note: There are many questions in this post but no question marks. Please try not to get statements and questions confused. Otherwise, I've made an effort to edit posts in advance so hopefully things will make sense. Lastly, apologies if I have misrepresented anyone.
It was Brian’s birthday today and he and I were invited to dinner with Mike Gardener, the former rector of St. Jude’s Cathedral, and his wife Margaret. We had barbecued arctic char, McCain’s fries (ie. Fish and Chips), veggies, and a salad including fresh greens from the green house for dinner. For Dessert we ate banana cake accompanied by fruit and cherry ice cream. Mike and Margaret have been in Iqaluit since 1980, and in the North for much longer. Much of their family remains in the North thus they have stayed as well. It was neat listening to Mike and Brian reminisce from their training days in England in the 1950/60’s to become priests and their national service terms (ie. conscription to Her Majesties army). After dinner Mike and Margaret’s daughter and son-in-law came by to say Hello.
A discussion ensued over much tea in which Brian was asked by the daughter whose name I have forgotten about what Iqaluit was like in the 1960’s, he said that it was very much the same. At this point, dear reader, you may say that in a previous post I stated that things were changing quickly! Certainly there are more buildings today. And there is a larger population. But, by saying things are the same I think is to acknowledge that we humans always have struggles. In the 1960’s violent crimes existed however there were no suicides. Currently, suicide is a regular occurrence.
One might propose that suicides take place due to not knowing one’s identity, forgive me for my simplified and inadequate statement. For instance, in Labrador, where the conversation had shifted, there are few Inuit who speak Inukitut. This is not so in Iqaluit where students study Inuktitut until grade four. This is an example of how someone who is Inuit cannot identify with their own culture, but still cannot feel akin to western culture. In Labrador these problems are worse than in Iqaluit -though it is a concern in Iqaluit. We all remember the news stories on CBC over the Gas sniffing in Davis Inlet, and then a year later the news stories returned saying nothing had changed. Years later I wonder if anything is different. We humans still struggle, that has not changed, Old Testament afflictions still happen as David Adams Richards points out in one of his books. And they aren’t restricted to Davis Inlet, I am sure gas sniffing happens in many places in Canada. Back in Iqaluit, alcohol is a big issue. The priests are obligated not to drink, even in private. When the Liquor store first opened the Cathedral campaigned to close it to no avail.
Furthermore the question of identity can be more complicated because, as Brian suggested, there is a desire to narrow the definition of what it is to be Inuk(singular for Inuit). For instance, can you be an Inuk if you don’t eat seal meat in Labrador. Or to be Inuk you need to be part of a family and a region. Is this inclusive or exlcusive. I ask because the daughter mentioned that a Japanese man moved to an Inuit community in Greenland, is married, speaks the language and so forth. He is an Inuk now. If he can become Inuk surely others can, and shall. However if you are an Inuk and you are displaced from your family and region are you still an Inuk. In the room I was in, that is the kitchen with Brian, Michael, Margaret, Archie the son-in-law and the daughter whose name I’ve forgotten, I was the only who could speak no Inuktitut, the others were either bilingual or conversational in Inuktitut, and English. In my opinion, their English speech had adopted the flow Inuktitut, perhaps like the tide it is gentle and steady.
People tell me they are worried about Iqaluit. One person said to me today that kids don’t have anything to do. They are 1,000 plus youth without any activities. Another was saying how mold is an issue. I think youth without activites (or in revolt) or mold is something most Canadians face at one point in their lives. And yet there is a feeling that things are getting WORSE here in Iqaluit, even though it is a boom town.. I met a documentary maker, a guy my age, from Spain who told me that he as a non-believer, in the church, Christianity or god –I am not sure, all three I suppose- thought that the church was a solution to the problems in Iqaluit. ( I don’t know why he restricts the church as a solution to only to Iqaluit…or what it means for the church to be a solution, what’s the formula, I ask). Yet I think its important to keep in mind what Brian said, that some things remain the same. There may be more bees in the north than ever before, but there is nothing new under the sun.
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