International Inuit Day 2024

Warning: This blog post contains images that some readers may find graphic.  Viewer discretion is advised.

International Inuit Day (IID), aka International Circumpolar Inuit Day, is an annual holiday “that was created to celebrate Inuit and amplify their voices.”  IID “was established by the Inuit Circumpolar Council [ICC] in 2006”.  November 7 was chosen as the day “to honour the birth of Eben Hopson Sr., the organizer of the first [ICC].”

Inuujaq School’s Events Committee began planning for IID in late October.  Everyone would be encouraged to wear traditional Inuit clothing.  An afternoon assembly would be held in the gym featuring throat singing, drum dancing, a fashion show, and a feast.  Parents, guardians, Elders, and community members would be invited.  The school ordered caribou meat for the feast.  Flour was purchased from the local stores to make Bannock.  Juice boxes, tea, coffee, and water would also be available.

Teachers did Inuit-themed activities & lessons in their classrooms during the week leading up to November 7.  They also reviewed & promoted the 8 Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Principles. 

Many students & staff came to school dressed in Inuit clothing on November 7.  I wore my sealskin vest & tie.  The high school culture class spent most of the morning preparing food for the afternoon feast in the Home Ec Room.  There was lots of caribou meat & Bannock to prepare.  The meat would be served cooked & raw.  The cooked caribou was either in a stew or by itself, like a roast.  The food was moved to the gym when it was ready.

Several middle school students helped me setup the gym for the afternoon assembly.  Foldout chairs were set against the walls, a line of tables was placed at the front of the gym for the feast, the judges of the fashion show had their own table & chairs to the side, and a sound system was put together.  The high school culture class taped a large photo collage they prepared of past Inuit who lived in the Arctic Bay area and taped it to a wall.

Parents, guardians, and invited guests began arriving about 15 minutes before the start of the assembly.  They were directed to the gym while classes were called down.  The assembly began 15 minutes later.

The emcees of the assembly were the chair of the local District Education Authority (DEA) and I.  We welcomed everyone and did a short speech about the history of IID, its significance, and the importance of keeping Inuit languages & cultures alive.

An Elder lit a ceremonial qulliq lamp.  She explained the history, importance, & cultural significance of the qulliq in Inuktitut.  The DEA chair provided the English translation.

Two local throat singers performed several songs to the delight of the audience. 

The high school Inuit Culture class did a drum dance, song, and showcased art & photo collages they prepared for the assembly.   

The assembly continued with the fashion show.  It was like the Halloween costume contest in October.  Classes walked around the gym while wearing their traditional Inuit clothing.  Three judges observed the processions and picked the best dressed from each class.  School staff, parents, and guardians also participated.  The winners received Co-op gift cards, funded by the DEA.

The assembly program saved the best for last: the feast.  The smell of freshly prepared country food was present in the gym from the beginning.  An Elder blessed the food and then Elders & invited guests lined up first.  Students & school staff came next.  There was a lot of food and I’m sure many people appreciated it.  The cost of living is high in Canada’s Arctic and food insecurity is a serious problem.  I enjoyed a few pieces of caribou & Bannock.  Takeout containers were available for anyone wanting to take the leftovers home.

The DEA held a draw for take home food bags filled with cereal, fruit, tea, and granola bars.  Tickets had been handed out before the start of the assembly.  Five food bags were handed out to lucky recipients.

Students & teachers returned to class at the end of the assembly, but the high school stayed behind to assist in the cleanup.  Garbage was taken outside, the chairs & tables were put away, and the food trays, pots, & utensils were returned to the kitchen where they would be cleaned after school.  The gym floor was also swept. 

Overall, the assembly & feast were an excellent way to celebrate International Inuit Day.

 

Fall Biathlon 2024

Physical training (PT) is an important component of the Canadian cadet program.  It’s part of the healthy living training module and cadets can earn badges by achieving high grades on physical training tests.  The physical training program is currently under review and new standards are being written.  The current badges are no longer applicable, but cadets are still allowed to do the “old” physical training test for fun.

The army cadets of 3045 Arctic Bay usually do a PT test on the first Saturday of the month.  However, November of this year was different.  The cadets competed in the annual Fall Biathlon competition on November 2.  The day-long competition is voluntary and sees cadets shoot metal plinker targets indoors & run outside, all while completing the relays in the shortest time.  So, I guess the cadets did get to do PT.

