Arctic Adventures
I’ve just spent two weeks traveling to communities in the Tlicho traditional territory around Yellowknife, NWT…an experience that produced many arctic stories. Yellowknife is not only the capital city; it’s the only city in the Northwest Territories. There are about 20K people living in the community that’s located about 2500 kms north of Vancouver. It would take you about 26–28 hours if you wanted to drive from Van, or just under 2 hours to fly. I was in the region teaching filmmaking workshops with youth in Behchoko, Wekweeti, Gameti, N’Dilo, Dettah and Yellowknife.
Spending each day with dozens of student filmmakers writing scripts, acting and editing in and of itself produces a number of stories. Someone is always falling down or wiping out the moment you yell, “Action!” With cameras constantly rolling, the blooper footage starts piling up pretty quick. But enthusiasm is infectious, as is the opportunity to work with a group of talented people…so the days flew by in a whirlwind of creativity.
I think everyone should fly in the north at least once. No one asks for your government issued ID or pretends your carry on should fit into a miniature stand. They don’t search your bag or confiscate your water bottle or juice box. They weigh your stuff, do some quick math to make sure the fuel in the tank covers the cargo, and unless the temperature drops below -47C, (which is when the fuel starts to gel) off you go.
Colinda, the tour organizer had initially planned to drive from Yellowknife to these communities via the ice roads. But when you get to April, the condition of the ice road is a day-by-day, sometimes moment-by-moment situation. We drove to Dettah on an ice road on Wednesday and Thursday it was closed for the season. Restrictions were put on the other roads, which meant that at the last minute we had to charter a plane to take us to Wekweeti and Gameti.
These charter flights were booked through Air Tindi. Little prop planes where the seats are removable. As we walked out on the tarmac to our plane, I saw a big portable heater with a 12” flexible hose blasting some heat into the cabin to take the chill off. All the seats but two had been removed as we climbed aboard. I watched the employee lazily hauling a cart with our luggage on it, and felt sick as my case with all the video cameras and recording equipment went for a tumble. He didn’t seem overly concerned.
Colinda handed me earplugs before the pilot fired up the engine, and soon we were off. As we approached Wekweeti, the pilot descended to a couple hundred feet as we buzzed low over the village before landing on the gravel runway covered in snow hard packed snow. We came to a stop beside a little hut. There were no lights on. No movement or activity or even a vehicle around the building.
“Someone going to pick you up?” he asked as the three of us clamored out.
Colinda seemed reasonably sure that someone was on their way, so I decided not to worry about it. A few minutes later someone did arrive, and I discovered that the low fly by was actually a custom that alerted the village to the fact that a plane was landing and someone may need a ride. The next morning we heard the fly by from the lodge where we were staying, which was our cue to start knocking on the doors of houses around the lodge to see if someone would give us a ride out to the airport. Somehow…it all works out and no one gets too fussed about anything.
My favourite moment came a couple days later as we were waiting in a different community. There was a 12-seat charter sitting outside as we waited for the regularly scheduled daily flight to arrive so we could head back to Yellowknife. A woman walked in with a huge rubber maid container, with bloody meat and fur sticking out of the top and declared in a loud voice, “I got no room in my freezer, so I got to send six of these to Yellowknife…and I ain’t paying to ship them!”
Over the next 30 minutes I watched a fascinating scenario unfold as the lone airline employee and the charter pilot were blustered and bossed around into finding space on the two flights to accommodate all the caribou meat this lady wanted to get to her family in Yellowknife. A goal she succeeded in achieving without paying a dime.
We got back to Yellowknife around 7:00 p.m. It was my last night in Yellowknife and I was up for having some fun and experiencing some local culture. We started at the Legion, where a meat raffle was underway. $5.00 would get you a generous length of tickets as numbers were drawn for hams, roasts and chickens. $5.00 also got me a large bowl of spicy homemade chili and fresh bannock and for another $5.00 the bartender filled my wine glass to the rim.
After a hilarious hour at the Legion, we set off on more adventures that included some rousing rounds of karaoke before I was taken to the Range. A local bar with a low hanging ceiling and the feel and smell of a room that refuses to go gently into the good night. Local troubadours belted out an impressive selection of cover tunes from a variety of genres, each chosen for it’s ability to get the maximum number of patrons out of their seats and onto the dance floor.
At some point after deriding yet another country song, Colinda dragged me onto the dance floor and tried to teach me how to two-step. A dance I quickly discovered was beyond my ability and coordination to perform. After stepping on her feet and colliding with other dancers one too many times, she escorted me back to my seat in what felt like a time out, as she headed back onto the dance floor with someone who knew what was going on.
We stayed until closing, and strolled unhurriedly through the downtown on our way back to the hotel. With the fresh smells of spring in the air and a big bright moon overhead, I felt like I had achieved my own goal…to experience every moment to the fullest in my exploration of this great big beautiful world.
Masi Cho!
Rik Leaf is a world traveler, slam poet, songwriter, storyteller and author of Four Homeless Millionaires — How One Family Found Riches By Leaving Everything Behind.
