Friday, May 24, 2013

Mental Health Week

Perfect Attendance Award Assembly - May 9.
The week of May 6 - 10 was short for students because teachers had two In-Service days on May 7 & 8.  An In-Service is similar to a Professional Development (PD) Day down south where classes are cancelled but teachers are at school participating in workshops.  The workshops can range from being just informative to learning new administrative and/or teaching skills.  For high school teachers, the In-Service was about the implementation of the new Nunavut high school curriculum.
            
Kindergarten teacher Abigail receives
a plaque for her contributions to Nunavut
education.
Multiple Graduation Options (aka Multiple Options) has been in development since the creation of Nunavut in April 1999.  Currently, Nunavut schools follow the Alberta curriculum with a few added Inuit-centered courses (Inuktitut, sewing, carving, iglu building, etc).  The Nunavut Government (GN) wants to have its own curriculum that better reflects Inuit culture and motivates Inuit students to finish high school.  With the new Multiple Options system, students still have to take the core courses but can also major in one of six areas: Trades & Technology; History, Heritage, & Culture; Community Care Giving & Family Studies; Entrepreneurship; Fine Arts & Crafts; and Information Technology. 
            
Grade 2 students get their picture
taken after receiving perfect attendance
certificates.
The informative workshop was hosted by a lady from the Department of Education.  Multiple Options was supposed to be implemented in the fall of 2013 but has been pushed back until August 2014.  It was decided that the program needed more modifications and schools wanted extra time to decide which areas of study they will offer to senior students.  Unfortunately, many Nunavut schools are not equipped to offer all six areas of study.  High school teachers were given a brief review of the program, what it has to offer to students, and how it will be implemented in the coming year. 
            
Grade 4 students having their picture taken while holding their perfect attendance certificates.
For the last day of the in-service, members of the community (elders, parents, students, social workers, etc) were invited to participate in round-table discussions on what resources could be used to make Multiple Options work.  Mishak Allurut translated questions and comments in Inuktitut and English.  Overall, the discussions produced many great ideas but also concerns about the program's effectiveness and main goal of producing more Inuit graduates. Today, 75% of Inuit youth do not finish high school.  On average, they also miss 3 years of secondary education, a large amount of time accumulated over several years.  The causes of this are many, for example, lack of attendance, not enough sleep, family land trips, looking after young children, moving between communities, and problems at home.  My main concern about Multiple Options was that only a few post-secondary institutions (I forget which ones) down south will recognize it.  That could seriously limit the options of an Inuk student wanting to pursue post-secondary education.  Hopefully that won't be the case in 2014. 
            
Grade 6 students pose with their perfect
attendance certificates.
On Thursday, May 9, a perfect attendance awards assembly for the month of April was held in the school's gym after lunch.  The format of the assembly was very similar to the one held on April 15 with one exception.  Three Inuit teachers, Iga, Abigail, and Eunice, were recognized for their many years of teaching, receiving plaques for being successful educators for 5, 10, and 15 years.  Out of a student population of 235, around 30 students from K - 12 received certificates for perfect attendance and gift certificates from the local Northern Store.  One visual feature that stood out in the assembly was the green clothing that many students and teachers wore for Mental Health Week.
            
Iga leading the Mental Health Assembly. 
The World Health Organization defines mental health as "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community."  More than 450 million people worldwide suffer from mental health disorders, for example, anger & violent behaviours, suicidal thoughts, bipolar disorder, drug & alcohol abuse, anxiety, schizophrenia, PTSD, depression, and trauma.  None are foreign to the northern territories. 
            
The term 'mental health' has been in heavy use in the north in recent years because it has become a serious political and social issue.  The suicide rate for Inuit is 11 times higher than the national average; twenty-eight times higher for young Inuit men.  It is well-known in health circles that alcohol & drug abuse, domestic violence, and child abuse are serious problems in northern communities.  On top of that, there are many Inuit children who suffer from malnutrition, ADD, ADHD, and FASDMental health services are available, except more resources are needed to lower wait times and improve accessibility to all the northern communities. 
            

