ᓄᓂᕙᑦᑐᖅ - nunivattuq - berry-picking

Josh, Darlene and I decided to join the fall tradition of berry picking. As usual our qallunaat ways led us to choose a windy, cold Sunday afternoon for our trek. But when you're working shift work, you take what you can get.

Crowberry, blueberry and cranberry plants can be found nearly everywhere on the hilly tundra. We climbed the hill that overlooks Iqaluit and picked the ground loving berries as we walked. The cranberries were rather tart and firm. The blackberries taste a bit bittersweet and contain a seed. The blueberries taste sweeter than southern blueberries. What a relaxing way to spend our Sunday afternoon, in good company.

Darlene and Jocelyn



Yummy blueberries, cranberries and blackberries

ᐋᒡᒑ ᓱᓕ - aaggaa suli - not yet

Apparently, it s@#w*d last night. The town's surrounding hills are covered with the dreaded white ice crystals. I am in denial and refuse to go out and see this "appalling" sight. Hopefully it will melt before I have to go to Northmart this afternoon. I'm not quite ready for winter yet. 

Beautiful seal skin drying in the sun

ᐅᒥᐊᒃᑯᑦ - umiakkut - by boat

We had the opportunity to spend a day exploring out on a boat, thanks to Alex Flaherty and Lucassie Metuq. We were bundled up in our winter gear, in addition to our survival float suits. Depsite the air temperature being around 8 degrees Celsius, we definitely needed all the layers to stay warm out on that icy water. 

Our first stop was at the Qaummaarviit Territorial Park. "Archaeologists believe that the Thule settled at Qaummaarviit at least 250 years before Christopher Columbus discovered America. Over 3,000 tools and 20,000 bones dug from the tundra by archaeologists stir our imagination of what life may have been like at Qaummaarviit. Far from the bleak existence many people might envisage, Qaummaarviit's inhabitants thrived. Sled runners and a variety of dog harness equipment suggest that Qaummaarviit's hunters were capable of travelling great distances over sea ice in search of game. Though evidence of skin boats is less abundant, thousands of sea mammal bones tell us that qayaks and umiaks were used repeatedly to hunt a variety of seals and whales. Artifacts used closer to home, such as hide scrapers, awls, needles, ulus, and soapstone lamps remind us of the vital roles woman played, while toy weapons, tools and dolls recall the central importance of children in Inuit culture. Summer found Qaummarviit's inhabitants at rivers fishing for char, and along coasts hyunting seals, walrus and toothed whales. As the weather worsened, they began to stockpile food and provisions for freezeup in the fall – a time when ocean travel and sea mammal hunting were impossible"  Source

As we explored this ancient site, I found in amazing to think that 200 years ago, those people saw the same site I was seeing today. That is one of the things I love about Nunavut, it is so untouched. After learning about their homes, their tools and enjoying the scenery, we continued on between the islands. We stopped for lunch at a scenic spot as the tide was going out. We dug clams, ate raw caribou, hiked the multi-colored rocks, practiced our shooting and fished as we waited for the tide to return. We enjoyed Alex's delicious caribou stew as we enjoyed the scenery. After lunch, we navigated through the bay. It was perfectly serene as the sun came out and the wind calmed down. During our tour through the inlets, we all were very relaxed and soaking up the sights of rocky islands, talls rugged cliffs, sea gulls rising in the wind and the water splashing up against the terrain. All in all, we deemed it an excellent day and are thankful to Alex and Lucassie for the chance to experience life on the water.

Ryan and Katie excited for their first Nunavut adventure

Row row row your boat

It's August and we're wearing long johns, toques and mitts...must be in the north

Kim, Katie, Darlene and Joc all bundled up and ready to go

Dar and Josh on the water

Exploring around all the rocky islands in Koojesse Inlet

Stopping at the Qaummaarviit Territorial Historic Park

Joc and Lucassie, our boat driver

Arctic cotton blowing in the breeze

Josh showing off a bowhead whale vertebrae

And I found part of a rib!

The remains of ancient Inuit summer home, no bigger than your bathroom.

Joc sitting in a meat cache.

Cool mushroom

Our guides uncovered the gravesite of a 200 year old Inuk man

Kim, Katie, Ryan, Darlene, Jocelyn and Joshua

On the lookout for any signs of whales....which proved to be elusive

Darlene enjoying the peace of this rugged and unique land

Finally! I caught a clam worth eating!

Lucassie caught some more for supper

Fresh, raw clam...salty, chewy, cold and a bit sandy

We stopped off here for lunch as the tide fell and then rose again

We found remnants of a caribou supper from days long past

We practiced our hunting skills while waiting for the tide

Katie's 'through and through' shot showed us all up

Lots of waves

Beautiful tiny flowers

This is Nunavut - water, sky, rock

ᐸᑎᐅᔭᖅ - patiujaq - candle

 Josh's birthday found him flying all over Baffin, but we made a delicious chocolate cake anyways. He enjoyed when he finally got his head out of the clouds. 

