Over at the Circumpolar Blog, George Lessard recently posted a video:

via Circumpolar Blog: Inuit Drum Song ;Arctic Bay, Nunavut, Canada.

The two girls in the video are singing a traditional melody, accompanied by a man playing a qilaut, or wind drum, made of stretched caribou skin.

Curious about the qilaut, I did some more research and came across another video this time played by Angaangaq Lyberth, an Inuit elder from Greenland.

Accompanying the video is a description of the instrument:

Qilaut, the Eskimo Wind Drum, is a circle that has no beginning nor ending, in which we all belong.

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Inside a brick building in downtown Montreal, Nunavik’s Avataq Cultural Institute is working to preserve the culture of Quebec’s far north.

The Avataq Cultural Institute’s new Montreal facility features climate-controlled storage, an indoor parking garage (so that artifacts in transit are shielded from the sun), and on-site security, all working to preserve Nunavik’s cultural heritage.

A polar bear sculpture by Kangiqsualujjuaq artist Willie George Etok

And, while it may seem odd to keep these precious bits of the Nunavik’s past in Montreal, a secure, climate-controlled facility like this one would be too expensive to build and maintain in the North, Avataq curator Louis Gagnon said.

But Avataq’s intent isn’t to bring materials down from the North unless they need special conservation, he said. Avataq simply wants to preserve its existing collection in a safe place.

From there, items can travel to institutions for exhibition, researchers can come in to consult materials, and — above all — Avataq’s collection will remain in good condition for many generations, he said.

“We don’t want to repatriate more items to the South— just the opposite,” said Gagnon, who hopes Avataq’s collection may some day be displayed in museum exhibitions in Nunavik , perhaps at the multi-purpose museum facility that people in Puvirnituq want to build.

Avataq’s art collection now contains about 1,400 works of art and other cultural objects, handed back to Avataq from the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs in the 1980s and then put into storage.

via NunatsiaqOnline 2009-09-22.

Most items in the collection have been photographed and can be viewed online at the museum’s website, with 360-degree views of many 3-dimensional artifacts.

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I was poking around over on Flickr when I ran across a great set of vintage images of the north from ookami_dou.

Makkovik / Dog Sled (ca. 1900), by ookami_dou

One of the things I love about this and the other images in the set is how little has changed. These dogs and the komatik behind them could have been snapped on an expedition last year. Or, say, 2006.

Arctic Kingdom Expedition to Qaanaaq, Greenland April 2006.

Check out the expressions on the dog’s faces — particularly the dog at the bottom left of the top image, and the dog to the far right in the photo on the bottom. Identical stares, across the centuries.

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Yesterday’s Morning Edition on NPR featured another story on Dr. Kristin Laidre’s research on Narwhals. This story focused on the techniques she’s using to tag the whales, and the Inuit hunters who are using traditional hunting methods to make Dr. Laidre’s research possible. Listen in or read a transcript over on the Morning Edition website.

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The Clipper Adventurer

Earlier this week, I took a look at one of our newest trip offerings, The Atlantic Arts Float. That trip is one of two new cruise-style expeditions aboard the Clipper Adventurer.

Designed for Arctic adventurers and enthusiasts looking for something more low-key than our usual floe-edge base camps, these cruises take full advantage of the connections, experience, and expertise that we’ve been bringing to our more extreme expeditions for over a decade, while allowing for a more slow-paced and luxurious experience.

The Heart of the Arctic Cruise celebrates and explores northern communities’ rich artistic and cultural legacy. From West Greenland’s magnificent Kangerlussuaq Fjord to tiny hamlets along the Hudson straight, our journey will take us to the heart of today’s Arctic, exploring the cultures, art, and history of this magnificent region.

The Arctic landscape is severe, a cold expanse of ice, sea and tundra at the edge of the habitable world. But for millennia, this harsh climate has supported a wide diversity of native cultures, fostering communities that have survived and even prospered.

Today, in spite of the social changes and environmental stresses of the last century, Arctic communities remain vital and resilient, guarding and maintaining the traditions that have sustained their cultures for four thousand years.

This trip and our Atlantic Arts Float Cruise are coming up soon, and the remaining spots are being offered at a special discounted rate! Visit the trips page today to find out more.

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 Arctic Kingdom has been visiting the many floe edges of the north Baffin Island area since 2001.  As an expedition leader since 2002, no matter how many times I go to the floe edge for the spring whale migration, there is always something new or an experience to be had that I could never have expected. This years expedition was no exception! There were some amazing moments and it was a challenge to condense them into only 10..or maybe 11. Here are my top 10 moments.. (not in any particular order)

Walrus playing in ice near the Arctic Kingdom base camp

  1. Walrus appearing right in front of our base camp and hanging out for an hour.  

We had just finished an ice dive and were hanging around the dive tent about 3 meters from the ice floe edge, when a female walrus surfaced and raised her head at least half a meter over the ice edge. At first we thought it was a seal and almost turned away (since we see seals so often it becomes almost too common) but the large white tusks quickly told us it was a walrus. She would gracefully peer at us from in between pieces of pack ice by raising her head way out of the water. Then slip gently back down under water reappearing only a few minutes later in pool of water only a few meters away. She was a young female, with very white tusks.