The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) started Mental Health Week back in 1951 to "raise awareness of mental illness in Canada."  For the 62nd Annual Mental Health Week (May 6 - 12), Inuujaq School held a mental health assembly in the gym after afternoon recess.  Everyone was encouraged to wear green.  Unfortunately, I left my green tie in Ottawa.  In its place, I wore my black tie with many colourful inukshuks.
            
For the assembly, students were organized into their Spirit Teams.  Iga, the Inuk teacher in charge of Spirit Team activities, led everyone into a collective singing of Bobby McFerrin's famous 1988 song, 'Don't Worry, Be Happy.'  The next activity was a word game where spirit teams had to quickly spell the phrase, 'Don't Worry, Be Happy,' by pulling out letters one at a time from an envelope.  Each team member had to roll a dice and could only pick out a letter if the dice landed on 4.  Unfortunately, my spirit team, Team Rabbit, didn't win.  The last activity of the assembly was for each Spirit Team to read one of the many mental health posters that were posted on the gym's walls.  The posters were written in English and Inuktitut.

            
Team Rabbit reading an important mental health message in Inuktitut.
When the assembly was completed, teachers & students were sent back to class because there was still time left in the school day.  My guitarists and I spent the remainder of fourth period working on string exercises and selected tab melodies. 


Saturday, May 18, 2013

Out For A Walk . . . Again

Road to Victor Bay

In the days after Nunavut Quest, I prepared the country foods I acquired at the community feasts.  I did find some ideas on the Internet but in the end, it was a series of culinary experiments.  I started with the walrus meat, just boiling it in water for thirty minutes.  With a little added salt, the meat didn't taste that bad.  For the next experiment, I boiled one of the caribou pieces but added sliced onions, carrots, and celery to the mix.  I think the vegetables added flavour to the meat but I couldn't tell until I got rid of the strong gamey odor.  I probably should have cleaned out the frozen blood before putting the meat into the pot.  Lesson learned.  The third time was the charm because I wrapped the last caribou piece in bacon, sprinkled salt & pepper and then roasted it in the oven.  It tasted like bacon-wrapped steak.
            
What's over that hill . . . again?
On the morning of Saturday, May 4 (aka Star Wars Day), I woke up with a wanting to go somewhere.  It had been a month since I hiked to Victor Bay and I didn't want to pass the opportunity to enjoy the clear sunny weather.  I decided to hike up the hills behind my house and photograph the town below.  Just like my previous walk, I dressed warmly and brought along my camera, binoculars, and compass.  I left my place at around 10:15am. 
            
Rather than hike directly up the hills behind my place, I decided to approach them from the side.  This meant walking up the road to Victor Bay.  The snow on the road had completely melted, revealing a dark rocky path.  The long qamutiq I photographed a month earlier was no longer near the point where the road peaks at the top of a small hill.  Someone must have removed it a long time ago.
            

After walking several more metres, I turned around to take a photo of the sun.  Just like the first time, I was enveloped by complete silence.  I thought I could hear the sound of my clicking camera echoing off the snow-covered hills.  I moved off the dirt road, photographing a point marked by a tall stick.  A minute later, an Inuit man on a skidoo raced by, on his way to a cabin in Victor Bay.  When he was gone, I filmed a 360 degree panorama view of the surrounding landscape.  I was hoping to record the silence but when I reviewed the footage, the silence was drowned out by the soft sounds of light wind and the camera's background noise.
            
I continued moving to my left (west) trying to find the right slope that would lead me to a view overlooking Arctic Bay.  After a few minutes, I assumed I had found the right slope, and began a slow ascent to the top.  I stopped frequently to take pictures of the rocky hills.  There was still plenty of snow on the ground but with more patches of brown earth and black rocks.  The pinnacle iceberg I photographed back in late March was still out in Victor Bay.  Peering through my binoculars, it looked exactly the same as before. 
            
