Igloolik

This last week has been one of the most interesting, draining and educational weeks I have ever had. I was in Igloolik for the whole week teaching science workshops to kids. We had over 100 kids rotate through the camps, some of them regulars, some came only once. They ranged in age from 4 to 14 and I think that if nothing else they all had fun. The science curriculum that was so carefully planned had to be deviated from because of the numbers, but activities like blubber mitts where kids put their hands into bags of lard in freezing cold water went over well, as did the lesson on arctic animal adaptions where they learned about how creatures in the arctic adapt to the harsh conditions and then the kids had to create their own imaginary animal which culminated in a fashion show. I haven't had that much fun myself in ages. There was also the impromptu nature walk that Marc and I accidentally hosted on Sunday night went we went off in search of the bow head whale skeleton in a bay somewhere in the North of the island and ended up with 10 kids following us and we learned all about edible arctic plants from the kids instead of hunting down the whale skeleton.

Beyond the camp, Igloolik is a wonderful community with extremely welcoming people. We were lucky enough to be there for Nunavut Day, and ended up judging an Innushuk competition (BTW, the innushuk that is used for the 2010 symbol means nothing, it is nicknamed the white man's innukshuk, as all the other ones have meanings such as where to go for caribou, how far out to go to get fish, which direction to travel in, what areas camps should be built in, but the one with two legs, the large arm and the small block on top doesn't seem to hold much credence with the folks in Igloolik). There were festivities all day long, with a pancake breakfast, a BBQ, a 10 km run around town (I was amazed at how many teenage boys attempted and completed this run in giant jeans and sneakers that were way to big and not tied up!!!), a bannock making contest by the women elders- which was so very tasty, and finally a rock band that played everything from Led Zeppelin covers to Inutituk country songs based strongly in a Johnny Cash tradition. There was a square dance later in the night, but it didn't get started until about midnight and we were all beat. Oh yeah, the sun doesn't set here and hence there is no sleeping pattern. Kids will come to camp after not having slept all night, they just play when they feel like it and sleep where they feel like it, it seems true of adults too, and my sleep pattern is really off!

Let me introduce you to the folks I am up here teaching with- Marc Higgins is from Fredericton NB, and is a science, math and french teacher, also a good friend from back in the day in Ottawa. Kristeen is from Ottawa, and she's working on a health science degree and kids adore here. Tyler is living in Ottawa and just finished up his teaching degree and is a fabulous photographer, I am very excited about swapping pics with him later in the trip and posting them here once there is better internet. Lori is from Rankin Inlet and is a sweetheart, she's in the Nunavut Sivinuksavut (NS) program. Suzie is from Gjo Haven and is an NS student as well, which was great this past week because the language in Igloolik is so strong that many of the younger kids don't speak any English, and Inutituk is the predominant language around town.

Alright this is getting really long, but just two more highlights from last week. The first one was my adventure with Marc on the Sunday. We decided to walk across the island to Sax Harbour. On our way across the first part of the adventure was coming across the really old Innushuks, ones that were used before there was such a strong settlement in the harbour (which was established in 1939). Then Marc discovered that there is quick sand on the island and nearly lost his shoe. Onto the attack of the killer arctic terns, who will swoop towards you, fly upwards and then sharply dive at your head if you are anywhere near their nests. We were clearly very near their nests, and judging from the stories when we got back to town, we were lucky to get away without claw and beak marks in our sculls. Finally onto the real fun, the sea ice. It's all breaking up into little floe pieces right now, which you can jump from piece to piece on. Marc and I got at least 1 or 2 km out jumping between floating pieces of ice, which made for such a spectacular landscape (especially with all the kelp and algae that is growing under the ice that you can see in little pockets). The fun began when we tried to get back in, there was only one route to shore on the ice, and we took about 100 wrong turns and were stuck out there for about an extra half hour trying to puzzle our way back onto land, and at one point ended up on some sketchy sinking ice, but all was well, as I am writing this post now. We went back out with the others a few days later in the back by our house too, ice jumping is a great sport!

Now onto the last story of this post, which in my mind was the most exciting, so those of you who have made it this far you will be rewarded. We met Steven at the hall where the camps were being held, and he's great. He grew up on the land in Igloolik and has travelled all around Canada as a tradesman. He offered to take us out to the point, which is where all the summer hunting and fishing camps are set up, so after camp on Thursday he picked us up. He also was in Atanarjuak as the exiled brother at the beginning, so we started off on one of the filming locations where they set up the sod house modeled after the ones that Inuit used to live in in the summer, with a stone foundation and sod laid over top. It was in the same area on the island as the old Thule tent rings, which was amazing. The site they filmed on had an old house on it too, they just rebuilt it for the movie. From there we went onto the edge of the sea ice break up, where a wall (literally) of ice had sprung up, Steven said he hadn't see the ice like that before, that there are usually icebergs, but not ice walls. We walked around on the beach for about an hour looking for tern eggs (if you drop them in water and they sink, they are good to eat, if they float, you put them back because there is a hatchling in them). There were walrus bones everywhere as this was an old camping and hunting spot, we found a giant walrus skull! From there we continued onto his family's tent and camping spot, where Steven was born. It's right out at the very tip of the island, there is an old Catholic Church out there, and old sod houses as well. We pulled up and there were husky puppies galore, it is taking so much self control not to grab one and put it in my bag! We were invited into his mother, Katherine's, tent and had tea and frozen Arctic Char (the best sushi EVER!) and talked through Steven with his mother about how she used to live, her current project of beautiful seal mitts with fish scales to protect the hands and ate fantastic bannock. Around 1:30 am, while it was still as bright as noon, we figured we'd head back home as we had our big open house for camp the next day, so said goodbye reluctantly. In the truck on the way home Steven had CBC on and there was an interview with Leonard Cohen, and at that very minute, I felt more Canadian than I ever have before in my life. The open house the next day was a great success, the kids all showed their families how exciting science can be (I openly embrace my dorkiness and love of science) and we went home and crashed.

I am in Rankin Inlet now, so let's see what the next set of adventures brings as I am off to live in some cabins 2 hours out of town with 12-16 year olds for the rest of the week, I'm sure I'll have lots to report. I already miss the kids from Igloolik though! I hope to get some pics posted soon, as I'll be in Iqaluit next weekend and am there for three week. Until then!