research - email replies from Inuit locals

Hi,
My name is Eugene Kabluitok from Rankin Inlet, NU. I am the program coordinator for Kivalliq Inuit Association.
I think you would get better answers if you contacted each recreation directors and school principals. I forwarded this to 7 recreation directors in my region and will forward you answeres once I have them back. But I answered to the best of my knowledge.



* is there a lot of littering? - In our community, Yes.
* do the schools have recycle bins / tin compressors / glass bins? - No recycle bins just the regular waste bin and boxes to re-use paper.

* is there ever a problem with fresh water or water pollution? what we’ve been experiencing past few years the water levels @ the lake we get water from is running quite low so a lot of times the water in the tap is murky.
* how is water delivered to homes? The system we have here is called utilidor supply which means it is run from a lake to a filtration system then to homes through pipes.
* is any of nunavut water sold in bottles? I am not sure, I asked my supervisor too on this question and we both wouldn’t know who to contact about this.

- Sport facilities in Nunavut :
* how available is it ? In rankin also in the other 6 communities all sport facilities are accessible but whether or not their accessible, not everybody is into sports.
* is there enough equipment? It depends a lot on which sport were talking about, Rankin does a lot of fundraising so the equipment we have is next to top but we can use different sports like Lacross, Table tennis, Pool Tables. But the other communities I would have to ask their recreation department to see if their equipment would need an update.
* what sport equipment do they need?again I would have to go to the recreation departments in each communities and get back to you once I have a reply.
* how popular is swimming? IN Rankin swimming is very popular but the facility is out-grown, other communities have problems with inspectors shutting them down because of pool quality so they reside to outdoor swimming.
* is swimming only indoors?
* how many pools & in which communities are there pools? Sizes of pools? Rankin Has a swimming pool which is like 25’ by about 50 feet and the shallow end is a meter deep and the deep end is meter and a half deep.
* do the swimmers wear swim goggles ? Will they wear if they get? Yes, swimmers use goggles, flippers, flotation equipment. We have a very great swim schedule where there is swim team, swim lessions and so on so goggles would be great for starters.

* is there a "recycle" program for sport equipment?
* if we could organise sport equipment to be donated, how do we transport it to Nunavut? Air transport would be the only way up here since we don’t have roads that connect us to the southern part of canada.
* how important is water safety in Nunavut? Do kids participate? A lot of kids do participate is water activities.
* Is PFD (personal floatation devices) in regular use? DOes it cost a lot? Floatations equipment is a must have for everyone and the swimming pool provides many life jackets, and other floatation devices.
* is there any water games organised? We have a swim team, swim lessions, parents and tots program, open swim,, but other communities are less fortunate.
- what sort of project do you think would really excite the Nunavut youth?
- who is current Nunavut sport heroes? I would say NHL Hockey Player Jordin Tootoo of Nashville Predators who is from Rankin Inlet.
* do these sport heroes give talks to the youth? He comes up everyso often to different communities and does class visits and hockey camps.
* is there a Nunavut sport hero that died tragically recently?
* what sort of activity would be really extreme in Nunavut (be interesting for youth & elders to watch & maybe participate)? In my prespective recreational activities don’t only involve swimming, hockey, volleyball, baseball, basketball. It is also fishing, hunting and camping. But I think Lacross is be a big hit in each communities is someone actually came is ran a clinic.
* swim in the ocean? Too cold

* what is the ocean temperature around Baffin ISland in August?
* climbing up a high vertical cliff wall ( mountaineering)
* triathlon event ( swim, run, bicycle) would be good, very athletic youth in nunavut
* how many kids have bicycles? Almost every child has a bicycle.

* any other ideas for a project to start & which Inuit youth can look forward to participate in?

* would the kids like to be part of a PenPal Club (writing to other youth from all over the world) I think this would be a great idea but would have to contact each school to see if anyone is actually interested because of social networks like Facebook, and MSN chat.
- Show quoted text -

Dear Henko:

I have been in contact with Zuzanna Ukasik. Hopefully some of the information that I provided to him has been useful.

1) Nunavut has lots of fresh water and very little pollution. We are fortunate to have a very small population (approximately 37 000 people). Most of Nunavut is uninhabited which helps keep our lakes
and rivers clean. Due to permafrost much of our winter snow melts but does not drain away.