King George V Mountain - center left.
It didn't take long for me to realize that I had gone up the wrong hill.  When I reached the top, I came to a wide plateau littered with rocks.  I could see the top of King George V Mountain (KGVM) to my left and more hills straight ahead and to my right.  I sat down on a rock to rest for a few minutes.  I filmed another 360 degree panorama view of the surrounding landscape.  This time, I was able to record a few seconds of silence.  I thought about where I could go next.  I could walk towards KGVM, thus taking me back to town, or I could choose a new path.  I decided to choose a new 'uncharted' path by walking south west.  
            

After trekking up and down several slopes for some time, I spotted a very tall mountain in the distance.  I hadn't seen it before and it looked like a pyramid with a very wide base.  When I moved closer, I saw the frozen strait that connects Arctic Bay to the Northwest Passage by boat.  What surprised me was the land up ahead had suddenly stopped.  Taking several more steps revealed that I had arrived at a line of cliffs.  To my far left, I noticed three tall figures standing at the edge of the cliffs, appearing to be looking out over the strait.  Through my binoculars I could see that they were three inukshuks.  To my right, I noticed an inward 'v' formation in the cliffs.  I headed towards the formation to see how steep the cliffs were.
            
The cliffs are steep and jagged.  If you go over the edge, you're not coming back.  The rock formations in the 'v' opening reminded me of The Three Sisters, a famous rock formation in the Blue Mountains region.  I visited this part of Southern Australia back in 2010 with my family.  (You can read about it here).  Daring myself, I lay down on the ground at certain points and peered over the edges.  I'm not sure how high I was, but the drop had to be at least 200 feet.  As I stood up, I could hear and see several ravens flying around.  They were most likely wanting me to drop food on the ground but I hadn't brought any.                              
            

I walked along the edge of the cliffs towards the three inukshuks.  I gazed at the frozen strait below, amazed by its sheer size and flatness.  An entire city could be built on the frozen ice.  Upon reaching the inukshuks I photographed them from different angles.  Their design and structure were impressive.  Leaving them behind, I continued walking east, making sure not to slip and fall.  I looked back a few times to see how far the cliffs went.  They appeared to go on for several kilometres.  Now I knew where the photos for Nunavut Tourism were taken.   
            

Aside from snow, the other endless feature of the north is rocks.  The majestic landscape is just littered with rocks in many different shapes, sizes, and colours.  The Nunavut Government could make a lot of money exporting rocks for landscaping projects down south.  The very large rocks that stand out can be used as points of reference.
            

Upon reaching the end of the cliffs, I could see all of Arctic Bay: the airport, KGVM, the Industrial Area (aka Gas Station), the road to Nanisivik, and of course, the town.  After photographing each area, I took a closer look through my binoculars.  I spotted a water truck heading towards the airport.  I followed it, wanting to see if its destination was the airport or the refilling point.  The water truck passed the turnoff to the airport and continued driving for another kilometre before stopping at a small shed near a secluded lake.  So this is where the town gets its water, I thought to myself.  After enjoying the breathtaking views, I began my walk back to town.  I was able to get some pictures of the entire town before I exhausted the battery in my camera.
            
Road to the landfill.

A lone pair on a skidoo.
The hill I was walking on had two slopes.  I descended the first slope which brought me halfway down the hill.  I passed the town's cemetery, which is a collection of crosses and inukshuks.  The cemetery is marked by a tall white cross but I was unable to see it from where I was standing.  Rather than walk all the way back to the road to Victor Bay, I decided to walk down to the cemetery road.  The second slope was a little steeper and slippery.  To maintain my balance and grip on the snow, I moved from rock to rock while I made my descent.  Once safely on the cemetery road, I walked back to my house.  The time was 2:30pm when I closed the front door behind me. 
            

My four-hour hike was scenic and fun even though I never reached my original destination.  Instead, I discovered the western cliffs and plateaus of Arctic Bay and documented them with my camera.  And yet, there is still so much more to discover. 

