Flying in Nunavut

Well I am now sitting on my charter flight from Whale Cove to Rankin Inlet.  I was on a wait list to get on a flight to Iqaluit this afternoon from Rankin Inlet, and for the first time in a few days... Something has gone the way of Andy. Someone cancelled their flight!! I'm no longer on the wait list and should be in Iqaluit this evening. 

Travelling in Nunavut seems to be very similar to everything else here. The people at every airport are very relaxed, the scheduling is basically a rough estimate of maybe when the flights will be boarding... But maybe not (all dependant on weather) and the whole thing is nerve racking for me. I really hope the weather at Christmas is good for flying. And I already am starting to worry about coming home for my brothers (Tim's) wedding in may. They say that time of year is the worst for flight delays and cancellations. That time of year is when they have the warm winter weather that causes lots of snow and many blizzards. I have been told that the best time to travel is when it is cold during the winter (like really cold) because on those days there is no precipitation, no fog and clear skies!  

Dodai told me that this is pretty normal, there are many delays and eventually it'll clear up. Well, yet again... He was right. It has cleared up enough for this charter to now be on its way to Rankin.  We'll see how the weather is there... Hopefully it is clear enough for my 1:45 flight to iqaluit to take off.  

There is a mine northwest of Whale Cove, outside of Baker Lake that flies guys in and out on a two week rotation.  I met a few of the guys today, they are flying back into camp on this same charter.  I imagine that this is one of the main business partnerships that First Air would have in this area, and that mine may be the reason this charter exists. The mining guys told me that the mine runs all year round, even during the coldest parts of the winter. They better get paid well for that because I can imagine how hard that must be in the nasty weather they must get during December, January and February. 

I think we are arriving in Rankin. It looks pretty foggy here. I hope we can get out of here today.

And the adventure continues... I am now sitting in the Rankin Inlet airport, waiting... Waiting to see if I'm no longer on the wait list. (Kinda ironic). This morning I called and they told me that I was no longer on the wait list... Now... Somehow Im back on it.  And im waiting to see if im actually on it or not.  But I apparently am still the first person on the wait list #1. Haha. So now I wait.  

I actually have started to accept this as being normal.  If nothing else, I am become one very patient and understanding man. 

...30 minutes later... (11:15)

The girls at the desk here for First Air are awesome...

They juggled the people around that were going to Baker lake, took them off the flight I am waiting for and put them in the mining charter that I just got off. Those people are happy because now they are going home a little earlier, and I am pumped because I Am no longer waiting to get on. 

So now I am going to eat. My flight doesnt leave until 1:45, so... food it is...I know there's a timmies here. Maybe I'll be able to find where it is and get a coffee and sandwich! 

...30 minutes later... (11:45)

On my walk to the Tim hortons, I passed a "welcome to Rankin Inlet, home of Jordin Tootoo" sign.  I think it's so incredible that he was able to somehow train, practice and build his talents to the level of an NHL hockey player in a place so far away from the rest of the hockey world. He must have been amazing for scouts to come all the way here to see him play. Lots of respect for that guy. Even more than I had than before. Plus, it doesn't hurt that he's on my favourite team. The Detroit redwings tough guy!

I also walked by an outdoor rink that will be ice soon enough, he probably played here during his childhood!

 It's crazy that they have outdoor rinks here. I can only imagine how cold it must get.  They also had a AstroTurf soccer field!  It's neat that all of the sports facilities are fake grass. The ball field here is fake too!  The grass won't grow well enough I guess. 

Well change of plans, I'm going to go see what the "Sugar Rush" is all about, grab a coffee and hopefully get something to eat! 

This place has Chinese food!  Not what i expected by the name "Sugar Rush" but... I'm sold. Chinese it is!

There must be a mining camp here too, almost the whole restaurant is reserved. 

Very cool place!  It's been two months since I've eaten in a restaurant. Haha. Small things that I definitely miss. It's not too expensive either. When I first came here I was expecting the meals in these restaurants to be too expensive. But they aren't at all!  

