(Post 1 of 6) I was welcomed to Sisimiut with Greenlandic food prepared by Tukumminnguaq Olsen. She invited me to her family home to share caribou she brought home herself after a successful hunt on the weekend. First, we ate tingulaat, a mix of cod livers (boiled), angelica (a robust green plant that grows locally),…
(Post 2 of 6) If you are from the south, like me, you don’t have caribou in your garage, but this is the result of hard work and family time: boat travel, overland trekking, lake crossings and skill. Eating food fresh from the land is very important here. Makka explained that leaving the meat out…
(Post 3 of 6) Tuku’s mother, Makka, didn’t want her picture taken, but she let me take photos of her story wall, which holds memories that span her entire life. Behold: – the feet from Makka’s brother’s first ptarmigan kill, – a puzzle called “the visitors” which I never did solve, – a narwhal necklace…
(Post 4 of 6) This traditional West Greenlandic outfit is over 50 years old. Makka wore it when she was two years old. Embroidery, lace, beadwork, seal skin.
(Post 5 of 6) Tuku’s mother wore these beads at her wedding. They are part of the traditional West Greenlandic dress. The beads should be the right length, and the colours are significant too. This one has too much blue for Tuku to wear now but she said, “Maybe I can wear them when I…
(Post 6 of 6) The evening culminated here. By now it is after 10 pm and we have pulled out all of the family’s traditional clothing. Axel’s polar bear pants and kamiit, Tuku’s first fox fur jacket, and now this. Tuku wears a sealskin amaut made for her mother by a woman in Qaanaaq when…
Sisimiut and time for some adventures with @tukummis and #meethenorth. I’m making the most of 48 hours here … including seaweed, kalaaliminit, and birthday parties. Read the next posts.
Gifts come in all shapes and sizes. I wanted to include at least one introduction to the polar bear with #meetthenorth. Here are two yearling cubs hanging out on the sea ice below the bow of our ship. This is an iPhone photo. No zoom, no filter.
I have left the Canadian Arctic for the time being, but I keep thinking back to the warm welcome we received in Pond Inlet. The cultural show, complete with incredible feats like this high kick, involved community members of all ages. An elder lit the qulliq; a toddler sat in his mother’s amauti while she…
I met Agnes in Pond Inlet where I took this photo after hearing this story. In 1986, some visitors came and took pictures of Agnes and her family at their camp outside of Igloolik. Recently, she found the pictures online. They are being sold as puzzles, cups, and t-shirts. “It’s no fair to me or…