Rankin Inlet

So, I haven't even been in Repulse Bay for two months, and I already have the pleasure of taking part in a teacher's workshop. The fun thing about workshops is that you have to be flown out to attend (no roads come in or out of Repulse). That means that I get a paid "holiday" to Rankin Inlet. We are doing a Reader's Theatre workshop here Tuesday and Wednesday. It was pretty good today. We did a lot of practical activities that I will be able to use in my grade 3 and 4 ESL classes. I have some non-readers in both classes which makes it hard doing Reader's Theatre, hence the "reader's" part, but some of the activities are drama based, which I'm sure the kids will love.
Anyways, enough about teaching. The other cool part about being in a bigger community is that I can go to a restaurant!! There are no restaurants in Repulse Bay, other than the Inns North, which no one goes to eat there other than guests. There are a few places to eat here. I had sushi for lunch today!! That was so exciting for me. It may not seem that exciting, but really think about living somewhere where you have NO restaurants. There are so many things that we take for granted in the "south," as it is referred to up here. Other things that excite me about being in Rankin Inlet is that there is a pharmacy, pottery studio (heading there tomorrow), and a much larger variety of things to buy at the Northern store and Co-op. Tomorrow I'm going to print some pictures from my camera . . . yippee!
I brought my cell phone here as I use it as my alarm clock. I completely forgot that I could get cell phone service here! I haven't cancelled my Bell phone plan yet. . . I guess it's pointless to cancel now as I will be home in a couple of months.
The owners of the Lodge I am staying at (Nanuq Lodge) have about 40 dogs! There are 4 dogsled teams in total, plus some puppies! The woman who runs the lodge is the aunt to Jordin Tootoo. Anyways, I will be taking a couple of bags of dog food back to Repulse for some fellow teachers who have sled dogs (see pics below) and in return they are going to take me dogsledding this weekend! I am really looking forward to that. I haven't been able to see very much outside of Repulse yet. I am also looking forward to warmer weather and being able to go out on the land . . . fishing, hiking, etc.

I had mentioned in my previous post about some meetings that we attended at the school back in the beginning of March. There were some elders present from the community, as well as members from the DEA (District Education Authority). We talked about the Lands Claim Agreement, new school curriculum, etc. It was a very informative couple of days for me to see and learn more about Nunavut and the community here in Repulse. There was an interpreter present which was very useful. I was able to hear testimony from some of the elders and other locals who spoke about earlier days, before the first houses were brought to Repulse Bay (1960's). They spoke about the first time they saw money, white people and schools. It is hard to comprehend how much change has occurred here in such a short period of time. I feel lucky to be able to live in a very traditional community where Inuktitut is still the primary language and people still go out hunting on the land. A lot of culture is being left behind, however, which is really sad. I imagine it won't be long before their language and other traditions start to fade away too.

Heritage Day

On Monday, March 1st, we celebrated Heritage Day at Tusarvik School. This was a great introduction to Arctic culture for me! There were several activities, such as making (and eating) bannock, tool making, drum dancing, storytelling, igloo making, traditional Inuit games, and dog sledding. It was amazing!
The bannock was made with flour, water, baking soda, salt, and lard (traditionally they used seal, walrus, or other types of lard, but now it is often made with Crisco). I guess it depends on what is available.
There were a couple of elders from the community there to tell the students about traditional tools and what they were used for. Most of the tools were made from animal bones, antlers, etc. They also talked about some of the games that they played with the bones.
There were a couple of ladies (elders) who sang/chanted while the students and teachers used the drums. Yes, I gave it a try, and I think I did a pretty good job.
In the gym we played some Inuit games. There was leg wrestling, balancing, tug-of-war, and a number of other games & activities.
A couple of elders told stories from their childhood. It was in Inuktitut, so I didn't understand what they were saying. I was lucky, however, to hear elders talking about days when they were younger at a workshop yesterday, but I will talk more about that in another post.
There were a couple of guys from the community who came and constructed igloos. It looked really hard! It was super cold outside, but I would say that this activity was one of my favourites!
We then headed down to the ice to let some of the students take a dog sled ride. It was really cold out on the ice (very windy!!). I had to take a group of students back to the school early as we were freezing! The wind chill was -43, which isn't that bad, but it was bad enough that some people got a touch of frost bite.
Anyways, being a new teacher in the community, it was fun for me to experience these activities with my students. They were great and explained a lot of things to me. Everyday I am learning more about the culture and traditions here and I am very appreciative of the opportunity that I was given to live and work in this community!