Northwest Territories Part 2: Inuvik

I've been in Inuvik now for just over a week. I've been staying at Happy Valley Territorial Park

which is actually right along the edge of town, so I've been enjoying the activities and events within the town. When I first arrived, I thought that I had made a mistake, deciding to stay for two weeks. Now I feel like it's not quite enough time to absorb all that the town has to offer. For example, when I first arrived I found the utilitarian buildings and lack of landscaping, oddly coloured and unpainted buildings a bit offputting (can I say ugly?). I understand that the buildings are indeed, simply shelters and buildings in which to conduct business, and there is no European standard of pretty buildings and yards. The Inuvialuit people don't really care about these things. Beauty comes to them through traditional ways. Now that I've been here awhile, I have seen the beautiful places. Suddenly, the house with an uncluttered yard and a box of flowers stands out. The flags and hanging baskets on the hydro poles are extra pretty. And of course the natural environment is lovely. I've noticed that the children are treasured. I've heard lots of laughter and no whining. The parents and grandparents seem to dote on these children without spoiling them. When I was at a fiddling concert last night in the park, Sheila (an elder in the community) shared her dry fish with me and said that it is because the children now stay home, and are not sent away to residential schools. She said that the grandparents are able to communicate the big difference to the parents and everyone is very grateful to have children at home.

Inuvik (Place of Man) was created in the late fifties to replace Aklavik, which was suffering from flooding. Aklavik remains, however, and the people that live there do so despite the flooding issues.

Lynne, the tourist

I've enjoyed the tourist attractions. Here are a few highlights:

I LOVED the Community Greenhouse. Kevin, the King of Compost would love their composting practices. They have outdoor and indoor composting. Some of the members bring their vegetable scraps from home as well. All this composting to make soil for the next year's planting.

https://youtu.be/Am4wxd2Jyw0

I don't know if it's just me, but the plants seemed to be "less green" than their Southern Ontario counterparts. Things grow like crazy because of the 24 hour sunlight, but maybe they need rest? I don't know, and I didn't ask since I didn't want our tour guide to think I was unappreciative of their hard work! They have the only apple tree north of the Arctic Circle. They wrap it in blankets for the winter and so far it's surviving!

Speaking of plants, I attended a tour called Ethnobotany at the Aurora Research Institute where we learned of the practical and medicinal uses of the local plants and trees. The spruce tree (both white and black) is the Inuvialuit traditional rock star. The spruce trees grow tall in the summer using all that sun, but don't grow wide, since winter comes quickly. They appear very thin and spread out, even though this area is still considered part of the boreal forest. The tour of the facility was also interesting. It hosts various scientists who are studying fish, permafrost, global warming etc and has an extraordinary library with unusual historical artifacts from explorers and hunters.

I also enjoyed the tour of the "Igloo Church". It is considered "overbuilt" because so much wood was used in its structure. The "stations of the cross" are painted by a local deaf woman (she lost her hearing in a hunting accident at 13 years of age). Mona Thrasher:

https://archive.nnsl.com/2013-04/apr5_13mona.html

While we were having the tour with Father "Mac", Mona's son came in to look at her paintings. Very drunk. Father Mac went to talk to him while we watched a video on the tower on top of the building and some of the drawings of the "architect" who had a "grade 5 education". When Father Mac came back, he told us that Mona's son struggles with alcohol addiction, that he got dry in a rehab program but was back to square one after about 6 months. Father Mac said that he found him at her gravesite in the cemetery sometimes and that he occasionally came into the church to look at her photograph. It was enlightening for me, because I had automatically brushed him off as an annoying drunk guy that was interrupting our tour, and by following Father Mac's example felt compassion for him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Victory_Church_(Inuvik)

I enjoyed seeing Canada's most northern mosque. "The Midnight Sun Mosque".  It has the familiar crescent moon on it's tower and has a food bank in it's yard. 

https://youtu.be/9b849uVvAJU (CBC documentary, 45 minutes long if you're interested!)

