BY THE ARCTIC CIRCLE

Tuesday, August 19th, 2025

Iqaluit, Nunavut

Our party of six, Vasey, Dhira Nitai, Jai, Mahadeva, Annapurna, and I, landed safely in the far north region of Nunavut at the capital city, Iqaluit, population about 9,000 with an occasional visiting polar bear.  When Canadian North Airlines opened their doors, we caught a fresh wind on this sunny morning, temperature 4º Celsius.  The airport, fairly modern, has its walls adorned with artwork by the local Indigenous Peoples.  No, they don’t live in igloos or snow houses, but in fairly new apartment units or single homes all on stilts.  There are no trees, but rocks and wildflowers including something called Artic cotton.  Hares, ravens, and lemmings we saw, not too sociable.

We were all tired and took that much needed nap; however, I broke away at some point.  Curiosity was killing me, so I ventured off onto a road unpaved and being worked on, which means every one or two weeks, dirt is ploughed for leveling. 

I saw an elderly Indigenous woman struggling to get down the stairs.  She’s lived here all her life, calls herself Annie, and goes to the Pentecostal Church.  I helped her get down those stairs from her home and tossed her garbage bag into the bin.  Nice woman, but she was reluctant to have her photo taken.  No problem.

A young man, Darcey, and his friend, gave me the classic question, “Are you a monk?  We’ve never seen one before!”  A conversation ensued.

Our group drove off to a place called Apex by the water.  We became fascinated by rustic old buildings of the Hudson Bay Company, and a cemetery whose arched entrance is formed by large whale bones.  For food, well, we brought with us plenty of produce to satisfy palate and tummy for a group of vegetarians who bless their food.

MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU!

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