Narwhal takes a deep breath and dives below the floe edge

 2. Hearing the exhale of the narwhals breath before you can see it

The silence of the Arctic gently envelops you and even the slightest of sounds, from the call of a bird, or in this case, the whooosh sound of a narwhal taking a deep breathe can be hear from far away. There is a moment of exhilaration when you hear that tell tale whoosh and scan the mirror smooth surface for the dark hump that is the back of narwhal. As one watches, the mirror is broken by a surfacing pod of narwhals – one tusk, then two, then another and 5 narwhals rest, breathing deep, whoooosh, only meters away.

Narwhal approaches Arctic Kingdom group in inflatable boat

 3. Sitting in a boat and having a narwhal approach within 2 meters out of curiosity

Having an animal, approach on their own volition, out of their own curiosity and inquisitiveness is the moment we all come here for. In this case, the narwhal would slowly swim towards the grey inflatable boat outfitted with an electric motor. All expedition members could do was to hold their breaths and enjoy the moment!

Kayaking in the early morning with the Narwhal

 4. Kayaking under the midnight sun on mirror smooth water between floating ice with Narwhal all around us

It was 5am and the narwhal were playing out in the open water just beyond our floe edge base camp. We launched the kayaks and quietly floated among the narwhal. With clear blue skies above us, an unrippled surface of dark blue water, and the groans of the narwhal surrounding us, it was an amazing moment.

Polar Bear stretching on pack ice just 30m from base camp at 2am

 5. Watching a polar bear stretch, lounge on the floating pack ice at 2am just outside our base camp

Polar bears are quite common on the floe edge and we came across quite a few – sometimes they would wander out from the pack ice, or along the floe edge looking for seal, or other times we would come across them while snowmobiling across the ice. One special polar bear encounter was just outside our base camp. A polar bear sentry spotted a polar bear approaching our camp from the pack ice that had been pushed against the floe edge a few days earlier. Being only 40 meters away, at 2am, with the sun low in the sky casting long shadows and a soft yellow light, we watched this polar bear lounging on a flat piece of ice. Completely oblivioius to us, he would lie on his stomache, rest his large head on his forelegs, stretch his back legs behind, sit up, sniff around, lie on his back and put his paws in the air. It was almost like he put on a show just for us before a second polar bear came to interrupt his candidness. The two them sniffed each other and continued walking through the pack ice in opposite directions.

Having breakfast under the morning sun

 6. Eating breakfast outside in t-shirts

The weather was extremely warm at the floe edge – with many days waking up almost baking in our double walled Arctic tents. The temperatures would be around 5 degrees, but without wind and having cloudless skies we would be extremely warm. On one such day we decided to enjoy our breakfast outside of the dining tent and under the big blue sky with the backdrop of Baffin Island behind us, Bylot Island infront, all the while watching the narwhal who had just started feeding again. Who knew this was the Arctic!

Diving amongst the pack ice off the floe edge

 7.  Ice diving amongst the pack ice – huge cathedrals of ice, glowing turquoise blue

Although not everyone is a diver who comes on an Arctic Kingdom Expeditions, the ice diving experience augments the ice experience. Ice diving through the pack ice was simply stunning. With almost 300′ (100m) visibility, we could see straight down to the bottom of the floating ice, at times almost 90′ deep. Going deep though isn’t required as we would spend most of the dive at 30′ while making our way between spires of glowing blue and white ice columns, ledges, caves and caverns. The myriad of shapes and rounded ice created a world unlike anything one can imagine. Here is one of my favourite pictures. I’ll be blogging more at a later date  specifically on ice diving in the arctic so stay tuned!

Seaweed covered Inuit harpoon found on the sea floor 30' below the crack

Having glacier water tea.

 9.  Making a tea from glacier water at the base of 300′ (100m) waterfall

On the way back to Pond Inlet at the end of the floe edge season, the land temperatures have risen as well and the glaciers on Bylot island are beginning to melt. The rivers begin to flow and one such river ends at a 300′ (100m) stepped waterfall and empties into the inlet. We took our teapot and filled it from the pool at the base of the waterfall. The subsequent tea we had was probably one of the best I’ve had!

Arctic Kingdom members in the mouth of the icicle laden ice cave

 10. Icicles found in a glacier ice cave

On the way to the floe edge, on the north side of Baffin Island is a glacier that calves in such a way that there is a permanent shallow ice cave at its base. The melt water freezes and has formed many icicles that make the ice cave appear to be toothed.

Jake - Senior Arctic Kingdom guide prepares caribou stew

 11. Eating delicious country food with our Inuit guides – Caribou, Seal, Goose stews and Arctic Char

…and just one more… I couldn’t narrow it down to ten as being on the floe edge with our Inuit guides makes the experience a cultural one as well. Traditional food prepared by Arctic Kingdom’s guides are always a highlight of our culinary experience. Thanks guys!

More information on Arctic Kingdom floe expeditions can be found here:

 http://arctickingdom.com/lancaster-beluga-and-narwhal

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via Inuit throat singing video – Boing Boing.

Following a lead from the comments on Boing Boing’s post, I did some research into the origins of Inuit throat singing. Turns out that what I thought was an off-the-cuff quip is actually true: the singing, most often between two women, is in part a contest to see who can go the longest without laughing or running out of breath.

Read the rest of this entry »

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