COVID-Distancing On The Land In The Arctic

04/27/20 • 39 min

Melissa and Daniel Rogers live in Inuvik, Northwest Territories in the Canadian Arctic. Melissa is of Gwich'in and Inuvialuit decent and Daniel is Inuvialuit. Melissa and Daniel were both raised with a close connection to the land and when the COVID crisis struck they didn't wait for the virus to surface in the Arctic, they left town and headed to their traditional camp North of Inuvik. In this episode we discuss why Melissa and Daniel returned to the land, living in a tent in -30 temperatures, harvesting fish and caribou for food, their family histories, climate change in the delta and much more.

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undefined - Tradition Worth Saving, A Future To Prepare For - Iqaluktuuttiaq creates traditional healing programs, modern infrastructure and prepares for COVID-19

Tradition Worth Saving, A Future To Prepare For - Iqaluktuuttiaq creates traditional healing programs, modern infrastructure and prepares for COVID-19

The small Canadian Arctic hamlet of Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay) is located on Victoria Island, and lies on the Northwest Passage in the Arctic Ocean. As do other Arctic communities, the hamlet faces many issues such as climate change, food insecurity, overcrowding in houses and now the Coronavirus. Despite these challenges, the community moves forward using traditional camps to heal those with addiction issues, engaging elders to teach traditional skills to the young, while also providing opportunities for the young to develop new strengths such as digital media production and other modern skills. In this episode we speak with Pamela Gross, the mayor of Iqaluktuutiaq, regarding these topics and more.

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Diving Into The Arctic - Jill Heinerth discusses the shrinking ice coverage in the Arctic

Jill Heinerth is an award winning, world renowned Canadian diver, cave diver, author and filmmaker. Her achievements include making TV series for PBS, the National Geographic Channel and BBC. She has consulted on various movies for directors including James Cameron. Jill is the author of the bestseller, INTO THE PLANET - My Life as a Cave Diver and has produced documentaries including We Are Water. Her work with Arctic on the Edge and the recent documentary Under Thin Ice is fascinating. Jill was the first person to dive inside iceberg caves of Antarctic and has penetrated further into an underwater cave system than any woman in history! In this episode we discuss with Jill her evolution as a diver and cave diver, her travels to Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay) Nunavut Canada, the importance of Inuit knowledge and wisdom, the shrinking ice coverage of the Arctic regions, the speed of this change, animal feeding cycles out of sync, the importance of Arctic ice in the food chain, the connectivity of humanity, facing our fears and next steps related to climate change, and the implications of COVID-19