So... I'm back to the airport, after an excellent unexpected Chinese lunch!  Well, I got back to the airport and they told me that the flight to iqaluit stops at 4 different communities on the way to Iqaluit to deliver food to each community. They call this flight the "milk run."  Sooo this should be interesting. 

I'm actually on a flight destined for Iqaluit. 2.5 days, but I'm on my way. Now first. We deliver milk to chesterfield, coral harbour, and two other communities I can't remember. But I'll get pictures of each of the airports.  

Chesterfield first, 

Then we are off to coral harbour... 

Then we were supposed to drop milk off in cape Dorset... But the fog was too bad to land so we moved right on to iqaluit!  I am at this point tucking in to my bed in the Arctic Hotel. In the territory of nunavuts' capital city.

Until next time!

 

Mother natures bitch

I can't remember the last time I felt as though I had no control over a given situation.  This sounds bad, but it isn't really.  Ill explain, I have been mother natures bitch for the past three weeks and yesterday/today (who knows... Maybe tomorrow too) she has decided to get real nasty. 

I was told when I first got here to always expect the unexpected, and try (as hard as a quablunaa can) to prepare for very unpredictable and harsh weather.  When I was told this (repeatedly) I thought it was more to do with the freezing cold winter that I have yet to see or experience. I thought... As a simple quablunaa would... "I'm already prepared. I have my Canada goose down filled jacket, my winter bunny boots (all arctic pilots wear these), a plethora of toques, mitts, gloves and wool everything"... But that isn't really what they meant at all. It's good to be prepared as I am, but also I was being told to prepare for the inconsistencies that occur here. The rapid change that happens with the weather is incredible. I have truly never seen anything like it. One day it is a nice, calm day with absolutely no waves on Hudson Bay, and then 15 minutes later the wind is howling, visibility is minimal and the clouds are lower than the towns houses.  And it could easily stay like that for days. 

The past few weeks I have been experiencing mother natures brashness.  As the winds picked up to 100km and put our camping trip on hold, or as there was no bread or milk at the co-op for close to a week because the flights couldn't come in... I've been starting to understand exactly how reliant everyone here is on the weather, but yesterday It became more clear. I was scheduled to go to Iqaluit because I have volunteered to be a union rep for the NTA and my school. The training sessions start tomorrow and will go until Monday. In Nunavut there are not many flights, so I was scheduled to leave whale cove yesterday (Tuesday after school) and lay over in rankin inlet, where on Wednesday (today) I would catch my flight to Iqaluit. 

Well as the tone of this post may lead you to believe, I am not currently in iqaluit as was originally planned. I am still in Whale Cove. Awaiting yet another flight (this will be the fourth attempt).  At lunchtime yesterday everything was nice out, almost what you would say was a "perfect day" here.  By 2:45 we were watching a very thick fog roll in and by 4:00 I was sure I wasn't going anywhere.  The fog was so thick that as I drove with Morteza out to the airport I at a few points had trouble seeing. There was no way the plane could land, so they cancelled that flight.  I was quick enough to get home and call to reserve a spot on the other flight company's plane that was scheduled to go this morning... But that thick fog was still being a problem... Second flight was cancelled.  So then I tried with the help of a really nice guy "Dodai" who works at the airport here, to get onto a charter that was coming In through whale cove in the afternoon. I sat at the airport for a few hours but was again told that it was cancelled. I got to know Dodai a lot better (we had some quality time to talk while we waited). Michael was there too (one of my poker buddies), anyways they told me that the Third one didn't take off because it wasn't going to be able to Land in rankin inlet. Soooo all that to say that tomorrow morning that charter is "scheduled" to land in Whale Cove at 9:55 am. Fingers crossed people. I want to check out iqaluit!! 

I usually would consider (as most of you would as well) myself as one of the most easy-going, happy-go-lucky guys around.  But up here, I find myself surrounded by people who are more understanding, more patient and more sympathetic than I have ever been. I guess that is where I was actually going with this post when i started writing. The people here in Whale Cove are so understanding and patient. They accept when their flights are cancelled or they can't get milk at the grocery store.  They understand that when the wind picks up it WILL put all their plans on hold and they really truly accept it.  I guess that comes with living in a place where the only thing that seems to be consistent is the inconsistency of the weather. (I can only imagine the blizzards during the winter!!)