   

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Nunavut Quest



Before the arrival of modern vehicles, aircraft, and sea vessels, the traditional methods of getting around the Arctic were walking, dog teams, and canoes.  Instead of gravel and paved roads, there were trails and paths.  Travelling between communities by dog team still took days due to the sheer size of the land.  Today, the trails and paths are still used by the Inuit, but the sounds of barking dogs have been replaced by the roar of skidoos. 
            
When people who haven't been to the Arctic look at a map of northern Canada, they immediately assume that the only way to get anywhere is by air and sea.  However, this is not true.  Travelling between communities across the land happens on a daily basis.  It's the same as taking a road trip down south.  You just have to be prepared to spend a night, or several nights, on the land. 
            
Source: Wikipedia
Dog sled races have been around for a very long time, being the most popular winter sport in the Arctic regions of Canada, the United States, Russia, and Europe.  Similar to rally car racing, the event is a timed competition where participants have to complete a marked course in the least amount of time.  Generally, there are three types of races: sprint, mid-distance, and long-distance.  There are resting points along the course so that the dogs have a chance to rest and eat. 
            
Despite its popularity, dog sled racing has yet to be given official event status in the Winter Olympics.  It was only a demonstration sport during the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York (1932), and Oslo, Norway (1952).
            
Nunavut Quest is the annual six-day dog sledding race between Igloolik and Arctic Bay.  The 445-600km mid-distance race takes place in the spring.  The race was created in 1999 to celebrate the creation of Nunavut.  Fifteen mushers and 180 sled dogs participated in the first race on April 13.  The prizes were and still are: $10,000 for first place, $5000 for second, and $2500 for third.  The start and finish lines alternate between the two communities every year.  This year, the race would start from Arctic Bay on April 24.
            
Just like in Formula One and NASCAR, a dog sled racer (aka musher) cannot survive without a dedicated support crew.  They travel ahead of the team by skidoo, setting up camp at the designated rest points.  With them they drag qamutiqs loaded with food, water, tents, clothes, fuel, medical supplies, and camping equipment. 
            
Arctic Bay received a steady influx of visitors in the days leading up to the race.  Mushers, support teams, Inuit sled dogs, friends, and families arrived from other northern communities by plane and skidoo.  For many, it would also be a big family reunion.  To welcome all the competitors and visitors, two community feasts were held at the Community Hall on April 19 & 22.  Naturally, I attended both. 
            

Cutting Arctic char.
The first feast was organized by the health centre staff who arranged the hall to look more like a buffet.  On a line of tables at the front of the hall sat boxes of raw Arctic char & caribou, and trays of various fruit.  The community hall was packed when the feast began at 7pm.  After the opening prayer, Elders lined up first followed by everyone else.  Everyone used large pieces of cardboard boxes as plates.  I picked two chunks of caribou and many pieces of fruit before returning to my seat.  Without hesitation, I flipped out a small knife and started cutting small pieces of caribou and placing them in my mouth.  Several kids watched me eat the raw meat for several minutes before returning to their game.  I think I also caught a few Inuit adults glancing in my direction.  I only ate a little bit of the raw caribou but the amount was much more than the first time.  I was glad to see that my stomach was getting used to the taste of raw meat.  I saved the two pieces of caribou for a later date.
            
Raw frozen walrus meat.
Traditional Inuit games were played at the Community Hall over the weekend of April 20 & 21.  Unfortunately, I was unable to attend because of school work.  Thankfully, plenty of pictures were taken and posted on Facebook. 
            


Around the country food they swarm.
The second evening feast followed a more traditional approach with the meats being laid out on a ground sheet in the middle of the Community Hall.  This time, there was caribou, char, aged walrus, and non-aged walrus.  Just like the first feast I attended in February, the adults sat around the food while children ran around and played.  They made sure not to touch the meats.  Just before the feast began, the hunters and several volunteers mixed the meats around so that everyone had a fair chance of getting each type of meat.  Armed with plastic bags and bare hands, everyone pounced on the ground sheet after the conclusion of the opening prayer.  Since I already had two pieces of caribou from the previous feast, I chose to just get a piece of non-aged walrus.  The piece I picked was the ribs.  Trying raw walrus for the first time wasn't as bad as I thought.  It tasted a lot like raw caribou.  I ate quite a bit before saving the rest.
            

