Catching Caribou

 In Nunavut, when you go "out on the land" and successfully harvest a caribou, it is known as "catching" a caribou. Today, we once again joined our friends the Elders of Cambridge Bay  and the students of Kiilinik High School and caught three caribou with them!

The waters of the Northwest Passage are finally starting to freeze up (it was a bitterly cold day today with a wicked wind), so the caribou herds are gathering and anxiously awaiting their opportunity to leave the island. We came across a herd of twenty and the hunt was on! While the Elders were taking aim with their rifles, Gerry was taking aim with his camera (he shot the pics above and below).

The Elders selected several females to harvest, and we all watched in awe as they shot them, tracked them, then cleaned and dressed them on the snow. Then we loaded everything into the qamutiks and brought the meat and skins back to town, where it will be used in the traditional feast that we will be helping the Elders prepare tomorrow!

But tonight it was the Screaming Avocado gang's turn to make a special dinner for the community in cooperation with their new-found friends on the exchange. The people of Cambridge Bay were invited to attend a dinner we all made together using some local Arctic Char and some beautiful Ontario pork!

The fundraiser for the Stratford end of the exchange was a massive success! After dinner, there was a huge Halloween party at the school that was attended by all sorts of costumed local kids, as well as the Screaming Gang and their exchange buddies. What a great night for everyone!