The Northern Lights, Cambridge Bay, Goo, Goo, Gochoo

September 19, 2015

The Northern Lights, Cambridge Bay, Goo, Goo, Gochoo

Adventure Canada enlightens us:

Day 15 — Thursday September 3, 2015
Iqalututtiak (Cambridge Bay)
The May Hakongak Community Library and Cultural Centre was opened in May 2002 in Cambridge Bay. The centre share a building with the Kiilinik High School and supports a fully integrated school/public library, cultural centre, museum, art gallery and archives. One of the first of its kind in the Canadian Arctic, the cultural centre aims to create a venue in which traditional and modern forms of knowledge are seamlessly brought together through various museum exhibits, Elder-run workshops and after-school programs. Despite serving Cambridge Bay as a fully functional library, our centre also strives to strengthen cultural, historical, and technological dimensions of communityliteracy. ThefacilityprovidesoneofCambridgeBay’sonlysourcesforaccessiblepublicInternet,after- school reading programs, sewing and traditional tool making workshops, and viewing community-based documentary films, A team of elders works on site at the centre on a daily basis to help youth develop traditional skills and language, and assist in research projects.
The Cultural centre has a small museum interpreting different aspects of Inuinnait history and material culture. ItsdisplaysanddioramasarebasedontraditionalknowledgerecordedbytheKitikmeotHeritageSociety, as well as traditional technologies developed during the Heritage Society’s many landcamps and workshops. The museum also displays important collections of early twentieth century artifacts on loan from the Canadian Museum of Civilization and Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.

Inuktitut word of the day:
Kigutinnguat — Dentures

"Ah, for just one time
I would take the Northwest Passage
to find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea,
tracing one warm line
through a land so wild and savage and make the Northwest Passage
to the sea."

—Stan Rogers

About 11:30 PM, Clayton, Adventure Canada's host for this trip, and VP of marketing, wakes us up informing us that if we hurry out on deck we can catch the northern lights. We do just that and I manage to snag four photos. Brad says we saw the northern lights many years ago on a fall BWCA trip, but my memory of that event is vague, and in any case I did not snag any photos of that event. I've seen more spectacular photos of the northern lights, but it was still an impressive sight.

Today, we visited the town of Cambridge Bay - got Aria's second post card off (Anna is putting together a book of postcards we are sending to Aria from our travels starting with Italy this spring). Tonight is the talent (variety) show, and Brad is one of the acts. He came up with the idea of doing a dramatic reading of John Lennon's "I am a walrus" (we unfortunately did not spot any walrus on this trip). I had the song on my computer, so we listened to the song and copied them down. He asked David Reid (the Scottish Canadian staff member) if he would do the reading, and David enthusiastically agreed. David read the "poem-song" (John Lennon clearly was doing some serious drugs when he wrote these lyrics), and Brad looked on until they came to the chorus...David read " I am the egg man, they are the egg men, I am the walrus" Brad took a sip of water and dramatically walked up to the mike and said "Goo, Goo gachoo" The crowd erupted in laughter - it was a big hit.