Christmas Shopping

If you are in Iqaluit this weekend I implore you to go along to house 122 to buy some beautiful gifts - for yourself or for others!

Iqaluit Christmas Lights

1st Place

Each year the city holds a Christmas light competition. 

2nd Place

Tinah, Lisa and I drove around on judging night checking out the houses. 

4th Place

The entries were not listing anywhere so we tried to hit every street and I took some photos of our favourites.

6th Place

The results were posted on facebook this week, we learn a lot from facebook up here :-)

Christmas Craft Fair

On Saturday December 3 we went to the Innuksuk High School craft fair. I was so busy shopping that I didn't take any photos of the three rooms packed with tables overflowing with goodies. Items for sale included:

Photos of local wildlife and scenery

Carvings by local artists

Lots of sealskin mittens and kamiks

Christmas tree decorations

Cakes, cookies and bannock (but no hot dogs)

Handmade jewelry

Christmas cards

Paintings, block prints and sketches

I cannot divulge my purchases here as that would spoil the surprise for the recipients!

Iqaluit Swap / Sell

Iqalummiut don't use Craigslist, instead we have a Facebook page where people list items for sale. Often there is a colourful debate in the comments as to the quality and value of the item which provides endless entertainment, to me anyhow. Here are some of the more unusual things that we can buy (click on the images for a bigger picture)

bowhead whale baleen

A fresh walrus head

Two fat caribou

Hmm, typing those captions gave me an idea... maybe we could rewrite the lyrics to "A Partridge in a Pear Tree"

Ulu ~ women's knife

On Tuesday Morning when I was walking the dogs on the beach a lady approached me asking if I would like to buy an ulu. It was very beautifully made but at the time I had no money and no real need for an ulu. Last night, as the air of excitement in town began to rise due to the success of the bowhead hunt I began to wonder if I had made the right decision. And so it was that at lunch time today I drove past their home to enquire if the ulu was still for sale, alas it was sold but he was making another already and invited me to come take a look. 

Josipee and Elina (sorry if I have misspelled your names) introduced themselves and invited me into their home to choose the piece of caribou antler that would form the handle of my ulu. The piece that I chose has a gentle curve that fits perfectly in my hand. I particularly asked Josipee to leave the small spur on the antler as I really like it, it's presence somehow makes it more real to me that it is indeed a piece of antler. We chatted outside for a while and I was shown the various tools used to make the ulu which is comprised of three parts, the blade, handle and shaft. 

I also learned that the hunters had delivered some maqtaaq to the pier this morning for everyone to help themselves. How could I refuse when they offered to share some with me! Josipee opened a wooden box to reveal a huge slab of whale fat with about 1.5cm of thick black skin and proceeded to start carving me a hunk of the skin. Finally Elina and I persuaded him to only cut me a small piece about the size of my little finger, he then cut it part way through half way along to make it easier to bite. I was surprised at how odourless it was and it had a faint fish like taste but a texture unlike anything I have ever encountered. Not slimy but sort of rubbery, although not in the way that squid can be... there is nothing for it you shall just have to try for yourself. They told me that you can keep it for ages and it just ferments, however they didn't think I should try fermented maqtaaq just yet.

After work I fed and walked the dogs then went back down to the beach and was delighted to watch the finishing touches. 

The blade is pinned to the wooden block between Joe's knees, this is to hold it still while he sharpens the cutting edge. He is filing the shaft so that it fits properly into the handle which Elina is holding. 

The handle was filed all over to make it smooth and to bring out the white colour. The blade is attached to the handle with two metal pins, a small guide hole is drilled into the handle then it is hammered into place on the shaft.

Joe hammers the metal pins flat to make sure the blade doesn't wobble as I slice and dice.

A final rub on the sharpening stone and my very own custom made ulu is ready!

Thank you guys - see you on the beach!

Footnote: According to Wikipedia  the ulu "is utilized in applications as diverse as skinning and cleaning animals, cutting a child's hair, cutting food and, if necessary, trimming blocks of snow and ice used to build an igloo." Johnny will be pleased to learn that "The ulu is still used today but not for cutting children's hair."

Digital Scrapbooking - Sunday Roast @ The Doghouse

My first attempt at digital scrapbooking using Photoshop CS5 and the free Happy Go Lucky collection from Shabby Princess.

The mystical winged beluga

Last night at the Legion "Smiley" (our most favourite of all arts and crafts vendors) was trying to sell a huge Gyta Ecseemilic print. Blaine asked him to talk us through the print whereupon Smiley embarked on an animated narrative pointing out the igloo, the fish, the beluga with wings, the seal...

