Christmas Festivities (2018)

*Warning: This post may contain images that some viewers may find graphic.

Arctic Bay must have been on everyone’s radar in late 2018 because another community feast was held on December 15.  That was the third community feast in the last two months!  This feast was hosted by the Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation.  Representatives from the mining company were in town to showcase their proposed additions/improvements to the Mary River mine.  The open pit iron mine opened in 2014 and is located between Arctic Bay & Pond Inlet in the Mary River area.  The operation employs many Inuit from several communities including Arctic Bay.  The company has many plans to expand its operations, too many for me to explain in this post.  I’ll just go over what was shown during the presentation.

            

The presentation/feast began at 6pm in the community hall.  Tables and chairs were set up along the walls with a large open space in the centre.  In the centre of the hall were blue tarps & flattened cardboard boxes.  On these lay frozen pieces of arctic char and a large seal.  There were also three tables with silver trays of ham, chicken, rice, and bannock.  At the front of the hall sat a table with a red Baffinland table cloth draped over it.  On it was a laptop and projector.  A white screen hung behind this table on stage.  The mayor, Frank May, was also in attendance.

            

A Baffinland representative welcomed & thanked everyone for attending the presentation/feast.  He briefly updated everyone on the current conditions at Mary River.  Long story short – money is being made and the employees are being well looked after.  He then continued with the future plans for the mine. 

Port picture.

The first picture to be shown was the new rock crushing plant.  This new addition will speed up the processing of iron ore.  The second picture he showed was a computer rendering of a new port facility Baffinland wants to build in Milne Inlet.  The port would see the construction of two docking areas for large cargo ships.  These additions will increase the amount of iron ore the company can ship out of the area during the brief summer shipping season.  Of course, an increase in traffic will have consequences on wildlife and the surrounding environment.  I don’t think the possible consequences were deeply talked about during the presentation.

There was one thing that wasn’t mentioned in the presentation: the proposed railway between the mine and Milne.  Baffinland had proposed to build a 149km railway to Steensby Inlet in the early 2000s but appears to have abandoned this idea.  Now they’re looking at possibly building a railway to Milne Inlet.  I think the plans are still being reviewed by the territorial government.  We’ll see in the future if the railway gets approved.

Seal meat.

The feast concluded the presentation.  An elder used a savik (knife) to cut open the seal in the middle of the hall.  People lined up at the three tables with paper plates to take ham, chicken, rice, and bannock.  I stayed back and took several photographs before taking two pieces of bannock.  I left the C-Hall after eating the bannock.

Christmas Concert Audience.

Emcees.

Inuujaq School held its annual Christmas concert on the evening of December 19.  Middle & high school students spent the day decorating the community hall for the big event.  From what I witnessed at the dress rehearsal the previous day, parents and community members were in for a great show.  Everyone involved in the concert came dressed to impress.  The community hall was packed.  The building was built in 2007 and the community has already outgrown it.  Regardless, the show must go on.  Two high school students were the emcees, one speaking in Inuktitut while the other translated into English.

Grade 2

Grade 3

The Grade 4 student impersonating me.

Preschool began the concert by singing “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”.  Kindergarten continued by reciting a poem called, “Seal, Do You Have Skin?”  The Grade 1 class sang a bilingual version of the Christmas classic, “Silent Night.”  They also included hand motions, taught to them by their teacher.  The Grade 2 students took everyone back to the year of 1993 by performing the Macarena.  It’s not a Christmas tune, at least to my knowledge, but their dance did entertain the crowd.  The Grade 3 class did a short play that included an Inuit drum performance.  The Grade 4 students turned to comedy for their performance.  They dressed up as the staff of Inuujaq School and impersonated our mannerisms.  The student who impersonated me did a good job.

MLA David Akeeagok & Dental Hygienist.

MLA David Akeeagok thanking Grade 1
teacher Piuyuq for her many years of
service.

There was a pause in the concert program.  Nunavut MLA David Akeeagok was in attendance and wanted to use the event as an opportunity to publicly recognize several GN workers for their many years of public service.  He recognized three individuals: a nurse, a dental hygienist, and a teacher.  The nurse received a certificate congratulating her for her 25 years of service in Nunavut.  I’m not sure if all those years were accumulated in Arctic Bay.  The dental hygienist received a certificate and a small wooden qamutik trophy for working 30 years in the north.  The Grade 1 teacher, Piuyuq, also received a small wooden qamutik trophy for her 40 years of teaching in Arctic Bay.  (She already received her framed certificates last month).  There were rumours going around that CBC News North were coming to the community in the new year to interview Piuyuq for tv. 

Grade 7.

The concert continued with the Grade 5 students performing a skit titled, “Games At The C-Hall.”  The Grade 6 class performed a Christmas rap while the Grade 7s did a skit called, “Tell Me A Story Grandma.”  The skit concluded with an Inuit song and drum dance.  The Grade 8s also did a skit called, “Just Sitting Around”. 

The Grade 9s did a musical number but with a comedic twist.  They used the improv/drama game Helping Hands.  The students, except for two, were hiding behind chairs with a parachute draped over them.  Two students had volunteered to stick their heads out while two others stuck their legs out.  This made it appear as if the two students were really, really short.  When the music played, everyone moved to make it look like the two students were dancing.  Everyone enjoyed the performance.

One of the high school classes did a radio show skit in Inuktitut. 

The time had finally come for my drum class to perform on stage.  We had set up our drums in the main hallway about two acts before and did our stretches during the high school radio show.  The kids crowded around the front of the stage – as they’ve always done – when they saw my students & I walking to the stage carrying our drums.  We quickly set everything up behind the closed curtains while the emcees kept the audience busy.  When I was certain everyone was ready, I gave the signal for the curtains to be drawn.  Our show began.

We played three drums cadences as a group.  They were all well received by the audience.  One of my quad players and I did a duet of the second cadence, but we played it three times faster.  It was her favourite cadence and she had practiced it so much that she could play it faster than anyone else on the drumline.  What was more impressive is that she played the faster version on the quad toms.  Quad means four.  I could tell that the audience were blown away by her speed & coordination because right after we hit the last note, they cheered and clapped loudly.  What followed were a few drum solos from the students and myself.  When the curtains closed, we all breathed huge sighs of relief.  I shook the hands of all my drummers and congratulated them on a job well done.

The staff of Inuujaq School finished the concert by dancing and playing air instruments to the tune “Winter Wonderland”.  I brought a piano onstage but it wasn’t plugged in.  I just pretended to play it.  When the recording stopped, we wished everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.       

The Christmas festivities continued the next day.  The day was December 20; the last day of school before the Christmas break.  Classrooms were cleaned out in the early morning.  Memories of last night’s concert were still fresh in everyone’s minds.  People, young & old, were coming up to me, saying they really enjoyed the high school drumline.  The entire student body gathered in the gym after morning recess for carolling.  This time, the lyrics were projected onto the wall instead of handing out papers.  We sang a variety of carols until it was time for lunch.

Santa came to visit & give out gifts to the students in the afternoon.  I followed Santa and took pictures of him with the students.  Once Santa was done, everyone was dismissed.  I wished everyone a safe & happy break and then rushed home to pack my suitcase.

I flew down south for Christmas.  The weather was good on December 21.  There were no serious problems and I reached my final destination at the end of the day.  While waiting for my flight to Ottawa at the Iqaluit Airport, I took pictures of the newly installed fish sculpture in the departure lounge.  Why a fish sculpture?  Because Iqlauit means “place of many fish.”    

See you all in the new year!