Terin DeWolf: Land Trip

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to spend a day out on the land with members of the community here in Cape Dorset. Yesterday was the first official "Cape Dorset fishing derby". There would be cash prizes for three categories of fish - largest (or longest), smallest and most amount caught. There are other communities in Nunavut that have yearly fishing derbies, and Cape Dorset is hoping to join that category. Everyone gathered in town and headed out to the lake in a convoy of snowmobiles and qamutiik's.

It was nice to see that there was a mix of individuals attending the derby, from infant to elder. When we reached our destination and everyone had claimed their fishing spot, holes were dug in the ice using gas powered drills and a communal snack/warming up tent was set up near the center. Before fishing commenced there was a short prayer spoken in Inuktitut and then each sort of 'family group' gathered around their area and had a pre-fishing meal which consisted of raw frozen caribou leg, walrus meat, bannock, and a hot drink. One person was in charge of cutting the meat and then several women cut the chunks into smaller pieces using their ulu's. We were graciously offered food and beverages from multiple camps. There was a stark contrast between the traditional land food and the bags of chips, Planter's peanuts, chocolate bars and cans of coke also being passed around.

During the derby itself it seemed that it was mainly the elder community members that stayed near their fishing holes and spoke to the fish, while a number of the younger community members would take off on their snowmobiles to hunt in the hills surrounding or play games driving around the ice. While speaking to a number of the older community members throughout the day, this seemed to irritate them quite a bit. The constant noise of the machines seemed to echo throughout the area.

Although there were few fish caught, the experience was amazing. To have the opportunity to get out on the land with so many community members and to be welcomed by everyone really has helped to make me feel comfortable here.