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March Madness: Spring Mood Swings in Inuvik

3/20/2013

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As is the case across the rest of Canada (and parts of the U.S.), it is a COLD first day of "Spring" here.  Right now in Inuvik we are at minus 20 Celsius (minus 4F).  Although that is not much colder than usual, it feels like the snow will never disappear.  This long winter is starting to make people a bit... shall we say... touchy?  Over-sensitive?  Moody?  Cranky?  Bad tempered?

A colleague of mine warned me last year about "March madness", which has nothing to do with basketball. Around this time of year people start to go a little crazy and grumpy.  They are sick of the winter and get a bad case of cabin fever.  They want to go outside without fear of frostbite.

Unfortunately, I am no exception.  Although I am doing much better this week, the previous two weeks were rough.  Little things would bother me and I couldn't let them go.  I'm usually a positive person, but nothing would shake me out of my bad mood.  I did not enjoy my own company, and I'm sure no one else did either!  Luckily I have come back into happy territory without permanent damage or the need for meds.

On the bright side of March (and it is very bright!), the sun is shining and we know that warm weather will follow in due course.  Soon we will have more than enough sunshine.  In some future post I will discuss the effects of 24-hour darkness vs. 24-hour light ... some like the light, while others (including myself) actually prefer the dark of winter.  Sounds crazy, I know, but I'm sure you'll hear me out.

As I don't have any photos that really go well with this post, below are some pictures of a dog-sledding trip I took on Sunday (my third time!) because these beautiful Siberian huskies are guaranteed to get you in a good mood.

And a picture of the sun on the snow-covered trees in my backyard for good measure.
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Sunrise in my backyard.
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Eating Local in Inuvik - Arctic Char

2/20/2013

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I was cleaning out my freezer the other day and discovered some Arctic char buried in there.  For those who don't know, char is apparently well-known (among those who know these things) for being a very tasty fish.  I am not a fan of fish (unless it's raw in sushi, or covered in batter and fried British style with thick chips), but I'm trying to eat healthier, so I force myself to cook it once in a while.

Below is a random picture from the internet of what fresh-caught char looks like.  This is actually the world record holder - they are large fish!

In an earlier post, I showed pictures of what it looks like frozen - one of our northern communities, Ulukhaktok, is famous for its char.
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Credit: worldfishingnetwork.com. Frank Bluch’s record-breaking catch in Nunavut’s Tree River.

And this is what it looked like on my plate.  I decided to slather it with lemon-dill sauce, with sides of mini-potatoes and celery.  Healthy and delicious!

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Tea Time in Inuvik (Part 1) - Rose Hip Tea

8/9/2012

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Anyone who knows me at all knows how much I love tea.  I drink bucket-loads a day, and always have a teapot somewhere within arms-reach.  I drink mostly different varieties of green tea (which I credit with keeping me healthy and happy) but I do sometimes enjoy traditional English-style tea with cream and sugar (which tastes best when made by my British parents with Kenyan tea), or flavoured black tea like chai or pumpkin spice with lots of sugar.

So it is no surprise that I am always on the look-out for things I can boil up or steep.  As I have spent a bit of time out on the land here in the Arctic this summer, I have discovered a couple of new things that taste good when boiling water is applied.  Today I will show you rose hip tea, and next week I'll show you Labrador tea. 

Below are some pictures of the process (which I'm not sure I'm doing correctly, but I figured I'd just throw them into hot water and see what happens!).

Rose hips are the pods that form at the base of the rose flower.  Up here I believe they are from the wild rose.  I don't have any photos of them on the plant, but I will rectify that this weekend and post a picture later! 

They are apparently extremely high in vitamin C, and also contain vitamins A, B, D and E, as well as antioxidants, pectin, and organic acids.  The tea is good for preventing bladder infections, and for headaches and dizziness.  It also strengthens your immune system against infection and colds (thanks to the high vitamin C content), helps with digestion, flushes out the kidneys and urinary tract and relieves mild rheumatic pain.  Impressive!

So how did it taste?  Well, the flavor is what I would call "delicate"....meaning, it was hard to taste anything!  You need about 5 whole rose hips per cup of water, or you can also cut them into pieces... I'll try that next time.  Maybe I need more, or I picked them too early, or I need to dry them or cut them up.  But it was very pleasant -- other people have said it tastes like apple, and I would agree (it was nice and tangy). 

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The plucked rose hips, ready for the pot. You can either dry them, cut them up, or just pop them in whole like I did. I may try drying some next time.
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Steeping happily (I left them in about 15 minutes and used lots of rose hips, to make sure I got some decent flavor).
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And voila! The tea.
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Berries Galore - Eating Off the Land in the Arctic

8/2/2012

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During the long days of beautiful weather we had last weekend (when it got over 30C / 86F), I had the chance to get out on the land and pick some berries in a couple of spots.  Berry picking is an almost sacred activity for the people of this region, and they take advantage of the long days to stock up on healthy berries to last through the winter.  (At the risk of sounding overly sappy) ... being outside, soaking up the sun, and harvesting fruit from the land makes me understand why they say Arctic summers are the world's best-kept secret.

