|
British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
|
Home Copyright
© |
Inuvik:
The End of the Road by N McCready April 2002 My trip to Inuvik in the Canadian Arctic began with a flight from London Heathrow to Edmonton, Alberta. Flight connections called for an overnight stop there. Edmonton is home to the West Edmonton Mall - the largest shopping mall in the world. It's a huge place encompassing lots of shops as well as a swimming pool, amusement park, dolphin pool, and a submarine ride. Next morning I caught a plane to Inuvik, which stopped briefly at Yellowknife to pick up supplies and more passengers. Inuvik is a new town of 3,400 people, home to Inuit (Eskimo), Dene (Indian) and white people. The reason for my trip was to visit my father, Colum McCready, who is Property Manager for the Gwitch'in Tribal Council - the most northerly of the Dene tribes or Bands. Inuvik (meaning "place of the people") lies at the end of a gravel road named the Dempster Highway, which runs 740 km from Dawson City, an amazing road trip that takes you from the Yukon through several mountain ranges to above the Arctic Circle. The highway was named after Corporal WJD Dempster who set out on this road (then a trail) in search of four Mounties who got lost in a snowstorm with their dog teams. Dempster eventually found the four perished officers and their dogs on February 14, 1911. In Inuvik there are three hotels, three grocery stores, one of which has a fast food outlet, one coffee shop, two café's, four churches, a library, swimming pool, a school and the town council offices. Life for the people has become westernised: most people have cable television, telephone and Internet access via satellite, cars, and ski-doos. However the elders encourage the children to learn traditional skills such as hunting and trapping. The Roman Catholic Igloo Church (this is made of wood and designed and built by Oblate Brother Laroque in 1958. The interior is decorated with paintings by local artist Mona Thrasher. The houses are wooden, and are built to sit some way above ground on poles driven as far as 30 feet into the permafrost. All the water and sewage pipes run above ground too. For entertainment, there are a few bars, music bands, a video store and a library, and out-door sports. There are community events too, e.g. St Patrick's Day, The Sunrise Festival, Midnight Madness (mid-summers day) has been celebrated in recent years. Northern lights can be seen during the winter months and Japanese tourists come over to see these. My dad's housemate owned a small dog, and as soon as I was unpacked she was keen to go for a walk even though outside was snow-covered. Animals are great at adapting; if we stopped walking for a few seconds it was comical to watch her stand on three legs to keep the other paw warm! Due to the cold weather, we were able to drive on ice 2m thick, which in winter forms a road above the Mackenzie River to Tsiigehtchic (population 170). See the photo of me standing on the ice-road (the temperature was -25C). Tsiigehtchic, pronounced "Sick-a-chick", is home to the Gwitch'in tribe. Here there is a church and some houses but not much else. In the summer a ferry runs across the Mackenzie and Arctic Red Rivers, which meet where Tsiigehtchic is located. The Mackenzie is deep (135 feet) and fast flowing (about eight knots) and many local people have perished on it over the years. Aklavik is 120km across the Delta from Inuvik. Aklavik can only be reached by ice road in winter and by boat or light aircraft in summer. The airport there is named after Freddie Carmichael a local bush pilot and now president of the Gwich'in Tribal Council. Freddie's father was an immigrant from Ireland and his mother was a Gwich'in. His bother John, now in his late sixties, is one of the last remaining trappers in this area. During my visit we went on a few excursions. One was to a log cabin 40 minutes drive from Inuvik on the edge of a large (frozen) lake. After lighting the fire, we boiled water for tea and had a cowboy's lunch. We brought along a Winchester 30/30 rifle in case of an encounter with wolves. After lunch we started the Ski-doos (snow motorbike) and had a fantastic time riding around the snow covered lake. Another day my father arranged for us to try dog sledding/mushing. The instructor insisted we wrapped up warmly. So I wore 2 hats, a scarf, jumper, ski jacket, trousers, salopettes, snow-boots and gloves! We were given another pair of gloves, made from the fur of the Muscox to keep our hands extra warm. We each had a team of six husky dogs, and a sledge at the back to stand on. To navigate, the dogs had to be stopped using the brake, and a command shouted at the leaders: "Chi" for right, "Cha" for left", after this the dogs changed direction. As soon as you take your foot off the brake, they are off! To steer the sledge, we adjusted our weight on the edges of the sledge. It was great, you have to hold on tight or else the dogs leave you behind! We were out for over an hour, and my dad fell off twice, but judging by his laughter, he enjoyed himself. Another day we took a short flight over the town in a helicopter piloted by a friend of my father's. As it was my first time in a helicopter I was very excited, it was an amazing feeling to float in mid-air. From the helicopter we could make out the end of the tree line in the distance, north-wards from there trees do not grow. Around Christmas-time, there is 24-hour darkness; the first sunrise is cause for a big party. During the summer the weather warms up and the sun never sets. The town is the site of the Great Northern Arts Festival held once a year. Summer here lasts only four months and is very hot (+400 C) and the area is infested with mosquitoes, black flies and horse flies. Autumn and spring are very brief (usually about a month). The area is teaming with wild life in summer including grizzly bears, lynx and marten. Inuvik is the most northerly place I have travelled to, and one of the last wildernesses in the world. For me this was a truly memorable trip. Some interesting
websites:- First published in VISA issue 52 (September 2003) |