Day: 109

Meeting With Elders

Temperature: Not reported...

Location: Pelly Bay - Kaguurak

We are at Kugaaruk, also known as Pelly Bay, and have spent most of our time today talking with the villagers. We have been putting out feelers for the route that we will be taking once we leave. We are going around a large area called Committee Bay, which is part of the southern Arctic Ocean. There is what is called a plinear, which is open water, and this year in particular it is really bad. So we are going to have some route difficulties, and will have to extend our distance by at least 100 miles.

We have had a number of the elders over at the house today with maps, and we’ve been speaking through translators. It is quite interesting getting advice from these older men, and hearing their stories of the land when they used to travel by dog team. We are staying with a family here, and typically in the Inuits households the eating is very informal. Usually there is a piece of cardboard on the floor, on which sits whatever the game of the day is. In this house it is usually char. Then there are a few knives, and people just cut of a piece whenever they are hungry. They will eat both fish and caribou raw, and will sometimes boil both. We even had some polar bear meat in the evening.

I also eat the caribou and char raw, which has been a real treat. Char is sort of a cross between a trout and a salmon, it is my favorite meat. It is very rich, almost like butter, and doesn’t have a fishy taste.

We’ve had a great day of conversations and entertainment. There are always plenty of little kids crawling around on the floor, asking a hundred questions.