In the last few weeks I have been seeing more into me, I am starting to understand why I decided to come here, why I decided to leave everything in Longlac/Geraldton/Goulais and come here. Of course, it was for the amazing experiences that I am so excited for, the caribou hunting, the fishing 10-15 pound lake trout from the shore, the chance of seeing a bay full of beluga whales and the hunt that follows and all the experiences I will of course have in the classroom; the friendships I will build, the lessons I have/will teach but I have started to see the lessons that I have learned and continue to learn, the changing of me as a person... As someone who maybe sees things a little more clearly.  This place allows that to happen. I know it sounds corny. But I can sense that I have found pieces of myself that I was blind to before.  Anyways, this isn't like the other posts. Lately I have been hiding from the terrible weather that has been thrown at us, so I figured I would tell about that. Hope you enjoyed. 

If I ever do get to iqaluit I will definitely take the time to travel around the capital city of Nunavut and take many pictures for my next post. (Which will hopefully come to you from the Hotel Arctic!

  

Goodnight!

The weather is changing

Life here has been like sitting in the middle of a whirlwind. I have seriously not had much time to do anything but hang on and enjoy the ride. The weather is definitely changing very quickly. The berries are all gone (only ones left are the cranberries)... And the geese have all started to fly south for the winter. I have never seen so many geese in the sky!  Pretty incredible. Also, I can now say that I have successfully hunted a snow goose... As we relentlessly hunted the flocks of geese while they were here. We got a few geese and a few ducks for the freezer. It sounds like in the spring months the geese are even more plentiful and will be easier to hunt. It's different here hunting. You seriously can't sneak up on anything because the land is so flat and there is not a tree in sight to hide behind. Haha. It makes these geese quite spooky compared to the ones that we feed bread from our hands back home. 

My time here like I said has been very full of new things for me to try, do, see and eat. Although I have found time for a few things that are comfortable for me. I have been invited into a poker game with a bunch of really good people from here. Shon, George and Benji are really good guys who have seriously welcomed me with open arms. They play poker fairly regularly and have asked me to join them. They play very similar to the way we play at home, so far... I have won both times! But mostly just beginners luck. Hopefully I'll be welcomed back! Haha. During these poker games I have been able to try a few of their local delicacies (pipsi) which is a dried Arctic char was definitely my favourite. 

The weather has basically screwed up our last two weekends.  The wind was incredible last weekend (90+km winds) and we decided that it might be more wise for us to stay indoors during that... But as the snow has begun to fly, we will only have maybe one or two times to go out and enjoy the land before it is permanently covered in a very hard layer of white stuff. (When I leave in June, there will still be snow on the ground and Hudson Bay will still have at least 4 feet of ice on it.) So I am trying to brace myself as best I can for that before its a reality. 

Before I forget, I want to say thanks for the letters, care packages and words of encouragement I've received from many of you... I am very lucky to have such a great group of friends and family who make even an adventure into the cold barren land of Nunavut feel like I'm only a few minutes away.   You guys have helped me more than I think you know!  Plus, I couldn't be able to keep my house rented, keep all my bills paid and keep my car in tip top shape without you.  Thanks. 

K back to this, just yesterday... The school was very uptight... there was a nervous feeling during the morning in the staff room and I had no idea why. 

 I found out later that there was a polar bear spotted in town, about a minute walk from my house. The people here have an amazing level of respect for these animals. And obviously for good reason. These polar bears can and WILL stalk and kill humans. They are natural born killers, the ultimate predator.  I recognized very quickly that there is a huge difference between polar bears  and the bears I know. When someone is attacked by a bear in Ontario, they most likely did something to startle,scare or challenge the bear (most of the time the have cornered the bear and it only has the attack left as an option).  Polar bears will track you, they hunt you... And the reason people aren't attacked more often by them isn't because the bears aren't really that lethal, it's actually because the people here know how lethal they are and the people make damn sure the polar bears aren't given the chance.  This place has never been quieter than it was yesterday, no one outside, no kids playing outside on the street, no traffic going by, nothing. There's something to be said about that respect. 