2) Except in two communities water is delivered to homes via truck two or three times a week depending on the size of the family living in the home.

3) People do buy bottled water. It is not necessary since all water delivered to homes is chlorinated but some people do not like the taste of chlorinated water and buy bottled water instead.

4) In a few communities bottles are collected and sent to southern Canada for recyling but in most communities glass and plastic products end up in the community garbage dump.

5) All communities in Nunavut have a least one school. Most but not all schools have a gym. which is also used by the community during non-school times. Also most communities have a community complex
which has a skating arena and a big meeting room for dances and meetings etcetera.

6) All schools have a budget for buying sports equipment. The hamlet (community) recreation committee also buys sports equipment. Most communities have lots of sporting equipment.

7) The most popular sports are ice hockey, volleyball, baseball, and soccer.

Only a few communities have swimming pools. Even in summer most lakes, rivers, and the ocean is too cold for swimming. Where a swimming pool is available swimming is very popular. Iqaluit
(Nunavut's capital) has a swimming pool. I'm not sure about any other communities in Nunavut that have swimming pools.

9) Iqaluit's pool is heavily chlorinated so lots of people wear swimming goggles to protect their eyes.

10) Sometimes the hamlet or sporting organizations will collect old sporting equipment and give it to needy people. This is not a regular thing and depends on local interest to get the recycling
programs up and running.

11) Many people from southern Canada donate sporting equipment, winter clothing, and books to Nunavut communities. The best way to get these donations to the Nunavut communities is via airplane. The
best contacts in each community are either the school principals or the hamlet senior administration officer.

12) PFD are required by law to be used by all boat users but the law is infrequently obeyed. The hunter's and trapper's association in each community loans PFD to hunters and trappers.

13) As far as I know no water games are organized.

14) I think that exchange trips with youth from other parts of the world would excite Nunavut young people.

15) Most Nunavut sports heroes are hockey players. Right now their is one Nunavut person playing professional hockey for the Nashville Predators. He is the hero of most Nunavut young people. He
frequently visits communities to talk to young people about drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and suicide. His name is Jordan Tootoo.

16) Jordan Tootoo's brother committed suicide which is one reason that is an issue that he frequently talks about to young people.

17) Anything to do with wildlife really interests Nunavut people (young and old).

18) I do not think you would find many Nunavut people interesting in ocean swimming due to the cold water.

19) The ocean temperature on average around Baffin Island in August would be around 5 degrees Celcius.

20) Lots people on Baffin Island climb mountains/cliffs to collect eggs from nesting birds who build their nests on steep cliffs for protection from predators. Other than Baffin Island I do not
believe that mountain climbing is done either for recreational or subsistance purposes.

21) I would guess that just about every young person has a bike. Biking is very popular in the summer months all over Nunavut.

22) In the summer there are not a lot of things for young people to do. I think biking events (races and competitions etcetera), soccer games, hiking and picnicing events would all be popular with
young people if someone would organize and run them.

23) For many Nunavut youth speaking and writing in English or French is difficult since Inuktitut is their first language. I think pen pals with other students who also speak English or French as a
second language would work well. Contact the principals in the schools to set up a pen pal class.

24) I would look up the government of Nunavut website to find out all sorts of information about Nunavut from education to tourism.

I hope that this information is of some help to you.

Regards,
Marvin McKay-Keenan,
Principal,
Kugluktuk High School

Hello,
I am a consultant for the Department of Education – as such, I travel to all Baffin communities and schools. My home base is Pond Inlet, north shore of Baffin Island (called “Qikiqtaaluk”). I will answer some of your questions between the lines of your text.

From: henko roukema [mailto.roukema@gmail.com]
Sent: June 2, 2011 4:43 AM
To: Kotierk, Moshi
Cc: Hale, Peter; Aknavigak, Kirstie; Attungala, Sarah; Visser, Alida; Manning, Oloosie; Kalaserk, April; Arnold, Sarah; Blair, Eric; Beanish, Charlene
Subject: info on Nunavut for project proposal please



Subject: information about Nunavut, Canada
Good day!

I got your contact info on your website & would really appreciate your help ion providing me with info on Nunavut!

