Quttinirpaaq National Park on Ellesmere
Island (www.blackfeather.com
).
HERITAGE AND CULTURE
Throughout Nunavut are sites once used
by nomadic Inuit. Stone rings marking the
locations of skin tents used in summers
are commonly spotted. In Qaummaarviit
Territorial Park, near Iqaluit, semi-
subterranean sod houses used by Thule
people between AD 1200 and 1700 can
be seen (
www.nunavuttourism.com/
parks-special-places/territorial-parks/
qaummaarviit). There are also many
Hudson's Bay Company trading posts,
remnants from the 19
th
century whaling
era and, on Beechey Island, the graves of
three men from Sir John Franklin's
ill-fated 1845 search for the Northwest
Passage. In September 2014, one of
Franklin's ships, the HMS Erebus, was
found by a remotely operated underwater
vehicle near King William Island and, in
September 2016, Franklin's second ship,
the HMS Terror, was discovered off the
shores of King William Island. The
Northwest Passage can be explored on
expedition cruises staffed with artists,
academics and Inuit (
www.adventure
canada.com).
Carving is common through Nunavut,
but Cape Dorset is the epicentre of iconic
Inuit sculptures that have been gifted to
presidents, popes and royalty (
www.
dorsetfinearts.com ). Their printmaking is
also acclaimed, as is that of Pangnirtung
(www.uqqurmiut.ca ).
MUST SEE, MUST DO
Dogsled or kayak on a day trip out of Iqaluit
(www.inukpakoutfitting.ca).
Watch polar bears and walrus emerge from
stone, antler and whalebone as carvers
work outside their homes in most hamlets.
See colourful northern lights flicker across
the sky in fall and winter.
Experience Inuit throat singing and drum
dancing (
www.alianait.ca).
Taste traditional Inuit country food like
Arctic char, caribou, muskox and fresh, hot
bannock bread.
Take an Arctic safari aboard a snowmobile-
drawn Inuit sled from coastal Pond Inlet,
Arctic Bay or Igloolik to the floe edge in
springtime as wildlife, from whales to polar
bears, take part in an open water feeding
frenzy (
www.blackfeather.com/floe-edge).
SCENIC WALKS
Stroll easy paths through a tundra valley to
waterfalls and cultural sites at Sylvia
Grinnell Territorial Park just outside Iqaluit
(
www.nunavuttourism.com/parks-special-
places/territorial-parks/sylvia-grinnell).
Hike the trail up the peak of 200-m (656-ft.)
Mount Pelly in Ovayok Territorial Park east
of Cambridge Bay for views, wildflowers
and archaeological sites (
www.nunavut
tourism.com/parks-special-places/
territorial-parks/ovayok-territorial).
QUICK FACT
INUIT OFTEN RAISE THEIR EYEBROWS
INSTEAD OF SAYING "II" WHICH
MEANS YES IN INUKTITUT.
BRINGING ARCTIC DREAMS TO LIFE
Arctic Safaris Family Adventures Private Journeys
www.arctickingdom.com
© Scott Rosborough 2016
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