ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᖅ - Nunatsiaq - Northwest Territories

I’m currently sitting on my Canadian North flight en route to Iqaluit after a relaxing and productive weekend in Yellowknife. I had to go meet with our realor, lawyer and see the house we've purchased in Yellowknife. My mom flew up for the weekend to explore with me. It has been very interesting visiting a true city – with roads, streetlights, traffic laws (that you have to obey), and people. The differences between Yellowknife and Iqaluit have me smiling and thankful for our time in the north.

When I first landed in Yellowknife, my first impression was “look at all the green trees!” I had to laugh when my mom landed and she was astounded at all the rock and lakes. Rock and water is something that I’m very accustomed to now. The nature in this part of the north is very different than Baffin. Each territory has its own beauty and uniqueness that I love. Yellowknife has cleverly built itself around, within and through the natural rock faces, hills, lakes and forests. The entire city is connected by walking trails that remind me of Edmonton’s river valley. We enjoyed exploring the lakes in town and venturing down the Ingraham trail to see the Cameron falls. 

Mom's first time north!

One thing Josh and I have come to love about Iqaluit is the relaxed pace of life, the lack of hustle and bustle. We call it “living simply.” Our adjustment to this has been an easy one, since we left everything behind in Edmonton and came to Iqaluit with the bare minimum. It has been an experience we wouldn’t trade for anything. And I would dare say that my husband has even learned to relax after an intense six years of school and flying. 

Compared to Edmonton, Yellowknife is a small city. Compared to Iqaluit, it's huge! As I drove to explore it, I had to remind myself to keep my eyes on the road despite the fact there was so much to see! I even got mild car sickness at driving “so fast” (45km/hr). But having lived a pedestrian lifestyle this summer, it felt like highway speeds. Driving downtown made me feel claustrophobic due to all the people, cars, signs and streetlights. I know I’ll miss the quiet of Iqaluit.

Medical Travel - facilitating patients from the small communities for their health needs

 I expected the Northwest Territories to have more Inuit people. What I did not expect was the large number of different types of indigenous people here! This sign at the airport made my eyes grow wide at all the different people groups that are represented in this territory. I suppose the climate is (slightly) less extreme and the environment lends itself to more animals, which in turn supports more human life. At least, that’s what I think….I’ll have lots to learn about the culture here and I'll miss being saturated in the Inuit culture.

At the Bush Pilot's monument admiring all the GREEN trees!

Houseboats in the lake - people live on them year round

Eclectic little homes proudly displaying Yellowknife's history

When Josh first moved here, I remember him telling me that Yellowknife is the perfect place for him because it is centered around flying. He then quickly assured me that it was the perfect for me too, because it is surrounded by water. Mom and I so enjoyed watching all the float planes come and go from the lake. The sound of airplane engines brings back childhood memories of my Dad flying in Botswana and now it makes me think of my airborne husband. Yellowknife is a city built for aviation, and we intend to enjoy it to the fullest.

Pilot's paradise

Float planes were everywhere...we love watching them take off and land

Enjoying our sunny walk

"Walking" the dogs across the lake - one in the canoe and one in the water

Guess who's arm is who's! I don't think I've ever been so pale. Sigh.

If I am to talk about my trip out of Iqaluit, then I am obliged to talk about food. I have never been so excited to go grocery shopping in my life! The rows and rows of vibrant fruits and veggies, the rich cuts of meat, the endless selection of any type of product you can imagine. I bought 74 kilograms of groceries for less than $300. In Iqaluit, a basket of groceries will easily cost over $100. Oh, and the freshness of the food made my mouth tingle. I could individually taste each layer of my Tim Horton's B.E.L.T. breakfast sandwich - the bacon so crisp, the tomato so sweet, the lettuce so crisp. Food tasted like food again...without the heavy price tag. My definition of "expensive" has been forever altered.

Quirky, odd little restaurant in Old Town that serves amazing food

Arctic char (from Nunavut), salad with feta dill dressing, home made fries....yum!

Nature never ceases to amaze me. From the rugged beauty of Iqaluit's tundra to the luscious forests of Yellowknife, I can't help but agree with the Psalmist that "the heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands" (Psalm 19). Each terrain is unique and stunning in its own way. To say I like one more than the other would be a lie. I'm learning to be content and enjoy what the Lord has in front of me one day at a time, rather than wishing for something different. As I do so, I feel content in the place God has me. Whether it be here, there or somewhere else. 

Before coming to Iqaluit, God was teaching me to REST - rely, exalt, surrender and trust. (Learn more...)This summer has served to refine that lesson. In lonely, fun, anxious, exciting, peaceful or boring times, I am learning to place my focus on my Lord and claim His promise in Jeremiah 29: 11-14. " For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you."

Niven lake - I think I took pictures of every single blade of grass...so green!

Cameron Falls - exquisite hiking trail over the Canadian Shield

Despite her close encounters with hippos, elephants, cheetahs, water buffalo, hyenas, lions, crocodiles and cobras, Mom was very reluctant to meet a Canadian black bear face to face!

After only seeing a few birds and fish this summer, I'm ready for wildlife!

Wildlife!

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.