Ach,vat…Is How It’s Said

At least, that’s how I’m using it. Welcome to Arviat, formerly

The Communities we serve at Kivalliq Health Centre

known as Eskimo Point, North West Territory before the newest Territory of Canada was formed on April 1, 1999. The pronounciation of my version of the Inuktitut language is becoming very comfortable after just three weeks. Can I spell the words? No, I can hardly get my tongue around them...but listening, strangely, seems easier this week.  The hamlet’s name, Arviat, is derived from the Inuktitut word 'arviq' meaning "Bowhead Whale".

Arviat Health Centre in warmer weather

I can actually say that this is one of our service communities that I have visited previously. Flying up from Winnipeg in 2008, we refueled in Churchill, then travelled to Arviat, where the blowing snowstorm, as we landed on the runway and taxied to the terminal (BIG FLAKES), made me pause to consider…Was I doing the right thing? Did the pilots know something we didn’t? Would we be “weathered” here?

At that time, I then sat back and figured that this was my first trip north and they had been doing this a lot longer...have faith in the professionals. We had people deplane on the built-in steps as we sat with one engine still running, the other being too close to the exit door. People left the nearby terminal building and got on the plane. The snow and winds blew strong. The stairs were retracted. The staircase attempted to retract again. I was seated left (port) side, on a single seat row, right behind the exit door. I could clearly see we were in trouble…no retraction…no flight.

The pilot came back to look and took a hammer, gave it a whallop (the frost and snow must have given way) since the staircase was now completely inside the fuselage. Door closed… port engine started, we taxied off. That was my visit to Arviat aboard CALM AIR.

Catholic or Anglican Church in Arviat in warmer weather

 Arviat is located above the tree line. That’s an imaginary, but real, line where trees will not grow due to the length and temperature of the actual growing season. Some scrub brush and bushes grow but no trees. I remember flying home in 2008, after our big 7 day blizzard last time, and as we approached Thompson, Manitoba, I could see trees again after three plus weeks without. 

When I had questioned staff at that time “Doesn’t it bother you that there are no trees around?” I remember one staffer saying, NO bear can’t hide behind no tree. At lunch today, a similar conversation yielded the same line, with the addition, that someone had asked a resident recently when did you see your first tree? Age 30 was the answer.

Arviat is situated on ‘polar bear alley’ where hundreds of polar bears annually make the trek

These are the real things...not to be taken lightly

north along the coast in October and November searching for sea ice so they can resume their seal hunting. In the summer, once the Bay melts fully, polar bears can often be found along the coast, I’m told, swimming in the sea or on the many islands offshore.

In October, Arviat made the headlines…Halloween was cancelled due to the Polar Bears having not left the town and area. It wasn’t really cancelled but the door-to-door Trick or Treating was. Concern was expressed that the children could be in danger, since the bay ice had not formed solid and the polar bears were still in the area. The bears migrate, as do many of the wild animals, here. They are always looking to feed and the seal population, in winter, is their main supply.

Seals prefer open water so as the ice forms and moves further from shore…you guessed correctly, the seals move and the bears follow. This happens on all coastal communities, including Rankin Inlet where we have had some bear issues in the past three years. Arviat solved their “trick or treat” issue by holding their event in the community centre. Not quite the same, but safer for reasons much different than in the south.

The community is thriving with the third largest population in Nunavut after Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet. With almost 2500 people and 12% growth in the past 7 years, it has become a hub for musicians. There are many famous ones that have professionally recorded their music. While these are famous for the north, most of us will have never heard of them.

A Bombardier and an Inuit sled...the "qamutik"

Access from Churchill can be by boat in warmer seasons or by snowmobile and Bombardier when there’s ice and snow. Cargo and passenger service is provided by both Calm Air and First Air to the local airport. I can’t stress enough the importance of air travel to this part of Canada. One of my young patients today is finishing high school this year and has enrolled in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering program at, I believe, Red River College. If he’s any good, he’ll be well employed.

Editor’s note: Images used is this edition are courtesy of the Government of Nunavut, and various websites. Thank you. Many other photos and stories are forthcoming.