SES Earth Day: Background info a.k.a What is Baffin?

Good Morning S.E.S I hope you are enjoying your wonderful 75-degree weather. Hopefully we won't be talking to you today because we will be on the plane to Clyde River. We have spent the last two full days in Iqaluit now and have had plenty of time to do some general research on Baffin Island for you back home. Baffin Island is in a territory called Nunavut (Noon-ah-voot). For those of you who have forgotten your Canadian geography, this massive country is made up of provinces and territories. A province is similar to a state in the U.S.; a territory is like a province BUT with less power. For example, Nunavut has less control than other provinces like Ontario over natural resource extraction. In fact, mining is a very hot topic right now because it is facing a lot of social opposition but is still needed for economic development. But back to Nunavut, as a territory it is made up of 57% Inuit and 43% non-aboriginal. Along with this the territory is trilingual: 46% speak English and French, 54% speak Inuktitut (ih-nahk-tih-tuck).



So, you may be wondering, "where in the world is Baffin Island?" Well, it is the large dehydrated kidney bean shaped island to the west of Greenland. About half of Baffin is north of the Arctic Circle at 66 degrees north latitude. Clyde River (which is where we are hopefully flying to at this very moment!) lies at 70 degrees north. Those of us in Minnesota we get used to calling ourselves "northern" but here Minnesota is actually considered "down south."

Baffin Island is a beautiful combination of stark tundra, rocky hills and deep fjords. For those who don't know, a fjord is a long inlet usually with steep cliffs and a narrow waterway. Because of where Baffin is they have some pretty cold seasons; the "-" negative sign is used quite often. But what makes it really cold is the wind. For example, yesterday the winds in Clyde River were up to 60 mph; this is pretty normal for late winter here. Yesterday, our cabbie was joking around and said, "Baffin has five seasons--the fifth is pothole season!"

This too is pretty typical of the culture on Baffin; everyone loves a good laugh and is very friendly. It is also part of the culture here "Up North" to practice a zenful go-with-the-flow attitude. For example, when your plane flight gets cancelled...you just hole up for the night, eat a good dinner and try again tomorrow with a smile on your face. I think we've got the hang of this...


HAPPY EARTH DAY EVERYONE!!



-Joe and Allison