Expanding our social bubble

Todd Mintz spotted a couple social walruses at the floe edge near Grise Fiord. (v ia Instagram)

COLD SNAPS

APTN has obtained nearly 6,000 letters from Inuit tuberculosis patients who were brought south by the government in the 1950s and ’60s for treatment. The pages—written but never delivered by the government, and obtained decades later by the broadcaster through an Access to Information request from Library and Archives Canada—“reveal government surveillance, loneliness and concern for families back home.” Though written in the author’s original Inuktitut, the letters were all opened, read, and translated into English by government workers. APTN has produced a two-part feature on the letters, Writing Home, which premiered this past week. (APTN)

A new study has found the Yukon’s famous Tagish Lake meteorite contains within its 4.55-billion-year-old rock the sodium-rich alkaline fluids that are the elemental building blocks of life. Neat stuff. (SyFy)

Students in Chesterfield Inlet have a big booster on the other side of the globe. “Uncle” Bob Carveth has been contributing supplies, funds, and stories from his home in Australia to the students at Victor Sammurtok School for more than decade. (Nunavut News)

The Dene Nation is postponing its summer assembly. The annual event was to have taken place in July in Fort Good Hope to celebrate the Dene Nation’s 50th anniversary. National Chief Norman Yakeleya says the gathering may be held off until next year, which will be the centennial of the signing of Treaty 11. (CBC)

Canadaland has an interview up with Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, all about how the Nunavut MP is spending her time during this national pandemic and her hopes for the future post-COVID. (Canadaland)

Congrats to Yukon University. This week the institution officially became the first university north of 60. (Twitter)

Hey and speaking of school: “For students in northern Canada, where so much of life revolves around being on the land, there’s something extra painful about being trapped inside in springtime.” (CBC)

Nobody wants to operate Yukon’s mobile abattoir. The territory received exactly zero bids to take over the contract for its livestock-slaughtering trailer, currently operated by Tum Tum’s Black Gilt Meats. The $175,000-facility has been on the road since 2006. (Yukon News)

Ilinniarutit TV is a new video-streaming website by the Nunavut Bilingual Education Society that “aims to teach the Inuit language to preschool children through the use of phonics and vocabulary videos and songs, as well as animated storybooks and books available for download.” (Nunatsiaq News)

Andrew Morrison, singer and guitarist for The Jerry Cans, was inspired to write the lead single of the band's new album after losing two childhood friends to suicide while the album was in production. “Losing family and friends this way is not new for the band, or anyone who has spent any time in Nunavut. This song came out of the anger, sorrow, and frustration of this experience.” (Nunavut News)

After more than 60 years in business, Plummer’s Arctic Lodges won’t be opening this summer. The company operates five lodges in the NWT and one in Nunavut. But that was before COVID-19. (CBC)

White River First Nation is forging ahead with the Yukon's largest solar project: “Once fully operational, the array of solar panels will be capable of generating enough electricity to replace 350,000 litres of diesel per year—or 60 per cent of the fuel required to meet the community’s power needs.” (The Narwhal)

Be careful on those summer road trips. A government report has found the Yukon has the second-highest rate of motor vehicle deaths and injuries in the country. Distracted driving was the most common cause. (Yukon News)

“Nunavut must move beyond paying lip service to traditional values.” Jane Glassco fellow Tina Piulia DeCouto explores why she feels uncomfortable in her northern home. (Nunatsiaq)

For over 25 years a mural by acclaimed Yellowknife artist Walt Humphries greeted visitors to the Stanton Territorial Hospital. It now lies face-up in a pile of gravel, warped and cracked from the elements. (CBC)

Northerners in the Philippines are watching and waiting for a safe way to get home: “You wake up, you eat breakfast, do nothing… then comes lunch.” So say we all. (CBC)

The Alaska Peninsula contains the world’s most productive salmon fishery and is a vital stronghold for brown bears. It's also now under threat from an open-pit gold and copper mine. (The Guardian)

A list of famous Sami. (Life in Norway)

“The largest Arctic science expedition in history finds itself on increasingly thin ice.” But COVID-19 is just one of many setbacks for the hundreds of scientists struggling to save the MOSAiC expedition. (Inside Climate News)

Iceland plans to welcome international tourists back starting next month. Visitors will have to chose between a test for the virus or a two-week quarantine upon arrival, however. (Daily Hive)

A potential landslide at Prince William Sound could trigger a destructive tsunami in Alaska, scientists warn. The worry is that a rapidly receding glacier could collapse 650-million cubic yards of dirt and stone into the waters, sending waves 30 feet high crashing on the shores of nearby Whittier. “It could happen anytime.” (Smithsonian Magazine)

Adventure travel could have a bright future post-COVID: “Travel is poised to make a strong comeback.” (Outside)

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