Of course, we were always on the lookout for bears.  We didn't see any in the flesh, but we did spot a few paw tracks, some of which were too fresh for comfort, so we didn't wander far...

Below are pictures of the berries and other plant-life that we found.  The only ones we ate were the ones we could safely identify, which were the blueberries and cloudberries.  The others are a mystery, and I'm waiting to ask my botanist friend before eating them. :)

Nonetheless, between Google images and myself, I have taken a stab at identifying all of my findings except one, so if I'm right, yey to me!

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Blueberries on the plant. That white stuff on the ground is lichen - not snow!
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The blueberries are smaller than you would usually buy in the store, but very sweet.
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Cloudberries - I didn't know what this was when I picked it, so I grabbed the whole branch. I thought it was a raspberry because it was red, but I later found out it is a cloudberry, and it's usually pale orange when ripe (more pictures below).
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Cranberries? I am always wary of red berries, so I haven't tried these yet, but when I compare to pictures online, they look like cranberries!
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Crowberries? These berries are dark black in real life, but look blue in the photo. Again, I'm guessing at what they may be based on pictures online. They look identical to photos of crowberries.
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Firethorn berries? If this is what they are, some online sources say they are toxic, while others say they can be made into jam. I'm staying away for now.
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I'm confident these are rose hips, which can be boiled in tea (supposedly taste like apples, but I haven't tried yet). It's the fruit leftover after a wild rose blooms.
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I don't have a sweet clue what this is. The leaves have a red clump where they join the stem. They are not berries.
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Cloudberries and blueberries in a bowl.
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Fresh blueberries with wild berry frozen yogurt. Worth the effort!
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Aklavik - Place of the Grizzly Bear

4/1/2012

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Aklavik, which means "place where one finds grizzly bear", is located on the Mackenzie River Delta about 120 km from Inuvik and just over 100 km south of the Arctic Coast. The only way to drive there is along the ice road in the winter.  In the summer, you have to take a small plane or use a boat.

According to the town's website - www.aklavik.ca - "Aklavik is a peaceful fishing and trapping community of some 600 Gwich'in and Inuvialuit. Gwich'in and Inuvialuit have traditionally gathered here to trade for goods from as far away as the Pacific and Arctic coasts. From its earliest days, Aklavik has been a multi-ethnic town, home to Inuvialuit, Metis, Gwich'in and non-aboriginal cultures."

Aklavik used to be the administrative capital of the western Arctic.  There is an interesting connection between Aklavik and Inuvik... because Aklavik is so flood prone and didn't allow much room for expansion (see map below), Inuvik was created as a brand new town by the federal government in 1953 as a replacement administrative capital.  It was originally called "New Aklavik", before being renamed Inuvik.
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The town is even ready for tourists - you can get your picture taken with the "Mad Trapper", who is buried in Aklavik! 
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The story of the Mad Trapper (Albert Johnson) is an interesting one, particularly because no one knows where he came from, or if he really sabotaged local trapping lines in 1931 as he was accused of.  He became a fugitive after starting a shoot-out with the police, killing one RCMP officer and wounding others along the way, and was eventually killed on the Eagle River after a huge manhunt in the Northwest Territories and Yukon.

Below is a picture of the sign outside the local cemetery where Albert is buried.
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Some more pictures of the town:
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The local Firehall.
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A local house - log cabin style.
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These folks are feeling lucky Irish!

We paid a visit to the local government office building, which houses the Hamlet office, government services offices, the community corporation office, as well as pre-school facilities (more photos of the cute kiddies in another post!).
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Inside the Hamlet office - Aklavik celebrated their 100 year anniversary in 2010.

These posters were on the walls in the building - identifying different kinds of furs and how to prepare them. In this town, this is relevant information!
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Also important information to know -- when the dentist is in town!  In some communities, dentists only visit a few times a year, and there is a long waiting list.  Some people can't wait for months until the next appointment, and end up solving their tooth problems themselves with a pair of plyers.  Ouch!
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New Health Card

3/15/2012

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My new health card arrived in the mail yesterday!  Goodbye OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan)... hello NWT (Northwest Territories) Health Care Plan!  My first piece of northern ID.

Note the image of the northern lights on the front of the card.

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In the letter that came along with the card was something that I didn't have before -- asking for confirmation of my ethnicity, particularly aboriginal or non-aboriginal status.  I am "N" = non-aboriginal.  It was cool to see the different options for the Territory.
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