My Farewell to Iqaluit – A year in reflection

It has become clear to me now that I should have completed this final blog entry before I left iqaluit and returned home to Nova Scotia to have a baby! It has been an ongoing work in progress, but one which I feel it is important to complete, so here goes...

During my time in Iqaluit four seasons came to pass, four profound seasons in my life. As I departed the smallest town I ever lived in, the last of the snow was melting, the ice on the Bay was poised for break up, and the sled dogs would run no more... the snow buntings were singing, and the saxifrage was in bloom. New life was blooming all around me, new life was blooming inside me... the beauty and perfection of it all left me breathless... or maybe that was the extra twenty pounds of weight pushing up on my diaphragm!

Little more than a year ago I applied for a job in Nunavut on a whim. When the response was that the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board would like me to travel to Iqaluit to interview for the position, my first course of action was to promptly Google where in the world Iqaluit was! Baffin Island, I thought, ‘huh’. I took full advantage of that trip to Iqaluit last May, thinking it was a good chance that it would be my only opportunity to experience northern life. I stayed for an additional four days, which I later learned had a positive impacted on my chances for the position – they appreciated my interest in getting to know Iqaluit.

Then before I knew it I was moving more than 2000km to the Canadian north. I have been looking back on my blog entries and following my arrival I wrote “I'm here and I'm happy” and I continued to be happy throughout my adventure in Iqaluit. These are some of the highlights from my year on Baffin Island…

This picture was taken just days following my arrival in Iqaluit on June 27th, 2010. You can see snow on the distant mountains in the background. The beauty of these mountains across the bay continued to take my breath away throughout the seasons, right up until the day I departed.

Northern Architecture

I just fell in love with the big yellow airport in Iqaluit. It would be hard to miss this airport even in a storm! There is talk of building a new airport, but I sincerely hope they stick with the yellow submarine!

I think though that the elementary school takes the cake for the most interesting architecture in Iqaluit! Looks like a giant ice tray! You’ll notice that there are very few windows, which is pretty clever when you are trying to keep students awake and engaged in the dead of winter when the sun goes down at 1 o’clock in the afternoon.

Inuit Culture

There is no sound in the world like Inuit throat singing...

Seal skinning competitions could be found at major events in Iqaluit like Nunavut Day and Toonik Tyme.

I enjoyed watching the igloo building contest so much. The survival of the Inuit in the north for millennia was closely tied to their ability to create shelter where most would see barren landscape.

And in the summer they lived in tents made from animal skins, as they continue to do today, although I’m pretty sure today’s tents are made of canvas.

Exploring the Tundra

Last summer and fall I spent countless hours exploring the vast expanses of arctic tundra around Iqaluit. I have always been one to enjoy a long walk, but I don't think I ever spent so much time out 'on the land' by myself exploring my surroundings. Arctic tundra is just so dramatically different from any environment I have ever known, though I must say, of all the places I have been it reminded me the most of the desert in Arizona, which really is exactly what it is. A desert is defined by the amount of rain it receives, not the amount of sun or heat. With so little precipitation and such harsh, dry cold and wind vegetation is severely stunted with few plants exceeding more than a couple of inches in height. The terrain around Iqaluit is very hilly with the tundra spotted with ephemeral ponds and windy rivers. To someone new to the north every hillside and trail looks like the next, so you have to be careful not to lose your way, even without the blinding affects of snow and ice. Most of the time I just walked and thought (walking is my favourite time to think), though sometimes I picked berries or took pictures. These were some of my fondest times in the north.

Inukshuks help to lead the way.

This coastal route between Iqaluit and Apex was my favourite trail to hike.

Our campsite along the river’s edge… a tranquil setting, though the mosquitoes were like nothing I have ever seen before!

The Scenery

Icy fiords...

Glaciers...

Crystal clear waters, ice bergs…

And stunning sunset after stunning sunset.

