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January 17, 2020

Memories of Yellowknife’s 1966 hospital fire, a new tax shelter in ‘Arctic Monaco,’ and mountain rescue ops in the Kluane. Plus, the urban Inuit housing crisis in Ottawa’s ‘Little Nunavut.’ 

Thanks to @PurpleSaxifrage for sharing this photo of her morning walk in Apex. “I'm so lucky to live in this place. It is not harsh. It is elegant and gentle.”

UP HERE IN THE NORTH 


This is the last newsletter before I head off to Tromsø, Norway for the Arctic Frontiers conference next week. Several Canadian researchers will be presenting at the event on everything from food insecurity in the Arctic to the role of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit in sustainable planning. Look for coverage on all that in future issues, and on our social media streams. Also, expect a shortened newsletter next Friday as I'll be composing it while on layover at the Calgary airport. 


Thanks for reading,
Jacob Boon 
Editor

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COLD SNAPS

How cold is it right now in the North? Cold enough that Yukon travellers who crashed their vehicle between Carmacks and Pelly Crossing—where there's no cell service—lit the car on fire to stay warm during the night. Please remember those temperatures out there are deadly. Always, always be prepared. (
CBC)
 

One person who is ready for the cold is Hockey Night in Canada sportscaster Ron MacLean, who tells Cabin Radio he’ll stay toasty via “battery-operated socks” when he arrives in Yellowknife next month to host Hockey Day in Canada. And what do you know, those actually exist. (Cabin Radio)
 

Ripples of grief from the Iranian air disaster that killed 176—including 57 Canadians—were felt all across Canada last week, even into the far North. "This has been a week of reflecting on that and seeing how interconnected we truly are," said Yellowknife Roya Yazdanmehr, who knew one of the couples killed in the crash. (CBC)
 

I guess CBC is turning episodes of its new reality show, High Arctic Haulers, into online news articles? Starting with this piece, on the complications of buying a new car in Chesterfield Inlet for busy mom Vicki Tanuyak (who appeared in the series' first episode). (CBC)
 

In Ottawa, it’s estimated 20 percent of the individuals in need of immediate housing are Inuit. The city’s housing services department has upwards of 350 families right now in hotels and motels. Brett Forester with APTN visits Ottawa’s “Little Nunavut” neighbourhood to report on the urban Inuit caught between two housing shortages—both at home and down south. (APTN)
 

The legendary Gold Range in downtown Yellowknife is up for sale. The hotel and bar, which opened in 1958, as the first spot to serve draught beer in the NWT and famously became immortalized by Mordecai Richler’s prose. The property has flipped through a number of owners since those glory days and is now on the market for $2 million
 
“People came to help and loaded linen bags with equipment and saved the old enamel bedpans!” one Yellowknifer recalls. (Cheryl Sykes Franceschi on FB)
A thread popped up this week in the YK Memories Facebook group with, well, YK memories about the Stanton Hospital fire of 1966 (see above).

Public Safety Canada has an 
archived 1966 journal article detailing the blaze and the impressive emergency response in its aftermath.

“This is the story of a hospital destroyed by fire, yet replaced within 24 hours.”

The fire started on the building's upper floors and burned so fast that the entire structure was lost within an hour. Amazingly, none of the 30 patients or 11 staff were injured. Even more astounding, those staff members and other good samaritans kept going back into the burning building over and over to help rescue patients, equipment and medical records.

By 5 pm the following day, an “Emergency Hospital” of carefully packaged trauma equipment and medicine had been flown into town from Alberta. Three hours later, a temporary hospital in the Elks Lodge was ready for patients. (Volunteers had unloaded the 71 airlifted packages and transported them to the makeshift clinic in just 29 minutes.) Just in time, too, as the new emergency hospital delivered its first baby the next day. (Various)

 
The Rosdail family is ready for a walk to Tuk. (NWT Parks And Recreation)
Jay Rosdail lived in Iowa but dreamed of travelling to Tuktoyaktuk. Sadly, Rosdail passed away last summer at the age of 70 after a battle with cancer. His family decided to honour his dream anyway, or at least the best way they can, by completing the NWT’s popular “Walk to Tuk” program. Collectively, the extended Rosdail clan will walk across six states and 16 communities to match the 1,678-kilometre distance from Fort Providence to Tuktoyaktuk. (CBC)
 

Ptarmigan sightings are down in the Northwest Territories’ capital. That’s according to birder Bob Bromley’s annual Christmas bird count. “I can't count the number of times people have come up to me this year and said, ‘Where are the ptarmigan?' That's on everybody's minds.” Despite the anecdotal worry, Bromley says there’s no reason yet to think the tubby little birds’ population numbers are declining. (Cabin Radio)
 

“For Kelly’s sake, we need to eliminate lateral violence.” The Winnipeg Free Press writes about how Inuk singer-songwriter Kelly Frasher's death has “opened up a big discussion in the Indigenous community.” (Winnipeg Free Press)
 

There are some new ground rules for climbing Mount Logan in the Yukon’s Kluane National Park. Basically, Parks Canada is fed up with dangerous—and expensive—rescue operations to pick up stranded or injured climbers who don't have insurance. Each of those rescue ops can cost anywhere from $60,000 to $100,000. (CBC)
 

Is this Yellowknife’s most well-known map? Print-outs of the Highway 4 map covering the Ingraham Trail are all over town, available in six different languages. The guide keeps visitors safe as they look for campgrounds, set out on fishing trips and hunt the best aurora viewing. An updated map with “more robust safety information” (including that the territory now has 911 service) is hitting the streets this week. (Cabin Radio)
 

Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, a national organization representing Inuit women across the country, says radical changes are needed to address “systematic radicalized policing” in the Arctic. (National Post)
 
Complementing our sunrise in Apex at the top of the newsletter, here’s a gorgeous sunset from Tanana, Alaska. With thanks to Cynthia Erickson (via Twitter)

ELSEWHERE IN THE ARCTIC


Danish Coast Guard officers have been fined after trading booze for Narwhal teeth. “A third person on board was fined for having hunted and shot a muskox in a national park in northeastern Greenland. The muskox was later eaten onboard.” (High North News)
 

“How plans to put Moscow’s trash in the Komi Republic’s taiga united environmental, Indigenous, and Communist activists into a new opposition movement.” (Meduza)
 

The municipality of in northern Norway has put together new tax breaks in an attempt to woo wealthy Norwegians to move their fortunes to what's being dubbed the ‘Arctic Monaco.’ (Investment Europe)
 

One more story about Norwegian thieves, this one in Longyearbyen: “The Bizarre Bank Robbery That Shook An Arctic Town.” (Outside)
 

Travel is worth the carbon footprint, says Cassidy Randall, who was on her way home from pining for the fjords in Greenland when she stumbled across an article in The Atlantic arguing the best thing we can all do to combat climate change is to stop travelling. “The piece… was essentially telling people that they should feel guilty for doing the same. Frankly, it pissed me off… Not only that, but it missed an important point. Travel is what opens our eyes to what’s at risk—from fragile ecosystems and disappearing wildlife to warming oceans and people struggling—and inspires us to fight for it. ” (Outside Magazine)
 

Forget electric cars, electric huskies are now pulling sleds in China. (Cabin Radio)
 

On your left, how one man’s passion for fly-fishing led to protecting Russian salmon rivers. On your right, how the Salmon Sisters of Alaska are fighting for a sustainable fish future. (Various)
 
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