Churchill Weekly Photo – Rankin Inlet
Quilting the Northern Fabric
Veronica Puskas’ quilt Pillars of Strength. Canadian Quilters’ Association photo.
Veronica Puskas, a former resident of Nunavut’s Kivalliq region, recently won an award for Excellence in Work by a first-time exhibitor Quilt in St. Catharines, Ont. at Canada’s national juried show.
Pillars of Strength, is based on a 1950 photograph of her grandmother and mother near the Meliadine River by Rankin Inlet.
The quilt honors her grandmother, Puskas says, though making it also helped her to deal with some heavy emotions.
Veronica Puskas uses Nunavut and the north as inspiration for her quilts and art. Veronica Puskas photo.
“I hope to encourage people that are going through difficult times that through doing some artwork or doing something to make something beautiful is very cathartic,” she says. “It helps you deal with the emotions and the hurt while doing it.”
Puskas says the project, which she began years ago and selected from over 80 entries, was truly a labor of love and family tribute.
“Mom used to tell us you can do better than that and that’s all I kept hearing.”
Chair of the event, Marilyn Michelin,says Puskas’ skill is outstanding.
“To do people in a picture is just unbelievable,” she says. “The talent that people have for that.”
Puskas, who now lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, will continue to use the north and particularly Nunavut as her inspiration for future quilting projects.
Arctic Weather Brrrrreaking Records
Rankin Inlet in a deep freeze of -60C a couple of days ago. Susan Enuaraq photo.
Rankin Inlet, Nunavut gets cold in the winter. Located on the northwestern shore of the Hudson Bay at 62 degrees and between Chesterfield Inlet and Arviat, the town is definitely in a remote yet exposed region. Weather is just a part of life and recently the weather has been colder than cold.
Schools in the south get “snow days” though when you get to the 60-degree latitudes school closures are “cold days”…usually accompanied by some snow as well. When temperatures fall to -60C with the windchill or more than just about everyone will stay home and not risk going outside and expose skin. For the past few days, schools have cautiously remained closed.
“I don’t remember the last time we actually closed due to weather. This is a bit of an extreme,” said Mike Osmond, chair of the Rankin Inlet District Education Authority.
Temperatures are getting to –40 C before the windchill and when the winds are factored in, it feels colder than –60 C.
“You’ve got blustery winds with some of the coldest temperatures that people have ever experienced,” said David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, adding that his charts say skin freezes in two minutes at –55 C.
Windchill was expected to reach above -65C in the past couple of days and we are watching the area closely to see how the community fairs with the dangerous cold. Blame for the almost 15 degrees colder than normal temperatures is being placed on the polar vortex, a combination of an aggressive weather system and frigid air temperatures.
Elders in the Arviat and Rankin region are advising native hunters to remain home until the chill breaks. Living on the land in the past didn’t have this luxury as they had to scavenge for food in even the most dangerous conditions. Grocery stores in these communities of nearly 2,500 people now allow for a community to survive the winter and feel secure in the far north. These towns in the remote northern region do pay high prices for this luxury but there is no other way to survive as a flourishing community.
However, now that people can go to the grocery store, they don’t have to risk their lives hunting in extreme temperatures. Replacing cultural traditions, however, can sometimes be hard for natives to the region used to living off the land and some have gotten themselves into risky situations.
December through February is the coldest time of the year in Rankin Inlet and the urge to get outdoors is always there. However, for many just relaxing inside until the treacherous temperatures rise is sometimes a matter of life or death!
Churchill Photo of the Week – Caribou Herd
The Photo of the Week comes from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut taken by Dustin IInik. The magnificence of the northern caribou herd is striking when viewed across the wide open tundra of northern Canada. I personally, at some point, would like to try and film footage from within the migration itself by possibly rigging a fixed camera in a position where it wouldn’t get destroyed. Churchill summer and Arctic summer on the whole reveal incredible wildlife experiences that show themselves when you least expect them to. Enjoy!
