Barry and Victoria Head North

These pages are the diary of a trip by Barry Rueger and Victoria Fenner in September 2003. The passages below were written while on the road, and aside from some minor editing and design corrections, they remain as is.

In the Beginning

Most of you know that a large part of our lives has been spent in community radio, as managers, employees, program producers, and listeners. Now days we also spend a lot of time teaching workshops and consulting.

That has taken us to many places, and we have worked with thousands of people from dozens of cultures. Our last adventure took us to a remote town of 1300 people with a unique culture and many challenges that stemmed from the remoteness. But as far removed as Whitesburg was, this is even further out.

The story begins back in March 2003, with a note from George Bohlender at CFBI Radio in Cambridge Bay. That note read:

"Our Society is interested in making the most out of the investment we have
made in our community radio broadcasting and production equipment. ... I was wondering if you were available and interested to assist us with a workshop, probably sometime in late August or early September?"

Our immediate response was:

"Yeah! Count us in! Victoria and I will talk it over tomorrow and get back to you!"

As was the case with Whitesburg, this was immediately followed by a moment of "Oh no! What are we getting ourselves into now!?"

Soon after the funding had been approved George began to feed us information about Cambridge Bay. Among the gems that he passed on were:

Grocery prices:

Milk: $4.00 a liter
Bread: $2.00 a loaf
Eggs: $4.00 a dozen
Butter: $4.00 a pound
Ground Beef: $5.00 a pound
Pop: $2.00 a can
Juice, 1 liter tetrapak: $4.00
Cigarettes: $10.00 a pack etc.

For restaurants, the Arctic Islands Lodge has a dining room that is open to the public. Generally, you're paying about $20.00 for lunch and $30.00 for supper. The Northern Store has a KFC/Pizza Hut outlet called the "QuickStop". These are not places you want to eat at if you are on a low-fat or low-sodium diet.

Please note that while Cambridge Bay is an open community when it comes to alcohol, there is nowhere to buy it here in the community.

September temperatures are just above the freezing mark for most of the month, with a bit of fog, rain and the occasional dusting of snow. You can find current weather conditions at:

http://www.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/forecast/city_e.html?ycb

For general stats on Cambridge Bay, you could try the StatsCan website
at: http://www.statcan.ca/start.html

Just type "Cambridge Bay" into the search box and see what comes up. Cambridge Bay is primarily a regional government, education, and transportation center. Tourism activities are centered around
bird-watching, musk ox sport hunts, sport fishing, and cruise ship visits (2 per year). There is some processing of arctic char and musk ox at the Kitikmeot Foods plant. Approximately 75% of the population is Inuit, 25% is non-Inuit. Nunavut's population is quite young with about 70% of the population being under 25 years of age.

For more information on the community, check out the Hamlet of Cambridge Bay municipal website at:

http://www.hamlet.cambridgebay.nu.ca or http://www.cambridgebay.info

Well - from those sources we learned:

What to Expect When You Get Here

We have a Royal Bank branch (complete with an ATM machine accessible until 10pm), a full service Canada Post outlet, two department stores, and a fast food outlet that serves KFC and Pizza Hut. We
receive a couple of dozen TV channels via cable, more via satellite dish, and we're wired to the rest of the world through local Internet access provided by Polarnet. We get our water delivered by truck and
sewage hauled away by the same method.

You'll find teenagers playing video games at the local arcade to Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys' tunes blaring from the sound system. You'll hear Inuit elders speaking Inuinnaqtun as they pick
up their mail at the post office. You'll see the headlights of hunters several miles out on the sea ice returning by snowmobile with their catch, to the eerie, hazy, welcoming glow of a town shrouded in ice fog during a -35c winter night (-50c or more with the windchill).

If we ever want to "get away from it all", a visit to the local travel agent will have us booked on a junket to Las Vegas - or ecotour in the Costa Rican jungle - in no time. Or you can simply drive your ATV five minutes outside of town along the Mount Pelly road where you'll come across musk ox grazing lazily all over the place. Bring your fishing rod along and catch a char dinner by the banks of Freshwater Creek. Drive a few minutes outside of the community in either direction and you'll come across a slew of cabins - our version of southern "cottages" - where more than a few residents pass their time after work and on weekends during our 24 hour summer daylight, May through July.

We've got Cadets, Brownies, Elks, and drum dancers. Hockey and curling in the winter, swimming in the summer. Saturday morning pancake breakfasts, sit down bingos, kids selling chocolates or flowers, to raise money for the new school gym, food bank, grad trip, or whatever might be needed at the moment. No trees shedding leaves to rake, no lawns to mow. What could be more perfect..?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ok - after reading that I thought - limited shopping, satellite TV as the main media source, really limited restaurants, and it's a dry county.