My name is Henko Roukema and I'm from Cape Town, South Africa. Together with 15 other young people from all over the world I got selected to attend the 9th Selection Camp of the Pangaea Young Explorers Program in Switzerland , 12-23 June 2011. The goal of this program, lead by Mike Horn - a famous explorer who have been to the North Pole several times - is to show the young generation how wonderful our Earth is and how to protect it efficiently. 8 participants of each camp are being invited to join an expedition - in my case the desired destination place is Nunavut, around Baffin Island.

But before the camp (12-22 June) we have to prepare a concept of a project that could be lead by Young Explorers during the Expedition. This project must concern problems of local ecosystem or community. The aim is to discover and help the region. We must carry out some research in order to identify key environmental and social issues in region of Nunavut, especially Baffin Island neighbourhoods.

Could you please help us with this demanding task? We would be extremely grateful if you could answer our following questions:

- What do you think we should concentrate on in our project?

Focus on the challenge of disposal/recycling of non-household items: hazardous wastes & chemicals, batteries, old appliances, vehicles of all kinds, construction materials. There is no way to get them out of the communities: there are no roads or railroads – just seasonal shipping during brief (2 month) ice-free season, and air travel/freight. But the ships, once emptied of their cargo, are returning south mostly empty. Burial of waste is not possible due to permafrost conditions; hence, household garbage is placed in open landfills adjacent to communities, and burned. There is no recycling of glass, cans, or paper. Also look at issues connected with sewage lagoons (found in every community because there are no water/sewer lines—every house has holding tanks, and water and sewage are trucked in and out) AND tailings lagoons in places where there is mining activity, esp. uranium and gold. Anything that gets into the fragile tundra environment takes eons to disappear.

- What are the main environmental (both ecological and social) issues in your region?

– in addition to the above, there is a nascent mining industry that will pose great risks to a fragile ecosystem and endanger Inuit harvesting of large marine / land animals (bowhead whales, narwhals, belugas, polar bears and caribou), In addition, “big oil” is sitting off the Baffin island coast waiting to commence high-Arctic offshore exploration and drilling. The spectre of an Arctic oil spill frightens people immensely. Decrease in animal numbers, and shifts in migratory routes (polar bears, caribou) are impacting traditional community life. Hunting is in decline and seal fur prices have plummeted due to the European boycotts. Young people will have to live in a wage economy in future rather than support their families through traditional means. Easily said, but there is 80-90% unemployment here. Most kids drop out by Grade 8. Very few make it to college or university.

- How does Climate Change affect normal people living in Nunavut? What are the consequences for their everyday life?

The ice is thinner and melting earlier; and the floe-edge is more dangerous. This greatly impacts hunters on skidoos. Increased levels of UV due to breaches in the ozone layer cause people here to become dangerously sunburned on their faces when they go out on the land. In some places a bit further south, people reliant on ice-roads to bring in annual loads of fuel and construction materials are seeing these melt to slush before they can finish their annual import season.

* is there any waste recycling programs (like waste worms) @ homes or are all foodstuffs just thrown away?
* * is there a lot of littering?

Yes. When the snow is finally gone there is garbage everywhere. Every community and school has at least one cleanup day where everyone dons rubber gloves and fills trash-bags with litter; these bags are disposed of in the local landfill by burning.

* do the schools have recycle bins / tin compressors / glass bins No

Will schools be interested in starting up waste recycling bins?
. seperate ones for plastic bottle caps , tins, paper ? No, no place to send or dispose of them. Air freight out? Impossibly expensive.

do most people / schools use energy efficient light bulbs? Increasingly, yes

- do they last longer in the cold? Same any others

- do people like this "cold" looking light? Personally, no – I can’t speak for others.

- what happens to the waste bulbs (energy efficient bulbs have mercury in it thats bad for the environment, therefore it should be disposed of ion a special way, but even in South Africa people are not knowledgable about it & just throw it away with other garbage) Here all of it goes to the community dump where it sits aboveground.

do the art class ever use recycled stuff ? Styrofoam containers and empty tins, yoghurt containers – not actual recycled supplies.

. if bottles & plastic all ends up in same garbage dump - how do Nunavut treat garbage - just burn it? does it make a lot of smoke & bad smell or do they have a special incinerator? If the wind switches direction on a burn day it stinks in the community.

- i read in an online newpaper that Nunavut is not interested in continueing the "crushed can" recycling project ( flying it out with empty planes) This is an issue of cost. It the plane is half-empty it uses less fuel than if it is carrying additional weight of waste materials. Someone would have to pay that weight if it’s not a passenger or a box with freight charges attached – and Nunavut government is nearly broke.

. Is there litter in the streets? who cleans this? –see above

- is there litter bins along the streets? do you think this will help? Not safe – attracts polar bears into communities -- and at other times they’d be blown away or covered with snowdrifts. Currently household garbage goes into sturdy wooden containers with heavy lids. A truck empties these once a week, takes it to the dump.

what do people do with waste food?
* throw it away? Give away to the poor; throw out spoiled items
* does the trow-away food end up in the garbage dump & does this not attract wild animals (bear/fox) ?
* used for dogs? Yes. Polar bears, wolves have to be deterred from nearing communities so garbage bags are burned quickly.

will people be interested in having their own food waste worm bin @ home or even @ school? Perhaps you could try it in a school as a science experiment, but very few community members would try it at this time. There is a strong cultural bias against insects and creepy-crawlies. Non-Inuit residents would likely be the first to ‘model’ this.
( do you know about waste worms? the worms basically digest all food waste & some paper you put in the bin & they "recycle" it to make a very good mulch you can use to enrich soil No sense trying to mulch or compost if there is no soil to grow things – this is tundra: rock and muskeg.

then the question will be , what to do with this mulch? Will people be interested in having a central greenhouse to grow fresh vegetables or flowers? In some southern Nunavut locations such as Iqaluit (Nunavut capital city) there are experimental greenhouse projects. But there is still no soil – this has to be brought in, or generated. People here really like houseplants, not so much cut flowers.

* is their any Greenhouses?

*would people be interested in growing their own fresh vegies? Only experimentally on a tiny scale – the climate, hours of sunlight demand a unique approach. (24-hour darkness, 24-hour daylight) Growing season has to be an artificial construct. Solar energy not an option for heating, no soil to work with except if it’s shipped in.

* would it be allowed to bring in any vegue seeds for a greenhouse? Government regulations strictly forbid bringing seeds into Canada – if caught doing this you may find yourself in serious difficulty.
* heat source for the greenhouse? Probably electric

will the schools be interested in using the greenhouse for practical biology lessons? Some schools’ science classes conduct modest indoor growing experiments mainly to show students how seeds sprout and grow, but nothing can be done outdoors between September – June.

do you think the person in charge of such a greenhouse will be able to make some money by selling fresh vegies? No

pets: do the people have pets? what? Dogs, very few cats. Dog-teams raised and used for sleds: inter-community dogsled marathons

* is there ever a problem with fresh water or water pollution? Yes, see above on water and sewage – no infrastructure.

* how is water delivered to homes? yes

* is any of nunavut water sold in bottles? Yes glass or plastic yes? what happens to the old bottles? garbage

- Sport facilities in Nunavut :
* how available is it ? some communities have an arena. A few lucky ones have an indoor icerink – hocky is a Nunavut passion along with baseball in summer.

* is there enough equipment? Not really. Some is donated. People are poor

* what sport equipment do they need? everything

* how popular is swimming? Not very, water’s too cold outside and only one community has a small indoor pool (Iqaluit). However, I know that when families travel south they love to frequent hotel pools.

* is swimming only indoors?
* how many pools & in which communities are there pools? Sizes of pools?
* do the swimmers wear swim goggles ? Will they wear if they get?
* is there a "recycle" program for sport equipment?
* if we could organise sport equipment to be donated, how do we transport it to Nunavut? Ask the airlines to “donate” by flying it for free

* how important is water safety in Nunavut? Do kids participate? Important – some communities come under boil water advisories from time to time.

* Is PFD (personal floatation devices) in regular use? DOes it cost a lot? Hunters use them during ice-free season –lifejackets as well as insulated full-body suits (those big orange ones worn by many fishermen in northern latitudes)

* is there any water games organised? no
- what sort of project do you think would really excite the Nunavut youth? Build local baseball fields. Right now they use rocky, uneven spaces

- who is current Nunavut sport heroes? Jordan Tootoo – the biggest star here!

* do these sport heroes give talks to the youth? Yes.

