Tanya Tagaq, the superstar Aboriginal throat singer from Cambridge Bay, NU says this of the powerful, otherworldly noises that issue from her: she is giving voice to human instinct. She’s releasing the force that’s in all of us, buried.
Nunavut, the pure high Arctic, is that voice. It’s primal. A place where you learn to read the land before you learn to read. It was Nunavut they were thinking of when they changed the motto: “from Sea to Sea to Sea”—this one territory has 40% of Canada’s coastline. It’s the emptiest, loneliness, grandest part of the nation. The true “True North, strong and free.” (The land belongs not to the federal government, but to the Inuit themselves.)
Is it pretty? Gorgeous, but not in the way we usually think about nature. It’s mostly tundra, so, no trees. But there are fantastical fjords and ice formations, mythic narwhals, roaming caribou. The land beggars language. There aren’t 100 words for snow in Inuktitut (the Inuit language, Nunavut’s first tongue) as you’ve been told—but there are hundreds of nuanced expressions of emotion. In Nunavut you feel first—and speak if you must.
Nunavut’s a paradox. It’s timeless, but also Canada’s newest territory by far—carved off the Northwest Territories barely a decade ago. (The government and court system is brand-new and purpose-built: like nothing anywhere else.) Oral traditions go back dozens of generations, yet the population is the youngest in Canada (average age: 23). Many still hunt for their dinner, yet one of the most valuable commodities is Internet bandwidth. Nunavut is where we’ve been, but also where we’re going: its fragile, melting ice shelves are the canary-in-the-coal-mine of our common future. The ice recedes, revealing virgin land almost daily. And so the landscape unfolds almost before our eyes.
Go, then. Go where there are no roads (which is most places) by dogsled. Watch for polar bears. Drive a golf ball at midnight and watch it roll into tomorrow. Enjoy your welcome. Discover that the coldest place in Canada just might also be the warmest.
Nunavut in a nutshell:
Nunavut means: “Our land” in Inuktitut
Who lives here: mostly (85%) Inuit
What they do: fish, mine, hold government and tourism jobs
And they live in igloos? Only a few of ‘em.
Tourist activities: birding, wildlife viewing, dogsledding
“Country food”: muktuk (whale skin), caribou, Arctic char
Institutions: Artcirq
Cultural footnote: Nunavut is the cradle of documentary filmmaking (see Nanook of the North)
Modern-day inheritor of that filmmaking mantle: Zacharias Kunik (Atanarjut: The Fast Runner)
Soundtrack by: Susan Aglukark, Tanya Tagaq
Best time to visit: April, for the Toonik Tyme Festival or June for the Alianait Arts Festival
BYOB: There are licensed establishments, but no alcohol is served for personal use.
Festivals: Great Northern Arts Festival
Watch: for polar bears.
***Nunavut Day at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is Feb. 21.
www.nunavuttourism.com
Read about Canada’s 13 provinces and territories
