Monthly Archives: March 2007

After-school activity: Give kids coloured water and paintbrushes, and let them be creative outdoors.

Ravens are smart, I tell you. Always thinking. Very interesting birds.

This supplement ad was paid for by the NWT government, to be distributed across Canada in several magazines. It proclaims the north to be

1. A nice place to live
2. The next big thing
3. A great place to invest.

Since I agree with all three statements, I now present this list.

Ideas for businesses that *might* work in Inuvik.

1. Laundromat
2. One-screen movie theatre
3. 24/hour cigarette store (I am not kidding)
4. Pancake house (because we have restaurants, but something like Denny’s would clean up)
5. Fresh fish counter (because people here eat a lot of fish, but you can’t buy it fresh unless you know someone. So this would sell local varieties, only legally.)
6. Marks’ Work Wearhouse style store, which would sell work shirts and jeans and wool socks, nothing fancy. (ie: all the clothing — all of it — at Northmart seems to have “Extreme BMX” written on it, or “American Chopper” or some nonsense.)
7. Pawn shop! (Because a lot of people are transient and don’t want to ship everything when they leave. )

Here’s Steph Weimar from Inuvialuit Communications Society getting some video at the Aklavik dog race March 11.

Personally, I would be too afraid of the dogs trampling me/eating me alive to go this close, and rely on the magic of the zoom lens.

If you’re going to be driving a dogsled at -35 below for 13km, you have to dress up!

Inuvik has a francophone association, which hosts monthly lunches and occasional stuff like movies and Cabane a Sucres. (Maple syrup tasting, in the woods)

Check out the ceinture flechee on the Inukshuk, and also the “Franco-Tenois” flag whcih represents francophones in the NWT.

As Dez drives a rental truck, the on-board thermometer says -35 celcius.

Ever seen a three-year old girl drive a dog sled? Well now you have.

I know this is controversial, but let me say this: I have seen two dog races, and both times dogs have been injured. What does this mean? Maybe it’s a statistical fluke, but maybe it means dog racing is a rough sport where good-natured animals occasionally get their teeth knocked out.

The photos don’t lie!

This is a scene from Aklavik. Notice the boat!

This is the Aurora College housing in Inuvik, commonly called the Blueberry Patch.

It is student housing but many families live there. (And sorry about the picture quality, I took it through a car window.)

As a Southerner, I was under the impression that ‘Eskimo’ was impolite, borderline racist and not used.

Yet, in Inuvik, we have an Eskimo hotel, and Beaver Tails are called Eskimo donuts. I guess both have been around so long it’s become accepted, or quaint.

Another dog picture; this one was walking around Aklavik. Look at his crazy eyes!

Race dogs wait to be released from their truck-cages in Aklavik, March 11.

Dear North Mart: Can I just once buy a banana that doesn’t look like it was used in gladitorial combat??

Maybe I’m getting too picky, considering these probably come from South America.

A game of Monopoly in progress.

Lesson of the Youth Centre: If it can be climbed, it will be climbed.

This bucket catches leaks from a pipe. It’s a charitable organization, after all.

A reminder to kids about language and sensitivity. Another sign warns against being drunk or high.

The aquarium has two bug-eyed fish; survivors of a garage sale, I believe.

“Can you take our picture?” is a common request.

This kid is reading a website called Gunmaster Onslaught. Who thought computers were educational, anyways?

If that isn’t a sign of spring/summer, I don’t know what is. (Pencils are mine, by the way, the legion’s flyer was originally more subdued.)

Here’s one unfortunate aspect of life in Inuvik. Despite a full-size hospital with doctors and an operating room, there are no facilities to donate blood.

When some is needed, it’s apparently shipped from down south, or presumably Yellowknife.

Unfortunately, explained a nurse, they would have to ship the blood out for screening and it’s just not worth it.

Whenever I stop by the Youth Centre, children will crowd around me and shout for:

a) A picture of them in the paper
b) The chance to take a picture using my camera

Here’s one that a 8 year-old took of me, as I was explaining how the flash works.

There are two frames in the Drum office.
One is an animal painting and the other is an Ikea image.

This is Inuvik’s main street, and probably it’s most developed.

The billboard on the upper left is a re-telling of the Mad Trapper story, complete with a map of the RCMP chase.

I found my longboard in a closet last week, and I think I’ll repaint the underside as a hobby.
It’s got me thinking about skateboarding in Inuvik.

Pros:
-24-hour sunlight
-There is a skatepark
-Some nice hills/roads
-Low traffic + pretty much no chance of getting a “loitering” ticket
-Small town, means everything is within skateboarding distance

Cons:
-Gravel everywhere in summer
-See above picture: (winter 8 months of year)
-No large parking lots/smooth places
-Some dirt roads and plenty of fine grit, which clogs bearings.

Still, I look forward to trying it again…

These colourful boats are near the ice road. They really pop out in the landscape.

For the past few weeks, the sun has been out before 9am. This means it illuminates my walk to work, which is a nice change!

When it gets really cold, there is “ice fog,” pictured here.

It’s 12:54am, and I have just returned from my last interview of the day, at the Inuvik cab dispatch office.

It might seem quiet, but the phone are ringing off the hook almost all night.

There’s a lot of white animals on the NWT phone book.

It’s a pretty skillful painting, too.

Most of my work is done by telephone, since I cover seven communities in the Beaufort Delta.

Tuktoyaktuk, Aklavik, Tsiigehtchic and Fort McPherson are now accessible by car, but this will change once the ice roads thaw. (Then, it’s back to McPherson and Tsiigehtchic only)

I might write about Sachs Harbour, Paulatuk and Ulukhaktok, but I’ve never actually been there.

It’s an interesting setup for journalism, which combines stable office work (which I like) and a weekly road trip (which I also like).

Of course, I would love to go spend a month in those places and get to know them.

Here’s Lt-Col Drew Artus, Chief of Staff of Canada’s Joint Task Force North, enjoying a game of Galaga at the local video-game arcade.

Wait no! That’s the radar screen on a Hercules search and rescue aircraft!

Almost none of the films have reached Inuvik yet!

Here’s another scenic view from Tsiigehtchic, just so people don’t think I’ve gone crazy after the last post.