I'm headed to Iqaluit next week for union meetings.  Our school needed a union rep, so I volunteered to join and be a representative for Inuglak school staff.  I am pretty excited to get to go to iqaluit and see even more of the north. It should be a lot of fun, and I am sure I will be able to meet many new an interesting people. Maybe I'll be able to blog from there too! 

Cheers

An unreal week

Okay, so it has been a few weeks since I last wrote a blog... and soooo much has happened. After I saw my first Beluga hunt I figured I would wait a bit before I wrote my next blog. As I very wise man told me, “let everything soak in before you permanently put it into words.” I struggled with the beluga hunt... something I guarantee I will not be able to describe in words, but I will try.

Anyways, in the last 2 weeks I have had a complete breakthrough in my classroom, I witnessed the most amazing community-based event(beluga hunt), I had a great caribou/goose hunting weekend with Morteza and Shon and most importantly, I finally got my 21 piece shipment of all my stuff from Ontario!

I'm going to break this blog up into topics...

The breakthrough in my classroom.

In the first few weeks, I was definitely having a blast here, fishing, hunting, camping and getting to know the town and people was amazing... but the teaching part was really hard. I was struggling to understand the students, our school really lacks the support staffing that is needed to get things done, and the resources that I needed in the classroom were seriously lacking. We could definitely benefit from about 2 more teachers (1 or both being spec ed specialists), about 4 more EA's (ea's here are called SSA's). But anyways, we were given what we were given and instead of dwelling on the negatives, we as an entire staff have looked for the positives, and there are many! The students are great kids. And the staff is seriously a very well rounded group of professionals that has begun to quickly lean on eachother to help where it's needed and get this school turned around! It is only a month in, but I think we are on a pretty good path.

I made a few connections with my class recently, that has changed their opinion of me. I read this blog to them as my journal (they write in their journal everyday, and I figured what better of a way to get them interested than to read my “journal” to them). This was a game changer! They took to it instantly, they started teaching me things that I had brought up in my blog... and clarifying things that I misjudged or stated incorrectly. They became interested in my classroom not because they wanted to learn, but because they genuinely wanted to teach! So now, Everyday I open the class up for a lesson that they do. They teach me something about the area, the people, the wildlife, the hunting or a story that one of them wants to share. It has been an awesome change in my class. I also, have had an unbelievable amount of support from my principal! He has been there to help make the necessary changes in my class to reach every kid. The guy deserves a medal. Hopefully he reads this. I've never met an administrator that is as involved and interested in his school and staff. He genuinely cares.

So, yea... My life as a teacher is much more comfortable now than it was a few weeks ago ;)

The first beluga hunt

I said earlier that I had trouble with this, and that might be an understatement. I first need to explain that I have a huge respect for the people here, for their culture and most importantly, for their way of life. Maybe it was troublesome because I've only seen beluga whales in “free willy”, and marine land, and maybe it is that I have never seen an animal of that size be prey before... but I wasn't ready for what I saw.

It was on Monday morning last week, I was sitting in my classroom with my students, and we were getting started on a social studies lesson when, the principal came to my door and told me, “get your kids ready, there are belugas in the cove and we are going to go watch them do the hunt.” I was so excited, I think my class was the first class lined up and walking down to the cove, I had my camera around my neck and was so pumped to go see. We got down there and within minutes the students were showing me where they were. There was anywhere from 35-45 belugas swimming in the cove, some were as close as 5 feet from shore. I was told later by a student that the reason the whales come that close is because they are being chased by killer whales, and to get away from the killer whales they go to the rocky shoreline. They are safe there... (not so much).  So until lunch we watched the belugas swim in the cove and every once in a while a hunter from the shoreline would take a shot. They got two I think from shore, and another 4 from the boats. The men in the boats use a harpoon to hunt them, once they have harpooned them they then shoot them with a rifle to kill them and get them to the shore. This was an amazing experience, I took it all in and videotaped most of it. Lunchtime came quick that day, and I wanted to stay and keep filming, I skipped most of lunch and caught a few of the boats on tape harpooning the whales which was more than impressive. Then I ran home and quickly whipped something up and rushed back to the school.

