Winter Fun in the Cariboo

This morning I packed a cooler with some snacks and a couple of flasks of Sailor Jerry spiked hot chocolate while Blaine organised our fishing bucket. We drove our skidoos up to Jackson Hole and tried some ice fishing. Maybe this is a little like our clam digging failure and perhaps dogs aren't conducive to catching lots of fish. We fished for three hours trying several different spots but didn't get so much as a bite.

We gave up on fishing so drove the puppies home and left them at the house while we went for a ride. It is much easier to drive without 2 dogs as passengers. I followed Blaine along the quad trails through the forest and then over on the 1800 road towards Big Lake. Unfortunately we were short on gas and day light so came home about 4pm. We drove the Suzuki down to Deep Creek gas station and filled up all our jerry cans so we are ready to play again tomorrow.

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Christmas Tree Hunting

Today we went out hunting for our Christmas tree. Blaine did a recon of the trail by skidoo and returned covered in snow. Because the trails are heavily used by ATVs in the summer they are pretty rutted which is not ideal for the sleds. His expedition had sufficiently packed down the foot or so of fresh powder that had fallen during the past 24 hours, that we were able to get to the tree on our side by side.

I had short listed two trees that were close to each other. Blaine shook the snow off to get a better look before we settled on one. The battery on my iPhone didn't much like the cold (a mere -4) so I only got this picture. We loaded the tree in the back of the Rhino and dropped it off in the car port to shake off the excess snow before bringing it inside.

I started decorating this evening and will finish tomorrow then photograph the festive beauty of it all.

Christmas Dinner Comparison

I have been watching lots of Christmas cooking shows on Food Network which brought me to thinking about Christmas dinner traditions in England and Canada. Obviously this could be entirely inaccurate as it is based solely on my observations and experiences. I suspect that Canadian fare varies from West to East and probably a lot from English and French. My Christmas meals have mainly been in BC.

Turkey is the centrepiece for both countries, with baked ham as a backup just in case there isn't enough food.

Stuffing in England tends to be made mostly of pork sausagemeat, Canadian stuffing is focused on bread and cranberries.

Vegetables: Canada is mashed potato & steamed carrots, England roasts the potatoes and the carrots.

Mince pies and clotted cream are the English treat, while Canada tucks into butter tarts. I need Carol's recipe, her butter tarts are freakin awesome.

What are you cooking for Christmas this year?

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The Mega

The St Jean Garrison in Quebec is known as "the Mega". Amongst other things it houses the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School where Justin has been resident since April.

We arrived at the garrison at 2030 on Wednesday so scooped Justin up and he took us for a quick tour of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu before heading to the local Legion for a celebratory beer. At CFLRS Cinderella turns into a pumpkin at 2200. We returned him and then checked into our hotel where we dined on Burger King since that was the only thing open.

Thursday morning I tried to sleep in but my attempts were thwarted by housekeeping loudly cleaning the adjacent rooms. Blaine and I breakfasted at Mikes, because we wanted to see if it was anything like Mr Mikes. It is not, this Mikes is an Italian restaurant. I have never thought the name Mike to be particularly evocative of Italy but they do things different in La Belle Province. My breakfast was a surprisingly delicious apple and cheese pizza, Blaine had crepes with Nutella and bananas.

The ceremony starts at 1400 but since seating is first come first serve we got there around 1230 and got spots in the second row of the Zengel platoon grandstand. Perusing the program we were surprised and delighted to read that Pte JD Wiggins was to receive the commandant's trophy as top student in his platoon.

Commandant Michelaine Lahaie presents Pte JD Wiggins (Platoon Zengel) and OS WM Howling (Platoon Topham) with the commandant's trophy for top student

They don't get to keep the trophy, just to touch it once!

 

After the ceremony we all gathered in the Omega Mess for a reception with the recruits and their instructors. Justin's instructors all spoke very highly of him and he was constantly being congratulated by his many friends. After the reception all the parents went out for supper with the guest of honour and his friends Chris and Kristyn.

Left to right: Blaine, Emma, Justin, Donna, Phillip

Before dawn on Friday morning the recruits were up and on a bus bound for the airport. Justin shipped out to CFB Wainwright for the next phase of his training: Basic Infantry Qualification. To the best of my understanding this involves learning to crawl through mud and to love your gun.

We got home late and collected the dogs from puppy camp. At home we lit the fire, poured a drink and scrolled through the 300+ photos I snapped!

What is IQ?

Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) is traditional Inuit Knowledge based on the Guiding Principles:

Pijitsirarniq: Concept of serving

The concept of serving is central to the Inuit style of leadership as is the measure of the maturity and wisdom of an Inuk. Key here is the understanding that each person has a contribution to make and is a valued contributor to his/her community. Students will be expected to demonstrate this kind of leadership and commitment to serving the common good.

Aajiiqatigiingniq: Consensus–Decision Making

The concept of consensus decision-making relies on strong communication skills and a strong belief in shared goals. All students are expected to become contributing members of their community and to participate actively in building the strength of Inuit in Nunavut. Being able to think and act collaboratively, to assist with the development of shared understandings, to resolve conflict in consensus-building ways, and to consult respecting various perspectives and worldviews, are expectations that cross all curriculum areas.

Pilimmaksarniq: Concept of Skills and Knowledge Acquisition

The concept of skills and knowledge acquisition and capacity building is central to the success of Inuit in a harsh environment. Building personal capacity in Inuit ways of knowing and doing are key expectations for students. Demonstrating empowerment to lead a successful and productive life, that is respectful of all, is a powerful end goal of our educational system.

Qanuqtuurungnarniq: Concept of Being Resourceful to Solve Problems

The concept of being resourceful to solve problems, through innovative and creative use of resources and demonstrating adaptability and flexibility in response to a rapidly changing world, are strengths all our students should develop. Resourcefulness should be demonstrated in all learning and also thinking that seeks to improve the context in which Inuit live.

Piliriqatigiingniq: Concept of Collaborative Relationship or Working Together for a Common Purpose

The concept of developing collaborative relationships and working together for a common purpose. The essential Inuit belief that stresses the importance of the group over the individual should pervade all our teaching. Expectations for students will reflect working for the common good, collaboration, shared leadership and volunteerism. Pili riqatigiingniq also sets expectations for supportive behaviour development, strong relationship-building and consensus-building.

Avatimik Kamattiarniq: Concept of Environmental Stewardship

The concept of environmental stewardship stresses the key relationship Inuit have with their environment and with the world in which they live. Students will be expected to articulate respect for this mutually interdependent relationship and to demonstrate responsible behaviors that seek to improve and protect the relationship in ways that meet global challenges to environmental wellness.

(this post was based on information on the Government of Nunavut Human Resources web site)

Cultural fail

We went to the visitor centre but there was no igloo building demonstration. Word on the street was that the snow blocks had been cut out at the park and then transported back to town but that they had broken in transit. Apparently it will take place next weekend instead.

Inside the library lots of little kids were beating drums. While we chose our weekly DVDs that wrapped up and they all went home. Subsequently I learned that the throat singers turned up later on, but everyone had gone home.

Today the 2012 Toonik Tyme schedule was released, but we were told to disregard it as there were significant inaccuracies.

It is Johnny Cash's 2nd birthday today so the dogs are happily devouring some smoked beef bones that I brought back from a pet store in Ottawa. Even though he had the larger bone Johnny was crying for Sage's so I facilitated an exchange and all is well in the Wiggins household.

 

Cultural activities this weekend

The forecast is for warm weather so I plan to get out as much as possible this weekend. There are a couple of neat things happening at the library / visitor centre too: Throat singing, drum dancing and igloo building. Hopefully all this will result in an intersting blog post on Sunday!

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 :-)

S'Mores Pizza

I can hear all my non North American friends saying what is a S'More? It is such a staple of North American childhood and camping that the three people in whom I confided my S'Mores virginity screamed "What do you mean you've never had a S'More?" in disbelief. The name S'More is thought to be a contraction of the words some and more because once you have had one you will want some more. It consists of a marshmallow roasted over the campfire and then sandwiched along with a thin piece of chocolate between two Graham Crackers. What is a Graham Cracker, well not like anything else really so use digestives instead.

Last night I wanted to celebrate my new KitchenAid mixer by making up a batch of pizza dough, a task that my previous mixer doesn't relish performing. But I also wanted something sweet, then I remembered reading a recipe for S'Mores Pizza in my Guy Fieri cookbook . The pizza dough recipe that I like is from my Jamie Oliver's American Road Trip book. I use half bread flour and half plain flour only because bread flour is hard to come by here. The motor on my 575 watt mixer only started to get hot when the dough was ready which was fine by me.

I let the dough prove for about 40 minutes while I prepared my S'More ingredients:

• plain chocolate
• marshmallows
• toasted almonds
• Graham Cracker crumbs (yes you buy biscuits ready crushed in North America) mixed with melted butter and a little chipotle pepper

After the dough had almost doubled in size I used my ulu to cut it into quarters. Jamie says his dough recipe is for two pizzas but I make four out of it and still find the crusts plenty thick enough. I attempted tossing the dough but it never works for me so I sort of pull and stretch it instead. While my Canadian friend Nancy provided cultural guidance via FaceTime I cooked the plain base. Closely supervised I scattered the toppings in order - chocolate, marshmallows, nuts then biscuit/chilli mix over the hot base then put it back in the oven for less than 5 minutes until it looked about right.

 

Blaine got home shortly after the finished product came out of the oven and was pleasantly surprised by my baking adventures. He tells me that it was even better than the original S'More. I found it almost orgasmically good and swear I was on a sugar high all day today from the residual sugar levels.

