Living in Northwest Territories:Day 58

Life in Northwest Territories isn't so bad.  We've been living here almost two months.  Shortly after we got to Tuktoyaktuk, we were invited to a the Annual Community Awareness session.  We learned some history of Tuk, met many Inuviauit people, and ate foods that I've never tried before.  We had some smoked fish, whale, muktuk (whale blubber,) bannock (which I have had before,) and Eskimo donuts.  We also went on a tour of the hamlet.  There are about 800 people living in Tuk.  There are no hotels or restaurants here.  A highway to Inuvik is being built.  It should be finished next year.  I'm sure the population, the hamlet, and businesses will increase after the highway is completed.

People are very friendly here.  Just about everyone waves at everybody everyday.  When we first moved here, I thought that the Inuvialuit people managed to escape the Residential Schools that almost destroyed so many Aboriginal cultures more than a hundred years ago, but no, Residential Schools happened here as well.  I feel that the Inuvialuit people were somewhat able to adapt.  Yes, there is alcoholism here, but where isn't there alcoholism?

There are some stores here.  The prices are usually high.  I'm grateful George and I brought a lot of non-perishable items, as well as freeze-dried foods.

I haven't done much writing.  I'm not working yet, but I'm still organizing our belongings.  There's so much I can't unpack because there isn't enough places to put everything.  Hopefully soon I'll find a place for things, maybe find a job, and get back to working on my second novel.

 Tuktoyaktuk has the largest pingo in Canada, and the second largest in the world, the largest is in Alaska.