Yesterday the team met Meeka Mike, an Inuit woman dog-musher and guide, who was born in Pangnirtung and has been mushing dogs for twelve years. Meeka is helping the team figure out the best and safest way to leave Iqaluit and reach the beginning of the trail to Pangnirtung, the next community on our route. Because the weather has been so warm, neither of the usual routes out of town is in good condition.

Meeka says if there were more snow, she would mush down the street to the edge of town and join the trail there. Without any snow on the roads, however, mushing down the streets would ruin the plastic on the bottom of the sled runners.

The other common route out of town is down Frobisher Bay to Tar Inlet and then up a frozen river to meet up with the trail to Pangnirtung. Without much snow on the sea ice, however, the conditions on the jumbled sea ice are dangerously fast. Also, the route into Tar Inlet and up the river has large, sharp rocks that are not currently covered by any snow.

Meeka, John Stetson, Simon Qamanirq, Theo Ikummaq, and Lukie Airut spent much of the day today scouting out the different options for getting out of town. They discussed loading all the sleds onto a truck and driving them to the edge of town, then attaching the dog teams to a snowmobile and bringing them along behind the sleds. This option, however, would take too much time and resources.

Finally the team decided to start on the sea ice and mush only a couple of miles on the bay before turning inland and climbing a very steep, snow and rock-covered hill, crossing a small lake and then descending a steep gully down to join the trail to Pangnirtung.

This option will be physically and technically demanding for the entire team. The steep up-hill climb will require everyone, including the base camp support staff, pulling and pushing each of the four sleds along with the dogs. Navigating the gully will require skillful maneuvering of the sleds among the rocks. The gully does not have much snow and will likely be rough on the sled runners. John Stetson said about tomorrow’s route: “The adventure begins right out of the gate.”

 

 

 

We are beginning to get a feel for how much the Arctic people’s mobility depends on good snow and ice conditions. The only ways for the people of Baffin Island to travel between villages this time of year are either to fly, which is prohibitively expensive, or to go overland by dog-team or snowmobile. With the unusually warm weather making travel conditions poor, the people are limited in their ability to visit other communities and to go out hunting and fishing. And the limitations imposed on these activities in turn make a huge impact on the Inuit people’s quality of life.

Local dogteamer Meeka Mike invited Elizabeth and Marie, the wife of expedition member Luki Airut, to join her at her house to sew caribou fur pants. Meeka will wear the caribou fur pants on her upcoming trip to Kimmirut, the village to the south of Iqaluit. Meeka explained to Elizabeth that caribou fur is hollow so it traps air and acts as a good insulator. In addition to clothing, Inuit people use caribou skins for sleeping mats while out on the land. Meeka explained that this “Inuit technology” was a forerunner to Thermarest inflatable camping mattresses, which also use trapped air for insulation from the cold ground. The caribou skin Meeka is sewing is from the first caribou hunted by her twelve-year-old niece.

Meeka learned from her mother to sew skin mitts and socks. Her mother passed away before Meeka had a chance to learn how to sew fur parkas. This skill is difficult to learn, but luckily Meeka was able to learn from her aunt.

Marie is an expert maker of fur clothing. Marie lives with Luki and their children in a caribou hunting outpost camp. They use the caribou hides to outfit their large family with warm clothing. They tan all the caribou hides in the traditional way using only scrapers and water. Skins tanned in this way need to be kept cool or they will begin to fall apart.

As the women sewed, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation ran a story on the radio about ice conditions around Baffin being the worst in history. The story reported that the ice in Baffin Bay formed two weeks later and is more thin and soft than normal. Scientists are expecting that unless the weather turns abnormally cold, the ice will go out earlier than normal. The ice is especially poor in Cumberland Sound, the large body of sea water the expedition team must cross to get to the next village, Pangnirtung. The radio story reported that seal pups have been falling through the ice and that conditions are not safe for hunters to travel over the ice.

Meeka’s sister Becky told Elizabeth that the normal winter prevailing winds are from the north. In the past ten years, however, more wind has been blowing out of the south. This wind blows the pack ice north and further reduces the amount of sea ice around the southern part of Baffin Island.

In 2000 these unexpected southerly winds blew an ice drift out to sea stranding over fifty Inuit hunters from the community of Arctic Bay (on northern Baffin Island). The hunters had to be rescued by helicopter and lost most of their gear. Becky said that traditionally clouds came before the wind, but now the wind comes before the clouds, so the people do not have a warning about upcoming wind.

For many Pangnirtung community members, more than ninety percent of their diet comes from “country food,” food that comes directly from the surrounding environment. They eat seal, char, turbot, beluga whale, walrus, bear, and caribou. In the summer they collect berries as well.

Country food helps Inuit maintain their relationship to the land, their cultural traditions and their health. Inuit people hunt in much the same way their culture has for thousands of years. Elders teach younger generations the knowledge of animal behavior and how to travel safely on the land.

Up until a few generations ago, the Inuit people were completely dependent upon the land. If they did not have success hunting, there would be starvation and suffering.

Now local grocery stores sell imported food. It is possible to buy a mango in the Pangnirtung Northern Store.

Store-bought food, however, is very expensive. A gallon of milk is more than fourteen dollars. Bananas cost almost three dollars a pound. For families with limited incomes, store-bought food can be very expensive.

Furthermore “fresh” foods are shipped in on cargo planes that are dependent on the weather to fly. A stretch of bad weather can mean low stock and less-than-fresh produce.

Also many pre-packaged and processed foods are not as healthful as country foods. Inuit communities have seen an increase in health problems as some community members replace portions of their diet with store-bought foods.

For these reasons country foods remain an important part of Inuit life. The changing Arctic climate impacts the success of hunting and fishing. In some cases it also impacts the quality of the meat.

Because they are so closely connected with the land, Inuit notice environmental changes.

In February of 2001, skilled and respected Inuit hunter Simon Nattaq plunged through the sea ice into the frigid ocean water. He was alone and ten miles from the nearest outpost camp. He pulled himself from the water, his traditional clothing soaked, and buried himself in a snow drift to protect himself from the cold and wind. For two days he waited; alone, wet and without food. When he was finally rescued, his lower legs were frozen. Doctors in Ottawa amputated both legs at the knee.

Today Simon continues to hunt and to assist in rescues of other hunters stranded on the land. He believes that his accident can help educate others about climate change. He says when he was a young man in the 1950s hunters had to be cautious of the ice only during fall freeze up and spring break up. Normally by winter the ice was safe. Now, however, the warm ocean currents erode the ice from underneath.

Simon spoke through interpreter Becky Mike and with Global Warming 101 expedition member Elizabeth Andre.

Inuktitut with English translation

English translation only

• Long day of travel
• Expedition on the sea ice
• Steep cliffs and frozen waterfalls
• Spring-like temperatures
• At the Outpost Camp
• Day off tomorrow