Blaine "Beluga don't have wings"

Smiley "Yes, old story from long time ago"

Blaine "Really, I would love to hear this story"

Smiley "Forty dollar each, or two for sixty"

and with a smile he moved on to the next table.

Surreptitiously photographed by Polarman

Iqaluit has its own superhero. His name is Polarman. He wears a wresting mask. Today I was out on the quad with Sage to take my weekly photograph of the square. I took the photo and then spoke to Blaine briefly. When I turned around I saw Polarman across the street, he was taking a photo of me on his cell phone. I guess we do make an unusual sight.

When I downloaded my photos I noticed that Polarman is in the background of this picture of Blaine and Johnny.

You can learn more about Polarman here http://ronwassink.blogspot.com/2010/10/polarman-is-iqaluits-super-hero.html

Really?

Easter Sunday we headed out on the ice again to watch the last of the Toonik Tyme events; the snowcross. As this is a snowmachine event we decided to travel on the snowmachine, makes sense to us. A row of vehicles and spectators lined the side of the course, we parked at the end of the row and watched the practice runs, enjoying the sunshine on our faces. A couple with their baby arrived and parked about 20foot to our right, they got off their machine and started chatting to some other people behind us. Blaine was sitting on our sled, I stood beside him chatting while I photographed the action.

After 30 minutes or so of practice runs, the starter dropped the flags and the race began. Apparently this was the signal for the aforementioned group to come and stand right infront of us! There are miles and miles of open ice and they have their own machine parked off to the right but no they just walk right past me as I am taking photos and then stand there. Blaine and I were too amazed to say anything. the four of them stood there for the whole time chatting away smack bang in front of us blocking our view and my pictures!!!

Do you know these people? Do you have any idea why they would be so freakin' rude?

As you can see there is PLENTY of space but they took the effort to walk from behind us, around us and regroup again infront of us. I have tried to think of a plausible explanation but am drawing a blank. To top it off when we started the engine to leave, the chick in the Maple Leafs toque turned around to look at the sound of the engine, but only moved aside when her man pulled the stoopid beatch out of the way.

Rant over, happy Easter everyone!

Dog watching

On Sunday morning I took the dogs out for their usual walk on the bay. This morning's walk featured entertainment, the Toonik Tyme sled dog race was scheduled to start at 10am. We had a bit of a run around (which means me driving them following) then drove over to the start line where I stalled, in the middle of the path! Happily Fred from city works was on hand to turn the ATV's fuel onto the reserve tank and I sheepishly moved out of the way. With the puppies safely seated on the quad, and tied to it for good measure, I pulled out the camera to photograph the start of the race. Johnny and Sage are really good dogs and they didn't try to hop off but I was a little dubious so didn't get the pictures that I would have liked as I didn't want to walk too far away from them.

My Toonik Tyme album can be viewed in all its splendour here.

FYI, I went to the Baffin Gas station and filled up then turned off the reserve. Approximately 70km of driving costs $14. To fill up the tank from dead empty (last week's experiment) costs $18. The snowmobile has a fuel guage, the quad doesn't.

Toonik Tyme hill climb

First celebrated in 1965, Toonik Tyme is Iqaluit's spring festival. It is such a big deal that most of the city gets Friday afternoon off. Municipal and territorial governments, schools, banks, mechanics, lawyers, accountants, pretty much every employer shut their doors allowing staff head out for some fun in the mild spring afternoon.

Blaine and I jumped on the sled and quad respectively and headed out onto the bay with the puppies for a run around. After a brief lesson I took the sled for a burn and boy does it run smooth. We messed around in our usual area then loaded up the dogs and took the new ice road over to sealift beach. The road is a temporary clearing of the snow of the bay to mark out the dog sled route for the big race on Sunday. When I say big race we are talking 3 hours, not the Ititarod by any means but it should make for good entertainment.

We got back to the house at 4pm, put the dogs in their bedroom (with the T bones from last night's steak) and headed out to the hill beside the Arctic Winter Games Arena to watch the hill climb. When I first saw the event listing I had assumed it was some sort of running event - duh we are in the arctic! It is of course a snowmobile race. Probably the most impressive thing for me was the abundance of snowmachines, not competing, but driven to the event by spectators. Spectators sitting astride their machines lined the hillside surrounding the bowl where the climb course was set out, Blaine counted 80. Given that the city has a population of less than 8,000 this is a high ratio of sleds, certainly when seen through an English girls eyes!

There are a huge number of events lined up over the weekend and I plan to visit as many as possible, and of course to blog about them for your reading pleasure!

Isaiah

This afternoon I looked out the office window and noticed a skeleton wearing a toque.

Tinah and I went down to investigate and introduce ourselves. He was missing his lower jaw and right hand.

