Furrrrrrrrrr

Well I would love to post some pictures from the great National Aboriginal Day celebration last week, but unfortunately every picture takes a lifetime to upload, and I gave up after these two. Thus, I have decided to write a little bit about fur! (and animals I guess, like the things that the fur comes from...)

That time of year has just passed! Hunters have been having a gay old time, as prime seal hunting season brought in an onslaught of delicious seal meat, and furs are EVERYWHERE! I did have the opportunity to sample some raw seal, and I would like to say it tasted like... I'm not going to lie, I'm going to say sashimi, because that's what I kept telling myself it was to help myself eat it, but it probably didn't really taste like that... Either way, once in a lifetime, you have to do it I suppose. How else could I have the stereotypically Northern experience?

Nearly every home has some sort of fur or skin hanging off the front porch, drying out. Less so now than a few weeks ago, as a lot of the furs have been put to good use-- locals have been coming around selling beautiful kamiks (boots) and mitts for the past few weeks.

There are even a few of these... that's right, this is a polar bear fur. A small one, but still enough to make me hustle by this house on my way home from work (that's right, I'm a bit afraid of a polar bear fur... but not nearly as afraid as I am of the different humungous dead stuffed animals they have in some of the different buildings here, why are the eyes always so creepy??? nightmares!!!)


So luckily this is the closest I have been to a polar bear since I've been here (that I know of... don don don). But seriously, it is. They do come through here, and it may have been possible to see one in May before all the snow melted, but I didn't. Phew.

Not every fur is used.

I don't know why I took this picture; I have no idea why I put it in my blog. I have so many other pictures to put up. Maybe it's to show the excess of fur available here (?)

I also love that you can buy pelts at the co-op for soooo cheap. I'm thinking about buying a few rabbit pelts (they're $10 each) just for kicks. Actually I was thinking about buying some of the mitts that the locals sell, but after discussing it with a lawyer who used to live in Vancouver, we both agreed that as beautifully crafted as they are, they would certainly be taboo down south, particularly in Vancity, home of the hippie. Also they would be way too warm and you can't exactly where gloves like that snowboarding and whatnot...

The Inuit people are historically a nomadic people--as such, the diaspora is soon to occur. Many Inuit families will head out "on land" (away from the water) for the rest of summer, hunting caribou, fishing for char and generally just living away from town. Sounds neat, but this already slow hamlet is soon to become... an even slower hamlet.

Okay well I'm excited for Canada Day this weekend, there's a big parade and celebration, and then I'm heading to the nearby national park for some hiking and fishing. I'll take this opportunity to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA, and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY GRANNY AND GRANDPA! (while I'm doing this, I have to say HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY RAE, and WELCOME BABY KYLIE!!! so much going on at home!)

Have a great week everyone and I'll check in again soon!

Tootoo's in town

So I think we all knew this was going to happen. Second blog fail in just over a month, sorry for the long wait. Well I'm back, with a couple of pictures, I have a ton more to put up but the internet here is not great and it takes FOREVER to upload pictures. So here are two, in honour of Jordin Tootoo (teehee).

So Jordin Tootoo is in town, and it's kind of a big deal. (FYI he's the ONLY famous person to ever come out of Rankin Inlet, and therefore is their claim to fame). He's been here for a couple weeks now and people are still talking about it. Everyone seems to have a take on the guy, and to put it mildly the reactions are pretty polarized; from hometown hero to gangster-womanizer, everyone has a story to tell about him. (Like seriously, when I mentioned that it might be neat to meet him, my boss called me into her office and had a 45 minute chat with me-- she warned me to avoid him at all costs, and be afraid because he's a "player" that is territorial over Rankin's "white girls" -- the whole time she was talking, the bed intruder song was playing in my head, "hide ya kids, hide ya wife", ahahahahaha ridiculous. Of course, she was overreacting; when I told some of the local girls about the chat, they lost it, they thought the response was hilarious, and though not unfounded, not something to lose sleep over).

Naturally, this is the first thing I saw when I got off the plane 6 weeks ago (picture more snow though, obviously) and it's classically Rankin-- a picture of Tootoo surrounded by caribou antlers. If it was lined with furs, it would be perfect. (Note: behind the picture is one of many snowmobile summer resting place, there are about 20 machines sitting there, waiting for snow to return).

(To my non-hockey fan friends: So I know what some of you are thinking-- who is this guy, who cares etc-- he dated Kelli Pickler, the American Idol chick-- and she came up here with him one summer for a couple of weeks. Apparently she is as... blonde... as she seems on TV. Sorry, I just seriously cannot picture her here...)

So after all this, I have not met him yet! The "most exciting thing" to happen to the Hamlet all year and I still don't even know what the big deal is. He's been out on land hunting. Well maybe I'll get my chance tomorrow, as it is National Aboriginal Day, and there's a big celebration planned-- I'm stoked for that! It's going to be neat!

Also, this is the Sugar Rush, the only restaurant in town (with the exception of the restaurant in the hotel). It has wifi! (and is open from 8am-630pm. And I work from 830-5. So yeah, I don't get there too often.) Also, it is owned by Jordin Tootoo's aunt, coincidentally; she's also a member of our Legal Services Board, so small world! Even smaller world, Tootoo's parents are directly my neighbours, like actually right next door. So though I haven't seen him, I bet Tootoo is less than 100 yards away, even as I'm typing this. (I'm trying to be impressed by this, but even I'm not, so I'm sure you aren't. So sorry for even mentioning it really... oh well, it's already written, guess there's nothing I can do about that...)

Okay well I didn't really say much in this entry (and yet it is still freaking long). I'll try to have a better post soon.

(Also, sidenote: I had my first bout of homesickness last week when the Canucks had a chance for the cup, so Wednesday was rough-- until the aftermath. Now I'm pretty relieved to have had some distance. If nothing else, perhaps it softens the blow. I hope you were all safe!)