Be careful and stay safe

Learning to get along

An intimate wilderness : Arctic voices in a land of vast horizons

The journey, 1958-2012 -- Introduction. The early years and a time of discovery -- Tough guys and gentle men. Growing up in a rough-and-tumble neighborhood in Toronto and attending the Annual Prospectors' Convention, a raucous gathering of prospectors and miners that Inspired the author's northern travels -- Contours of the land. The Arctic, its vastness, beauty and a love of the land -- First impressions. Arriving In Cape Dorset in 1958, when the Inuit are moving from traditional camps to settlements created by the Federal Government. Kananginak Pootoogook, son of powerful camp boss, talks about how living in a settlement affected him -- A bit of silver paper. Pingwartuk who was the first to take "the inquisitive one" out on the land offers the formula for staying alive. The author travels at sea with Lukta Qiatsuq, who gets them out of a very serious situation by using the aluminum foil from a package of cigarettes -- Reflections. Simeonie Quppapik, who was photographed in 1923 by the legendary American filmmaker Robert Flaherty, talks about his lineage and offers sharp insights on the importance of words -- By the light of a seal oil lamp. Kananginak Pootoogook relates his life story. He was born in a hut lit by a seal oil lamp in a camp reached by dog-sled in winter and kayak in summer, at a time when it was believed that shamans could fly to the moon. Later in life, he watched men landing on the moon from the comfort of his home In Cape Dorset, which was heated by oil from Venezuela -- The scent of sensitivity. The author learns the rules of proper behaviour and the proper way to ask questions of the elders -- Legends and realities. How to separate myth and legend from reality -- Centre of the world. The author gives a panoramic view of the remarkable locations all around him: the Foxe Channel, Southampton Island, Igloolik, the ancient camps of Nurrata and Nuvudjuak, Cape Dorset, and the Great Plain of the Koukdjuak.

Hunger, fear, and magic. The author and Itulu Itidlouie set off for the small island of Sarko, and barely return alive -- Table d'hôte. What it's like dining out on walrus, whale skin, eider duck eggs, ptarmigan, and caribou, while avoiding, fermented meat or fish, the eyes of animals, and fully formed chicks still in their eggs -- Nunannguait, "imitations of the earth". The Inuit view of memory, maps and map making -- How we took a great whale. An elder talks about traditional techniques for hunting whales -- Silent messengers. Understanding the complex meanings of Inuksuit, the human made stone figures and markers placed on the Arctic landscape -- An Inuksuk universe. A meditation on the cycle of life growing in the shadow of a single Inuksuk -- More real than you could imagine. An illusion of reality -- The stone hunter. Osutsiak Pudlat talks about how Inuksuit were used as hunters' aids -- Inuksugalait. The author travels with Ohito Ashoona and his son to Inuksugalait where at least 100 Inuksuit stand within an area of three hectares. In this place, one is overcome with a sense of spirituality and awe -- Tukilik. Travelling by helicopter, Paulassie Pootoogook leads the author to an ancient site rivaling Inuksugalait. With careful observation of the entire site and its relation to the caribou migration, the author unravels its mystery -- Little Bear and the ravens. Memorable encounters with polar bears and ravens -- Where Northern Lights are born. One Inuit legend about how the Northern Lights came to be -- Visions. The strange phenomenon of "lightning in the ice" -- Lunar attraction. The author observes a very strange occurrence and learns from elders about the power of the moon -- Ghostly caribou and phantom dogs. Ethereal sightings when travelling on the land -- Time of the magic light. As the sun sets, a fiery column of light forms and reaches skyward. Then, a full moon appears to rise out of the sea, like a great paper lantern floating heavenward.

A fearful twilight. The author experiences "kayak sickness," a disorientation so extreme that he did not know up from down or where he was upon thesSea. An elder talks about dangerous act of gathering clams below the ice in springtime -- Signs from heaven. Arctic phenomena such as ice blinks, ground drift, sundogs, diamond dust, and a time when the air appears to be filled with glittering ice crystals -- Essential woman. Majuriaq Ashoona lalks about the woman's role In Inuit traditional society -- Needle, thimble, and ula. Ikkuma Parr and a small group of women share their stories of camp life, arranged marriages, the status of women, traditional remedies, and the worst things that could happen to a woman in camp -- Witches and mermaids. Osuitok Ipeelie talks about the difference between what he believed to be true and what he knew to be true, and offers a story about a cannibal witch -- Where the sun dances and the earth shimmers. Springtime in the southwest Baffin region, and the land awakens from a deep sleep -- Dreams, dreaming, dreamer. Osuitok Ipeelie discusses different types of dreams, some based on what one knows to be real, others that give a glimpse of the future -- Five states of mind. Osuitok Ipeelie on the five states of mind beyond dreaming -- The spirit helpers. There was a time when Inuit believed in the existence of helpful and evil tuurngait (spirits) who were called upon by shamans to perform all manner of tasks -- Place of power, objects of veneration. On the metaphysical landscape of the Eastern Arctic -- places where life was renewed, strict customs observed, and celebrations staged -- In the field, on the land. The difference between woking in the field and living on the land -- A charmed life. An elder from Kugluktuk (Coppermine) shares stories about charms: ones that attract good luck, allow the owner to perform superhuman feats, or offer a glimpse of the future -- Spirits in the stone. The elder from Kugluktuk (Coppermine) continues his stories about a deadly snowman made by a shaman. Such an effigy could be used by the shaman to capture the spirit of the person destined to be either harmed or killed -- The strength of spirits. On the powers of real shamans -- Inurluk. The tale of the young girl who was taken as a wife by the evil spirit Inurluk who transformed her into an inunnguaq, a stone figure in the likeness of a human.