When I got to the school, my students were not interested in anything other than going back to the whale hunt. By this time, the hunters were on the shoreline with their belugas and were about to begin cleaning them. The entire community was there, men, women and children, young and old. Everyone had a role to do, they skinned, cleaned and bagged the belugas, handed out the meat and ate the freshest sushi possible in less then 2 hours. All in all it was one of the most impressive things I've seen, especially how everything and everyone worked so well together to get it all done.

As I said, it was difficult for me, I at times really struggled (not emotionally, but maybe psychologically) with the experience. I have never seen that much blood. I can't explain how I felt, because I wasn't sad, or disgusted or even upset, I was just "lost" at times. At one moment, I was watching the hunters skin the whale...I turned and started watching the students eat the meat that was raw and being handed out by the hunters... then I turned again and saw on the shoreline the carcass of the first whale (the one being eaten now)... then I looked to the ocean and saw all the blood in the ocean... and then...I snapped out of my little daydream and felt that my feet were wet... I looked down and I was standing in what was now a river of beluga blood. Many of you that know me... could probably imagine... I (soft Andy) had trouble with this.

But the most important thing to understand from this, is that I was the only one there that had any trouble with it. This is how people here get by, how they eat through the winter, how they feed their families and to be honest... I wish that the animals we eat throughout North America (chicken, cattle, pigs, fish etc.) would be treated with the amount of respect that the hunters here show their belugas during the hunt. At one point when we were watching the whales, I asked, “why don't they shoot these ones! They are so close to us!?” And pointed to two belugas, one obviously smaller than the other. One of my students quickly answered, “that's a mother and her baby! They don't shoot those ones.” Something to be said about that.  Anyway, I ate both the Maktaaq (beluga skin) and also the beluga meat (which was obviously raw.) I don't think that I was ready for that.  The blood was overwhelming.  Maktaaq was good though!

 

My long weekend

One thing to always look forward to here is the weekend. And all week I was looking forward to this one. Morteza and myself planned a camping trip to a local “anybody-can-use” cabin. It is called Kitinuaq (or something that sounds like that). This cabin is about 40-50 kms northwest of Whale Cove. It is a cabin that is open year round and anyone can use it. Amazingly perched about 100 meters from the river which has a gateway made of caribou antlers from years of hunting. This trip was supposed to start off right after school on Friday. Our plan was for Morteza to rent a quad and for us to go out, camp overnight, and then Shon was going to meet up with us early Saturday morning and we were going to go follow Shon around and hopefully “help” him get some caribou. Haha we can't help him though, only slow him down... he's so good. But before we even got out the door on Friday the plans changed! My shipment came in (gets flown in). I had all my stuff from Longlac sent here (t.v., clothes, hunting and fishing stuff and a million other things)... problem was, this slowed us down at least an hour. We didn't get out until about 6:30, and were unable to find the cabin. It stared to get dark and we needed to turn back to Akuq, which is a little community of cabins located right by the main river here. We were going to pitch our tents and just sweat out the polar bear threat, but decided to quietly use one of the local cabins that wasn't locked up. We made sure that we left it in better shape than we found it in, and were out of there really early in the morning (don't worry Dad.)   We had a tiny campfire (no trees here to burn so we have to use moss, scrap wood and roots from bushes). We had a quiet drink by the fire and watched the most unbelievable northern lights I have ever witnessed! The sky at times was literally dancing. It's hard to explain, but at one point it looked like there was an electric dome over top of us.

The next morning, we were up with the sun, and by 6:30 we were back on the trail and looking for the cabin, around 8:00 Shon showed up behind us. I was really happy to see him, because I was worried he had gone past us and found the cabin at Kitinuaq empty. Thankfully we beat him to the turn off.

