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!

A Tranquil Evening of Dog Sledding…

Arctic spring… so beautiful. The bay is still iced over, and there’s still a lot of snow on the ground, but the tundra is peaking through more and more each day it seems. I was wrong about seeing the last of the snow though… it has pretty much been snowing all week, but only ever so slightly. It’s just a dusting of snow falling from the sky almost all the time! I was up really early one morning to let Parker out for a pee (Siu-Ling is away this week) and the snow was so fine, and it was catching the early morning light in such a way, that it looked like fairy dust falling from the sky, so pretty.

The best part of Arctic spring so far though has been the return of songbirds. First the snow buntings arrived (apparently two or three weeks early… what do they know and how do they know it??), and then more recently the ?? I can’t tell you how much more notable a bird singing in spring is when the landscape has been completely devoid of song, other than the odd squawk of a raven, for close to eight months. It stops me in my tracks. Even the ravens are feeling the itch though. I’ve seen several go by carrying nesting material.

So I mentioned that the Bay is still frozen over and in a previous blog, and that Siu-Ling’s sled dogs have been moved down onto the Bay for easy access to the ice. Last Sunday Siu-Ling asked if I would like to join her and David for an evening run and of course, I said yes. It was such a beautiful evening! So calm and clear. The sky was a beautiful, soft greyish-purple and the sun was setting to our right, casting a brilliant shimmer on the distant mountains.

And I discovered that spring dog-sledding is much more enjoyable than -50 below dog sledding in January! There are two main reasons for this… one, it’s just not as cold, and two, the run was on a flat surface, meaning there wasn’t as much of a need to jump off the sled and run up hill to make it easier for the dogs (which I really was not very good at) like on the rolling terrain we travelled in January. I was sitting at the back of the sled, propped up and snuggled between Siu-Ling and David’s bags. Because there were three of us, and being far more practised and far less clumsy than I, both Siu-Ling and David got off the sled at times for a run; but being six and a half months pregnant, I felt no such motivation. I was perfectly warm and perfectly content to just sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Siu-Ling’s lead sled dog Lewis was away for a couple days procreating with a female from another team… there are going to be puppies again! That meant that Siu-Ling had the opportunity to try out a couple of the other dogs in front, since Lewis is one of the older dogs on the team and will not be with them forever. It was pretty touch and go in the beginning, and the dogs got their lines in an awful mess, but I found it interesting to watch the dynamics of the team shift without Lewis. Dogs that are perfectly capable of taking a direction command completely lost it and flopped when faced with leadership. In the end it was one of last year’s puppies - you might remember Bo – that found his rhythm in the front. He was SO proud of himself when we got back to the dog yard. It was very cute.

Before the run we took Tua and Parker out for a walk... this is a very happy Tua!

Parker taking Tua for a walk... I couldn't believe she tolerated this so well!

Lillian enjoying a nice warm brew before the run.

All the dogs looking ready to get going.

The take off!

Beautiful evening...

The sun setting on the distant mountains... the image is so small here... it hardly does it justice. I think you can click on it to see a larger image... give it a try :)

Like I said, it was a little rough going at first and they got their lines in an awful mess. Siu-Ling attempting to get them sorted out so no one would get caught up on all the lines.

Beautiful shot of Giller... I think he is the most handsome of all the dogs!

Iqaluit from a far...

A while back you might recall a blog entry where I talked about sun dogs. There were some great examples of sun dgos during sunset the other day. The other one is hiding behind the hill.

Taima! (that means I'm finished in Inuktitut)

Three Generations of Corning Girls in Iqaluit…

My mom visited me last weekend. What a treat! It's so nice to be able to share my life and experience up here with family members. She arrived on Wednesday to a clear, sunny Iqaluit day. We started off her visit with a tour of town and wings at the local watering hole The Storehouse.

I think mom very much enjoyed her stay at the house where I am currently living. It is the grey house in the pcture below. We have a fantastic view of Frobisher Bay and on Thursday and Friday mom spent the day sitting in the cozy living room enjoying the view... oh yeah, and supposedly working from home... I wonder if she got any work done.

She was very facinated with the fact that all the houses are on stilts. I found this interesting since I am so used to it now, that it doesn't stand out to me as anything special or unique. No basements in Iqaluit! Only stilts...

This is the view from out back deck, a beautiful sunset over an icey town... its really pretty how the layer of ice over the snow catches the sun, though the picture doesn't quite do it justice.

I think mom was as much in love with Parker as I am! He's a real charmer.

From the back deck again... I love the clouds in this photo.

Like her husband before her, mom and I did a lot of hiking! I have a vehicle now, unlike when dad visited back in September, so at least we were able to drive to the prime hiking locations, rather than walking the whole way from town. Being six months pregnant, my ability to hike long distances has been drastically reduced.

One of the best spots in town for hiking and spectacular views is Sylvia Grinnell Park. Here mom is on the look-off over the Sylvia Grinnell River. The two waterfalls the make up the best fishing spots on the river are frozen over this time of year. It was a little overcast, so unfortunately you can't see the distant snow-covered mountains!