Our team of cake bakers......Justus, Katie, me and Davin

ᐊᒻᒨᒪᔪᖅ - ammuumajuq - clam

The first three days of August were the lowest tides of the month. Every one was excited to go clam digging. And most people did go stock their freezers with this free souce of food. But thanks to shift work, we were only able to get out on the tail end of that low tide.

August 3 saw Claire, Charolette and I digging through cutlery drawers trying to find any utensil that we could use as a shovel. I chose a large serving spoon - I wanted big clams. Charolette chose a cake spreader - she wanted to dig deep. Claire kept her fingers warm and wondered what foolishness us Canadians were dragging her into.

After consulting Emma's Clam Digging 101 - A guide for qallunaat, we were inspired and figured we would come home with buckets of large juicy clams. Not that we were overly inspired to eat them, it was the thrill of the hunt that intrigued us.

Our location of choice was Tar Inlet, near Apex. We were a tiny bit late, as the tide was just starting to come back in. Although sunny, the wind was almost icy as it blew off the open water. 

Our trek along the seashore allowed us to see a few tiny sea creatures; barnacles, snails and tiny sea anenomes. We didn't see any crabs nor starfish in the bay. I guess it's too cold for the 'stereotypical' sea animal life I was expecting.

Aha! An usuk! This is a long muscle that peaks out of the sand. The red usuk's are female clams (and apparently they taste better than males). When the clam feels threatened, it squirts water out of its usuk and quickly burrows deep into the sand. Pretty impressive for a mollusc without hands (or a shovel).

To catch the usuk, you grab it with your fingers (scream when a suprising amount of water squirts in your face) and then use your serving spoon to dig the rest out. Please note my qallunaat form of squatting while clamming. The Inuit ladies next to us just bent over at the waist and walked from usuk to usuk. I blame my poor form on my height. 

The very first clam I ever caught in my life was smaller than a nickel. The nine other clams I caught weren't much bigger! I took a couple home to show Josh, but left the rest in the bay so they could grow for next summer. 

We had so much fun exploring the low tide waters and digging up all sorts of innocent creatures that we decided to bring Darlene, Katie and Ryan and their boys out with us the next day. We knew that the "prime" clamming days were done, but how much different could the tide be one day from the next. Boy, were we wrong.

August 4 (the day after lowest tide) was cool and blustery. We all came underdressed and determined to tough it out. We were amazed at how much water there was in the bay. Our attempts to walk were hindered by huge deep puddles. We walked and waited a long time for low tide to get lower! But to no avail, August 4 was not a good clamming day!
 

In the mean time, we did find a couple of cool sea creatures, more sea anemones, huge pieces of kelp and this little shrimp like creature. 

 

Just when we were beginning to think this trip would be a complete bust, we saw an Inuit family gathering fish from their nets. We learned how they lay their nets and wait until low tide to collect their catch. With an ulu (a woman's cutting tool), they gut the fish, rinse it in a nearby puddle and then gather up the char to take home. This particular catch was going in the freezer to be used for dog food.

Charolette introduced Davin and Justus to the smooth slippery feel of the fish, while Katie and Ryan took a fish home for supper. It doesn't get much more fresh than this folks!

So, although our clam digging efforts didn't go quite as planned, we still had a blast exploring and learning a little about ocean life.

ᓴᓇᙳᐊᒐᖅ - sanannguagaq - carving

Nunavut has the highest number of artists per capita in the world. Carving, sewing, painting and drawing are full time careers that the Inuit cherish and pursue. The Arctic College has courses in carving, fur making and other traditional art practices to train the younger generations. 

Inuit art is internationally renowned. We consider it a privilege to be able to meet the artists and see a wide variety of art on a daily basis. Eating out at any of the resturants in town is also a way to meet artists and view their work. The artists come around to each table, humbly presenting their work in hopes of a sale. Buying direct from the artist is much more affordable than buying from a gallery. Meeting the artist gives us an insight as to how much work went into the art and where the stone/antler/bone/baleen is from. One of my favorite things to buy is little boots and mitts. They can be used as wall hangings, zipper pulls, Christmas tree ornaments ect. Josh just laughs whenever I come home with another one, but they're so cute and unique. The following pictures are samples of the art we've bought as well as other types of art around Iqaluit.

Caribou antler - Walrus

Watercolor by Jolly (from Pang)

Polar bear and seal - soapstone

Broken glass, found on the beach, that has been smoothed by the ocean - can still read "Pepsi-Cola"

Inukshuk

Print given to RNs during nursing week - "Nightingale's Qulliq"

Sealskin mitts

Little booties made by an elderly patient (who had one eye)

Love these little boots

Stencil print made by Gyta and sold to us by salesman "Smiley"

Beautiful mural by Johnny (an ex-gangster who turned his life around)

Two narwhals - soapstone

A real inukshuk out on the tundra

Outdoor carving of two beluga whales

Mom showing off beaver (left) and seal (right) mitts

Large polar bear