Anyway, we were on the right path to the cabin but I'm not sure if we would have found it without Shon. We dropped off all our camping stuff and were off for a day of hunting. The caribou we so much more difficult to find this time. We drove around looking at every corner and didn't see anything for hours! Finally, after many breaks, crossing the river at least 20 times, a few snacks and a bunch of  bonding we finally spotted a caribou. Shon (with ease) shot the young buck, and then asked if me and Morteza would want to learn how to clean it. Of course we wanted to, and without question, both us jumped on the opportunity. Shon was awesome with us. What normally took him 15 minutes tops took us over an hour to do, but he sat with us, helped us, taught us and showed us exactly how to cut, clean, prepare and pack the caribou. It was an experience people would pay thousands for. I honestly have been very lucky with the people I have been able to make friends with here. This is an example of that. Purely awesome.  After that, we couldn't find any caribou, so we decided to try and get some geese instead.  I was amazed when we got to the peak of an esker, Shon waved us down, told us that there was a flock on the other side of the hill (still have no idea how he knew)... then he snuck up to the top of the esker, sighted in on a goose and shot.  Got one!  We went to the goose and picked it up... from at least 200 meters away, he shot it right through the neck.  Unreal!  

Later that night we went back to the cabin, Shon had a bit of coffee and was off back to Whale cove. Morteza and I stayed there for the night. We bbq'd a bunch of the caribou on the shoreline of the river. I couldn't believe the amount of flies that were there. There was no wind that night and when there is no wind here the black flies come out by the millions. We fished through the flies for a few minutes caught a grayling each, but the flies were unbearable. We went to bed and I don't think I've slept better in my time here. We were exhausted.

The next day, we were welcomed in the morning by a family of four fox that had a den about 50 meters from the cabin. They were so cute and playful. They were playing/hunting the siksik (ground squirrels) and jumping all over. Quite the amusing sight. We tried to have some coffee, but the flies were seriously unreal. We rushed a coffee, had a snack, packed everything up and got on the road. On the way home we stopped at one of the fishing lakes here to clean the caribou and goose meat that we had been carrying with us for the past day (it got pretty messed up when we cleaned it and was full of moss and dirt from the ground). We took about an hour, cleaned off the meat really well, and bagged it up in our ziplocks. We were deciding whether we were going to fish or not when Steve, the local Conservation Officer came by. He talked us into staying to fish for a bit. We got to talking with him and he said that he was pretty impressed with how we took to the land so quickly, how we truly looked like we were enjoying everything. He was really nice and after we caught 4 lake trout, he offered to smoke them and bring them over for us. He also told us that he is looking at doing some camping of his own soon, and invited us to tag along. I am pumped for that! He seems like another guy that would be awesome to get to go hunting with.

All in all, things are coming around in the classroom, and the Nunavut experience is seriously opening my eyes to so many new, different and exciting things! I hope you all are having a great summer... oh wait... summer is over. Haha... well, have a great first day back to school for those of you that are teachers or students. ;)

Talk soon.

Tuktu Hunt (Caribou) With Shon and Ben

So, I don't really know where to begin this post.  I have so much to say about this weekend.  It's Sunday night, and I am tired...but I need to write about the amazing weekend! 

I met a guy here (Shon), who is an really nice guy... he mentioned that he wanted to go out caribou hunting this past weekend, and if we wanted to come we could tag along.  So... of course we went!  Well, let me tell you it was out of this world!  By FAR the best day I have had here!  We (Morteza and I) woke up, and got all of our stuff packed and on the quad.  We went and met Shon at the Co-op.  Grabbed our snacks and shotgun shells and we were off for an adventure.  The plan was to go out for the day with Shon and Ben.  They would show us how its done. Well did they ever...then we would camp over night at Aquk.  A river system that Andrew (one our teacher friends) has a cabin at.  We left town around 10:00.  By 11:00 we were staring at our first Caribou...

