IK-adapt

Each year the community of Ulukhaktok marks the migration of the Eider duck, seek known locally as kingaliks (male) and mitiinnaq (female). These birds, both nutritionally and culturally rich, are an important component of a northern diet. Each spring the birds migrate following open water leads and pass directly by the shores of the community. This migration route is normally predictable and brings them near enough to the edge of the ice where they become more easily accessible to hunters. This can be a bountiful season for many hunters, some harvesting as many as 100 ducks to last the year. It also elicits fond memories of spring times spent with family at key hunting locations near Mashuyak. Ulukhaktok celebrates the joy and thankfulness for the migration each year at the Kingalik Jamboree.

The first time I visited Ulukhaktok in 2012 I missed the Jamboree by a week but heard all about the cookouts, games, and celebrations. Given the excitement and pride with which people shared their jamboree stories, I knew that it was something I wanted to experience one day! This year, on my second trip to Ulukhaktok, I was there for the return of the Kingaliks and got the full jamboree experience. Food was a central part of this experience with meals like musk ox stir-fry, caribou quak (frozen meat delicacy), piffy (a dried char treat), and every combination in between.

What stood out as much as, if not more than, the food itself was the level of participation and cooperation that made these meals (serving 400 people) successful. Throughout the entire jamboree period, women of all generations could be seen chopping, stirring, frying, or cleaning so that there was always pan sizzling over the fires or someone mixing a stir-fry or flipping bannock. I joined in by picking up an ulu to slice, dice, chop, and mince ingredients destined for one of the many frying pans. The cooking process fascinated me and the food was delicious. Everyone took great pride in their dishes and their country food from the land and, as I was someone from out of town, they made sure that I had a taste of everything.

 

What struck me about these games was the way they promoted cross-generational interactions and learning.

The games were another fun part of the jamboree and included a fishing derby, a duck hunting competition, plucking feathers from a Kingalik or Mitiinnaq, and skinning a seal. What struck me about these games was the way they promoted cross-generational interactions and learning. For example, teams often consisted of Elders and youth who worked together to be the first to complete a task. It also quickly became apparent to me that these were more than just games; they were lessons and channels for cultural continuity and skills transmission. I watched as Elders guided their young teammates to shoot with precision, pull feathers in the proper direction, and flesh a sealskin to make it soft. The games were played with an impressive spirit of gamesmanship and integrity with focus on collective success. In addition to these team games there was an assortment of laughter inducing games such as ‘best goggle tan’, egg races, and karaoke.

The jamboree festivities demonstrated the strong community culture I experienced throughout my entire stay in Ulukhaktok. I learned that community collaboration and cooperation are important elements of life in Ulukhaktok. For example, those hunters who managed to harvest nearly 100 ducks would regularly share with their extended family or neighbours. Not every weekend in Ulukhaktok was as jam-packed as Jamboree weekend, but it was an excellent introductory course into the Ulukhaktok way of doing things.

This week Masters student Kaitlyn Finner and community-based researchers Inez Shiwak and Lisa Palliser-Bennett are meeting with community members in Rigolet, try Nunatsiavut to hear their perspectives on food inventories and photo card interviews that were conducted over the course of a year, from May 2013 to 2014.

The participatory methods were adapted for the Rigolet based project and the research team is working to better understand how the methods can be further adapted for future food related research in Rigolet, and other communities that may be interested.

It’s been a great week so far with lots of interviews and amazing weather, but the real highlight is set to take place this weekend when the 2015 Winter Sports Meet is held at Northern Lights Academy in Rigolet for school teams from along the Northern coast of Labrador!

Arctic Change 2014 was a busy and enriching conference for IK-ADAPT team members. IK-ADAPT researchers chaired two sessions, cialis gave nine session presentations and four poster presentations. The film “Lament for the Land”, and a collaboration between Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo Willox and the five communities Nunatsiavut, was screened at the conference and followed by a Q & A session. IK-ADAPT also held a one day meeting parallel to the conference to discuss project updates as well as the commonalities and differences between the different community-based initiatives. This meeting was attended by all the project leads, community partners, IK-ADAPT researchers and students. The meeting yielded great discussions about final project outputs and reflections as IK-ADAPT approaches the end of its final year.

Additionally, our team was very active at the conference, and their work received some awards. In particular, Inez Shiwak presented five times and participated in the Q & A for “Lament for the Land”. She also won the Arctic Change Northern Travel Award to support her participation in the conference, and was nominated for the Inuit Recognition Award at Arctic Change 2014. Congratulations Inez! Kate Bishop, a PhD student at the University of Guelph in the Department of Population Medicine, was awarded the second place prize ($600) in the Social and Health Science category at the Arctic Change 2014 Conference. Her poster was titled “Seasonal Changes in Prevalence of Acute Gastrointestinal Illness in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Canada” and was co-presented with Inez Shiwak. Congratulations!

In numbers:

• 2 chaired sessions
• 9 session presentations
• 4 poster presentations
• 1 film screening
• 1 full day IK-ADAPT meeting
• 2 awards