The sound of the gun was loud and
echoed off the surrounding mountains as the bullet raced towards the white
Arctic hare . . . and missed. A
collective groan of disappointment came from the students watching. However, there still was a chance. Instead of running away, the hare became
petrified, trying to camouflage itself against the white snow. One of the hired skidoo drivers, David
Oyukuluk, reloaded the rifle and took over for the elder, Simeonie Olayuk. Again, everything went silent as the driver
took aim. While I held my breath to hear
the next loud gunshot, my eyes were searching for the petrified hare. I still couldn't see it. Either I was looking at the wrong place, or
my eyes were not well trained.
The driver fired.
 |
| David Oyukuluk holding the Arctic hare he caught. |
A small puff of white fur flew up
into the air, followed by a round of applause.
The bullet had found its target.
I had been looking too high up the snowy hill. "Oh, there it is!" I said out loud. The hare continued to bounce around as two
Inuit boys went up to retrieve it. The shock
of the bullet impact must have caused the hare's nervous system to spasm
uncontrollably. The hare stopped moving
when it was brought down from the hill.
I quickly took a photo of it before it was laid on the ground. Using a Swiss Army knife, Simeonie removed
the fur with his bare hands. I was
surprised by how easy the fur came off.
Next, he cut it open and removed the insides; a graphic process
indeed. I'll spare you the
photographs. I was surprised that I
didn't get sick watching the whole procedure.
A part of me felt sorry for the hare, but at the same time, when you
have to survive in an area where fruits and vegetables don't grow, you have to
take what the land offers.
The meat was put into a plastic bag
and the fur & insides were left behind.
The ravens would eat the insides but the fur may be recovered by the
hunters later. Everyone jumped back into
their respective skidoos & qamutiqs and returned to camp. I sat at the back of a qamutiq, watching the
picturesque scenery fly by.
Upon returning to camp, the high
school students had free time to relax in their tents or to explore the area
around the campsite. I chose to tag
along with Kyle who wanted to trek up one of the hills behind the camp. Kyle teaches Grades 8 & 9 at
Inuujaq School. From a distance, the
hill didn't look tough to climb, but when we got to the foot of the hill, we
realized that that wasn't the case. In
the Arctic, it's difficult to judge distance and height from afar. When you look at a natural landmark, be it a
mountain or an island, it appears to be only a few kilometres away when in fact
it's much, much further. Or a mountain pass
may look easy to climb but when you get up close, you see that the path is much
steeper.
 |
| Inukshuk under construction. |
I followed Kyle up the hill, letting
him create a path in the deep snow with his heavy boots. It didn't take long to start feeling the burn
in my legs. Since I was wearing my heavy
Canada Goose parka and snow pants, the added weight quickly tired out my body. I had to stop a few times to catch my
breath. We eventually made it to the top
of the rocky hill and were treated to a great view of the enclosed inlet and
surrounding area. We could even see the
airport and Arctic Bay to our right.
Skidoo paths crisscrossed the frozen ice and the camp site below looked
very tiny. At the top of the hill sat a
very large boulder that a had a few rocks sitting on it: an inukshuk under
construction. Kyle and I added a rock
each as a way of saying that we were there.
Trekking down the hill required a lot less work and time. We even slid down two sides of the hill,
leaving noticeable trails in the snow.
If only I had brought my skis.
It was almost dinner time when Kyle
and I strolled into camp. I sat down on
a qamutiq and rested, looking back at the hill I just climbed. The main course was being prepared inside several tents. When it was time, I grabbed
my mug & utensils and proceeded to the adult tent that was serving
delicious hot caribou (tuktu) stew with vegetables. Iga, the high school Inuktitut teacher, was
melting snow for people wanting hot water for tea or hot chocolate. When out on the land, remember the golden
rule: Don't melt yellow or brown snow!
 |
| Cooked hare. |
Just before I treated myself to a
second helping of tuktu, a student came to me with an important question: the
elders wanted to know if I wanted to try the Arctic hare (ukaliq) that was
shot. "Ii, (yes)," I
replied. In the elders tent, everyone
was sitting in a circle, cutting pieces of hare. I sat down and was offered a piece. I took it and placed it in my mouth.