Getting out on Frobisher Bay

The boat tour that we took when dad was visiting last September took place in a single day, but it was possibly the most thrilling experience of my arctic adventure. From the moment I landed in Iqaluit in the spring of 2010 I marvelled endlessly at the distant snow capped mountains on the other side of Frobisher Bay, so stunning in the evening sunlight. This boat trip, arranged by my boss, provided us with the opportunity to explore the deep fiords and bays on the west coast of Frobisher Bay. Jim Noble gave us the option to travel to one area in search of walrus and seals, or to travel far to the south where there was a small chance we might see polar bears. We chose to go in search of polar bears, but he warned us the chance was remote. It was a beautiful day, with the water glassy within the protected bays and fiords, creating a tranquil setting for our polar bear hunt. We even visited a bay where one of my coworkers, Taqialoo (her name means ‘big, bad moon’ in Inuktitut) spent the summers living off the land with her family when she was a child. AND, le piece de resistance, in the farthest reaches of our day long trip, high up on one of the ridges above us, there she was... a polar bear with her two cubs... in the wild. With binoculars you could see her calling back to her cubs, encouraging them to hurry along. It was such a thrilling experience, definitely one of the most thrilling wildlife experiences of my life, right up there with wild elephants in Thailand and a vampire bat in Belize. The trip was completed with an up close encounter with an ice berg on the return trip. Perfect day.

Northern Lights

I don't think I was alone in my dream of one day seeing the northern lights in their full glory, and now I can say that I have. Adjectives that come to mind... eerie, breathtaking, magical, surreal, spectacular… a wonder of nature.

Dog sledding

I can't tell you how fortunate I was to find myself living with someone who owned her own dog team. Experiencing traditional dog sledding while living in the north was a must for me, but doing through one of the local adventure tour companies costs hundreds of dollars for a couple of hours. By living with Siu-Ling, I got to really get to know her dogs. They all have such distinct personalities, it's pretty hard not to fall for them. And I got to experience sledding at different times of the season and in different terrain. It is both exhilarating and relaxing at the same time. I'm so grateful for Siu-Ling's generosity in letting me be so involved. I miss those big goofy dogs!

Sharing my experience with Family

It was so special to be able to share my northern life with family, with visits from both my parents and my husbands. You can tell stories about a place for days, but it means so much to be able to introduce a person first hand. I appreciate so much that they all took the time and spent the money (tickets to Iqaluit are expensive!) to come and see me.

The sun has set on my northern experience but I have hardly had the opportunity to reflect. I have been too busy preparing for and then diving into my next adventure, the greatest adventure yet… motherhood.

My Better Half Meets Iqaluit

Well friends, I expect that this will be my second to last blog update. I wrote this blog a week ago, but haven’t had the chance to get it posted. I am, in fact, back in Nova Scotia already. This blog is about Mark’s visit to Iqaluit a couple of weeks ago… I would like to take a couple of extra days to reflect on the year before posting my final blog sometime later this week…

“It is very hard for me to grasp that I am leaving Iqaluit at the end of this week, possibly never to return. I just wanted to prepare you all for my on-line departure from your lives. Thanks so much to those of you who have stuck with me throughout this year-long adventure. Keeping a blog up to date has proven to be more work than I anticipated, so it is nice to know that there are still people out there listening.

Temperatures are looking up these days, consistently above 0! Today it is 13 degrees! Last week there was some dampness in the air, which was a change, and in fact we had our first real rain (there were a couple of sprinkles before) and fog! It seems so strange seeing fog settled over the Bay. When you have been in a dry climate all winter, the dampness is really noticeable when you step out of the house in the morning, it really cools things off. We’ve also had snow in the past week, and they’re calling for more over the weekend, but it hasn’t lasted more than a couple of hours. The Bay is still frozen over, but it is melting fast. The skidoos continued to head out on the ice on a daily basis up until a couple of days ago. It won’t be long now though before she breaks up for the summer. Siu-Ling moved her dogs off the ice last week so the last of the dog sledding for the season has taken place…

The melt that occurred around Iqaluit over the past months was impressive! There were rivers and streams everywhere, washing out roadways and culverts, paths and sidewalks. The snow around Iqaluit is essentially all gone, save for the remnants of a few of the more massive piles that are now covered in a thick layer of dirt… doesn’t even look like snow and ice. The hills around Iqaluit still have some snow gathered in low areas and the lee side of hills, but the mountains across the Bay still almost entirely snow covered. My theory: all of the asphalt, concrete, and dark roofs around Iqaluit creates a bit of a heat island effect, melting the snow around town faster than the surrounding landscape.

It is not hard to pick out the vehicles that weren't driven over the winter. It might be hard to tell, but only one of this car's tires is touching the ground, the rest of the vehcile being held up by a very dirty chunk of persistent ice.