The qualifying race took place on April 22 at 2pm.  Many people headed over to the frozen bay to watch.  Inuujaq School students were escorted down to the ice by their teachers.  Despite my best efforts, I got there just as the final dog team left.  The teams would return in an hour and their recorded times would determine their starting positions.  Several teachers including myself thought the qualifying event would be longer than 15 minutes.  Deciding not to waste the trip, I snapped pictures of the surrounding landscape, Inuit dogs, and people heading back to town.  The teachers & students walked back to school to finish the last period of the day.
            
Northern Store.
I made sure I would not miss the actual race on April 24.  Thankfully, the event is treated like a holiday and afternoon school was cancelled.  As I quickly ate my lunch, I could see streams of vehicles, skidoos, and people make their way to the starting lines.  Low overcast clouds hung above the bay.  Throwing on my winter outerwear, I walked down to the ice armed with my digital camera.  I got there just before 1pm. 
            

The weather was much different out in the bay with strong cold winds blowing through.  Despite this, there was plenty of activity.  The eleven competitors were looking after their dogs, support teams were checking their supplies and skidoos, and spectators were walking around snapping pictures and talking to each other.  The support teams were the first to leave, forming a long convoy of skidoos and qamutiqs.  Many waved them goodbye.  The support teams needed at least an hour's head start to get to the first checkpoint and have it prepared.  When they were out of sight, some people went back to town because the race wouldn't start until 2pm.  I chose to stay and snap more photos.
            
Support Teams leaving for the first checkpoint.
Picture taken by Ryan.
As time marched on, I realized that I should have gone home for lunch so that I could change into warmer clothes.  I was still wearing my work clothes underneath my winter parka and snow pants.  Thankfully, Ryan, the media teacher, showed me what many do to warm up: they sit in a heated vehicle.  You don't even have to know the owner.  It is a generally accepted rule that if you bring a vehicle out on the ice for a special event, you should leave it unlocked and running so that anyone who is cold can sit inside and warm up for a few minutes.  When 2pm neared, I got out of the land rover and positioned myself to catch all the action on my camera.  My battery was running low so I couldn't film any videos.
            
Mushers still use long whips to keep control of the dogs.  This is necessary because fights can still break out and if a dog gets seriously injured, it has to be put down.  The striking motions were flowing, not forceful. 
            



When the clock struck 2pm, an announcer with a bullhorn walked out in front of the dog teams and announced in Inuktitut that it was time to start the race.  He started his stop watch when he ordered the first competitor to go.  While his dogs sprinted forward, the first competitor waved goodbye.  The spectators returned the gesture.  The same cycle was repeated every minute.       

There were two exciting and scary moments.  The first happened to musher #5; he fell off his qamutiq but his dogs kept running.  He hopped onto the back of a skidoo which raced off to catch up to the runaway dog team.  When the skidoo driver got side-by-side, musher #5 jumped back onto his qamutiq.  The infraction added five minutes to his overall time.  The second mishap happened to musher #9; one of his dogs refused to run with the rest of the pack.  The dog kept running to the far left, causing him to fall and to be dragged.  What was worse was that this happened repeatedly causing musher #9 to stop every few metres.  I could only hope that that rebellious dog would eventually fall in line.  When all the dog teams were gone, the crowds dispersed for the day.            
            

All teams arrived in Igloolik on May 3.  The final results were:
            
First Place: Andy Attagutalukutuk with a time of 38 hours and 34 minutes.
Second Place: Peter Siakuluk with a time of 39 hours.
Third Place: Bob Olayuk with a time of 40 hours.

Dog Team Mural created by Iga's Aulajaaqtut (Wellness) class.