Truth & Reconciliation Day 2023 (Qaanaaq continued)

I am writing and updating the blog after having returned from the amazing Out of the Northwest Passage expedition. In order to keep the posts accurate I am posting the entries with the actual date rather than the current date. If that make sense then you'll understand that I am writing this on September 30th rather than the posted date of September 11. This is significant because today being September 30th it is the day that Canada has recognized as the Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Since the release of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission's final report in 2015, we have had to reckon with Canada's legacy of colonial violence against Indigenous peoples. The theme for 2023 is Honouring Survivors. This abuse includes the Residential Schools and the forcible relocation of Inuit from northern Quebec to Resolute Bay and Grise Fjord in the high arctic. More about that in a future post. In this post I am sharing photos of the Inuit of Qaanaaq, Greenland who welcomed us to their community and provided us with a peek into their culture by telling stories, chanting, demonstrating a few games, sharing some food, and putting on display a traditional sled and kayak. The town also has a small well-appointed museum with hundreds of artifacts and photos of times gone by. There was also a women's sewing building where women make clothing from animal skins. Although these Inuit are not Canadian Inuit, they are survivors of colonial abuse and assimilation, and they are proud of their culture and seem to be thriving in Greenland under Danish rule. In a future post I will have more to relate from what I have learned on this trip about the different experiences of the Inuit of Canada and the Inuit of Greenland. For now, I hope the pictures today in some small way help celebrate Truth & Reconciliation Day 2023.

Inside the culture and sports complex.

There were tables set up to sell us their wares and crafts.

A traditional dogsled.

A kayak made with sealskin.

An elder telling stories, playing a drum and chanting.

Sports from the Arctic Games. Kicking a ball on a string and landing on the same foot. The record is over 9'.

Some sort of neck pull until one gives or the band slips.

A tug of war, where the first to be able to lie down wins.

Some historical photos of Inuit in traditional clothing from the museum.

This outfit is a top made of bird skins and pants made of polar bear skin.

The Inuit ulu knife for cutting blubber and skins.

A traditional dogsled.

Traditional clothing made from animal skins.