"Tastes just like
chicken!" one of the elders exclaimed in English while the others
laughed. I nodded while chewing on the
meat.
"It tastes like caribou to
me." I had a few more pieces of
ukaliq before heading back to Iga's tent for more caribou stew.
I was bored after dinner with
nothing to do. Looking at the hill I had just climbed, I decided to climb it again and proceed further to the hill
behind it. With no one wanting to tag
along, I set out on my trek alone. I
followed the same path Kyle & I had made going up the first hill. The trek became easy after the first hill
because there was only a small dip left to cross. The summit of the second hill is slightly
higher than the first one. When I got
there, I took pictures of everything around me.
The views were grand and the sun was beginning to set. One view that caught my attention was the
very tall mountain ridge line beyond the second hill. Hmm,
I wondered, I may not have the time now,
but I'll see if hiking up that mountain will be a possibility on Friday. I returned the way I came, remembering to
slide down the first hill.
 |
| The mountain that caught my attention. |
 |
| Malachi Kigutaq wearing a traditional Inuit amauti. |
By this time, I was sweating profusely. When I got back to camp, I removed my heavy
parka and sat down to catch my breath.
My body didn't mind that the temperature was -16ºC. After hiking two tall rocky hills, the cold
felt refreshing. Several students
pointed out that my face was tanned. I
wasn't surprised because I hadn't applied any sunscreen all day. I borrowed some from Paulette, the art
teacher, and put a bit on my face.
In the evening, two of my guitar
students, Bryan and Donovan, built a half iglu (missing the top) near the
camp. The iglu would serve as a private
woman's toilet area. I was impressed by
their iglu building skills. They
carefully measured, cut, and placed each piece of thick solid snow & ice in
the proper place. The only tool they
used was a hand saw. As I mentioned in
my previous post, there are no outhouses out on the land; you have to build
your own. 'Serious business' is either
left buried in the snow or removed in bags.
Very Important Papers (VIP), aka toilet paper, are also essential and
placed in bags after use. Hands are
cleaned with paper towels, hand sanitizer, and/or snow. I'm not sure what the traditional ways were
but I can bet they weren't pretty.
Everyone retired to their tents for
the night at 11:45pm. The sun was
setting, but would remain like that for the whole night. Just before I went to my tent, I photographed a qulliq that an elder had lit in her tent. A qulliq (or kudlik) is a traditional Inuit oil lamp used to provide light and heat inside a tent or iglu. Once inside my tent, I removed my snow pants and parka, using the
latter as my pillow. I made sure to keep
my feet, hands, and head covered so that no body heat would escape. At the same time, I didn't wear too many
layers, otherwise I would sweat, and the sweat would get cold. Since I am a light sleeper, I also wore
earplugs to block out unwelcome noises (ie. snoring). Sleeping in the two Arctic army sleeping bags
was comfortable and warm.
I woke up on Tuesday, May 14, at
around 9am. After going to the washroom
some 3 minutes away from the campsite, I rolled up my sleeping bag and packed
it in a green duffel bag. Everyone was
up by 9:45 and making breakfast. For
breakfast, there were scrambled eggs, bacon, juice, tea, and hot chocolate.
 |
| Breakfast in tent. |
The only activity after breakfast
was preparing the camp site for the next group of students and teachers. Garbage was collected, tents were cleaned,
and sleeping bags & personal bags were packed onto qamutiqs. At 11:30, everyone with the exception of a
few high school students, hopped onto a skidoo or qamutiq and headed back to
Arctic Bay. The students left behind
would continue assisting the elders with the spring camp.
 |
| Inuujaq School student Darlene waves for the camera. |
The ride back to Arctic Bay took
thirty minutes and was mostly uneventful.
Upon arrival, everyone disembarked with their gear and were dismissed
for lunch and the rest of the day. I
went home, took a hot shower, put on clean clothes, and had lunch. I headed back to school to get some work done
and to do afternoon recess duty. While
walking towards the school, I saw Kindergarten to Grade 3 students &
teachers amassing out on the frozen ice.
They were just getting ready to leave.
 |
| Holy Cross Point |
They're
going to have a lot of fun, I thought to myself.
To
be continued . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment