Nipivut Conference – Part 2

Polar bear fur on display at Nasivvik High School.

My students went to visit friends & relatives for the remainder of the day.  I told them to return to the high school before the evening curfew.  They could also return early and watch the talent show in the gym.  I decided to explore & photograph Pond Inlet on foot.  I never had the opportunity to walk around the community until now.  My previous visits to Pond Inlet were restricted to the airport and the Northern Store.

            

I exited Nasivvik High School, picked a direction, and started walking.  I passed a Quickstop convenience store that appears to be built inside a long sea can or a prefabricated module.  I didn’t go inside.  I’ve heard people in Arctic Bay wanting a Quickstop.  I turned left at an intersection and continued walking southeast.  I stopped at a peculiar looking house that’s noticeable from the airport.  The house is tubular, covered in stainless steel plating, and is Y-shaped.  I finally had the chance to see this unique house up close.  It’s the only one of its kind in this community.

            

My employer is Qikiqtani School Operations (QSO).  They are headquartered in Pond Inlet and oversee all the schools in the Qikiqtani Region.  Their offices are located inside the Aqsaniit Building, a large structure that sits on top of a hill.  It’s one of the first buildings you see when you exit the airport terminal.  I wanted to go inside but it was already late afternoon and I wanted to take as many pictures as I could before dark.

            

Pond Inlet Airport

I walked towards the airport, circled around the perimeter fence, and passed the Northern Store.  My destination was the coastline.  From the air, Pond Inlet doesn’t look like a big town, but the community has a population of 1,600 and the buildings are spread out.  The terrain isn’t flat so you get plenty of exercise walking up and down hills.  I stopped at a T-intersection at the bottom of a hill and photographed the long street that stretches parallel to the coast.  There are plenty of houses along this road.

            

Another reason I walked down this way was to get a clearer picture of a large iceberg.  It looked pretty big and I assumed it would stay the entire winter.  The people of Pond Inlet would have a nice landmark to visit on the frozen ice.   

           

Pond Inlet Public Library.

Pond Inlet Public Library.

I headed northeast, ending up at the public library.  The building is white on top and light blue on the bottom.  The library is built over the slope of a hill.  I was surprised to see that most of the building is held up in the air by long metal pipes.  The space underneath is fenced off to prevent vandalism.  I’m not an engineer, but I feel like another floor could be added in that open space because it’s all going to waste.

            

Main entrance to the Health Centre.

Sauniq Hotel.

The last places I walked by were the Health Centre and the Sauniq Hotel.  I didn’t go inside these places because I wasn’t sick and I already had a place to sleep.  Sauniq is the main hotel in the community.

            

I caught glimpses of the evening talent show.  There performances I briefly saw consisted of Inuit youth singing popular songs and rapping in Inuktitut. 

            

My students returned to school before the evening curfew.  If they hadn’t, they would have been locked out until the following morning.  That’s what I told them, but really, I would have stayed awake and let them inside after they knocked on the front door.

            

October 3, the second & final day of the conference, began like the first day.  We woke up early, got ready for the day, and helped the school staff setup the breakfast tables.  Breakfast started at 8:30am and was finished by 9am.  Everyone assembled in the gym for the continuation of the conference. 

The opening group session began with several speeches and ended with a rock, paper, scissors competition.  The rules were slightly altered to reinforce the ideas of teamwork and supporting someone.  The competition began with everyone challenging each other.  Only winners could advance.  The losers turned into cheerleaders and would follow the person they lost to.  After a period of time, only two competitors remained.  What stood out in the final round was that both finalists had and army of cheerleaders behind them.  This certainly made the competition more entertaining to watch.  The student who won the final round must have felt great because he had the entire student body congratulating him.

Arctic Bay students enjoying lunch at
the Co-op.

My students attended the Safe Talk workshop for the entire day.  They learned how “to recognize persons with thoughts of suicide and connect them with suicide helping resources.”  They were also taught TALK – Tell, Ask, Listen, KeepSafe.  While my students attended the workshop, I talked to several Nasivvik High School teachers about teaching in Pond Inlet and the resources they use.

A short closing ceremony was held in the afternoon to mark the end of the conference.  The Red Cross organizers encouraged the students to not forget what they learned and to use the knowledge and skills when necessary.  Overall, I thought the Nipivut Conference was well done.  I asked my students if they enjoyed the workshops and they said they did.  The food catering was also good.  I was glad I got to see how another school outside Iqaluit looks & operates.  Nasivvik High School is larger than Inuujaq School because it boasts two floors, a full gym, exercise room, large kitchen, shop class, and many classrooms.  There are plans to build a separate high school in Arctic Bay but the construction timeline keeps getting postponed.

The Arctic Bay & Grise Fiord representatives left in the early morning of October 4.  We woke up at 6am, packed all our belongings, ate a small breakfast, and were ready to go by 8:30am.  We left written Thank You messages on the white board in the classroom where the female students slept.  That classroom had been reserved for us so that we could securely store all our personal belongings.  We also thanked the Red Cross & Department of Education for organizing the conference.

Arctic Bay & Grise Fiord students. Also present, one of the speakers at the conference.

Charter plane.

Snow had fallen overnight.  We arrived at the airport at 8:45am.  The pilots called us at 9:15am.  We said our goodbyes to our chauffeurs and stepped onto the tarmac.  The pilots loaded our bags into the back of the plane and let us climb inside.  Once again, I sat at the back of the plane near the exit door.  I took one final group photo before we took off.

The flight to Arctic Bay took 40 minutes.  The landing was a bit rough.  There was mild turbulence and the plane dropped several feet at once instead of gradually descending.  In the end, the plane safely landed on the gravel runway and taxied to the terminal.  My students & I got out and had our luggage handed to us.  We said goodbye to the Grise Fiord students & their teacher, and walked to the terminal.  Frank was there to greet me and give me a ride home.  Friends & relatives of the students were also there to pick them up.

I enjoyed the remainder of the morning at home.  I resumed teaching at Inuujaq School after lunch.

End Nipivut Conference Mini-Series.