By 11:15, Shon has shot, gutted, cleaned and quartered this said Caribou...

and by 11:20 we were on the move again.  We went pretty far up... about 40km, and they decided that we would go to the big esker for lunch.  Well when we got there, it just so happened that there was another Caribou standing on the other side.  Again, Shon shot, cleaned and cut up this caribou in record time.  Seriously less than 15 minutes from shots fired to caribou being completely cleaned and packed up on his quad. 

Somewhere in this day, we stopped to have lunch... They pulled out a bag, and asked "have you ever eaten Narwhal?"  Of course we answered "nope"... and then proceeded to snack on narwhal!  What a delish treat! 

In total, we got 3 caribou.  We saw about 15... and could have probably shot 8 or 9.  But I found it really cool how they were so respectful of the animals.  I honestly have no words that can possibly describe the way I felt when I watched them clean the caribou.  I was in complete awe. 

Anyways, after the second caribou had been cleaned and packed on the quad, Morteza made a "small" fire and cooked up the caribou heart and liver. 

We munched on this for an afternoon snack.  Not for me...but I at least tried it!  I said small in quotations because it was hilarious... he literally only put about two handfuls of moss and lichen on the ground, and lit it on fire... but the wind was pretty bad and before you knew it... we were actually worried that the whole side of the hill would ignite!  Ben came to the rescue and showed him a few tricks to keep the fire surrounded by rock so that the wind couldn't spread the fire so much!  They knew so many little tricks that were so simple, tricks that would have made my life camping much easier. 

When we finished our afternoon caribou organ snack... and had a little time to sit back and relax...while they decided whether we were going to continue or head back...

They chose to see what was over the next esker (there are tons of eskers that were left by the glaciers here), annnnd... guess what was over the next one?  Yep... if you said, "another caribou" you are right... actually there were two. 

They weren't together, and both were pretty far away... but as we started talking...one started coming closer.  Ben decided that it was his turn, and with precision... he took it down.  Then he skinned, and quartered it. He was just as skilled with a knife as Shon (the knives they use are just like a pocket knife! I don't know how they do it!) 

Then we were back on the quads and heading back to the cabin.  Morteza and I were staying the night at our friend (another teacher here, Andrew's Cabin).  On our way back the guys chose to take another way... a way with no path... seriously.  We drove for about 2 hours over rocks... the worst terrain you could imagine.  My shoulders, traps and biceps are still killing from this ride.  What a day.

Once the guys dropped us off at the cabin, they headed home.  Morteza and I used our new found knowledge to build a small fire (this time it was small) and cooked one of the caribou legs that the guys had kindly given us for dinner.  We munched on that and hung out to watch the stars come out.  It was seriously one of the most amazing days I have ever had. 

Caribou (tuktu) Hunt tomorrow...

Okay, so its late and I can't sleep!  I am really excited for tomorrow!  I met a guy here that is very respected as a hunter and seems to be the perfect guy to buddy up with on the land... his name is Shon, and he is taking me and Morteza out on the land tomorrow.  We are going to go about 2-2.5 hours by ATV and are going to do a full day of Caribou hunting!  I am pumped!!  We are going to camp overnight at one of our teacher friends cabins and do some arctic char fishing at the river as well!  Wish me luck!!

Whale Cove Nunavut: An Inside Look from a Qabluna

So, recently, I... moved to Nunavut... more specifically... a very traditional, extremely cultural and most importantly a welcoming community named Whale Cove, Nunavut (Tikiraqjuaq in Inuktitut).  The people here (99% Inuit) all speak Inuktitut as their first language and English as their second.  They are extremely in touch with their culture and traditions, they hunt nearly everything that breathes, but they do it in a very respectful way.  They hunt to survive.  They definitely do not hunt or fish for that matter for the sport of it.  This is a way of life for them, and the best hunters seem to be very respected by all in the community (probably because these guys bring home the food!)

I decided to give you a little background on the area of Whale Cove, mostly because I have not done so yet and I feel that it is pretty important to know who the people are, what they are about and what the area is like if you are going to be following me and my adventures through the words of this blog.