The cadets & I arrived at the school gym at 9am to turn it into a temporary air rifle range.  We achieved this with tables, chairs, backboards, plinker targets, shooting mats, and pylons.  All working air rifles were brought out, paper bowls were filled with lead pellets, spotting scopes were set up, and three clipboards & stop watches were set on the main table.  I prepared individual scorecards & name labels for the stop watches the week before.  The gym was ready by 10am.  The air rifle range had three shooting lanes, divided by two lines of wooden tables acting as walls.

A short briefing was held at 10am.  I welcomed the cadets & explained the plan for the day.  They would be given time to select their rifles and practice before completing their relays.  Cadets would shoot three times, but the Year 1 cadets only had to run 2 laps.  Everyone else had to run 3 laps.  The 1 kilometre running course goes around the school and surrounding neighbourhood.  The cadets & I walked the course a week before for familiarization.  There was no set order, so competitors were free to volunteer when ready to complete their relays.  A max of three cadets would compete at a time, making it easier for judges to keep track of time, and the number of targets hit.  Senior cadets & I would be judges.

To ensure fairness, cadets were placed into three groups according to their years of training: Year 1, Years 2 & 3, and Years 4+. 

Three practice relays were held.  Cadets also stretched to prepare for running.  Biathlon usually includes skiing, but the water in the bay only begins to freeze in early November.

A few cadets completed their relays before noon.  A senior cadet boiled water in a large pot on a Coleman stove outside in preparation for lunch.  The menu was meals-ready-to-eat (MREs).

The competition was paused at noon for lunch.  Cadets lined up to choose their MREs.  Junior cadets went first, and the only officer present (me) went last.  It’s how it goes.  MRE meals usually take about 15 minutes to cook.  Juice boxes were also available.  Lunch lasted an hour.

The competition continued at 1:00pm after cleanup.  It took about 2 hours for the remaining cadets to complete their relays.  Thankfully the temperature wasn’t too cold outside.  The scorecards were placed inside a large envelope for me to correct later. 

The cadets & I spent about 30 minutes putting everything away and cleaning the gym.  Teamwork.  A lot of lead pellets were used.  The cadets formed up for a debriefing.  I congratulated them for completing their relays and the final results would be announced at the next Wednesday training night.  There was still time left in the day, so I let the cadets play sports in the gym before sending them home.             

 

Halloween 2024

Halloween is a great way to end the month of October.  Free candy, wearing scary costumes, and a good reason to forget winter is on the way.  Or in the case of Arctic Bay, winter is already here.  Halloween is well observed in the community.  I order my costume and candy at least a month & a half in advance to guarantee their arrival before the big day.

Inuujaq School’s Events Committee began planning activities & an assembly at the beginning of the month.  Classes were given a week before October 31 to decorate their doors for a chance to win prizes.  (Door decorating contests have been a standard for years.  We really like to decorate our doors).  The winners would be announced at the assembly.  The assembly would feature my high school drumline and a costume contest.  High school students decided to organize a haunted house this year and convinced the high school science teacher to hold it in his classroom.

My costume this year was Front Man from the popular tv series Squid Game.  I decided to dress as another character from the show after being a Squid Game Guard in 2022.  I hear a second season is going to be released at the end of this year.  I admit I’ve only watched the first episode of Season 1, so I have a lot of catching up to.  From what I’ve been reading in the news, I don’t think Season 2 will be the end of the series.  Squid Game has been a runaway hit so I won’t be surprised if a third season will be produced.

The festivities began on the morning of October 31.  I photographed all the decorated doors before school began at 8:35am.  A selected panel of three judges judged the doors in the late morning and selected the winners before the lunch bell rang.  To ensure fairness, classes were divided into groups.  The high school haunted house opened its doors after morning recess and was busy until lunch time.  The haunted house was restricted to Grades 4 – 12.  We didn’t want to scare the younger children for life.  My drummers & I played through our concert performance pieces and worked through a few passages that needed extra attention.  I assured them the concert would go alright and would be over before they knew it.  Our opening set would last at most 6 minutes. 

Lunch was extended to 90 minutes so that everyone had time to eat and change into their costumes.  I borrowed the principal’s vehicle to drive home, get all my costumes, and bring them back to school.  I let students & staff wear my costumes from previous years in case they don’t have one to wear.  My drummers have priority because they have to perform and if they’re nervous, they can wear a costume, and no one will know it’s them.