Throw in a couple dozen Baptist churches and this would be Whitesburg, Kentucky exactly!

Seriously though, the next few weeks were spent reading up on Nunavut and Inuit culture, and re-reading Un/Covering the North: News, Media, and Aboriginal People , a nice book by Valerie Alia that surveys the history of northern media. And of course we tuned into APTN, The Aboriginal People's Television Network, to watch shows about the north (often in languages we don't understand, but for a battle of the bands from Nunavut and Greenland that really doesn't matter does it?) and tracked down the CBC Northern News website. And even as I sit in front of the air conditioner typing this I'm sorting out winter clothes!

Oh yes - and as our banner suggests, I did drop by our local CAA (Canadian Automobile Association) office pick up road maps for Yellowknife, Nunavut, and maybe Cambridge Bay. Sure enough - the best that they could do was a tour book for Alaska and the Yukon!

Day One of our journey was via Air Canada from Toronto to Edmonton. I was reminded once again that except for the landing and takeoff, air travel is pretty boring.

I had though been smart enough to schedule our departure for late morning, so there was time for Ursula the Wonder Pup to escape out the front door not once but twice. Fortunately if you open the car door she immediately runs back to go for a ride.

I swear that we have almost never traveled with this much equipment, but we do like to be prepared. Aside from (too much?) clothing, we also brought recording gear and a fair pile of office supplies - and a printer.

The driver that took us to the airport didn't blink though so I guess he's seen worse. Still, once it was all piled onto a baggage cart at Pearson International it did look impressive. All we need is a sledge or a dog team to complete the Arctic Trek look.

Our one goal in Edmonton was to meet up with our old friend Andy Posthumus, News Director at CKUA, the provincial educational radio network. We managed that, but first we had to check into the lovely Nisku Inn and Conference Centre.

We unloaded our many bags from the rented Toyota, and set out for town. We got as far as the giant Nisku sign when we were flagged down by a hitchhiker in the driveway of the hotel. Being kindly sorts (and because we had never seen someone hitchhike outside an airport hotel!) we asked where she was going. She said downtown, so we said "Hop In!".

What we learned was that we had picked up Brigitte Helgen, who had traveled all the way from Geneva, Switzerland. We of course asked her why she was in Edmonton and discovered that the next morning she was leaving for Fort Good Hope to spend five months teaching elementary school. That's a town of 300 in the Northwest Territories. It's not as far north as Cambridge Bay, but after a certain point it doesn't really matter.

Obviously we had lots in common, so we invited her to come along and hang out with Andy.

We now know that the Edmonton Airport is very, very far from Edmonton. Ok, we also got lost.

We did though make it into town, and had a wonderful tour of Andy's radio station. He still had two more newscasts to do, so we walked down to a local park.

Since we still had time, Victoria hauled out her trusty microphone (you may note that she has a mic in hand in nearly every one of these pictures) and proceeded to interview Brigitte for an upcoming major documentary on the adventures of a Swiss school teacher in the wilds of northern Canada.

The evening was gobbled up by three major developments. The first was Victoria's realization that Edmonton had White Spot restaurants. White Spot is a Vancouver chain that makes what are without question the finest hamburgers in the world. Triple O sauce is all that you need to know.

So we stopped in and let her ravish a double burger and fries. Even Brigitte agreed that they were very good, and since the Swiss are renowned as great chefs, she must be right. The Nat Taylor beer was good too!

Once we had escaped White Spot we moved on to shopping. George had warned us that in terms of both cost and quality it was in out interests to shop in Edmonton for groceries and bring them up on the plane. Fortunately we had brought along our Beast of Burden.... yes, he was interviewed in the supermarket.

Andy though had one more trick up his sleeve.... a pilgrimage to Edmonton's most sacred shrine, and an opportunity to worship at the feet of The Great One, the man who made Edmonton The City of Champions...

Yes. We are talking about Wayne Gretzky!

Well, before we leave town, we had to add one more picture. Where else but Alberta would people think of cowboy boots as proper footware for soccer camp?

