Signs of the ancient people of the Arctic Circle
Inuit legend speaks of an ancient people called the Tunit
Back above the Arctic Circle I resume my story about the travels of four Buckhorn residents through the Northwest Passage. Our first offboat excursion was to Dundas Harbour on the southeast corner of Devon Island.
The day started at breakfast when Boris with One Oceans Expeditions would give us the weather permit for the day. That day the wind speed would be such that we would be able to board the zodiacs and speed off to Dundas Harbour. We would be guided by Mark Nuttall, social anthropologist, who would inform us about the Thule.
As a result of a warming period 1,000 years ago, sea ice decreased and greater numbers of large whales migrated to the Arctic seas.
Alaskan Inuit in open skin boats spread across Arctic Canada and into Greenland. These were the Thule Inuit.
Their ability to hunt whales gave them a richer way of life than that of the Dorset inhabitants of the Canadian Arctic, which seem to have disappeared at this time.
Inuit legend speaks of an ancient people called the Tunit, which are thought to be the Dorset. The Tunit were killed or driven away by the ancestors of the present Inuit. In Greenland, the Thule invaders met, traded with, and fought with the Norsemen who arrived from Europe at about the same time.
The remains of Thule residences were still there at Dundas Harbour.
They usually consisted of mounds of several winter houses built of sod over a framework of stones and whales’ bones, and are scattered throughout Arctic Canada. The people who built and lived in these villages were the direct ancestors of the present Canadian Inuit.
After examining these remains we continued our trek through the environment of Dundas Harbour. The green weatherproof boots supplied by the One Oceans Expedition were not the best hiking shoes.
Eventually we made it to an RCMP outpost created in 1924 over concerns about foreign whaling. 52 Inuit were relocated from Cape Dorset to Dundas Harbour but they returned to the mainland 13 years later. The post became a Hudson’s Bay post in the 1930’s.
We were greeted back at the Akademik Sergey Vavilov with hot chocolate and Bailey’s. After warming up we had presentations from Jean Iron, Ontario’s best known birdwatcher, on Arctic birds and Page Burt, naturalist and environmentalist, on plants of the Arctic giving credence to Buckhorn resident Sue Sudbury’s reason for calling the ship a floating university.
Taste of Europe
Would you like to eat your way across Europe? Come to the BCC on Saturday and enjoy all the best foods from Switzerland, Austria, France, Poland, Portugal and Greece! Your $30 ticket includes tasting tokens to visit the countries and taste all the wonders they have to offer.
Dance the evening away with great music from the Indian River Band. Tickets are on sale now. Call the BCC 705-657-8833 for more details.
Chemung Lions Donation
The Chemung Lions have made a $1000 donation to the Buckhorn children’s baseball league. Matt Fairfield, association president, says the money will be used to purchase new children’s equipment.
Fairfield will bring the club up to date on activities surrounding the new league and modifications to the ball diamond at the April 10 Lions meeting.