Culture

Unlike many Canadian Aboriginal communities, Pangnirtung has been able to preserve a great deal of their ancestral language. This may be in part due to their isolation from the South (the only way to reach Pang is by air or, for 3-4 months, by boat). For whatever reason--Inuktitut is the dominant language, regardless of age. I think that part of their strong cultural identity comes from this ownership of their language.

Pang has a vibrant Inuit culture that can be felt from the elders to the very young. The lines between extended families are blurred and front doors are left open. Elders in the community offer to make kamiks (seal-skin boots) asking nothing in return from total strangers. Kids share everything from sneakers to jawbreakers, an unspoken, unacknowledged trust between them.

Alas, Pang is not perfect, despite the great deal of cultural assuredness in many of the townspeople. A high school teacher pontificated that the youth were in a state of limbo between what the older generation defined as “the Inuit culture” and what the younger generation wanted --“southern culture”. Every year the youth are taken to the “Spring Camp” where they hunt, fish and live a traditional life for a month. Some of his students hated the experience and could not understand why they had to do it. The elders on the other hand wanted to give the youth the Inuit culture education that they were denied in residential schools.

Cultural continuity over time leads to a personal continuity over time. If your self-defined culture has a past, present and future then you are more likely to believe that you have a past, present and future. There is still a sickening suicide rate when compared to the rest of Canada. Vandalism and drug use have been cited by locals as major concerns and these issues keep getting worse. I met an awesome woman who was visiting from Greenland. She had been working there for over 10 years as an art/shop teacher. She talked about the same issues in her hometown. The fact is that Inuit on Greenland were forced to create communities about 100 years before Nunavut. This implies that the problem isn’t going to go away on its own. It’s not that the youth need to “get their feet under them”.

I'm still trying to see a way to bridge this gap between generations, to expand the undercurrent of culture beating through the community. You can’t force a culture on someone. But you can help youth to realize their own cultural intricacies and the elders to realize the need for development. Help them realize that their culture needs to develop around their interests, but also through the history and experience of elders. To do otherwise would be like trying to grow a culture in a day.

Teaching

It’s been a while since my last post. So I’ll make up for it with 3 bite-sized pieces over the next few days.

In the last four weeks we have been teaching high school art classes. I’ve learned a few things while teaching here. Preparation is the key to any successful lesson. For example “one” shouldn’t show up to class with only crayons and paper, expecting to engage youth. I learned to always keep my word. I have acquired the teacher stare down—an essential. I have begun to balance my time between group instruction and spending time one-on-one whenever possible. I’m constantly reminded to use the advice of those around me.

We have been working with 8 classes, each with its own personality. Our goal is to encourage expression of self, community, and nation through a variety of visual art media. Some classes would sit down immediately and start working on their print or self-portrait.

Most of these kids were into art already and therefore could express themselves artistically without a great deal of effort. For others, our art workshops were like pulling teeth….out of a polar bear…with a stomach ulcer.

Like many teenagers, youth here don’t have confidence in their ability. I saw one girl draw the first outline of her self-portrait. Then erase it. Meticulously redraw the line. Then erase it. Then turn her paper over and start again. Needless to say I had to outlaw erasers.

It was pretty cool to see the youth slowly realizing how to cut the lines of their stencil so that all the pieces would stay together. The irrepressible glow of success as they look at their completed pieces. It was the belligerent kids who seemed impossible to work with, who “hated” doing art—but carefully signed their workmanship. This—in the end—was what made my day worthwhile.

The Great White North

Here I am-- in the Great White North.

I came to Pang, Nunavut to experience a distinct Canadian culture, implement an arts exchange program with youth, and to volunteer in various other extra-curricular programs. I am travelling with Emma Smit, a friend from home. We will work together on these projects over the next two months and hopefully learn a few lessons along the way.

Art from Pangnirtung is known worldwide for its quality and imagination. It must be in part due to my current surroundings. It would be impossible for an artist to grow up in Pang and not be inspired by the natural contrasts around them.

Around me I see harsh mountains swathed in soft mist. When parched by the desert climate, I taste the clear, cool water of the Pang Fjord. I feel the bright sunlit night--imagining this place months before, where star-specked midday would be relieved only by dancing Northern lights.

If not from their surroundings, surely artists would be fostered by the Inuit culture itself—focusing on adaptation, creative resourcefulness and inclusion. I have never felt more welcomed. The strong sense of community is palpable as I walk down the streets. Children call my name from bicycles and even burly water truck drivers never fail to nod as they pass.

It may also be the first time someone has wanted me on their baseball team…

We have started to implement a few art programs at the local high school for the Canada, Mine and Yours art exchange program (more info below). The teachers have allowed us to have a good chunk of their class-time to complete this art exchange. Even though the teachers have been very accommodating, it hasn’t been easy to produce full art-pieces in the short 45-minute blocks of class-time. I’m learning a lot about teaching from our sessions and from the great teachers at the school. One teacher in particular—Lisee—has provided us with a lot of helpful tips as she has experience both in Inuit and Southern cultures.

I feel blessed by the opportunity to be in this place. I'm struck daily by my surroundings and these welcoming and honest people. The sheltered mountain valley speaks so well to the nature of the people it cradles.

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Canada, Mine and Yours is an art-exchange between youth in two diverse regions of Canada- the Maritimes and the Arctic. In this project, Canadian students will create an art portfolio expressing who they are and how their community and nation have been formative in their development. In order to best accomplish the task, the project features multiple pieces of art presented in a variety of media.

Students will create a self-portrait, a “Canada Reflection”, a group art piece and a piece of art that reflects the local community. An example of a Canada Reflection is “Draw a map of Canada from memory. Compare it to an actual map. Find fifteen cool facts that you didn't know before about the places you drew incorrectly.” The group art piece in Pang will be a “mosaic mural”. It is an image broken into 84 pieces. Each student will complete one piece of the mural using different materials. These pieces will be brought back together to reform the image. Finally the local art reflection in Pang will be printmaking—known around the world for its quality. This is compared to a traditional Mi’kmaq drum completed by their Maritime counterparts.

Canada, Mine and Yours is a project of Postcards for Progress. This summer there will be eight art exchanges around the world each with their own on-sight coordinators. These projects are generously funded by the Davis Projects for Peace grant.