Is Muskox Considered a Lean Meat?

Today was my first full day of work at the Kitikmeot Heritage Society (http://www.kitikmeotheritage.ca/). Renee and I began the day by talking for a while. Amongst other things, she explained to me how Inuit name their children. Parents name their children after someone they have known before. However, the children are then expected to assume the roles of that person. For example, if that person was a good hunter, the child will be a good hunter. Therefore, if a child is named after a grandparent, the child becomes the parent of his or her parent! That is part of why the Inuit are very relaxed in disciplining their children. If the children do not understand something or act in a certain way, this means it is simply not their time to know yet. I'm sure this makes for some very interesting family dynamics!

Besides Renee and Brendan, there are four elders, who work at KHS teaching sewing lessons to the students. "The ladies" are an interesting blend of tradition and modernity. They speak in Inuinnaqtun and some English and dress in traditional garb with jeans or sweatpants. One of the ladies is an exceptional throat singer; another, a drum dancer; of another I have seen a great picture of her demonstrating how to skin a wolverine! One of them won my heart by bringing in bannock for us this morning. Bannock is basically fried bread, and it is thought that the Inuit learned how to make it from Scottish traders.

In the morning, I helped some 4th grade students with the sewing project. Well, to be honest, they helped me. We were sewing mittens, and I had no idea where to sew what. Fortunately, one of the nine year old girls felt pity for me and showed me how. She was amazed that I had only been ski-dooing for the first time yesterday, and also taught me some Inuinnaqtun words (I only remember "quana" which means "thank you").

Brendan and I headed over to the Arctic College after lunch to continue the artifacts and art project. Today, we took the plaster out of the molds and sanded the halves down until they fit together. Tomorrow, we will paint them to look like actual artifacts and build display cases for them. While we were working, my interest was piqued as Brendan mentioned that some of the high school students were thinking of starting a recycling program. When I asked what currently happens to the trash in Cambridge Bay, the college students explained that it gets taken to a waste site right outside of town and burned. I tried very hard to stifle the screaming environmentalist inside of me. "Even plastic?" I whispered, unable to comprehend what I was hearing. "Yep, everything," they responded. I sincerely hoped they didn't notice me gaping.

The most unique experience I had today was my dinner. I am so excited about it that I am ready to pitch the idea to McDonald's...The McMuskox burger! Yes, I actually ate muskox and it's surprisingly good! It tastes like a spicy hamburger. You just can't think about what you're eating when you're eating it (fur...horns...smelly...ick...).

After dinner, I joined some of the teachers and a student for another round of ski-dooing! We went past the West End, a popular teenage ski-dooing hangout, to the Arctic Ocean. It was supposed to be an ocean, at least. It looked like ice to me. Along the shoreline there are big chunks of sea ice that have been pushed by the waves to the coast where they froze. While we were out, we saw two Arctic foxes and a herd of Arctic hares. On the way back, I got to drive! It was fun, but not as fun as sitting on the back of a ski-do when you hit the bumps. : )

Brent and me sitting on top of sea ice