Mark visited from June 2nd to 6th. It was a short visit, but we maximized every moment. It doesn’t take long for a man who loves to hunt, fish and 4-wheel to fall in love with a town where hunting, fishing and 4-wheeling are so deep-rooted in the culture. He even stole my “I Love Nunavut” shirt by the end of the trip.

Mark marvelling over the midnight sunset on the back deck.

On the morning of his first day in town Siu-Ling invited us down to the ice with her to meet and feed the dogs. She decided to take a small group of dogs for a quick zip out on the Bay and invited Mark to join her. Can you say ‘expression of a kid in a candy store’? Being 7 months pregnant, I decided to stay behind with Parker. Mark had a pretty thrilling experience as you can imagine. In his first 24 hours in Iqaluit he managed to satisfy a lifelong dream AND it was Siu-Ling’s second last run of the year, so he really lucked out!
Me helping to get the dogs harnessed for the run.
Mark and Siu-Ling heading out onto the Bay. Hold on tight!
While they were gone I enjoyed watching Parker, Siu-Ling's puppy, play with a loose puppy that was hanging around the dog yard.
And encouraging the dogs to start a howl. For anyone who has ever been at the Corning's house for a dog howl, you know how much we enjoy getting the dogs going. Bedford, on the end is this picture, loves to howl, so I knew I could get him going. Before I knew it I'm sure the better part of the 60 dogs down on the ice joined in. It was spectacular! Thanks Bedford.
Mark and Siu-Ling returning from their voyage with tuckered dogs.
The dogs love to be praised at the end of a trip, even if it was just a short one!
A traditional Inuit sled, lashed together with rope, allowing for lots of flexing and bending as it travels over uneven ground.
Siu-Ling fed the dogs seal meat after the run. Mark was facinated by Caru, who was munching on a seal head and was getting in close for a picture when Caru decided to shake it. He actually got hit by a couple of flying bits.

Mark and I went for hikes in both the Road to Nowhere, and Sylvia Grinnell Park. It was nice to visit some of my old stomping grounds from last summer. I haven’t been able to access many of my favourite places around Iqaluit since the fall, but over the past few weeks roads and paths have opened back up. It was wonderful to be out on the land again, though I found that my current physical condition restricted me from going very far. I get out of breath very quickly and easily!

Ever since Mark booked his ticket I have been keeping my fingers crossed that the Sylvia Grinnell River would break up in time for Mark to experience some Arctic char fishing. Unfortunately she was still pretty ice bound, though the ice was quite spongy. He was persistent though, and wanted to try dropping a line through a hole in the ice, but I’m pretty sure the fish are still up in the lakes until the Bay breaks up.
Mark and an inukshuk out on the tundra.
As you can see there is a lot less snow out on the tundra, but still far more than it left in the city.
A traditional style Inuit tent down by the river.
The frozen Sylvia Grinnell, much to Mark's disappointment.
Another traditional style Inuit summer tent. These are a common site around the hills of Iqaluit, especially along the river.

Mark really enjoyed bar shopping... that’s right, bar shopping, not bar hopping. Bar shopping is sitting in a bar and allowing local artists to come to you! I finally found the perfect narwhal carving and I just love it! I regret that I didn’t take a picture to share before wrapping it all up for the trip home on Friday (took a picture once I got home!). I also bought a piece of artwork that I have been eying since I landed in Iqaluit almost a year ago. It is a painting of three narwhals by the artist Andrew Qauppik, one of the most well-known artists in Nunavut. I watched him complete a print of one of his paintings at an art fair in the fall and it was fascinating to watch. His prints are all done using stencils and it only takes him about 10-15 minutes to complete a print.
I was a little sad to see Mark go, it was so nice to have him here and share some of my northern experiences with him. I would have been much sadder though if I didn’t know that I would be home with him a week and a half later!!! Can’t wait to arrive! I expect that I will take a couple of days at home to reflect on my year in Iqaluit before my final blog farewell."

Nanook of the North

Nanook of the North, the inspiration for the title of my blog, is a 1922 silent documentary by Robert J. Flaherty, a prospector and explorer in Arctic Canada that lived among Inuit. The full title is actually Nanook of the North: A Story Of Life and Love In the Actual Arctic. I love that… the “actual Arctic”. In 1922 however the actual Arctic would have been largely unknown and mysterious. In the documentary Flaherty, who was familiar with his subjects and set out to document their lifestyle, captures the life and struggles of the Inuk Nanook and his family in northern Quebec on Hudson Bay.

