Okay, let me get something straight here, just so nobody gets the wrong idea (because I feel that I may be leading a few of you astray...). Igloolik is very much a part of the 20th century. The kids listen to the same crappy dance music (I heard the Macarena at the carnival) and wear all of the sport paraphernalia like the caps and the jackets etc that they do down south. They wear running shoes and synthetic boots, smoke butts, (at $10 a pack, I'm told --- would you smokers quit if you had to pay THAT much?) and some of them have serious attitude problems, like some of us may have had when we were teens... There are televisions in most homes, and you can rent videos at the Co-op and the Northern. Now, when people go out on the land for a hunt and the wind is blowing and the temperature's down, THEN they wear the traditional clothing, including the caribouskin parka (qulitaq). The footwear then can also be caribouskin booties (kamiik) which have no hard sole, so it's like you're walking around in slippers. People do not walk around town in their qulitaq and kamiik everyday or... well, ever. (I had to the other day, though, because I was locked out and very cold. I went to a friend's place and had them warm me up with some lovely tea and conversation. No knocking on the door here, just go on in and announce yourself. It's customary to let yourself in and if there's no one home, just make yourself tea and wait until they arrive. And the invitations for tea that I've had! Small towns, eh? But, I digress...)

People for the most part buy their food at the two stores or order in on sea-lifts from Quebec (Paul's cupboards and pantry look like he's been spending just a little too much time at Costco, but it's a lot cheaper buying in bulk than buying at the stores here). You can get fresh produce on said sea-lifts. The big difference as far as food goes (especially fresh produce) is the price (for the obvious reason that everything has to be flown in). I'll be dying for some real (i.e. not powdered or condensed) milk by the time this adventure comes to an end. Some townspeople live off the land, they fish, hunt caribou, ptarmigan, and seal but supplement their diets with much of the same stuff that we eat down south. (And then there are the people that I mentioned in the last letter that live way out there and live completely off the land.)

We're having unseasonably warm weather, which I know I've mentioned before. It's wavering between 0C and -2C today and this is causing a massive meltdown. Unfortunately, the snow is kind of sticky to be skiing.

Okay, one of you asked about the landscape... well, the stereotype is pretty accurate. It's white and relatively flat. There are some hills to the north, and some "raised beaches" (the earth bouncing back from the weight of the glaciers during the ice age, but it bounces back in fits and spurts so the land is really uneven where this has gone on) here and there. When you come here straight from BC, it's pretty flat. And right now it's all white, but if this temperature keeps up, it won't be for long. And this is not such great news for us, as our only transportation is a snowmobile, which is much better on snow than on wet land. I'm told that you sink. Not pretty.

Besides, I came here to be a part of snowculture! So, this leads me to the next question. Yes, I'm far above the treeline, as mentioned before, and as far as any vegetation goes, I really have no idea what grows here. I haven't seen anything yet. I'll ask around and get back to you on that one. Tundra.

Well, that should clear things up a little, no?

Will write more soon.

Lynn

Home | Emails | General Photos | Camping Photos