Nunavut (Our Land) Episode 1: Qimuksik (Dog Team)

Qimuksik (Dog Team) is one of the 13-part Nunavut (Our Land) series follows five fictional families through the different seasons of an Arctic year, from the glorious northern spring to a uniquely Inuit Christmas Day. Other programs include contemporary documentaries on whale and polar bear hunting, modern leadership, elders’ advice, and a youth group’s effort to learn circus skills to reduce youth suicide.

Igloolik, Spring 1945. In Qimuksik (Dog Team) while imparting knowledge to the next generation, one family travels in the immense and beautiful arctic during spring.

Inuaraq teaches his young son how to survive in the old way: driving the dogs, building the igloo, catching seals on the open water, running down caribou to feed the family.                scroll for more info...

Content summary:

• Dad teaching his son about survival: navigation, ice thickness
• Dad being a role model
• Tracking caribou by examining hoof prints and using the raven’s flight direction and sound
• Skinning a caribou – special way to do this for clothing (instead of random use)
• Relationship with the dogs: man and dogs have a very special connection: they work together and one cannot live without the other. The man feeds the dogs and working with dogs has many benefits (unlike a skidoo, dogs don’t run out of gas!). Dogs are useful for polar bear hunting. The dogs know where there is thin ice, know how to avoid danger while travelling. The dogs can find their way home, even during a white-out or blizzard. Jayson Kunnuk

Filmmaker: Zacharias Kunuk, Norman Cohn, Paulossie Qulitalik

Filmmaker Contact: zkunuk@isuma.ca; info@isuma.tv

Producer: Norman Cohn, Paulossie Qulitalik, Zacharias Kunuk

Year of Production: 1995

Distributor Information: Vtape

Country: Canada

Region: Igloolik, Nunavut, Canadian Arctic

Nunavut (Our Land) TV Series Episode 2. Igloolik, Spring 1945. Inuaraq's family finally arrives at Avaja to a warm welcome. Yet, many changes have taken place.

Nunavut (Our Land) TV Series Episode 3. Igloolik, Fall 1945. Grandmother remembers the old way. In autumn 1945, five families build a stone house to prepare for the coming winter.

Filmmaker: Zacharias Kunuk, Norman Cohn, Pauloosie Qulitalik

Filmmaker Contact: zkunuk [at] isuma [dot] ca. www.isuma.ca

Nunavut (Our Land) TV Series Episode 4. Igloolik, Fall 1945. Even here, news of the terrible world war raging outside makes people frightened and uneasy. They talk of the danger of the unknown future, of shamanistic intervention to protect their culture.

Filmmaker: Zacharias Kunuk, Paulossie Qulitalik, Norman Cohn

Nunavut (Our Land) TV Series Episode 5. Igloolik, Fall 1945. Igloolik, Fall 1945. Akkitiq wakes up to a nice day for seal hunting. The stone house is warm and comfortable. Men pack up the dog team and look for seals on the fresh ice,while women work at home. Sometimes, the squabbling of children leads to trouble among families.

Nunavut (Our Land) TV Series Episode 6. Igloolik, Spring 1946. It is the season of never-ending days. Two dog teams searching the spring ice, men and boys hunting day and night. Seals are everywhere: at the breathing holes, sleeping under the warm sun. Amachlainuk has a lucky day.

Filmmaker: Zacharias Kunuk, Paulossie Qulitalik, Norman Cohn

Nunavut (Our Land) TV Series Episode 7. Igloolik, Spring 1946. Seal pups: springtime delicacy, prized for their soft fur and tender meat. When the pups start coming out on the ice, even small children and grandmothers can hunt.

Nunavut (Our Land) TV Series Episode 8. Igloolik, Spring 1946. Inuaraq throws his bones at the river and finds the fish swimming back and forth. Back at the tent Qulitalik sends the young men out with fish spears to try their luck. The walk up the rushing river is exciting but treacherous. Fish are hiding. It's easy to fall in.

Nunavut (Our Land) TV Series Episode 9. Igloolik, Summer 1946. The distant sound of the atookatookatook ¼, the first gas engine to arrive in Igloolik, brings a surprise visitor to Qaisut, island of the walrus hunters. The Priest arrives to study Inuit life, to dig in the ancient ruins and to see the hunt.

Nunavut (Our Land) TV Series Episode 10. Igloolik, Summer 1946. After the walrus hunt everyone is happy. There will be lots to eat for a long time. Children climb the famous cliffs of Qaisut, exploring paths and ruins left by hunters from the ancient times. Good walrus hunting doesn't only attract Inuit. Suddenly, Grandmother sees a polar bear after the meat.… Read more

Nunavut (Our Land) TV Series Episode 11. Igloolik, Fall 1945. Even here, news of the terrible world war raging outside makes people frightened and uneasy. They talk of the danger of the unknown future, of shamanistic intervention to protect their culture. The weather turns colder.… Read more

Nunavut (Our Land) TV Series Episode 12. Igloolik, Fall-Winter 1946. Sitting around the stone house carving a harpoon, Qulitalik starts talking about the year gone past. Everyone joins in with stories and laughter. Tea is boiling over the seal lamps, children playing on the caribou skin beds. Grandmother tells the old stories, everybody has a new one. Home is warm and cozy.… Read more

Nunavut (Our Land) TV Series Episode 13. Igloolik, Fall-Winter 1946. It's almost a month since the sun disappeared. Back in the stone house everyone wakes up to Christmas Day. For Inuit in 1946, Christmas is a strange mix of ritual, some from the old life and some from the new.… Read more