craft of birchbark canoe-building in person
with Todd Labrador and a Parks Canada
Interpreter at work (www.parkscanada.gc.ca/
kejimkujik).
NORTH
The Eeyou Istchee Baie-James region, 800
km (497 mi.) north of Montréal, is one of
Canada's best travel adventures. Traditional
Cree experiences, snowshoeing and hiking,
museums, coastal tours and cultural
festivals await (www.escapelikenever
before.com).
Increase the excitement in Puvirnituq, an
Inuit community in Nunavik, in Québec's far
north. Here you can enjoy a dog sledding adven-
ture across the sea ice and get a hands-on course
with an Inuk master igloo-builder, and even
sleep under the northern lights in the igloo that
you built (www.inuitadventures.com).
To explore Canada's Arctic waters in
comfort, book passage aboard an Adventure
Canada cruise ship. Photograph polar bears
and the aurora borealis from the deck, go
ashore at Mittimatalik for an Inuit welcome
and visit the Franklin graves on Beechey
Island (www.adventurecanada.com).
In late June, Yukon's Kwanlin Dün
Cultural Centre hosts the popular annual
Adäka Cultural Festival, which showcases the
arts and customs of Yukon First Nations and
Indigenous artists (www.adakafestival.ca).
The Northwest Territories boasts some of
the world's best viewing of the other-worldly
aurora borealis. Watch the show from B.Dene
Adventures' cosy cabin on the shores of
Great Slave Lake, or at Aurora Village in
Yellowknife from the comfort of a teepee.
Nunavut offers unusual wildlife and
Arctic experiences. Trekkers wanting to live
the life can go winter camping like Inuit
families, hunt exotic big game or simply put
their feet up at one of the area's lovely
wilderness lodges.
For their valued visitors, Canada's
hospitable Indigenous Peoples have
created spirited and spiritual journeys
through their history and culture, carrying
on the traditions of millennia. By
educating guests with original stories and
homegrown experiences, they send
positive vibes to the world. And that is
good medicine for the soul.
27
TEA BREAK BY THE IGLOO WITH INUIT ADVENTURES, NUNAVIK, QC • ISABELLE DUBOIS