As the first nonfiction work of its scale, Nanook of the North was ground-breaking in cinema. It captured an exotic culture in a remote location, rather than a re-enactment of reality using actors and props on a studio set. Traditional Inuit methods of hunting, fishing, igloo-building, and other customs were shown with accuracy, and the compelling story of a man and his family struggling against nature met with great success in North America and abroad. I wonder has anyone seen it? We’ll have to have a viewing of it when I get home. There is also a 1994 film about the making of Nanook of the North, in which a distant relative of Nanook plays his role.

When I hear ‘Nanook’, however I think of Nanook’s namesake… the great white bear of the North. Nanuq means polar bear in Inuktitut, and I have come to learn a great deal about polar bears since I came to live on Baffin Island. You watch a wildlife documentary or two and think you have a good understanding of the world, but there are a number of important misconceptions about polar bears portrayed in recent documentaries. Before I came to Iqaluit, when I pictured polar bears I pictured that lone bear swimming out into the open water of the Arctic… only a few small chucks of ice remain so there is no way for him to catch the seals he is so dependent on… how is he going to survive? It’s heart wrenching… You quickly conclude that wild polar bears will not be of this world for much longer due to the accelerating impacts of global climate change in the North. The reality is a little different…

Don’t get me wrong… I am in no way a climate change nay-sayer. The polar bear, as the world’s largest land carnivore and an Arctic phenom, is something of an enigma, and has quickly become the poster child for climate change. There is little doubt that global climatic change is and will continue to impact polar bears, but presently the picture is not as bleak as some would have the world believe. There are 13 sub-populations of polar bears in Canada, making up as much as 65% of the global population, and only four of those subpopulations have been determined to be at risk of declining over the next three generations. Seven of the 13 populations are expected to remain stable or actually even increase. The impacts of climate change are the most dire in Hudson Bay, the furthest southern reaches of the species’ range. Nonetheless, the reality is polar bears cannot persist without seasonal sea ice to hunt seals; therefore the continuing decline in seasonal sea ice – which is indeed happening at an alarming rate - makes it very likely that a range reduction will occur in the southern parts of the species’ range.

Great picture of some curious bears checking out a submarine... they are incredibly curious.

Here’s a shocking statistic for you… an adult male polar bear can weigh as much as 1500 pounds! Adult females are about half that size. Polar bears have evolved to occupy a narrow ecological niche (i.e. how a species ‘makes a living’), with body characteristics well adapted for cold temperatures, moving across snow and ice, swimming in open water, and hunting seals (especially ringed seals), which make up the majority of their diet. The polar bear is an enormously powerful predator and can kill an adult walrus weighing as much as twice its size, although they rarely attempt this. Polar bears spend much of their life in or on the sea, and in fact, their scientific name, Ursus maritimus, means ‘maritime bear’, with some biologists often regarding them as a marine mammal. They are thought to have evolved from a population of brown bears that became isolated during a period of glaciation, and in fact there is confirmed evidence of hybrids between polar bears and brown bears (or grizzly bears) - which we fondly refer to around the office as ‘grolar’ bears.

Polar bears have long been an important subsistence animal for Arctic indigenous peoples, including the Inuit of Canada. I can’t imagine the act of bravery it must have taken to attempt a polar bear kill using a spear! Traditional subsistence hunting was on a much smaller scale than today however and did not significantly affect polar bear populations. Today the annual harvest of polar bears in Canada is in the hundreds of bears (as high as 500), with Nunavut making up 80% of these kills. Many biologists believe that this rate to not sustainable, especially in the face of climate change. Management is complicated by the fact that in some areas science suggests that populations are in decline, whereas many communities are reporting increases in polar bear sightings, leading to a belief that populations are actually increasing. Scientists respond that bears, hungry due to a lack of sea ice for hunting seal, are congregating around communities leading to the illusion that populations are higher than they actually are. The issue remains unresolved and quite contentious.

Most people who live in the Arctic never get to see a polar bear, especially in Iqaluit. They very rarely come close to town, and those that do are not often long of this world. I only saw polar bears the one time, last September on a boat trip some distance out into Frobisher Bay we saw a mother and her two cubs from quite a distance – a very thrilling experience and one of the highlights of my Arctic experience over the past year.

There is so much more I could say about polar bears.... they are an incredible animal and Arctic survivor. It is amazing what mother polar bears endure in the name of procreation... and it is amazing how tiny and adorable those baby polar bears really are!