Victoria here. Well, we’re up in the air now, heading for Yellowknife. I’ve put away my mike and picked up my pen instead. Since electronics can interfere with a plane’s navigational system, I think it’s a good idea not to record. Lots of miles and miles and miles of miles and miles to get lost. Don’t want to end up a modern day version of the Franklin expedition.	Boarding in Edmonton
Before we left, we bought the last of our groceries until we get to Cambridge Bay. We bought most stuff last night, but left the fresh stuff for today – salad in a bag, cheese, butter, and things like that. There are a dozen eggs in a bag at my feet, safely nestled between 2 loaves of fresh baked bread (we figure there’s not much chance of finding anything other than Wonder Bread in Cambridge Bay). As we shopped, I got thinking how much our grocery list today is much the same as when we go camping.
I had a great conversation with two lively Canadian North employees when we checked in. (fortunately, I recorded it so I’ll upload a sound clip so you can hear them yourself.) We talked about what people bring up with them – we were assured that our heavy load of stuff was normal – they said they are suspicious of people who travel too light. Apparently we are traveling light!
The plane we’re on is an ordinary 737 – no different from a jet you’d take from Winnipeg to Toronto - except that half the plane is cargo. When were checking in we were told that today is pop and chip delivery day to Cambridge Bay.
One more note before I finish up this theme of what to pack and what not to pack – I am sure impressed with Rueger’s packing skill. Not a chance I believed we’d get all of our stuff and a week's groceries into four pieces of checked baggage and 2 carry ons. He is the master when it comes to all things organizational.
I think we’re over the southern Northwest Territories now. The view below causes my mind to stop and be still. It is truly awe inspiring. Not a trace of human life can be seen from here, except for faint outlines of logging roads. And sadly, some barren patches that are too sharply defined to be natural, so must be clear cuts.
The white clouds are casting shadows on the ground. It’s hard to tell the shadows from the water. I always think of the Canadian northscape as blue and green in summer; white, grey and black in winter. But there are a lot of browns down there too. The shape of the natural land is rounded and curved. The sharp, angular lines are the ones we have imposed upon the land ourselves.
Landing in Yellowknife – the trees are small and sparse and do not cover the rock. The rocks are many different hues of green, grey and brown. I think the lichens outnumber the trees a million to one.	Lake by Yellowknife Airport Inside the Terminal.
Further north – if there are any trees down there, they are very small. I think we must be north of the tree line by now. I am trying to imagine what the soundscape of Cambridge Bay will sound like. I think it will be very still, I think sounds will carry a long way. It will be easy to hear my own footsteps. The surface of the land will be mostly gravel and rock. I have been told that there are a lot of ATVs in town. I expect to hear barking dogs,a few cars and trucks, gentle waves by the water’s edge. I will update this tomorrow after I’ve had a chance to hear whether or not my imagination was right. Barry here now. As we were flying up yesterday it struck me as an interesting mix of people on the plane. On one hand you had local people who were returning home after going south for medical attention (even expectant mothers make the trip to Yellowknife weeks before the projected birth date). On the other you lots of obviously government employees. The third group that stood out were the tourists coming up to hunt or fish, all decked out in khaki and camo gear, with fancy bushwhacker hats. The group that I hadn't really considered up here are the transient workers who come up to work four or five weeks at a time in the mines. The guy beside us on the plane is involved in reclamation (clean-up) work at the Polaris mine, which is about 100 miles past Resolute Bay. Victoria asked him what Resolute was like, and he had no answer. All that he sees of the northern towns is the airport, then he spends all of his time at the mine site, then flies back out. One wonderful surprise on the plane was that in the last twenty minutes they serve up "Franklin Coffee", coffee with Bailey's and whipped cream. In general terms I was surprised how good the food was on the plane, as was the service. Certainly the chicken with hollandaise sauce was a big improvement on the pathetic 12 pretzels that they serve on US Air. The picture here really don't so justice to the country. It's amazing to watch the trees and roads disappear, and there is a point when you realize that you are well and truly past all civilization. As we flew further and further north I was mindful that we were stepping into something entirely new. We may have lived in reasonably remote places before, but this was something quite different. Once you get to the Northwest passage you have truly reached the end of the road. The question is whether that is the place where you stop, or whether it is a new beginning.	Leaving Yellowknife Below are pictures taken as we flew north and watched the landscape change.
As you can see by this picture, we have arrived. Time to go to the Green Row Executive Suites and unpack our groceries. The eggs all arrived intact. Our suitcases are not leaking so I guess the 2 bottles of wine made it too. Time to get settled in, walk around a bit and try to get a sense of where we’ve landed. Barry: There was something wonderful and awe inspiring to realize that our 737 jet airliner was landing on an gravel airstrip. I was reminded that it is still possible to do air travel without tarmac, and exotic electronics, and without the ever growing levels of scrutiny and security checks that are common in the south. We stepped off of the plane, and I was struck by the wind and the cold, and by the sky that seemed to go on forever.	Unloading Cargo in Cambridge Bay At the airport