My lunch time was short because I had to go to the gym and set up the drums.  My drummers arrived at 1:15pm and helped me.  Everything was ready to go by 1:30pm.  The school was full of excitement and people wearing costumes.  Everyone was called down to the gym at 1:40pm.  The assembly began at 1:50pm.

The principal opened the assembly with a short welcome speech.  She then introduced the high school drumline.  My drummers & I entered the packed gym and took positions behind our drums.  My spot was in the middle.  I raised my drumsticks, clicked 4 times, and our concert began.  We played three drum pieces about a minute long each.  Then a few drummers & I played short solos for the audience.  And just like that our concert was over in 6 minutes.  The audience enjoyed & applauded our performance.  My drummers & I breathed sighs of relief under our masks and then moved our drums to the back of the gym.  A teacher filmed the performance with my camera.  My students & I watched our performance the next day.

The assembly continued with the costume contest.  Classes walked around the middle of the gym, starting with preschool, displaying their costumes for everyone.  I provided the Halloween themed background music by playing it from my portable MP3 player.  A panel of judges, sitting off to the side, watched and then picked the best dressed from each class.  Teachers, parents, & guardians also participated.  Winners received Co-op gift cards from the head of the local District Education Authority (DEA). 

The last part of the assembly was the announcing of the winners of the door decorating contest.  The winning classes were awarded funds to hold pizza/popcorn parties at later dates.

Students & teachers returned to their classes to engage in Halloween themed activities until 3:00pm.  Parents & guardians were allowed to be present.  Teachers also distributed Halloween candy to their students.  My drummers & I spent the remaining time moving our instruments & equipment to my classroom.  Several high school students also helped. 

Classes were dismissed early at 3:00pm to give families time to eat and get ready for trick-or-treating at 5:00pm.  The principal gave me & the large box containing my previous costumes a lift home.  I brought out the boxes of candy I bought online and filled several bowls.  I placed them near the door and then left the door unlocked.  I sat on a chair in costume and waited. 

It’s easier to leave the door unlocked then have kids knock.  Knocking on doors is a southern custom.  Up here, people just walk inside . . . unless the door it locked.  Kids started arriving just after 5:00pm.  Trick-or-treaters come & go in clusters, and it does get busy at certain times.  Many kids are driven around town by their parents/guardians because it’s dark & cold outside.  I’m generous when I give out candy, about 4 pieces per person.  I also offer candy to parents/guardians.  I don’t discriminate.  I went through a lot of boxes, but thankfully, I still had leftovers when trick-or-treating finished at 7:00pm.  The leftover candy will be used for the year-end candy toss for cadets.  (More on that in December).

I changed into regular clothes and made my way to the community hall for the annual Ugliest Halloween Costume Contest.  I found a seat at the back and got my camera ready.  This event is a staple of Arctic Bay culture.  I’ve been attending them since moving here in 2013 and they’re always entertaining to watch.  The amount of creativity participants put into their costumes is out of this world.  To a first-time observer, it may appear participants just put on whatever they can find in their house, but thought & strategy are invested.  One consistent feature of most costumes is the hiding of participants’ faces with masks.  You don’t know who they are until the end.

Participants took their seats in front of the stage.  Numbers were taped to their backs to make it easier for judges to pick the winners.  I wasn’t a judge this year.  Participants were divided into 2 groups: 12 & Under, and 13 & Over.  Participants were competing for bragging rights & cash prizes.

The costume contest was like the one held at Inuujaq School.  The 12 & Under group walked around the middle of the hall, showing everyone their costume creations, while music played from loudspeakers.  They sat down and then the 13 & Over group did the same.  The one participant, or should I say participants, that stood out from this group was a father & son duo who entered the contest dressed as a very tall woman in a red dress.  And I do mean one woman.  The father was the bottom half & the son was the top half.  I placed my bets on these two winning first place.

The judges announced the winners of 13 & Over group first.  They called up 3^rd place, 2^nd place, and then 1^st place to receive their cash prizes.  I was right.  The father-son duo won over the judges and the audience to claim first prize.  The judges then moved onto the 12 & Under group and called up the top 3 winners to receive their cash prizes.  The winners removed their masks to the delight of everyone.

The community assembly ended with a candy toss.  Community hall staff tossed candy into the audience from the main stage and from the back of the hall.  I didn’t catch any.  I was busy filming and had leftover candy at home to snack on if I wanted to.  I returned home at the end of the toss.

Inuujaq School students & staff were hyper for the next several days.