqausinginnik Taiguusiliuqtiit

I you are a member of one of the world's majority languages like Chinese, English, French, Spanish and so on, then the idea that a day might come when no one speaks your language anymore seems a bit odd. Let's face it, speakers of these languages never give a thought to their language disappearance. Alas, this isn't the case for many other languages. In North America, almost all of the indigenous languages have disappeared. Only a few of the hundreds of languages formerly spoken on the continent are holding their own, and even these feel threatened. One of these surviving languages is Inuktitut spoken in various dialects across the North American arctic region from Alaska to Greenland.

Recently, Canada's northern territory, Nunavut, passed new legislation intended to strengthen and protect Inuktitut, the language of the majority. I'm glad to see this move. I'm a real believer that a language is a way of seeing a landscape - both real and imagined - through the eyes of another culture. What better way to understand Nunavut, it's people and their environment, than through their language? So bravo, Nunavumiut, you've not only helped yourselves, but given the rest of us a gift as well!

Sadly, but somewhat typically, the Conservative party presently running Canada has announced that they won't be bound by the language legislation. How's that for pretending you were appointed to rule from above rather than elected by citizens from below? Given recent events in Ottawa, that perception may be coming to a sudden end!

Inuit Rosetta Uyaraq

I've always enjoyed languages other than my own maternal English. To me they're a fascinating peek into how different cultures see and make sense of the world around us. To really understand another person means to understand their language.

Recently the Inuit of Nunavut (Our land) put legislation in place to help fortify their language and prevent it from disappearing in the modern world. The press release was put out in four different versions, one English, one French (spoken in southern Canada) and two versions of Inuktitut, one in Roman letters, the other in the syllabic script widely used in the eastern arctic. Here is the release...

Quvianaqtualuk Inuit uqausingata sappummijauninganut piqujaq (maligaq), angiqtaujuq ippassaq 10muaqtillugu unnuk, Nunavut maligaliurviani. Suuqqaimmat uqausivut kinaunittinni nalunaiqsijuq. Piqqusirijavut. Nunavummiutaunittinnik nalunaiqsijuq. Sivummuagiaqta inuit uqausinga sannginiqsauliqullugu angirrattinni, nunalittinni, pilirivittinni amma ilinniarvitiinni. Piliriqatigiiktuinnaujunnaqtugut inuit uqausinganut.

ᖁᕕᐊᓇᖅᑐᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖓᑕ ᓴᑉᐳᒻᒥᔭᐅᓂᖓᓄᑦ ᐱᖁᔭᖅ (ᒪᓕᒐᖅ), ᐊᖏᖅᑕᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᒃᐸᔅᓴᖅ 10ᒧᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐅᓐᓄᒃ,ᓄᓇᕗᑦ ᒪᓕᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᐊᓂ. ᓲᖅᑲᐃᒻᒪᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᕗᑦ ᑭᓇᐅᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᓯᔪᖅ. ᐱᖅᑯᓯᕆᔭᕗᑦ. ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᐅᑕᐅᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᓯᔪᖅ. ᓯᕗᒻᒧᐊᒋᐊᖅᑕ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖓ ᓴᙱᓂᖅᓴᐅᓕᖁᓪᓗᒍ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᑦᑎᓐᓂ, ᓄᓇᓕᑦᑎᓐᓂ, ᐱᓕᕆᕕᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᑏᓐᓂ. ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒌᒃᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᒍᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖓᓄᑦ.

This is an important day. The Inuit Language Protection Act was approved yesterday by the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. Now we can work forward to implement it in our homes, communities, workplaces and schools. Language defines us, and is an important part of our culture. It tells who we are as Nunavummiut.

La Loi sur la protection de la langue inuit a été approuvée par l’Assemblée législative du Nunavut hier soir. C’est une journée mémorable. La langue est élément important de notre identité et de notre culture. Elle nous définit comme citoyens du Nunavut. Nous pouvons désormais renforcer son utilisation dans nos maisons, nos communautés, nos milieux de travail et nos écoles.

Now how many of you can use one language to see into another using this 'Rosetta Stone' style press release?