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"The
men" a few minutes before Eric and Thomas depart.
(from left Thomas, Paul and Eric) |
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Take
Off!.. |
Date:
February 16, 2001
Position: 58o46 N 94o10W
Weather Conditions:
Cloudy, -24 F / -31 C, 30 to 50 km/h gusty winds |
| Yes,
we have had a take off..except it was not us with the sleds
and dogs! Last night Eric and Thomas headed back out of
Churchill, to return to Minnesota. It was quite weird seeing
them roll away in the train. |
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| As you
probably know, Paul and I (Mille) were actually to take off
with the dogs in the beginning of the week. But we wanted to
complete some final testing with our equipment. The good news is,
that it looks like we are all cleared and ready to go. We are
ready -- and so are the
dogs. |
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| Tuesday Mille,
Paul and Choko visited with grade 10,11 and 12 at the
"Duke of Marlborough" School -- They are also
participating in the program here online, so look for
them in the Collaboration
Zone... |
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While we
have been waiting here in Churchill, we have had a great time
though! Meeting with many nice people, learning more
about Churchill - and have had a couple of polar bear visits! Tuesday
Mille and Thomas ran into a Polar Bear while they were out
visiting with a local friend - Brian Ladoon and his large
kennel of Canadian Eskimo dogs. We got some great video
footage of the bear. The next night a huge mother and her two
cubs were spotted in the other end of town. It is a little
early for them to be seen around -- but that is what Churchill
is all about: Polar
Bears... |
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Churchill
is renowned as "the Polar Bear capital of the
world". The area just South of here is considered the
largest maternity denning area for Polar Bears in the world
October through March. It was just recently made into a
park, "Wapusk Park". Wapusk meaning "white
bear" in the Cree language. Every Fall between 80 and 150
bears gathers in and around Churchill. The bears are waiting
for ice to form so that they can venture out to where they can
hunt seals. Ice forms first around "points of land"
If you look on a map you can see how Churchill sits on a
Peninsula. So, this is the natural gathering place for bears
every fall. That means you literally walk into them on the
streets. There is even a Polar Bear jail here in Churchill for
bears that don't behave! Every year about 20.000
tourists travel through Churchill to watch the bears. This
little town of about a 1000 is simply swamped with
people from all around the globe. As one of the students who
we visited with at the "Duke of Marlborough" School
pointed out, for living somewhere this remote they meet a
large number of different cultures. Such influence from
the outside world makes Churchill very diverse. |
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| Is
the "Eskimo
Museum" a good name? Mille doesn't think so..Why do
you think that is? |
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With
a Danish fellow by the name of "Jens Munk" being the
first European in 1617 to winter camp with his ship in this
harbor, A Hudson Bay Co. post erected as early as 1685 in form
of a huge fort and 1920 kilometers of rail being established
between Churchill and Winnipeg in 1930, "white
man" has been here for a while. But as always - the native
people of the north - has been around much longer.. Remains
of Pre-Dorset, Dorset, Thule, Inuit, Chipewyan and Cree camp
sites around the tundra reveal the areas occupation over
the last 4000 years. You
still find many traces of the traditional culture. Another thing
Churchill is known for is their museum. The museum
was started in 1947 and has an incredible amount of rare
pieces giving us rare insight to the rich culture of this area. We have
spent many hours in this museum. |
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| What
is probably most fascinating is how the native people have
been able to adapt to this harsh and very sparse
environment. To see how they were able to make tools out
of very little means. How they lived in harmony with the land
as nomads surviving the cold conditions. As Peter Erneck puts it " Traditionally we
have been subsistence hunters and gatherers, and have survived
that way for thousand of years. We hunt to live and clothe
ourselves, we gather vegetation, such as berries and seaweed,
to supplement our diet during spring and summer."
From that perspective
it is pretty obvious why so many camps are found in this
area. This land is very rich. It is taiga country - half way
between tundra and forest - providing some shelter as well as
some wood. There are lots animals and other
resources; |
With wood being very sparse (if any!) most of these tools are made out bone from fish and mammals.
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More
than 400 species of plants burst to life during the short
intense growing season and some 200 species of birds migrate
here in the spring. The fresh water of Churchill River not
only provides fishery of fresh water fish, but every
spring break up migrating beluga whales arrive to feed
in the river mouth (the estuary) and to birth their young.
Today we head out on
this magnificent land, much like the traditional nomads. It is our turn to put on the mukluks, lash the last bags,
hitch the dogs and sled out onto the ice. It's the start of
ARCTIC BLAST 2001 expedition!!!!!!!!
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