I went to the "Arctic Market" on Saturday, which is when I missed Beate!, and for my $19.00 spent I got a small jar of fireweed jelly for Beate,  5 leaves of kale (grown in the greenhouse) and two slices of cranberry lemon loaf. 

Speaking of prices--holy moly! Food (and other goods) are soooo expensive in this isolated area. 4 litres of milk is $13.00, a cauliflower is $8.00, a "mr. noodles" is $3.79.

I have avoided the hiking trails, since there are grizzlies in the area and I'm on my own, but I do walk around the town and down by the river (east channel runs alongside Inuvik) I spotted an unusual looking vessel, Eckaloo of the Canadian Coast Guard, so I asked the captain and a crew member, what it was for. It is a buoy-tending vessel, used on the Mackenzie to orient tug-boats and other vessels. The "tenders" position and reposition the buoys in the spring and summer and then remove them before winter, before the freeze. Very cool.

One of my dreams has been fulfilled. I've walked into the Arctic Ocean.

I travelled to Tuktoyaktuk with an elder in the community, Shirley, who was going to pick up her granddaughter from whale camp. Shirley was the first baby born in Inuvik, in a tent down by the east channel of the Mackenzie. Because I was travelling with a local, I got to hear some gossip and understand some of the differences between the Inuvialuit and G'wichen tribes, the differences within the Inuvialuit group of the Delta and of the Coastal people (Beaufort). What a treat!

Shirley is an outspoken community member and leader, especially when it comes to women and elders. She taught her daughter and granddaughter (Lesli)  to be politically active as well. When we picked up her granddaughter in Tuk, she was also an articulate, thoughtful person. I learned that she represented the G'wichen side of her heritage opposing the oil excavation plans around Old Crow in the Yukon.

Here is an entry on her MP's facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/mmcleodnwt/posts/i-had-a-great-conversation-with-lesli-kisoun-in-my-office-today-lesli-is-in-otta/2257098614530197/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/porcupine-caribou-anwr-1.4956779

Lesli and I posed in front of the Tuktoyaktuk sign and in front of the largest pingo:

see the little pingo? It's huge!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingo

When in Tuk, Lesli encouraged me to try muktuk (whale blubber) at "Grandma's Kitchen" Joanne is "grandma":

It was good! On the way back from Tuk, Lesli shared her dry fish (smoked whitefish) which is now my favourite food. Yum!

The highlight for me was the Arctic Ocean.

On the very soft, very new(2017) highway from Inuvik to Tuk, there were various people out picking berries. "Cloudberries" which are sourish and used in pies, jams etc. The locals call them yellow berries.

On the way to Tuk, I watched the tree line disappear and saw beautiful hills of tundra around the "husky" lakes. So beautiful. A dream come true.

I have met people, in the campground, from all over the world and Canada. I am especially impressed with the paddlers and pedalers. T'ai Chi from Japan rode his bike to Tuk, stayed one night and biked back. A seventy year old Swiss man took only an extra day to do this! Anastasia from Russia paddled 1400km along the Mackenzie. She is a mathematician, and very interested in "kilometres" conquered. Other new friends come from Switzerland, Germany, Russia and the States. It seems I'm not the only one attracted to the north!

Tomorrow, I am going to Jak Territorial Park (pronounced "chuck" meaning "berries") until I head back to Yellowknife on Wednesday. This afternoon, I am going to a workshop to make earrings for Hannah for her birthday and this evening I will eat whitefish at the very famous Alestines. The chalkboard sign today says "My doctor said I'm crazy. I said I wanted a second opinion so he said 'Ok you're also ugly'"

And finally, before I part, I would like to mention Colin, the librarian. (I'm in the library, where I type using the internet). He's so helpful and important to all the people here. I love how you remove your shoes to come into the library (as well as other public buildings). It's so civilized.

Catch you again when I come back south!