The Igloo Built by the Elders

On March 15th, the elders in Inukjuak built some igloos and invited the community to come up and play games and have a feast. When I arrived at the site, I could not believe my eyes. Our little igloo looked like a shack in comparison to this mansion igloo. It was 3 igloos attached together to make a multichambered home. Even the dogs had a passageway to a small separate igloo for them. They built an entrance wall leading up to the front entrance, and a window on the top of the igloo made out of thick ice. They even had a ventilation stack!!!

Inside the biggest chamber of the igloo, they had dug out the floor and put in 2 by 4wood planks, so that you could sit with your feet dangling. Then the sleeping area was covered with cardboard, tarps and animal skins. They had a contraption build out of wood in order to hang clothes out to dry. And a coleman stove was heating water for tea.

It was great to see the elders teaching the young members of the community about their roots. I think it is sad that there is suck a loss of culture and tradition in this community. The elders have so much to teach the young, but the children seem interested only in soda, chips and video games.

Out side of the igloos, there were dog teams pulling sled rides, and soccer!!!! In the snow!!!

It was a great day, and the temperature was a still minus 30- no wind. It actually felt warm. I had my snow goose jacket wide open I felt so warm!!!

Building an Igloo

I am actually in Montreal now. But now that I have access to high speed Internet, I will catch you up on the 10 week contract I just finished!

On March 1st, the doctor in our clinic: Francois Prevost, who has been working up North for some time, decided to show the nurses how to build an igloo. It was actually much easier than I had anticipated. First you cut blocks of snow out of the ground with a saw. Since the snow is so hard and packed together, the blocks life right up and stay intact. Then you draw a circle of the ground and start laying the blocks of snow on the circle. When you place a new block next to an existing block, you tap 3 times on the side of the block and on the top of the block to make it stick to the blocks next to it. You keep doing this till you reach the top. Then you fill the cracks with snow, and the person on the inside of the igloo who was placing the blocks, cuts a hole for the door.

It took a little over 3 hours for us to finish the igloo. They told me about the igloo making competitions that are held every year in Inukjuak, and how there is a man named charlie who can build his igloo in 25 minutes!!

Apparently the temp inside the igloo at night is about minus 5. Too cold for me, so I slept at home........that and I am scared of the wolves and polar bears!!!!!