August 31 Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet)

 

Our voyage map to date

As well as an expert expedition team, we have on board an amazing team of archeologists and historians which means rarely a day goes by without a lecture or three. Today was no different.  

A Chronology of exploration

The Arctic - almost a negative image of the Antarctic

After a morning of lectures (archaeology and geographic research) we went ashore at Pond Inlet (Mittimatalik) which is the largest of the four Canadian Arctic hamlets above the 72nd parallel.  We were met be local guides who took groups of us touring the village. 

L: one of our guides, a very sweet quiet man

Precious polar bear skin being stretched

The remains of a summer camp. Whale bones form the scaffolding for skin roofs
The local guide had a baby bobbing about in her hood

An ambulance on the right

The written Inuit language, Inuktitut, is beautiful, picturesque syllabics

We ended up at the community centre which houses an indoor sports arena. There we were entertained with a marvelous show of dancing, singing, crafts and demonstrations of one of the sports in their Olympics (indoor) - kicking a target suspended above them, with varying degrees of difficulty. Including kicking from squatting on one.  Such beautiful fun loving people. 

Target kicking

This mum and her toddler were enchanting and happy to have a photos taken 

While the villagers stood in a circle singing, this beautiful man, the drum dancer, played his qilaut - it's a type of frame drum native to the Inuit cultures of the Arctic once covered in seal skin. I was given a set of CDs containing three volumes of Inuinnait drum dance songs; listening to them transports me back to a delightful special afternoon,

During the long dark winter the people of the community devise games and things to amuse themselves.

The children built a small inukshuk at the end of the show. These are used to signal many things including direction.

An inukshuk on the Nunavut flag

Then it was back to the ship through fairly chopping waters - but not before I snapped a few plants of course (I was always getting the hurry on!)

L: Arctic poppy R: Lapland poppy

L: Arctic Black Bear Berry (in red foliage). R: Arctic sorrel used for many things including tea

Then it really was back to the Mother Ship