Monthly Archives: June 2007

The Canadian national anthem in Inuvialuktun. (Language of the Inuvialuit of the western arctic)

Apparently, you can sing this one and follow the tune.

Don’t ask me to do it!

All Inuvik’s buildings are on permafrost pillars, and there are pebbles everywhere. This means a lot of inconvenience for people in wheelchairs.

Consider, for instance, this very complex ramp. That’s six narrow 90-degree turns.

Meet Jordin Tootoo, one of the north’s biggest celebrities. He’s an NHL player whose father is Inuit from Nunavut, and he plays for the Nashville Predators.

This is a poster from Sir Alexander Mackenzie primary school.

This appears to be the cab of a pickup truck.
It was fitted to a building and now serves as a sunroof.

Things here aren’t all dust and snow. In fact, you might even call Inuvik lush right now.

It’s a beautiful time of the year to go for a walk.

Moss on the ground also makes the landscape springy, like walking on thick blankets of vegetation.

These signs are common across the NWT in government offices. We do have 10 official languages, after all!

Is this legitimate, or are people teasing? Either way, it’s pretty hilarious!

Photo speaks for itself, no? Very strange thing to see rumbling down the street.

Here’s more stuff from Aboriginal Day.

I should hake taken a photo of just the dog and no children, so you’d believe it was even smaller. (The tire is very large.)

Two people walk near the Inuvik boat launch, late at night.

Here’s a close-up of the traditional games target, which players kick.
It’s a dangling seal.

More bird photography from around town. I think this raven was picking through the grass for insects.

Nothing makes a community uglier than half-written, incoherent and completely untalented grafitti.

(Though the flower-box is a nice touch on Northern’s account.)

Some finches on a telephone line.

It’s almost raining in Inuvik today, which is rare.

Aboriginal Day had a production line for cooked whitefish.

It was served burned on the outside, but you’d eat it by “shelling,” which means eating the good parts and leaving the burnt crust.

Meaning: It’s a really, really big truck.

A free ride in a fire truck, sirens blaring.

Aww, isn’t he cute.

Here’s some greasy, sizzling fish on aboriginal day. Oooh yes.

Another game: The Alaskan high-kick. You have to land on the foot that touches the seal.

Another traditional game is the arm pull, which is similar to arm wrestling.

Hook elbows and pull backwards!

Inuvik’s Aboriginal Day celebrations included some traditional drum dancing on an outdoor stage. What a spectacle!

All the dances are short (one minute approx) scenes, which describe everyday activities like chopping wood, hunting ducks, or stomping snow.

Some dancers are in their 80s, while others are five years old.

A finch of some kind sings in a shrub outside the office. What do these birds do in the winter?

While the ‘seal’ target was about five feet in the air, this guy managed to touch it with both feet and land in perfect balance. It’s an arctic sport called the two-foot kick.

“I like his sneakers, we used to have some like that in the 1950s!” said the event host.

Just when you think you’re camera equipment is pretty cool, a photographer from Canadian Geographic stops by with about $7000 of cameras and $2000 lenses.

(Note: Canadian Geographic uses Nikon D200s and always shoots with a flash, even outdoors in sunlight.)

Watch for a story on the Beaufort Delta coming soon to that magazine!

June 21 is Aboriginal Day and Inuvik had a traditional celebration at Jim Koe park.

Here is Abel Tingmiak, 62, being launched during the ‘blanket toss’ game.

This is the kind of truck you drive while listening to local radio. Old country music!

The Aklavik Journal was originally published from 1955 to 1957.
Today, you can read the old issues thanks to a neat little book. (Pictured here: 1956)

Hey, Jean-Leon (my brother) come and pick up this sticker I got for you!

ha ha

The Midtown Market is one of Inuvik’s convenience stores. This looks like an old sign.

A patient pet waits outside the Northern Images art store in Inuvik.

Working on prints at the Petroleum Show, June 14. Stencil prints are done with coloured powder and different shaped outlines.

Here’s a statue from the Petroleum show. It’s an owl perched upon antlers.

A home-made tiger suit, for a birthday in Fort McPherson. (The boy looks a little sad in this picture, but the better one ran in the newspaper…)

Two howling dogs overlook the Beaufort Sea. (Talk about a open landscape!)

Summer colours are now everywhere, including the aviation monument. (What a contrast with the previous post!)

Sure it’s an old picture, but these things are cool.

Coming soon: The End of the Road golf course, at the extremity of the Dempster Highway.

I wonder if ravens will steal the balls thinking they are white eggs? This happens in Yellowknife.

I am taking a vacation this August and flying to Ottawa.
The airline ticket cost more than two thousand dollars.

Living in the north can be expensive, indeed. (Think of the music/camera equipment you could buy with that!)

Thankfuly, NNSL has crazy benefits for employees, which helps to defray this cost.

Speaking of 24-hour sunlight: These plants have been soaking up their fair share. (Note the Ookpik, bottom right)