Whale Cove and its contrasts

Whale Cove is a place of contrasts.  These young men were back early from lunch so I asked them what they had been doing the day before- as we are still on 50% attendance.  Tom who fancies himself a gansta- he is the one in blue, had been caribou hunting with his dad.  They had shot a caribou and he told me that he shot his first caribou when he was 5 years old.  A 5 year old can apparently safely use a 22 with his father's guidance.  He is 10 now and can hunt and assist with both skinning and butchering the caribou.  They eat the meat raw here.  I tried a very little today and it was actually quite tasty.

A day later, one of the senior students stopped in say she heard I was looking for Seal Skin Mitts.  She has been working on this pair and was almost done.  We made a plan for me to buy them from her when she was done and she went home and changed the cuff fur, as she thought it would go better with my coat.  She then brought them in for me to try.  She was learning this skill from her grandmother.  Traditional learning in Inuit culture is all about observing and practising for the skills they will need in life.  Both of these examples were so interesting to me.  Neither student thinks the skills they were talking about are very impressive or important.  Can you imagine a 5 year old in Southern Ontario appropriately hunting and killing a Caribou!

Then today we had a very difficult day.  One of the senior students at the highschool died by suicide this morning.  His father found him at lunch.  This is a small community and for the most part has not suffered from teen suicide like so many other Indigenous Communities both here and in the South.  We are now very worried about contagion.  This is the fourth Territorial Suicide in the last week or so.  COVID is taking a toll...Arviat which is snowmobiling distance from us, is shut down with 17 cases and school has not really operated normally in a year.  Supports are sparse here in the North.  Everyone will be working to engage with the students and keep them coming to school.  There are so many things about what colonialism has done to the north that are just, well ,terrible.


Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 26, 2021 at 4:26 PM

    I was talking to Aaron and he gave me the link to your blog! I enjoyed reading everything (except for the sad news about the suicide). I'm glad you are settling in and enjoying the people and the place. It must take a lot of getting used to. Anyway, looking forward to reading more about your adventures.

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