Day Four: Visitors Center

The inukshuit has many different names which stand for many different things. The basic set up of an inukshuit is to take some stones (big or small) and make it resemble a person to show that some has been there before and that it is a path. Another type is called a “tukipkota” which is made up of a few stones stacked on top of each other beside a lake shows that there is a lot of fish in that specific region. The last main inukshuit is called a “hakamuktak” and can be seen from miles inland along the coastline and is in the form of a man and marks a place where caribou are taken. This one here is a picture of a hakamuktak.

Nunavut’s rich culture is tied tightly with it’s past. While we are on Baffin we could have many opportunities to sit in on some traditional cultural activities such as community feasts, dancing along with traditional music, and being able to watch stone carving and to observe the traditional clothing. These things all find their roots and reflect early Inuit songs, stories, and spiritual beliefs. During the winter seal blubber was an essential necessity for the Inuit community. Throughout the year it would be collected in hide bags or under rock piles in preparation for winter. Then women then pounded small pieces of blubber to be used as cooking or lighting.

In early times, as winter approached these territories women started to work feverishly to prepare the necessary clothing, it also signaled that it was time once again to abandon their skin tents and move back to the shore in favor of qaamuks (sod) which are lower to the ground made up of stones and dirt. These were not as favorable as the igloo shelters because they were not as snug, clean or airy. These two shelters were built along the coastline, in the winter season because seal hunting was much easier than say arctic fox, which are, located more inland. The men were also hard at work at the first sign of winter. They started to repair their sealing weapons and coat their qomatiq (sled) with mud and ice for easier travel over the harsh sea ice.