These are some of the communities I have lived in. I added the weather buttons for temperatures and sun rise/set;
just click the button.
Iqaluit, NU - 1988
This is Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut. It is kind of hard to see in this pic, but there are actually two
communities; the larger one on the left is Iqaluit, and the smaller one on the right is Apex. Apex was the original
location of the settlement, but it was not a good spot for expansion. Today, there is no separation between Apex
and Iqaluit. Houses have filled the gap between them. Iqaluit means "place of fish" in Inuktitut.
Iqaluit, NU - 1995
This shot was taken on the road between Apex and Iqaluit. Here, you can see a good portion
of the town with Frobisher Bay in the background. Named after the English explorer, Martin Frobisher, Iqaluit became
the capital of the Territory on April 1, 1999. Martin Frobisher is noted for making the first recorded contact
between Inuit and Europeans. He also is known for carting some two tonnes of pyrite back to England, thinking (foolishly)
that it was gold.
Pangnirtung is the first community I visited when I was 15. This shot is looking
up the fiord from Cumberland Sound. The buildings in the foreground are old Hudson's Bay storage buildings.
The Hudson's Bay Company was established in 1670 and is the world's oldest continuously running retail store. Pangnirtuuq
is the correct English spelling of the actual Inuktitut word, and it means "where there are bull caribou".
Clyde River is a beautiful little hamlet (Kangiqtugaapik means "nice little inlet")
on Baffin Island. It was the dental therapist from here that convinced me to go to dental school. This is
also where I got my first concussion trying to jump a gully on a quad. I went over the handlebars, my head smashed out
the headlight, but I didn't fall off. I just came right back to the seat when the ass end of the machine landed.
Oh, and I bruised a knee. This is also a good shot of an Inukshuk. (Inuk=man, shuk=toy or looks like). The
plural of Inukshuk is Inuksuit. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Pond Inlet, NU - 1989
Pond Inlet is located on the northern end of Baffin Island. It is beautiful. The
mountains are stunning and the water is so pure, it has no taste. I also encountered some of the largest mosquitoes
I have ever seen there; you know, the aenemia producing, fly-up-my-nose kind of pests. The place is named after Mittimak,
an Inuk who ran a trading post near present day Mittimatalik ("place where Mittima rests) in the 1930s.
Arctic Bay, NU - 1990
Arctic Bay is where I first discovered the joys of frost-bite. I think I actually froze
my face in Iqaluit before getting on the plane, but it was definitely in Arctic Bay where I felt the effects. Old ladies
were coming out of the woodwork to visit me at the hotel and give me a hundred different remedies. I only tried one
(a little seal fat on the face and voila, I reeked!) and it didn't hurt. I can't say for sure that it helped, but what
could I do? The Inuit call this place Ikpiarjuk, which means "Like a pocket" because the whole place seems to be
surrounded by hills.
Grise Fiord, NU - 1995
Grise Fiord is Canada's most northern community. It was established in 1953 when the
Canadian government got panicky about Arctic sovereignty. Eleven families were moved form northern Quebec to Grise Fiord
and Resolute Bay and it wasn't until 1990 that the government offered to move anyone back. The government still refuses
to admit the move was for sovereignty issues and officially states that it was for the good of the families. Hmmm, considering
the Inuit named this place Aujuittuq, "place that never thaws", I would have to guess that it wasn't a pleasurable
experience.
