Travel SURVIVAL STRATEGIES Arctic plants use ingenious techniques to retain heat. Dense clusters of leaves on purple saxifrage allow heat to accumulate. The parabolic-shaped blossoms of yellow Arctic poppies and mountain avens act like miniature solar collectors, as they follow the sun from horizon-to-horizon. We spent most of our time on our knees, photographing the miniature blossoms. From a distance, masses of fluffy white Arctic cotton look like snow. The Inuit used to combine the densely tufted heads with dried moss to make wicks for their traditional seal oil lamps. To supply a single soapstone lamp with wicks for one year, they had to fill a 10-kilogram sack with blossoms. ART CENTRE Each community gave us more insight into Nunavut’s culture. Just 30 minutes by air from Iqaluit, Kimmirut is a hamlet of 425 people on Baffin Island’s southern shore. We enjoyed a panoramic view of its buildings and the long, narrow Glasgow Inlet from a huge limestone outcrop. As we strolled through the village, we met several women carrying babies in the backs of their amautiit (traditional hooded parkas). The babies soaked up the attention, kisses and even the cheek-pinching from doting friends and neighbours. Kimmirut, like many Nunavut communities, is home tomany artists. Soper House Gallery displays and sells local stone carvings, art, crafts and uluit (traditional half-moon-shaped women’s knives). We met Elisapee Hulu, an artist who specializes in stencil prints. Her imaginative renditions of spirit bears were as beautiful as her traditional outfit, which took three years to make. “I owe my artistic ideas to my parents,” she said. “These images illustrate the stories that they passed on to me.” 18 | www.snowbirds.org
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