Haunted by hunger. The elder Ottochie speaking of desperation and pain of starvation, and the measures taken to stay alive -- Mirkut and the shaman. Two tales of a mysterious fire, the disappearance of an old man, and an evil female shaman -- Love, life, death, and immortality. A story about a woman who fell in love with an ijiraq, a spirit In the form of a Caribou. A tale encompassing love, death, cannibalism, rebirth, and Iimmortality -- For the love of Jesus. Armand Tagoona, the first ordained Anglican deacon in the eastern Arctic, explains how his traditional beliefs were affected when he become a minister of the Christian faith -- Aliguq's warning. On a solo trip to Mallik, the author has an odd dream in which he is warned by a woman never to return. The author would later be told that he was visited in his dream by the much-loved shaman Aliguq -- Bridging worlds. Deciding to follow Christian beliefs yet saddened at the same time, a woman and her companions seek peace by making an offering to Sedna, who lived at the bottom of the sea -- Incantations, curses, and the power of words. The author learns about incantations that attract animals, calm storms, offer protection against evil spirits, and give thanks for a safe journey or successful hunt -- Eternity. The author met Issuhungituk Pootoogook during his first visit to Cape Dorset. The two built a strong bond, spending hours together at the kitchen table talking about all manner of things -- Qiatsuq and the imagined window. Issuhungituk shares the story of her father, Qiatsuq, a shaman and artist who depicted traditional life on the land and scenes of violence and killings -- Tuqu: death. An elder talks about the rituals and understanding of death -- Island of the Dead. The author learns about a terrible battle between Attachie's and Kinarnaq's camps. Thirty bodies were later dumped on a small island known as Iluvirqtuq -- Jayko and the rendering vat. In desperation, hunters place the lifeless body of one of their friends into an iron rendering vat. Several years later the body is removed and given a Christian burial -- The old woman who was carried off by wolves. Fantastic tales about Arctic wolves, real and mythological -- A cowboy song for Mikkigak. The author serenades a old friend on his death bed -- Lament for an old friend. Final words to the elder Joanassie Salamonie -- Transformations in time. An everyday experience as simple as observing the melting of ice reveals an event of epic proportions -- Adrift. Pudlo Pudlat watches as his nephew floats out to sea on an ice floe to face certain death. Miraculously, the young boy is saved by the turn of the tide.

Tea time on an ice floe. The transcendental part of the world that lies between the land and the open sea and between different hunting techniques -- The people with the pointed shoes. Simeonie Quppapik talks about the Sami reindeer herders and 600 reindeer who arrived in the Canadian Arctic in 1921, in a failed experiment to establish the herd in Canada -- Two tattoos. What was the meaning of the tattoos on Charles Gimpel's arm, Qaqqaq Ashoona wants to know -- Dark shadows. In some camps during traditional times and repentance -- Threat and reconciliation. On a trip with a dominant hunter, the author experiences abuse and humiliation, but in the end a measure of redemption as he is carried ashore by his tormentor who becomes a close friend -- The last traditional Inuit trial in Sikusilaq. The author comes upon a site where the Great Council sat in judgement, and offers a unique account of the Inuit traditional system of justice in action -- The mysterious Tuniit. The author recounts what he has learned about the Tuniit, the mysterious people who preceded today's Inuit -- Cultural treads. The Inuit understanding of the Tuniit -- Words: the vanishing artifacts. The importance of gathering names, meanings, and characteristics of places considered significant to the elders. For the Inuit, words are carriers of culture, and their loss is profound -- Memories and visions. Osuitok Ipeelie reveals how Inuit shamans kept alive ancient words spoken by Tuniit shamans; life in the early days before the arrival of guns and missionaries; and how the magnetic North Pole is constantly shifting its position -- There is great beauty in fond memories. The author accompanies Itidlouie on the elder's final trip to his most beloved places -- Epilogue. The author shares stories with a niece of one of the elders, and learns about his Bukovinian roots from a former Polish cavalryman -- What a wonderful thing it was to know you.