Down by the river... it was such a spectular shade of blue the this picture only begins to do justice.

I'm on top of the world! Whoo-hoo-hooooooo (name that quote)

Another great spot for hiking where I spent a great deal of time hiking last summer and fall is The Road to Nowhere. It looks a little different than the last time you would have seen pictures of it! We made two visits to The Road to Nowhere. During the first visit we got hit with a bit of a snow squall, so we didn't make it very far. Poor Parker was quite the baby about it, he was really cold and his coat was covered in slush when we finally made it back to the beast (my Ford Explorer).

It was a much nicer day for our second visit. This is looking back into town.

On the way back we decided to take a detour over a ridge and found ourselves on the edge of a steep bank of snow. Rather than trek back the way we came, we opted for the but scooch down the hill.

And this is mom recovering from the but scooch. We laughed like fools the whole way down!

Probably my favorite spot in town though is one of the high points looking out over Frobisher Bay. The Bay is still very much iced over as far as you can see. Another thing that pictures just can't capture is how spectacular the distance mountains are across the Bay. They are captivating, inspiring awe in me just about every clear day when they are visible, summer, fall, winter and spring. I just love them.

Mom meets a real Inukshuk!

Mom was really fascinated with the sled dogs. This time of year the dogs are tied up out on the bay on the ice. This makes from easy access to the open expanse of the frozen bay. We trekked out on to the ice a couple of times to see the team. The first time was just for a feeding, while the second time we watched Siu-Ling and her friend David get the dogs ready and head out on to the bay with the team. This is Tua in the picture below. She is the retired female that is living at the house right now. She grows on me more and more each day.

Mom and the dogs. She was a little reluctant to get any closer to them on the chain than she is in the picture. They can be quite brutish, especially when they are still chained, but they are fine once they are let loose for a sniff around.

Lillian flirting with Adam... she is such a flirt!

What mom was really interested in seeing was the process of getting the dogs all hooked up to head out for a run. Here you can see Siu-Ling and her friend David getting everyone ready to go. The dogs are all very serious at this point, other than Parker!

And hike! I think all the colored lines look so pretty on the white snow.

Just pulling out...

And off they go....

The other teams look on enviously... I think they would like to be heading out as well.

Mom was so inspired by meeting the dogs on the ice and watching them through binoculars from the house that she wrote a poem! She left it with Siu-Ling in a thank you card. Siu-ling, after reading it, said to me "I didn't know you mom was a poet!" and I said "neither did I!" I didn't get her creative permission to publish this poem, so I hope you don't mind mom!

Sled Dogs

Dogs… dots on the ice
Dogs on strings
Howling, yowling, prowling
Dogs, wait for the run.

Sleeping dogs… lie
On the snow.
Dogs covered in white
Jumping, growling, snapping
Dogs, wait for the run.

Dogs… white, fluffy, multi-coloured
Dogs, patiently waiting
Released, harnessed, bolt away, away
Dogs, on the run.

Dogs… panting, tired, exhausted
On the snow.
Make their way home
Hungry, sleepy, happy, smiling dogs
Dogs, home from the run.

I was pretty impressed! This landscape and way of life though is quite inspiring. I actually kind of wrote a poem myself... but its kind of in pieces at the moment. If I manage to make it flow I'll be sure to follow mom's inspired lead and share it as well.

On Saturday night, as a laugh, and as an opportunity to mingle with the community, we went to see Fred Penner at the middle school. Yes, that’s right, as in crawls-through-a-log-to-get-to-his-special-secret-forest-place Fred Penner. What was Fred Penner doing in Iqaluit you ask? There is an organization in Iqaluit called Alianait that has put great effort into arranging visits to Iqaluit from Canadian music talent. Fred actually put on a great show, the kids just loved him, and I’m not going to lie… mom and I knew pretty much all of his songs and sang along. There was actually this build up of anticipation for The Cat Came Back and I found myself feeling really excited when he finally sang it at the end of the show. Meeeoooowwwwwwww.....

Fred singing with one of the local day cares.

You might recall that I had my picture taken with Susan Aglukark when she was performing in town, so I told mom she had to go and get her picture taken with Fred. He was kind of busy signing autographs, so she just went and stood behind him. She looks so funny! I was trying to tell her to give him bunny ears, but she didn't understand me.

Mom was here for Mother's Day, so I planned a brunch with my housemate and friends. It was very nice, and it's kind of my first Mother's Day as well... kind of? This is Jonah playing with Parker. Isn't he precious in his puppy dog hat?!

Jonah has got to be one of the happiest babies I have ever met. There is always a smile on that sweet face!

Then in the evening I took mom out to The Discovery Lodge, which has the nicest restaurant in town.

On Monday I took the day off, so we had one last full day together. We took the opportunity to do some of the more touristy things around town. We visited the Nunavut Legislature building and the local museum, and several of the shops and galleries around town.

Mom's first encounter with a polar bear... very frightening!

All together it was an awesome visit with a super awesome mom! Happy belated Mother's Day to all the mom's out there who are listening!