His hat is crocheted with the name Isaiah, so we introduced ourselves to him.

By the end of the day he was wearing a T-shirt.

Wing Night

Wednesday night is wing night in Iqaluit, both at the Legion and the Storehouse Pub at the Frobisher Inn. We have not been to the Storehouse, but we have now participated in Legion wing night three times. This week was particularly significant for three reasons; I am now an associate member so was able to sign Blaine in rather than us both having to get Craig or Gerry to sign us in; We drove there together on the Quad; Blaine was not on duty so was allowed to have a beer.

At the legion wings are 25c each, beer is (a rather less reasonable) $9 per can. Beer in Nunavut comes in cans or bottles; the bottles are Corona; cans include Rickards Red, Molson, Canadian... all the crappy beers. There are no kegs. There are few glasses.

The Legion opens at 5pm and is instantly busy. Make your way past the smoking shed and join the line up inside the double doors to sign in and check your coat at the compulsory $1 coat check. Canada Goose jackets are bulky so the coat check makes sense and they don't try to screw you by charging another buck for your helmet. To the left of the coat check a short corridor leads to the quiet room which I have not yet explored, the open doorway to the right leads into the main room. As you leave the coat check desk you immediately join the queue which snakes back from the bar. At the cash-only bar you order your beverage and wings then take your receipt to the kitchen hatch at the back of the room. Carefully print your name on the paper and hand it in then take a seat and wait for your name to be called over the tannoy. Depending on who is MCing the kitchen mike you may or may not be able to decipher your name when your order is called. The wings arrive piled high on a paper plate (our landfill is a hungry beast that needs regular feeding) which you then take to the adjacent table to load up from a selection of six sauces; Honey Garlic, BBQ, Thai, Sweet & Sour, Hot and Xtra Hot. I like to combine BBQ with Xtra Hot.

Two Rickards Red and twenty wings makes a happy Wednesday :-)

How to Build a Qamutiq

On Saturday we attended a qamutiq building workshop. Traditionaly qamutik were made from frozen fish or caribou leg bones wrapped in caribou skin to form planks which were then lashed together with strips of sealskin, this one was made of wood and rope.

In a modern day qamutiq the runners are made from lengths of 1 x 4 with the curved front points created by cutting a curved section from the the bottom of the wood, then attaching the removed portion to the top. Regional variations have developed, including rounded tips but essentially the height and angle of the qamuitq's prow are dictated by the hunter's personal preference and the geographical conditions it is to be used in. This style is a good multi purpose qamutiq suitable for the lower Baffin region.

The slats are shaped carefully to accommodate the rope that holds that qamutiq together. Sharp edges are created when cutting the slats to the template, these must be pared to a smooth curve so that the rope does not get cut over time. In this style of qamutiq the front and back slats have one straight and one curved edge, the straight edges facing the front and back respectively. All the interior slats are curved on both sides to an extended oval shape.

The front and back slats are attached first. These two slats are fastened independently wheras the remainder are secured by a single length of rope. Again the wood around the drilled hoes is pared away to eliminate chaffing that would eventually cut through the rope. there is a specific technique for running and fastening the rope at each slat, I did not attain a good enough understanding to be able to explain this technique, but I did video it so that we can watch and learn. In this picture Dino is supervising Jan as he practices the technique, an important lesson as he just took delivery of a qamutiq from Dino and plans to take it out hunting soon. you want to be able to make your own repairs when you are out on the ice, there is no BCAA.

To complete the qamutiq, teflon is attached to the base of the runners and metal stips over the prows to protect them from the ice.

not exactly the Farmers' Market...

On Saturday lunchtime we went to the Iqaluit Country Food Market which I had seen advertised on noticeboards around town. (Iqaluit doesn't do classifieds, Kijiji, Ebay, or Craigslist, we have noticeboards in the Post Office and grocery stores.) I took along my Pike Place Market canvas shopping bag in anticipation of buying lots of goodies, but we hadn't really developed any preconceptions. 

surprise #1 - the market really was in the square i.e. outside

surprise #2 - some of the meat was in ziplock bags, most of it was just there, unwrapped and (naturally) frozen

surprise #3 - the meat could be identified by the head sat next to it on the table, of course you could buy a Caribou head if you didn't want steak...

Although a medium sized seal would have cost us only $80, we decided to head to the North Mart for our groceries instead. I bought ingredients to make thai pork curry, Sunday brunch and roast beef dinner.

A fellow blogger has posted way better photos than I took, and provides an intelligent commentary. Clearly he has been here longer than us and was less shell shocked therefore I encourage you to visit his blog to see more of the market.