* is there a Nunavut sport hero that died tragically recently?
* what sort of activity would be really extreme in Nunavut (be interesting for youth & elders to watch & maybe participate)?
* swim in the ocean? Not possible in most communities. Kite-skiing maybe
why i asked about swimming in the ocean:
I am an "ice" swimmer ( that means to swim a 1000m/ 1 mile in water of 5degree celsius or less wearing only a Speedo costume, 1 swim cap & goggles) & thought that when we come to Nunavut to do an Polar Bear Ice Swim to raise attention on Global Warming. I know the people in Africa will definitely be interested to read about something like that happening in Arctic waters & will think : " if people can swim in the Arctic, we must reconsider & be serious about our carbon footprint". What do you think - will there be any spectators? Will it raise the interest of the locals? It might as a novelty at first; then they’d need money for the equipment and an incentive to continue. I’d research when/where this has been tried before in the Baffin. It could only be done briefly during the ice-free season of 6-8 weeks. That’s when the kids are out of school, and many traditional families go out on the land to their camps. A potential school connection under these conditions is hard to envision.

* what is the ocean temperature around Baffin ISland in August? Not sure - check online.

* climbing up a high vertical cliff wall ( mountaineering) Base-jumping is a big attraction in Clyde River. It attracts jumpers from around the word but there have been some deaths recently as this is an “extreme” location. It depend on the community – some are completely flat and others have cliffs of varying heights. It’s not the sort of activity that would be approved by community and school leaders during the dark season, but maybe in spring.

* triathlon event ( swim, run, bicycle) There are only dirt roads, very rocky and ice/snow covered from November to April, they they go to mud and dust. In some places kids participate in short runs to support causes such as Yellow Ribbon (suicide prevention – we have world’s highest youth suicide rates) or Pink Ribbon breast cancer awareness – and Terry Fox run – look him up on the Internet, he’s popular across the nation and all schoolkids know about him.

* how many kids have bicycles? Many of the little kids do, but no racing bikes for adults. Most teens and adults prefer ATV’s and skidoos

* any other ideas for a project to start & which Inuit youth can look forward to participate in? able to play baseball on a decent, level field; also try soccer if there’s a level, rock-free field. Kayaking, mountaineering. Kite-skiing on ice would be an interesting one to introduce locally. Everything should be low-cost as most people little extra money for equipment.

. Summer : will there be enough interest under the youth if we organise a yearly hike - say of 4 days - with some international youth plus a national parks guide/ conservationist ? Is any such multi-day hikes organised yet? This is worth looking into. Right now it’s tourists. The local elders are the ones to consult, along with Parks Canada employees who are based in the communities.

. We read about a lot of social problems in Nunavut -
- does the alcohol-free laws help in any way or where do the kids / people get alcohol from? No real deterrent. Bootlegging.

- are there many single young mothers? Yes

- how does the community treat teenage pregnancies? Very welcoming and supportive – all new life greeted with joy even when the girl is very young. The fathers tend to become involved – Inuit are doting parents and absentee fathers are rare. However, that doesn’t mean they have the means to support their families. Many young parents rely heavily on government social assistance and subsidized housing.

- who looks after the babies - do the girls just drop out of school or do they continue? Some schools have in-school daycare programs / rooms. Many drop out; some go back. Here in Pond Inlet we have several teenaged parents of multiple kids attending our high school, with plans to attend college programs. Many intergenerational family supports – parents, grandparents all involved.

. do you think the long dark winter ( with little sun/ vitamin D) is a reason for depression? That may be for some; however, Inuit have adapted over millennia.

- do people take any vitamin D pills in winter? Some do. Many Inuit try to eat as much country food as possible because the Arctic fish and mammals are full of the vitamins needed

- how do people "darken" their homes? i read they use foil on windows - is there any other way? Foil, yes – blankets, blinds.

* is their any ocean pollution in the area? what? where? how solved? There is not much yet – see above “big oil”, etc. Last summer 2 cruise ships went aground on uncharted rocks – luckily no fuel was spilled or people hurt.


Thank you in advance for your help. By our work, we want to help the region of Nunavut. We are looking forward to receiving your reply.

We have an extremely tight schedule for our project planning so would really appreciate a speedy reply. Thanks you so much!

Yours faithfully,
Henko Roukema
( on the behalf of YEP Team 1)