Northern Adventures

The long weekend in May is the annual fishing derby in Whale Cove - and it's a pretty big deal. It's not hard to understand why when you know that the first prize for the biggest fish is $7000! Even 10th prize is $500. Anyone who has a cabin (and many do) heads out some time on Friday or early Saturday morning. Many without cabins will pack up a tent or two and head out onto the land as well. Cabins can be anywhere from 30 minutes to more than 2 hours away and as long as Hudson Bay is still frozen (as it is now), they will get there by snowmobile, pulling their equipment behind in a kammotiq. When the ice is gone or too soft, they'll travel over land by four-wheeler. They're fishing for arctic char, cod and trout mainly, but pretty much anything goes. So what happens when the town leaves town? For starters, the shelves at the Co-op look like this: Everyone stocked up last week for their weekend out. But that's okay because the Co-op closed early today anyway! Curtis...

 After our latest tragedy everyone in town was talking about the movie "The Grizzlies".  This movie set in an Inuit town in Nunavut in many ways captures the challenges of this world.  I had some concerns about the "white saviour" theme but there is a lot of good in this movie and it is based on a true story. Just to let  you know how tragic life is here, one of the stars Emerald MacDonald has just been murdered in her hometown of Kugluktuk.  Anyway the movie can be found on CBC Gem.  I recommend it: Try this link : CBC Gem - The Grizzlies You might notice that the shots in southern Ontario are from Guelph!   And I would say the whole things was shot in May as the weather is way too mild and it isn't nearly dark enough!  Get your kleenex ready!

  We had a community gathering to try to raise the spirits in town and many of the elders sang and performed songs in Inuktitut.  It was quite an event.  They also told stories of their lives and why they had chosen to live rather than to die.  It was pretty powerful stuff .     As Spring has arrived in Whale Cove the tops of the building are not covered by snow for the first time since we arrived.  Apparently one of the best games around here is to throw rocks!  And really anything else.  This photo shows the roof of the Hamlet building. It is amazing how the kids here can make fun out of really nothing!  The unfortunate side effect of this game is that pretty much all of the windows just below the roofline are broken.  We are finding the community needs very emotionally draining and are looking forward to coming home.  I have been thrilled at the new teachers who are applying to work here and so know th...

  Here are the photos of our community circle before our walk on Wednesday! There was a great turn out and many students made it the 7.8!km to the airport! Most got rides home but the spirit was positive and I think everyone felt like they were doing something. The Elder who spoke said that “our young people dying for reasons other than disease hurts too much and that we all need to be strong for each other.” It was really powerful!  The walk was windy and long with bare patches and snow banks like this It was a good day. 

 This is a beautiful and barren land.  The wind blows so consistently that the icicles are bent by it.  The presence of icicles shows that Spring is here, although we have yet to cross into positive temperatures. Since our last post it has been a very difficult time in Whale Cove. There was a tragic accident which resulted in the death of one of the community matriarchs.  There was a physical fight that was so intense that one of the participants needed to be airlifted out for care. Then, we lost another teen to death by suicide.  This is the second youth since our arrival here on Jan. 12, 2021.  It is hard not to feel discouraged.  The challenges that are faced by everyone trying to live their best Inuit life are pretty much impossible to describe - the poverty, the state of housing, the difficulty in maintaining traditional values and lifestyles and the lack of job opportunities. Colonialism has so much to answer for.   In the aftermath of ...