Inuktitut is unlike any language I have ever heard spoken.  It has many different sounds that I am trying to mimic but have definitely failed to do so (so far).  A few of the Inuit women that work at the school are desperately trying to help me in my attempt to learn at least a few sentences in their language and I was told today that the "k" sound that they make comes from the bottom of their throat.  My "k" sound is a sound that comes from my tongue.  I don't even know what this means!  This may be a long attempt to master their language and I already know there is a good chance it will end in failure, but I am willing to keep trying!!  If nothing else, it shows that I am interested in their language and culture, and that I am willing to try!  The language itself has many "k", "Q", and "ick" sounds... well much more than English.  "Qablunas" is a word I learned very quickly, as far as I know it means "White people", but it could just mean "outsider"... either way... I am definitely a "qabluna"  This isn't a bad thing, like its not a derogatory word at all, just the way it is.  There are Inuks and there are qablunas. 

Lets see, what else can I tell you about with regards to Whale Cove?  Oh... yea, sports here are a basic religion.  The kids here are insanely athletic.  I have a gym class 3 times a week, and right now we are doing basketball.  I have three students that would definitely standout on any sr. highschoool basketball team that I have seen in Greenstone.  Sorry guys!  But it's true.  They have a natural ability that is remarkable.  They all try very hard and put an honest effort into what ever it is that they are playing or doing for that matter... I am excited to play hockey with them as I think they are going to make me look like a horrible hockey player!  ;)  The entire community comes together for sporting events.  Anytime the arena is open for soccer games, or the gym is open for a floor hockey game...it isn't long before the place is packed!  I really like that about here.

One thing that I was thinking about this week was how I could make this blog more interesting and also give you a look into the people and their way of life here.  I was sitting at the lookout (a place that I stop and take pictures from regularly on my way to the lake I've been fishing at) and I couldn't help but think about how crazy it is to think that just 55 years ago Whale Cove (the village, and homes) didn't exist.  The people before this time, were true nomads of the North.  They roamed the land freely, in small families hunting the caribou, muskox, bears, whales, seals and whatever else they could find.  They traveled through unbelievable terrain with nothing other than dogsled teams.  They only had whale and fish oils as a source of fuel.  They used every piece of the animals that they hunted; the meat was eaten mostly raw as there was no source of fuel to cook it; the bones were used for frames, sleds and anything structural that we would use wood for; the furs were used for clothing and  warmth; Everything was used.  This is something that they have kept... they do not waste anything here! Anyways, I'm getting off track.  There are people in this community that once lived this way. There are elders that were born on the land, with no single "permanent" residence, with no calendars and with the most amazing and difficult lifestyle I can imagine!  The woman that I gave my fish to a few days ago, she is the oldest person in Whale Cove.  She is a 92 year old woman that was born in the arctic tundra.  I find this so interesting, not only because she has been through so much in such a short time, but also because of the differences that the Inuit generations have.  Many of my students have facebook, they communicate on their computers and listen to Eminem on their Ipods.  Many of their grand parents and great grand parents were born in such a different world, with no actual way of knowing their birthday.  I was told the other day that it isn't uncommon for an elder to have the birthday of January 1, because they just didn't know the "day" that they were born.  Sometimes they might not even know the year. 

I have only been here for 2 weeks now, but I have already grown a huge level of respect for all the people that call Whale Cove "home".  This is a very unique place, with very harsh conditions, and for these people here... they wouldn't have it any other way.  There is definitely something to be said for that. 

As for me, I am making friends as most of you expected... I am not having much difficulty getting to know the town and I am beginning to feel much more comfortable.  I am going on a caribou hunt hopefully this weekend (I can't shoot anything for a few months as the Nunavut laws restrict that) but I am going along to see how it is done!  I cant wait for this.  I have a great class, and they are coming around and have taken interest in me, my life in Ontario and my stories that I have... things are good.  Looking forward to a few things... our whole school will soon be invited to a beluga hunt, preparation and feast! 

I hope you all are enjoying the posts!  Ill keep writing if you keep reading! 

until next time...Andy