The high school students filed into the high school
science classroom for an afternoon lecture about an upcoming land plebiscite in
May. The lecture was given by three
presenters from Iqaluit (2 qallunaaq & 1 Inuk).
On May 9th, municipalities across Nunavut will be voting
on whether to allow the sale of municipal lands to private owners, commonly
known as fee-simple land ownership. The
last time a plebiscite was held on this issue was on April 10, 1995. (This was before the creation of the Nunavut
territory in 1999). When that plebiscite
was held, every community rejected the idea of fee-simple land ownership. No one is allowed is privately own land in
Nunavut, except the federal government.
You lease plots of land and build your house(s) on top of them. You have surface rights but not subsurface
rights.
Elections Nunavut will be running the plebiscite in May. The plebiscite is binding to the Nunavut
Government.
The presenters explained everything I just wrote in the
second paragraph above and also spoke about how the plebiscite follows the
guidelines of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA). Their PowerPoint presentation included a
diagram showing how much land comprises the municipality of Arctic Bay. They concluded their presentation by putting
forth several scenarios as to what would happen to the community depending on
the plebiscite's outcome.
From my point of view, if the municipality votes 'no',
then everything stays the same. If the municipality
votes 'yes', then . . . not a lot will change, except the sale of municipal
lands to private owners. I was raised in
Ontario where simple-fee land ownership is the norm, so a 'yes' outcome doesn't
bother me. However, judging from the
many questions the students asked, I can see this type of land ownership is
still new to the Inuit. The traditional
Inuit mentality is that the land belongs to everyone.
I could sense a degree of uncertainty among the students
at the end of the lecture. There wasn't
a clear swing of opinion towards the 'no' or 'yes' votes. Well, the students still have over a month to
convince the voters of Arctic Bay which choice they should go with.
We shall see what the people of Nunavut will decide in
early May.
Inuujaq School was closed between March 25 and April 3
for Spring/Easter Break. I would use the
time to explore the land. Many people
would be doing the same, as well as, hunting, fishing, and spending time at
their cabins.
I bought supplies from the Northern & Co-op stores
(food, spark plugs, bungee cords, oil, etc.), and extra litres of gas from the
Gas Station. I turned my home into a
"base camp" with all my store bought supplies spread out across my
coffee table & couch. (I kept the
gas cans chained outside). My essential
supplies were my GPS, SPOT Device, shotgun, and toilet paper. (Yes, toilet paper is essential).
My first land trip took place on March 25, Good
Friday. (I probably already mentioned in
the past that every Friday is a Good Friday in my view). I had my sights on one of the shortcuts the
local Inuit use to travel to Pond Inlet.
This shortcut is an overland route that begins approximately 50km to the
southeast of Arctic Bay. To get there, I
had to drive across the frozen southeastern waterway all the way to the end,
and then follow a small river between the mountains.
I wasn't planning on exploring the shortcut in detail;
just the entrance from the Arctic Bay side.
I was told this trail can be really rocky at the best of times and I
didn't want anything bad to happen on my first try. I was also travelling alone.
I left my residence at around 10:15am, fully dressed in
heavy winter clothing. (The weather is
still cold in late March). The sun was
shining brightly but there were several large clouds in the sky. My large backpack was full of snacks,
survival gear, oil, and extra spark plugs.
My shotgun, safely tucked inside a carrying case, sat on my knees while
I drove down to the ice. My skidoo tank
was full and I had attached a 3 gallon reserve can at the back. I was also wearing my skidoo helmet for added
protection against the wind. I told
several teachers where I was going and asked them to check my progress by
accessing my SPOT page on the Internet.
I was glad I packed spare batteries because 5 minutes
into my trip, the batteries in my GPS went flat. Once I drove out of the bay and past Holy
Cross Point, I turned southeast and followed a set of skidoo tracks. And so, the long drive began.
I kept my speed between 40 - 50mph (64 - 80kmh). I slowed down when the trail began to get bumpy. I kept my mind occupied by looking at the
mountainous landscape around me and trying to spot any seals. (There weren't any). There were several times when I thought I was
looking at a qamutik or skidoo in the distance but as I drove closer, the
objects turned out to be large blocks of ice.
My mind drowned out the monotonous sound of the skidoo engine pretty
quickly.
I took a short detour and stopped in front of a tall
cliff face, some 20km away from the community.
There was a small rocky hill that led up to the cliff face. Three years ago, I had tried to climb up to
the top of the hill during the school Spring Camp but I ran out of time. I now had the time to finish what I
started. It took me about 35 minutes to
hike up to the top of the hill. I took
several pictures from the top of the hill.
My skidoo looked really tiny at the base of the hill.
The wind started to pick up when I was 32 km away from
Arctic Bay. I already knew this area was
prone to high winds because the location was the fishing area
Qajutinnguat. I camped here with the
cadets of 3045 Army Corps in May 2014 & 2015. I was glad I was wearing my helmet. Up until this time, this area was the
furthest I have travelled southeast on my skidoo. I pressed on into undiscovered territory.
 |
| Mountain with face. |
My eyes & mind were fully alert for the next
18km. There was still wind between the
mountains but I could still see a previously made skidoo trail. I followed it until I came to the end of the
frozen waterway. In the distance, two
mountains appeared to converge on a single point. What I found amusing was the large shadow being
cast on the mountain on the left side.
There is a part of the mountain that juts out, and from where the sun
was positioned, the shadow appeared to me as a man with a pointed nose,
puckering up to kiss someone. I stopped
my skidoo and took several pictures of this funny natural occurrence.
I immediately noticed a lot of small rocks on the ground
once I drove off the frozen waterway. I
had to navigate around these large patches of exposed rocks so that my skidoo
skis would not get damaged. I maybe
drove a kilometre inland before I had to stop.
I had nearly expended half of the gas in the fuel tank. With only a three gallon reserve can, I reasoned
I didn't have enough gas to drive further inland and back.
I took several pictures of the landscape, ate some
snacks, and fired off a shotgun slug.
The cold arctic wind continued to blow. After a quick rest, I hopped on my skidoo,
turned around and returned to Arctic Bay.
I arrived home around 3pm.
Unfortunately, I didn't see any animals during my trip.
I would return in the very near future to explore more of
this shortcut.
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