Arctic Journal 1: Arviat
Hey ya'll! Apologies for Red Alert breaking into my journal. Apologies also for neglecting this journal for so long after getting back. My brother's wedding went smashingly (I may post some pics from that later as well), and it was good to see family again. I've also finally finished unpacking all but a single box of knick-knacks which await a new shelf. So now ... travel journal time!
The Landscape:
Photo of Arviat taken out the window of the plane before we landed
This area of the Arctic is known as the Barrenlands. It is well above the treeline, and other than some very resilient low-lying willow and alder bushes and grass species, you're unlikely to find any plant growth higher than your knees. The landscape itself is very bleak-looking, almost completely flat, endless and in some places more water than land. But the area is well known by the elders, and most of the lakes, rivers, ridges and other landscape features have Inuit names denoting their importance for things like visible landmarks, fresh water, certain kinds of fish or game, and even places to avoid because of spirits, monsters, or the ghosts of people buried there.
Landscape view from the helicopter
The term "Barrenlands" is still misleading ... the place may look bleak, but it is literally choked with low-lying plantlife, especially creeping berry vines and beautiful flowers. And the animal life is there if you know where to look. This is traditionally the stomping ground of the Caribou Inuit, who would (among other things) track the caribou herds on their seasonal mirgration routes. The site my project focusses on is in the location of a major caribou crossing on Maguse Lake, where even in recent years hundreds of caribou congregate in the late summer, the prime hunting time. I saw none when I was there, but the wife of one of the education officials who translated our sessions with the elders gifted us a large tupperware containor of dried caribou meat. Which is DELICIOUS.
Fireweed growing near the tourist centre. This plant also grows in the Boreal Forest and is fast becoming one of my favourite flowers.
Cloudberry sprig growing amonsgt some crowberry plants. (Ikirahak, Maguse Lake)
The Town of Arviat:
Waterfront from the Arviat Inlet
Arviat was an incredible place. As Red said, it's only about 61 degrees north, so it's in the low Arctic ... no glaciers and floating sea ice here, sorry, least not in the summer. Normally the late summer weather is mild and balmy, but this year they were having a heat wave and it stayed around 25 C (77 F) for the first few days, before descending into almost constant rain and fog until the day we left. Fog up here is eerie ... it's like an impenetrable blanket. And after days of listening to the elders tell stories about all sorts of monsters and spirits that roam around these parts, it's downright creepy. I loved it.
First Alliance Church on Main Street
Arviat was one of the later Northern communities, mostly settled in the 40s and 50s and largely due to the presence of churches offering aid from the south, a huge commodity during the decline of the fur trade in this area and the bouts of starvation that followed. Despite this, much of the relocation done during those years was involuntary, and some Inuit still continued to live off the land until well into the 70s. Today, many people in Arviat have hunting cabins either around the town or off on the landscape that are used throughout the year.
I was also told that Arviat has the highest ratio of ATVs (All-TErrain Vehicles, or quads) to people in almost any northern community. They sell these Honda bad boys right in the local grocery+everything store. Most people have one instead of a car or truck, and it's not unusual to see a family of six go by on a single quad. Since pretty much everything in town is a twenty-minute walk way from everything else, this kind of makes sense.
The Northern Store, the main grocery store. I don't know what kind of fast-food was in the quick-stop on the other side of it, but it sure wasn't KFC ;P
It's also by and far the friendliest place I have ever been to. There was a very close community interaction with everyone, even us southerners. Frequently while I was walking to and from the Northern Store, or the bunkhouse where my samples were being stored, I would be offered a ride by someone on a quad. On our first day here, we helped a man pull his boat out of the water. The next day, while we were lugging our camera equipment to the Education Building to meet with the elders, the same man gave us a ride there in the back of his truck. Kids would come and walk beside us, asking our names and where we were from. I got a lot of comments about my hair, making my prof joke that next year dreadlocks would be the new style taking over. (The elders jokingly called me "umingmak", which means muskox. Apparently, a guy I knew with dreads who'd been here before had gotten the same name.)
Most of the houses in Arviat are raised up, because once it started raining it was just wet all the time.
The house we rented from a teacher who was away visiting home at the time. It was in one of two multiplexes called "the castles", and easily one of the nicest houses in town.
The college bunkhouse where two of our crew (and my reasearch samples) stayed. It had its own kitchen and laundry and was pretty cozy (I napped there a few times). It was right by the docks, where all the teenagers would rip around on quads all night long, so it was pretty noisy at nighttime.
The school buildings and bike track.
The Education Building where we worked almost daily, interviewing the elders about traditional land use.
Houses across the street from ours. I was told that one of the houses nearby here is vacant, because at least three different occupants have claimed it is haunted. The most well-known account is that in which someone woke up in the middle of the night to see a woman with traditional tattoos on her face sitting beside them. Ghost stories are abundant out here ... I will go more into that in the Sentry Island journal post.
During one of our afternoon breaks, my buddy Sean invents what he claims is the greatest snack in the history of mankind: dried caribou meat and cheesewiz on a pilot biscuit.
And because I know you've all been waiting for it ... TFA Prowl did some exploring of his own around town. I may let him post his own journal about it, if he feels so inclined.
That's all from me for now, Folks! Next week ... Ikirahak Island and helicopters! Stay tuned ;)
The Landscape:
Photo of Arviat taken out the window of the plane before we landed
This area of the Arctic is known as the Barrenlands. It is well above the treeline, and other than some very resilient low-lying willow and alder bushes and grass species, you're unlikely to find any plant growth higher than your knees. The landscape itself is very bleak-looking, almost completely flat, endless and in some places more water than land. But the area is well known by the elders, and most of the lakes, rivers, ridges and other landscape features have Inuit names denoting their importance for things like visible landmarks, fresh water, certain kinds of fish or game, and even places to avoid because of spirits, monsters, or the ghosts of people buried there.
Landscape view from the helicopter
The term "Barrenlands" is still misleading ... the place may look bleak, but it is literally choked with low-lying plantlife, especially creeping berry vines and beautiful flowers. And the animal life is there if you know where to look. This is traditionally the stomping ground of the Caribou Inuit, who would (among other things) track the caribou herds on their seasonal mirgration routes. The site my project focusses on is in the location of a major caribou crossing on Maguse Lake, where even in recent years hundreds of caribou congregate in the late summer, the prime hunting time. I saw none when I was there, but the wife of one of the education officials who translated our sessions with the elders gifted us a large tupperware containor of dried caribou meat. Which is DELICIOUS.
Fireweed growing near the tourist centre. This plant also grows in the Boreal Forest and is fast becoming one of my favourite flowers.
Cloudberry sprig growing amonsgt some crowberry plants. (Ikirahak, Maguse Lake)
The Town of Arviat:
Waterfront from the Arviat Inlet
Arviat was an incredible place. As Red said, it's only about 61 degrees north, so it's in the low Arctic ... no glaciers and floating sea ice here, sorry, least not in the summer. Normally the late summer weather is mild and balmy, but this year they were having a heat wave and it stayed around 25 C (77 F) for the first few days, before descending into almost constant rain and fog until the day we left. Fog up here is eerie ... it's like an impenetrable blanket. And after days of listening to the elders tell stories about all sorts of monsters and spirits that roam around these parts, it's downright creepy. I loved it.
First Alliance Church on Main Street
Arviat was one of the later Northern communities, mostly settled in the 40s and 50s and largely due to the presence of churches offering aid from the south, a huge commodity during the decline of the fur trade in this area and the bouts of starvation that followed. Despite this, much of the relocation done during those years was involuntary, and some Inuit still continued to live off the land until well into the 70s. Today, many people in Arviat have hunting cabins either around the town or off on the landscape that are used throughout the year.
I was also told that Arviat has the highest ratio of ATVs (All-TErrain Vehicles, or quads) to people in almost any northern community. They sell these Honda bad boys right in the local grocery+everything store. Most people have one instead of a car or truck, and it's not unusual to see a family of six go by on a single quad. Since pretty much everything in town is a twenty-minute walk way from everything else, this kind of makes sense.
The Northern Store, the main grocery store. I don't know what kind of fast-food was in the quick-stop on the other side of it, but it sure wasn't KFC ;P
It's also by and far the friendliest place I have ever been to. There was a very close community interaction with everyone, even us southerners. Frequently while I was walking to and from the Northern Store, or the bunkhouse where my samples were being stored, I would be offered a ride by someone on a quad. On our first day here, we helped a man pull his boat out of the water. The next day, while we were lugging our camera equipment to the Education Building to meet with the elders, the same man gave us a ride there in the back of his truck. Kids would come and walk beside us, asking our names and where we were from. I got a lot of comments about my hair, making my prof joke that next year dreadlocks would be the new style taking over. (The elders jokingly called me "umingmak", which means muskox. Apparently, a guy I knew with dreads who'd been here before had gotten the same name.)
Most of the houses in Arviat are raised up, because once it started raining it was just wet all the time.
The house we rented from a teacher who was away visiting home at the time. It was in one of two multiplexes called "the castles", and easily one of the nicest houses in town.
The college bunkhouse where two of our crew (and my reasearch samples) stayed. It had its own kitchen and laundry and was pretty cozy (I napped there a few times). It was right by the docks, where all the teenagers would rip around on quads all night long, so it was pretty noisy at nighttime.
The school buildings and bike track.
The Education Building where we worked almost daily, interviewing the elders about traditional land use.
Houses across the street from ours. I was told that one of the houses nearby here is vacant, because at least three different occupants have claimed it is haunted. The most well-known account is that in which someone woke up in the middle of the night to see a woman with traditional tattoos on her face sitting beside them. Ghost stories are abundant out here ... I will go more into that in the Sentry Island journal post.
During one of our afternoon breaks, my buddy Sean invents what he claims is the greatest snack in the history of mankind: dried caribou meat and cheesewiz on a pilot biscuit.
And because I know you've all been waiting for it ... TFA Prowl did some exploring of his own around town. I may let him post his own journal about it, if he feels so inclined.
That's all from me for now, Folks! Next week ... Ikirahak Island and helicopters! Stay tuned ;)