Monthly Archives: January 2010

Another soundslide has been posted on CBC North; it brings you voices and images from the recent cadet skills competition in Inuvik.

Click here to launch:
http://www.cbc.ca/northwind/cadets.html

Here are a few dogs getting their workout on the ice road, down by Inuvik’s boat launch.

It’s common for dog owners to let their pooches run there; the dogs seem to love the open space.

Here is a close look at traditional snowshoe and mulkuk bindings used in Fort McPherson’s snowshoe race.

As you can see, people use different styles of bindings!

This child was watching the snowshoe races in Fort McPherson, all bundled against the cold.

My first Soundslide has been posted on the CBC North website, and it offers a look at the job of reindeer herder.

 Soundslides are a type of web feature which combine sound and photography. If any0ne can find a back issue, the July.Aug 2009 issue of Up Here magazine has an excellent article on the reindeer, which were first imported to the region by the government in the 1930s.

Click the image or this link to view the slide.

Here’s a poster from Samuel Hearne school, showing the different languages of the NWT.

The days are beginning to get longer, with more sunlight in the mornings and evenings.

Here’s a shot from Lakeview apartments, showing someone walking home from work around 5:20pm.

About 50 cadets are in Inuvik this weekend for a skills competition.

They’re travelling from Whitehorse, Fort Simpson, Yellowknife and other communities. 

Today’s event included air rifle shooting as well as an interesting race: Cadets had to pull a toboggan about 100 metres, then assemble a 5-person tent in the best time and light up a Coleman stove to boil a cup of water.

Watch for a soundslide coming soon to CBC.ca/North, and listen to the interviews on Northwind on Monday!

This story’s been getting a lot of letters at CBC North, so I might as well tell everyone about it.

For the first time in history, Hockey Night in Canada will be broadcast in Inuktitut. The Ottawa-Montreal game happens on January 30.  

Here is a short sound clip, of CBC’s Roy Goose speaking with one of the evening’s co-hosts, musician and CBC announcer Charlie Panigoniak.

“He shoots, he scores!” in Inuvialuktun

Thought this was interesting!

Furs are everywhere in the NWT.

I believe this type of coat is called an Amaruk, or Sunburst coat.

Temperatures have been very cold lately, easily staying in the -40 celcius range.

Here’s a leftover from the commercial shoot. It’s common to see people with frost on their tuques and scarves.

Here’s another shot of Roy Goose and Raymond Ettagiak

Here’s an item from Toronto’s City TV about the orange juice commercial.

Just in case you haven’t seen it:

Here’s Roy taking a break on ‘beer hill’ about 20km outside of Inuvik.

The sun was rising after 10am. In the distance, faint red lights from radio towers were the only sign of Inuvik.

Here’s a shot from inside Lloyd Binder’s cabin, about 45 km north of Inuvik. Roy Goose and I travelled to see the reindeer herds, as well as prepare a report for CBC. 

You can hear the interview with Raymond Ettagiak and another herder, on the Monday’s edition of Northwind. (Also watch for a multimedia feature coming soon)

Bonus shot: how do you keep your recorder from freezing in a backpack? Wrap it in a beaver pelt!

I travelled with Roy Goose and Raymond Ettagiak today — a 100-kilometre ride to see the reindeer herds at Jimmy Lakes.

I am making a “soundslide” of the journey for CBC, but watch for pictures to be posted here soon.

Here’s Roy and Raymond taking a break during the ride.

The temperature outside  was -35c.

An apartment building was recently damaged by fire; about one-third of the building will need extensive repairs.

On Friday, all the residents were asked to leave while the heating was shut off. The fire department says it will investigate the cause of the fire.

A fundraiser for the people who lost their apartments will be held on Sunday, from 4 to 7, at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex. (Now called the Roy Ipana Recreation Complex.)

Here are the RCMP and firefighters looking at the damage. (A little shed contains the boilers for the heating, and is connected to the apartment building.)

Here are a few people who participated in the Tropicana advertisement.

They are looking up at the electric light, seen in the previous post.

Tropicana commercial in Inuvik: Amazing 70,000 watt light

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The Tropicana fruit juice company recently paid to film a commercial in Inuvik.

The shoot coincided with the Sunrise Festival, and the production brought along something amazing: A globe that the Inuvik Drum drescribed as “a 15,000 pound helium balloon equipped with 40,000 to 70,000 watts of electricity.”

Amazingly, this bulb was kept floating and intermittently lit for about two days. The device is from France and is apparently unique in the world.

The globe was used to simulate the sun reappearing over Inuvik in the winter.

Apparently it cost about $100 a minute to keep lit, and the commercial is estimated to have cost almost $1 million. 

Fireworks were very impressive on Saturday’s Sunrise festival.

The skies were so clear, some people say they could see the show from 40 miles away.

Some children also created a snow Inukshuk on a hill.

Fireworks were held at the golf course on Saturday night, with the temperature easily below -40c.  

Residents kept warm by burning about 80 palettes of wood, in a massive bonfire; however many decided to sit in their cars.

The heat was so intense that some people’s snowsuits showed signs of melting (the plastic parts) when they got too close!

The Inuvik Drummers and Dancers performed on January 9 to mark the sunrise festival. The temperature was in the low 30s, and might have even reached -40c.

The group’s furs kept them warm, as they played music and danced.

Here is a worker from Canadian North, spraying antifreeze foam on the wings of an airplane.

Before flying to Inuvik, the pilot told the passengers the runway was very slippery, and there was a chance the plane would turn back to Norman Wells.

In the end, everything worked out well.

Here’s a photo of the arrival in Yellowknife, and the view from the Explorer Hotel. Temperature was around -35 celcius.

I’ll be back in Inuvik on Friday