Abandon Ship!

Sea ice frozen along the Arctic coast

"And who are you?" I asked Jordan, as he stood facing me, video camera in hand. He glanced at me sideways, squinting. "If you're going to approach random people in the supermarket with a camera in hand, you had better introduce yourself!" I exclaimed, as Jordan smiled sheepishly. Before I sent some of the boys in the environmental class to the Northern store to interview community members about whether they would support a recycling program, I emphasized the importance of shaking hands and looking people in the eye. "And I want you back by the end of class with some interviews to show for it!" I called after them as they walked out of the door, feeling a little too teacher-ish, but loving every minute of it.

I then assigned tasks to the other students in the class. We brainstormed about how the project would be carried out (where the recycling would be collected, what airlines we should contact, what communities we would ship the recyclables to, etc.), looked up bin options and researched the recycling programs in Yellowknife and Kugluktuk. The students made some very promising discoveries, including that Yellowknife, the city we were investigating sending our recyclables to, has a refundable beverage container program in addition to their recycling facilities. This means Cambridge Bay could receive some direct monetary benefits from a recycling program involving shipments to Yellowknife. They also found that Kugluktuk, the closest community to Cambridge Bay and the second largest town in the Kitikmeot region, has a recycling program that involves saving recyclables year-round, shipping them off by barge in the summer.

I was extremely impressed by how hard the students worked. I think that this project is exciting for them because they each have responsibilities to fulfill; something to accomplish that contributes to the project’s overall success. If they keep making as much progress as they did today, they will be finished with this project by the end of next week!

After work, Randy (a 7th grade teacher at the high school) took me exploring by ski-doo. We went to the “old town,” which is located across the river from where Cambridge Bay now sits. The community of Cambridge Bay began to develop like most communities in the North. When trading posts were built in the North, people began to flock to them, staying for longer and longer periods of time. The “old town” was built around one of these trading posts, but in the 1950’s, the entire town burned down. Since the DEW (Distance Early Warning) Line Station had already been built by that point, it was a logical decision to move the town across the river, closer to the DEW Line (DEW line stations were built during the Cold War, to protect North America from the Russians. I will write more about them later). The only remains of the “old town” are the “old stone church” and the Eagle.

Until last year, the old stone church had a roof. Unfortunately, it burnt down, evidently fairly quickly since it was composed of wood and animal skins. Much of the walls of the Catholic church remain, but are difficult to preserve since they consist of seal oil and other uncommon building materials. : )

The "old stone church"

The last priest of the church is known for his paying an exorbitant price to haul a leaky ship from his home to Cambridge Bay. Now, the Eagle sits about 50 yards from the old stone church, abandoned but still displaying the paint job which bears its name.

Not quite as large as the Titanic, but the same dramatic effect

Randy and I then went to the other side of town to visit the barge that contains the airport and DEW line station’s fuel (stuck in the ice), the gravel pit (which is covered by ice at this time of year), and the Arctic Ocean (more ice).

When we got back to Randy’s, we cooked up some gourmet Ragu and pasta. Randy is a great guy to talk to, and we discussed everything from hunting practices to American politics and Russian history. As a teacher, he is an outsider to the community, so I feel comfortable talking about my observations and revelations with him in a way that I cannot with longtime community members. For example, today we discussed the spending habits of people in Cambridge Bay which are typical of lower class societies, although I would not consider this community to be one. Members of the lower class tend to spend their money on short-term investments, like cars or entertainment equipment. There is little saving occurring, perhaps due to the hunter-gatherer mentality of indigenous peoples which is satisfied simply knowing that there is enough food for the next day. According to Randy, these short-term spending habits were particularly evident a few months ago when the Canadian government passed out checks to people who had been sent to residential schools as children. Though the money probably did wonders for the local economy, the families were no better off now than they started, except for a couple of ski-doos, trucks and lots of drugs and alcohol. Randy opined that the government should not be handing money back to the Inuit, but to programs and businesses which support them. Though he is old enough to be my father (he has a son my age), Randy is my favorite person to hang out with in Cambridge Bay. He even lets me drive one of his ski-doos!

In other news, a heat wave passed through Cambridge Bay today! It was up to -3 degrees Celsius! And I felt warm! It's also the first day of 24-hour sunlight! As if that wasn't enough good news, a very important person is going to visit Cambridge Bay next week (drumroll please)! Stay tuned for more details.