Christmas message

 Merry Christmas

Yes, Christmas is just around the corner!  Yahoo.  I have plans A, B and C in place for getting out of here.  Plan A, is that we get out on Tuesday, as planned and everything goes according  the schedule.  Plan B, is that we get to Montreal, and maybe have a lay over, and plan C is, I will get to coast when I get to the coast.

Although the weather isn't as cold as Kangirsuk, the storms are worse, and the snow fall is enormous!!  We had the  full on blizzard, Thursday and Friday.  It is a blizzard when winds are over 50 k an an hour, and visibility is limited.  The winds have slowed down to about 30 k an hour, but the snow continues to fall.  According to the weather man, Monday and Tuesday should be clear, but the weather can change.

We were back at work on Friday, but stayed home because of the blizzard.  Last night, we all managed to make it to our Christmas party in the gym.  We all made something--I did a frozen veg casserole, which was pretty good because it was all gone in short order.  One of the teachers is doing a chef program,  they made the turkey, caribou and shepherd's along with all the fixings including mashed potato, fresh carrots done in an orange sauce, gravy and stuffing.  The dessert table was pretty good too!

The highlight of the evening for me was chatting with the principal about a project for the spring.  Sylvie is very good at getting grants.  There are several amazing soap stone carvings, sitting on a library shelf collecting dust in the student lounge.  They are worth thousands of dollars, and no one pays them any attention.  I asked Sylvie who the artists were that created them, when, and why.  She had no answers. But, she did invite an elder from the village, who is an artist herself, to join us.  This lady was amazing and full of information. The smallest item was the bird, a raven carved by her father, to commemorate a beluga harvest, that fed the village for a long time.  She couldn't remember the year, but she will talk to her family to see if anyone can remember.  The father died last year.  It was carved from local soap stone, found just up the hill from the village.  She said that this soap stone is rough, and not the best.  The best is only found on an island in Nunavut, near the North West Territories.

So begins the inquiry.  Sylvie supports the idea of identifying the artists, and the stories of the sculptures, along with bringing local artists into the school to work with students on soap stone carvings.  

I also had a lovely meeting with two print makers.  They not only shared their work with me, but they shared the stories of the images.  Wow--that has made my whole time here worth while.  I finally learned how the Inuits survived the cold with out our modern heating.  

Please say a prayer about the weather--we will need it!!

Mary Paningajak--she shared many stories with me, it was so lovely to have this special time with her.  Again, in my classroom.

Qumaq Iyaituk--she taught me so much about Inuit life through her prints.  She is in my classroom.

Playing a dice game for prizes

The School Commissioner with the Mic, and Thomassie, the School Director behind him.  A director looks after everything un related to academics.  

The value of Inuit carvings is in the detailed capture of life, soul, spirit and movement   Each one of these sculptures has it all.

The Raven  You can see the difference in quality of soap stone.  All the others were carved in the special soap stone from the very far north.  Apparently, artists from this community, travelled north to get the stone--how, when, why, I have yet to find out.

Singing, karaoke.

Singing our little hearts out.

This lady is from Hungary.  She married an Inuit.  She speaks at least 5 languages, fluently, and teaches senior math and science.  She is a terrific lady!