The blog of a artsy environmental scientist who adventures in the outdoors whenever possible.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Yellowknife
I left Inuvik and all the great people I met there, and moved on for my one day in Yelloknife where I stayed with my co-worker and her boyfriend who were fantastic hosts, we packed a whole lot into an evening and a day.
-Fish and chips at Bullocks Bistro - best in town -Walk around old town to look at the cabins and houseboats that people live in year round. -A tour of the legislative building -A tour of the Museum -Breakfast at a cafe in a cabin built in the 1930s -A trip to the dump - dump diving is a very common sport in Yellowknife -Duck watching at the lake
Day 3 Busy day work-wise with the booth and a banquet and live auction. The auction had really neat art and handicrafts, but I had already spent my allowance the day before and items were going for $300 +. We then headed to the local bar "the Trapper" where I got co-erced onto the dance floor by a tiny local man who was all fixed up in his cowboy boots. The live band was hilarious, we noticed at one point that there were drums playing but the drummer wasn't moving, turns out they had a drum machine and the drummer was there to play the cowbell. The guitarist had the best mullet and shiniest shirt and I guess the bar in town hires them to come play everynight for 6 weeks straight (they are from Northern BC). What a gig...and they live above the bar during that time. Walked home at 1am, in sunlight that made it feel like it was noon, snowing and kids still playing on their bikes in the street. It was really strange...my body is so confused.
Day 4 Today we got a tour of the community greenhouse. It is built in an old hockey arena that was going to get torn down, and it is so popular that they have a waiting list of people wanting to join the little cooperative. People grow all sorts of things in this successful greenhouse where it is $50 a plot per summer and you need to put in a minimum number of volunteer hours for fundraising.
Love that they have a plot reserved for the local food bank!
Day 2 Found the hidden treasure today, a store of traditional handicrafts from local artists where the money goes 100% to the artist. The prices were really decent and I came back with a bunch of stuff. Embroidered mittens, a soapstone carving of an Inukshuk for Rob, some little mittens that are zipper pulls and some earrings. There was Qiviuk, but it turns out that the fleece from the Muskox up here gets sent to Peru to get made into yarn, and therefore it is the exact same brand and price ($97) as Banff...so unfortunate.
Got to join my billet friend for a traditional beading lesson from the funniest, cutest little Elder, Rosie. She had us all in stitches telling us stories of how she had to learn to walk like a lady in her "white lady shoes" when she was younger and all the neat stuff she has done in her life. She lived in the bush until she was 16, then went on to become a nurse, then a teacher and an interpreter. She is Inuvialuit, but learned to bead from the Gwich'in women she met as a nurse. Traditionally the Inuvialuit embroider and the Gwich'in bead.
I'm back! It definitely feels good to be home, even if its just a week and a half before I take off again. I'm so grateful to have had a work opportunity to get all the way up to Inuvik (its a $1600 flight) and to see a part of our country that not a lot of people get to see. More to come on my trip to Inuvik and Yellowknife over the next couple of days.
A little journal entry I wrote the first day I was in Inuvik so I would remember my first impressions:
Day 1 - It is only 3 pm and I've already been up for 12 hours, but I decide to go for a walk cuz it is crazy warm out and it is said that it will not be this way for my whole trip. I venture out of my cozy little abode that I am staying at with billets. My gracious host picked me up at the airport - how did I find him - his personal description was "I am the only red head in Inuvik" I venture into town (10 minute walk), and see an arts and crafts gallery, I stay for about 15 mins admiring all the soapstone carvings I cannot afford ($600-1200 each). I walk to the edge of town where I have a meeting the next day, instructions to said meeting place were "turn left at the only stop light" - gotta love it. I am getting stared at by the locals as though I have grown a second head and feel highly out of place - but alas! A storefront that reads "Fabric and Yarn" - I excitedly walk in - after all we are in Muskox country or maybe there is something traditional - I am then sorely disapointed when faced with a wall of redheart - plain and simple.... Since there are no hours of dark up here this time of year- we'll see how sleeping goes...
As of 6am this morning, I am off to Inuvik and Yellowknife for work for 5 days. I am heading back to Winter (last I heard it was -20 with windchill and still snowing), just as Spring is starting to show its face here in Calgary.
I've never been this far North and am really excited. I will keep my eyes open for Muskox and Qiviuk! You just never know...
If you see me upon return, please feed me, I have a feeling I won't be eating much up in the Arctic, with all the Caribou meat floating around...I will once again be the silly vegetarian or as the Aboriginal groups up in Northern Alberta like to call me "She who's husband must be a bad hunter..."
What looks like a giant blob until you fold it and seam it? Why surprise! Its Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket!
I admit- this pattern was one of the more challenging ones I've done! I had to consult a few tutorials on u-tube and read a few blogs, but it's a pattern I would readily do again.
This tweedy sweater (size for a small toddler) will be going to my pregnant knitting co-worker who lives in the North (Yellowknife)- and is due in August. I'm hoping with such a cold climate so many months of the year, this sweater will be well loved by the little girl/boy.
Yarn was from Deb (who I've since lost touch with since she moved back to Nelson), that she gifted to me when she de-stashed and I was a broke student she decided to donate to...along with some Paton's black I had kicking around.
I can't wait to make one of these cute little sweaters out of Noro!
I just got back from an incredible weekend in Banff.
I got a bursary to participate in a leadership training program for people involved in environmental work. It was led by Joanna Macy, and we dealt with gratitude, dealing with the pain of environmental destruction and how we are all part of a greater movement to move forward with compassion and insight into interconnectedness of all.
Pretty powerful stuff. Joanna Macy is incredible, she is 80 years young and going strong, teaching her "work that reconnects". She had done great things in her life, including empowering the communities affected by Chernobyl a few years after the "event", to help them heal and come together, despite the suffering from cancers, miscarriages and birth defects.
She recently took a trip to the tar sands/oil sands and took me out for lunch personally to talk about it during the conference. Considering people came from all over North America to attend the conference and have been following her work for decades, I was so grateful and so inspired.