Berries

On labour day (first Monday in September) we took the dogs for a walk in Sylvia Grinnell park. Autumn has turned the tundra into a beautiful blanket of colour that hides a tasty secret - berries. Fellow blogger Jocelyn has gone to the trouble of naming the three types of berry that grow here. I only collected a small handful which I ate as we walked but I may take a day off work for a more thorough attempt, the City allows employees to take two cultural days (Berry Picking and Clam Digging) during the summer.

 

of Bowhead, Baleen and Blubber

Inuit in the Canadian Eastern Arctic have been hunting bowhead for subsistence since the Thule Culture (1,000 to 1,600 AD). The Thule people had a strong maritime culture that included mastery of large boats (umiak) and the use of harpoons with sealskin floats that could be used to hunt Narwahl, Beluga and even bowhead. Qallunaat engaged in commercial whaling in the Eastern Arctic from 1848 to 1911, this had a massive impact on the whale population which had previously been unaffected by centuries of subsistence hunting.  The bowhead is one of the largest baleen whales, second in weight only to the blue whale. Its blubber can be as thick as two feet and it boasts the largest mouth of any animal with up to 660 baleen plates which can be as long as 4 metres.  A single bowhead whale could yield up to 100 barrels of oil and 1500 pounds of baleen (also known as whalebone, strips of which were used as stays in corsets).

The Federal ban on bowhead hunting was enacted in 1979, however in the early 1920's along with the arrival of the Hudson's Bay Company in the area, there was a perception that the government had banned Inuit from hunting bowhead. In 1991 the Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO) collaborated with Inuit organizations to develop an international bowhead conservation strategy. The first sanctioned post land claim hunt took place in 1996, and was authorized with a DFO license. Article 5.5.2 of the 1993 Nunavut Land Claims agreement mandated that an Inuit bowhead knowledge study be undertaken, the final report was published in March 2000 and includes suggestions for an appropriate rate of harvesting which was initially set at one whale every two years. The DFO's 2009. selective hunting report makes the recommendation that hunts target juvenile male bowheads in order to minimize the impact on the population's recovery. Between 1996 and 2008 a total of eight bowhead whales were harvested in Nunavut. In May 2009 the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board increased the quota to three whales per year, one in each of the Territory's three regions. In August 2009 a bowhead was harvested in the Kivalik region after a 23 day hunt. The communities of Repulse Bay and Pond Inlet were also successful in harvesting whales in 2010.

On Monday August 15, 2011 we watched a group of hunters making preparations to set out on Iqaluit's first bowhead whale hunt in living memory. By 9pm the next day word was spreading that the hunters had caught a whale. The excitement in the City grew as details trickled in and preparations began for a community feast to celebrate the historic catch. High tide on Wednesday morning saw a fleet of community members head out to help butcher the behemouth and 24 hours later the first slabs of maqtaaq appeared on the breakwater, followed by meat and then the return of the hunters on the evening high tide. (The tidal range here is as much as 11m so boats cannot access the breakwaters at all times).

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."

Clam Digging 101 (a guide for Qallunaat)

Step 1 - Consult the tide tables and identify an appropriate low tide. The lower the low tide the better. On Monday August 1 the 14:55 low tide was 1m, an extremely low tide thanks to the new moon.

Step 2 - Apply liberal quantities of Off to deter the voracious mosquitoes and go to the beach, ideally one without rocks. The example shown in the picture below is of a very poor clam digging location.

Step 3 - Look for clams which you can spot by the protruding "usuk" (penis in Inuktitut tee hee). They are sensitive and withdraw with a squirt of water the moment they sense movement, presumably wishing to avoid being dug up and eaten. Bearing this in mind we would not recommend that other readers take their dogs with them when clam digging as their busy investigation of the beach may cause some (or nearly all) of the clams to go into hiding, leaving nothing but holes in the sand to taunt us.

Step 4 - Dig around the clam which will withdraw into the muddy rocky sand the second you disturb it. This is where the non-rocky beach comes in handy as digging around rocks is slow work. We would recommend a large shovel to save bending over and to speed up the excavation.

Step 5 - Plunge your hand into the icy water and pluck the mollusc from it's burrow. We were told to wear rubber gloves but didn't take any on this exploratory mission, next time we will definitely wear some glamorous washing up gloves for their insulating and gripping properties.

Step 6 - Place the clam in a bucket of water and allow a few hours for the sand to clear out.

Step 7 - Cook and eat. One recommendation was to just boil and eat, another to serve with garlic butter.

The clams here are sort of like mini Geoducks. Neither Blaine nor I like Geoduck so we dug only to see if we could capture the beasts. I am going to search for some recipes that sound appealing, then we will head out to a less rocky spot and dig in earnest.

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.

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.

Iqaluit's second country market

The market was advertised to start at noon on Saturday, we got there at 11:30 and it was almost over. We were a little disapointed to see prices hiked considerably from last month so didn't buy any fish. From what we hear caribou is pretty scarce this season, I don't know if the heads were all that was left by the time they arrived but I was rather amused by these ladies strolling around the square casually brandishing their grocery shopping.

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!