Wednesday, September 12, 2012

How Do You Do?

I am sorry. i haven't attended this blog in a really long time. I have been having a great summer so far and I'm welcoming the fall to be. I last wrote sometime back in the spring. I really don't know what else to write either. I have been seeing this magnificent woman for the past 11 months now, so I have been gloriously occupied with her. I have been going out hunting. I have done nothing in the most part. i have just existed in the fringes of society, occasionally stepping out to say hi. Lastly, i have just been lazy to write. There are many things to report. Of course, I have no pictures. Only a few but not really willing to post them as well. Like i said, i am lazy. Where do i start before i start repeating myself. This summer, my cousin and I have been going out hunting. Seal hunting. Whaling. Fishing. i am rather proud to say that i did harpoon a whale. Not a very big beluga but a whale nonetheless. It was awesome. We did catch a bunch of seals as well. Not a lot of fish but we did catch some fish too. My cousin is awesome. My father also got a brand new aluminum boat from Newfoundland. So we put a new cabin onto it. We have been happy for the most time. My and my girlfriend also took a trip to Ontario for about ten days. It was tiring to say the least. Its a very complicated story that we rather not talk about. We did go shopping, which is kind of a tradition for anyone from Nunavut going down south. I am back to teaching this fall. I teach Aulajaaqtut in the local high school part time. Its a pretty good job. i like the students that i have. thats seems to be the extent of what i have done since i last wrote. I didn't go into detail at all. I think being in this community, being in a relationship, having awesome friends and being a step-father, has made me pretty busy and giving less time to write. Yours truly. P.S. I will try to write more often

Monday, May 28, 2012

Agressive Salmon Hoodie

It feels like it has been years since i last posted on my blog. Seriously, i have not been very busy. I have been teaching at the high school since February. I am a substitute teacher. I teach the Aulajaaqtut course. Its a pain explaining what the course is, but in a sentence, it is a course that offers healthy lifestyle choices. I sometimes debate myself if i am fit to teach the course. So, as part of my awesome job (i love it) i get to go on trips to the south. i chaperoned students, grades 10 and 11, to a very nice city called Rockland, Ontario. The students were up here in April and we went down there in May. It was a very good exchange, in most parts. As you know, if you work with students, there are parts where it is rather difficult with some students. And of course there were students that were just brats. The highlights of the trip were: zip lining, camping, rock climbing and roller coasters at leRonde. We had families in Rockland as well, our qallunaat families. They were very nice and very dedicated to our well being and enjoyment. They made sure everyone was enjoying their time in Rockland. There were times when something really funny happens. Like the time when one of the students screamed at the top of their lungs when a small bug flew or walked by her. She was terrified. She was funny. Or the time when one of the students wenbt boating and caught some fish or the same student was actually at the school studying with his "twin". i feel like i am just filling this page with something not such good writing. i am just writing. So now, i will say, working with students is awesome. you learn something about yourself, and the social structure of students. The interaction of students from different cultures is a real study in social interactions and conflict resolutions. As you will see, the title of my post has nothing to do with my trip. My good friend Mike, told me that my shirt, which is pink, was gay. I didn't like his comment, and i tried saying something along the lines of saying that its not gay, so he said it is an agressive salmon colour. That is my post!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

I Shaved This Morning

Hello world!
I am just a skinny Eskimo
Not very fit either
i don't eat seal everyday
i don't like igunaq (fermented meat)
I don't even have my own ski-doo
nonetheless a dog team

Hello world!
this morning, i shaved.

If you've met some awesome
Eskimos in your life,
you'll notice we like to say
"the cold doesn't bother me"
"I like to go out hunting and camping"
"mmm, raw foods"
and so on

but rarely do we here of an Eskimo
say
"I shaved this morning"
because it's a pretty momentous
occasion, probably deserving
a round of applaus
or an announcement through the radio
or a status update on facebook

i am, as you can tell, rather proud
that i shaved this morning
because i do so only once a week
and it hasn't even grown fully
just a millimeter long
and its only a small mustache
even little kids make fun of it

for instance, in Ottawa
one of my good friend's son,
when he was a small boy, once asked:
can i touch your little mustache?
or when a student of mine drew a picture
of me with small dot representing my mustache

Hello world!
i shaved this morning
and it is a brand new day
i expect the brightest of days

Monday, February 27, 2012

The Food

did you know? people have blogs totally dedicated to foods?
i never have a lot to say about food, except that i eat it.
lately, i have been watching anthony bourdain's no reservations
it is a show dedicated to foods, travelling and trying whatever food is given.

so i have been thinking about food, our foods
the so called traditional foods, country foods
and how that might affect our culture.

what do you eat? and once we add carrots, onions, broccoli or potatoes,
is it still traditional?
what constitutes traditional?

the liver of a caribou? does it just involve the meat?
how many of us eat the head of a caribou? are we traditional if we don't?

how many of us eat polar bear? igunaq (fermented meat)?
ptarmigans? seal intestines? male ringed seal (tiggaminiq)?
ducks? beluga meat, not just the maktaaq?

have you had qisaruaq (Caribou stomach lining)?
tunnuq? tongue? seal liver, kidneys?

what is available at what times of the year?
is the duck at its prime in july?
baby seals in august?
bull caribou in october?

is our diet dictated by seasons? when is food best?
cooked or raw?

can we still eat nothing but country foods?

can we eat these words? will they sustain us?

Friday, February 24, 2012

While you sit and watch

For a good part of
our lives
we tend to sit and watch
the commotion
the gathering
the consultations
people doing the work for us

For a good part of
our lives
we tend to stay quiet
while the people talk
while the people point
while companies make plans
while the government approves

and before we know it
you'll see the helicopters flying
and
the announcement of this and that
and one day you'll think
what the hell was i doing that whole time?

People from the south
come and go
as they always have
but we, who love the cold
the snow to its fullest,
will stay and have children and
grandchildren, nephews and nieces
we'll want to stay here and will do so,
have a responsibility
to be part of everything
that happens here

because while we sit and watch
there are people interested in
your language,
your land, and your life
and they'll do anything to
grab a hold of it
they'll even spend money to do so

because while we sit and watch
there are a group of people
from vancouver, toronto and ottawa
looking over maps
considering which areas have diamonds
gold, iron and everything else in
between

considering ways of making it
seem that they will help you, when
in the end
they want to fill their pockets
with hundred dollar bills

considering ways how they can
retire with a cottage by a lake
how they can put their kids through college
and all of this while we sit and watch?

don't you think its time
we stand up and ask questions
stop them in their tracks?

don't you think its time
we protect something that
cannot speak for itself?

don't you think we should
all stand up and demand what is ours?