10th Annual Nunavut Quest

Monday afternoon was the beginning of the dog sled races. They left Igloolik around noon on their way to the finish line in Arctic Bay. The trip will last about 10 days with each team travelling about 50 kilometres between camps. There are over $60,000 dollars in prizes with the winner taking $15,000.


All of the community showed up on the ice to see the start of the dog sled race.


A musher standing beside his dogs with a whip to keep them relaxed before the race begins.


Two young boys from town holding up the starting gate sign.


An elder watching the crowd before the race while enjoying his trusty corncob pipe.


A team relaxing before the race. The female (standing up) gave birth to a litter last week and is already racing.


Joey, a hockey player on my team, is anxiously awaiting for his race to start. Joey is also the musher who brought my parents on a dog sled ride.


A team taking off from the starting gate. Sometimes, one dog would fall and get dragged for a few feet before regaining his balance.

Arctcirq performance

Last night, Laura and I went to see Arctcirq. It is a circus troup from town that has members from the highschool. This circus travels all around the world performing and demonstrating Inuit traditions to other cultures. The storyline is based on traditional Inuit situations. This year, the group travelled to visit the Tuareg in the Sahara desert. Next month, they are heading to Europe to perform.


This scenario of the performance involved four hunters being approached by a polar bear inside their tent. The polar bear suit was amazing.


Troup leader Guillaume hosting up one of the Inuit performers.


Another feat of strength by both individuals.


One of the performers using the silks. He twirled and fell all the way down these silks, always stopping right before the floor.


His final descent down the silks before retiring for the night.


Another display of balance and power.

Hamlet Day: April 1st

It is a holiday today in Igloolik and it is also the day that Nunavut became it's own territory. We have the day off of school today and there were some activities organized by the community.


The was a seal carcass brought to the ice and people could eat as much as they wanted.


One of the locals cutting up the meat.


People eating the raw seal. Pay special attention to the lady in the white coat. That's not ketchup!


There was also a 2-snowmobile parade. Apparently, somebody forgot to advertise so only 2 snowmachines showed up. This is Mary, a teacher at our school, with her sled all decorated.

Trip to Avaajaa

On the weekend, we took advantage of the "warm" weather and went for a snowmobile ride to Avaajaa. It is an island about a 1 hour drive away from Igloolik.


The group is getting ready to go. Laura and I, Marty and Ellen, Dan and Kim, Kayuq and Toby (the two dogs), Larissa and Paul all went on the trip.


About half of the way there, we stopped for a break to let the dogs stretch their legs.


That is when we noticed that Dan's snowmachine was on fire! Marty and Dan quickly put out the fire before it spread.


Here I am enlarging the hole in the side of his sled so that the burned plastic would no longer touch his muffler.


Laura and Marty posing for a pic.


The group photo. This was the best effort we could make to get the dogs to settle down.


Laura and myself in front of a huge piece of ice that had broken upwards.


Our principal Paul posing for a pic while we were climbing up the mountain. You can just see our snowmachines in the background.


The long trek up the mountain, K2 style!


Nice to see some mountains for once!


A little pool of melted/slushy salt water.


Laura posing with Kayuq and Toby. The dogs are much bigger now that they are older. They are now trained to pull Dan and Kim around town on skis.

Parents in Igloolik

My parents had a chance to visit during the Ontario March Break. Here is a small collection of the things they saw while they were here.


A picture of the family in front of the famous "junkyard" shed.


A Walrus head buried in the snow behind our neighbour's house. The tusks are small because it was a female.


Mom bundled up for the cold while she watches Dad and I build an igloo.


My Dad and I drove out to the Floe Edge. It is where the ice usually meets the water. It is also the favourite place for seals, walrus and polar bears. The wind shifted overnight and brought in all of the ice.


Polar bear tracks that we saw at the Floe Edge. A group that went out the week after saw a Mom and her cub.


Mom and Dad posing in front of a Bowhead whale skull that was harvested a few years ago.


Having a big beard=having really big icicles on your moustache!


Dad building an igloo. I took my class and my parents to build igloos with some guides that we hired from town.


Dad and I were in my shop class building traditional Inuit hunting knives with an elder from town, Abraham.


Fishing with $10 bills again. We retrieved these ones from the blue tarp section of the guys yard.


The luxury Igloolik taxi ride. The snowmachine and sled are much more reliable than our local taxi drivers. Dad still insists that the sled needs new "shocks".


Outside of a local hunter's house. He has about 5 seals that he caught. The eyeballs (all missing) are a delicacy and are usually eaten right away.


Here is Mom holding a Narwhale tusk. This ivory tusk is known as the canine tooth of the whale.


Dad at the Floe Edge. Not much scenery unless you like frozen water.


A bunch of us gathered at Maren's house with an elder, Susan, and our vice-principal, Jeela. They made tea on a qulliq (traditional Inuit stove) and told us stories of how life used to be.


My parents had a chance to observe the beautiful Northern Lights while they were here. This is one of the many shots that I took.


Mom is happy after playing her traditional Bone game. You have a bag of bones and you place a string inside and try to retrieve as many bones as possible. I think she had 2 in this picture (Laura had the record with about 15, I think).

Superbowl in Igloolik

I had a bunch of the boys over for Superbowl. We moved some furniture and set up the projector to watch the best game in recent years.


Here is Laura helping me with some of the prep work for the halftime meal. I did all of the work but she insisted and getting her picture taken beside the food.


Here are Laura and Steeler beside the big screen. The picture and clarity of the screen were amazing. Unfortunately, this picture doesn't do it justice.


Laura beside the big screen. I put in a vote to keep the projector set up for some video games but Laura over ruled. I guess I should be happy with my regular 27" TV.


Here are some people enjoying the halftime feast.


Fred (vp at elementary school), Jay (polar bear researcher) and Dan (high school teacher) grabbing some grub at half time. We made Superbowl Enchiladas and Steak Sandwiches. Marty brought over some meatball subs and potato wedges.


Dave has been a teacher at the high school since 1989. Here he is talking with Maren (grade 8 teacher at high school). It was great to have everyone over. I would just like to mention that halftime was the only time the women were allowed in the house. They were next door doing some scrapbooking until halftime when they "invaded" our territory!