Team Whale Cove

Whale Cove is a tiny town in Nunavut's vast Kivalliq region, and these three youngsters are from there. I met up with them after the Alaskan High Kick event, and check out that tie. I'm one of those old fashioned guys who thinks that youth hockey teams should always travel in shirt and tie (says the guy who only owns one tie)... the old fashioned guys on Team Nunavut agree, and it looks sharp.

And they gave me a Whale Cove pin... cool stuff.

Joshua Jeremick'ca

Joshua Jeremick'ca is one of the Youth Ambassadors for the Arctic Winter Games. By ambassador, I guess they mean the best face to put on the NWT is to have these kids out front and center, working hard, and volunteering. To me, that is a great role for an ambassador, I can't picture Frank McKenna painting when he was our ambassador in Washington, but you never know.

Darlene Hokanak

Darlene Hokanak is a coach for Nunavut's Inuit Games team, and hails from Kugluktuk in Nunavut's Western Kitikmeot Region. She was surprised to see that I knew how to spell Kugluktuk, but was not surprised by the success Nunavut has in all the traditional Games. She had high hopes for her girls heading into the Alaskan High Kick final.

High Kick

I know what I am doing tonight, I'm going to the Alaskan High Kick finals. Just stopped by for a little (after sneaking aboard the VIP van, thanks to a Mayor who shall remain nameless).

For now, just a little taste of what I saw out there. More to follow, it seems exciting. The high kicking in the video below is of the Alaskan variety, and is just the prelims. Legs will fly tonight.

Tune in tonight

Just left the office.... tonight is a night to tune in to APTN National News for sure, especially if you are a fan of the AWG's.

Medal counts, interviews, and I hear that Juanita found a diamond ulu for her ulu segment... I want to see that.

Off to more events, and more bloggery to come.

6:30 Eastern.

Finger pull

Here comes the pain game. Finger pull looks like it hurts. It is a traditional Dene Game, and kids from all over were ready to try and dislocate each other's fingers.

You don't need to dislocate a finger to win, but it helps.

Sportsmanship (or sportswomanship) is a big part of this game. You help each other to your feet when it is done, that part is mandatory. It is a best of three, each side getting a chance on offence and defence. In the case of a tie after two rounds, there is a coin toss, and the winner gets to pick offence or defence... like overtime in the NFL without all the pointless dancing or lousy field goals deciding games.

Like Halifax singer/songwriter Joel Plaskett says,
"The reason I like the instrumentals
is 'cause they haven't got any words"

So, no more from me on Finger Pull (and no "pull my finger" jokes), just watch the video without any talking by yours truly... enjoy the "instrumental":

Dallayce Smith

Dallayce Smith -- Team Yukon -- must be one of the youngest competitors in the Arctic Winter Games, at the tender age of 12-years-old. She is here for Dene Games, and is having a fantastic time... even though she wouldn't smile for me. I tried everything I had, this young lady would not crack a grin for me.... but she would talk for the blog about her experience in Yellowknife.

Pin trading

They don't give out medals for pin trading, maybe they should. Earlier in this blog, I chatted with the pin-a-holic Mayor of Iqaluit. She said that the pin trading was great, because many of the kids are from small communities and get shy when they go to the AWG's. Pin trading brings them out of their shells. I had two media pins, I gave one to the Mayor. They are rare here, and she was on her way to a full set of official pins. In turn, I got a handful of City of Iqaluit pins.


From left are Don Oyukluk, Kelvin Kotchilea and Joe Audlakiak, and they were in possession of some very rare pin sets. Don't just look, listen, they will tell you about it themselves:

A few photos

Just some quick snapshots from my walking around today:


Come on, give the kids some credit here....


Team Alberta has their own newsletter.... and are doing better this AWG than is past years.... they have something to write about.


Nice looking jacket there.

More Nunavut/Nunavik Bonding

Everywhere I looked this morning, I saw kids from Nunavut and Nunavik hanging out together. Inuktitut is the common bond between the regions. Dialect isn't as big an issue as some seem to think.

From left are Margaret Tukkiapik, Madeline Annanack, Karen Weetaluktuk, Debbie Oyukuluk and Kristina Tulugak.

Here, I chat with Debbie -- from the Qikiqtani Region -- about speaking Inuktitut with Nunavik kids. There is a bit of an inside joke in there. I ask her if she can understand them better than people from the Kivalliq (the central region of Nunavut). She said yes.

Different dialects and regions are known for different things. I once asked a translator at the Nunavut Legislative Assembly the difference between the Qikiqtani (Baffin Island) dialect and the Kivalliq dialect. She said it was the difference between Paris French and Alberta French.

She also said it with a laugh. The translator was from the Kivalliq, guess where she thought the Paris French was coming from.

Then there are people from Sanikiluaq. They are known for speaking very quickly.

Me, I'm just happy I can ask her "How's it going" in her own language.

Medal Board

Here is the medal board at the Athlete's Centre, next to City Hall in Yellowknife.... alphabetical order, now that is democratic.

Shane Pollet

Shane Pollet didn't have to travel far to compete in snowsnake yesterday, he is from N'dilo... where snowsnake took place. Here, he explains the best way to make the snowsnake move along the ground, just before he was about to take part in the finger pull.

Shane won a Silver Ulu for his effort at snowsnake, check it out.


Lots on finger pull later... it looks like it hurts. One of the volunteers called it the Dene "pain game". Here is how Shane gets ready:

Scavenger Hunt

On the way to Dene Games this morning, I found a group of kids from Nunavut and Nunavik "harassing" employees at Canada Post, trying to find the Northern Lights...

As my caffeine kicked in, I asked them what they were up to.

SCAVENGER HUNT!!!! Put Northern Lights on the list, and see what the creative young minds come up with.




So I asked Larissa Annahatak (left) and Mary Tagalik about the hunt, and then about the bond between the Nunavik and Nunavut teams. Both speak Inuktitut, just in different dialects. They can communicate no problem, and just use English for the words that don't match up....

I also learned that Inuktitut for "HI" is "HI".... go figure.

Tonight, on APTN National News

Have you seen Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy?

NEWSTEAM..... ASSEMBLE.

Maybe that makes me Brick Tamlin?

Our news team is here in Yellowknife, and I checked in with them before they scattered to the various venues all over town. Here is what they are up to.

Amos Scott has a great story about government funding for sport. Here in the NWT, they are making large cuts to staffing in various government offices. Then, when the Games showed up, they announced more funding for sport. Amos asked the right question, "Are you guys going to spend that money on staff or what?"

Dene-Za Antoine is going to bring you a wrap-up of today's events. Last I heard, he was going out to the snowboarding venue. It should look cool.

Juanita Taylor -- my teammate in the Iqaluit bureau -- is explaining exactly what an ulu is. Not only is it the medal for the Arctic Winter Games, it is a traditional Inuit women's tool. I use the word tool on purpose. Yes, it is a knife, but it is so much more useful than just a knife. Plus, last time I called the ulu a knife, Juanita and I got into an extended debate about whether or not it is a tool or knife. She won.

Tonight. 6:30 Eastern. Watch and enjoy. My pics are done downloading, stay tuned right here.

Good morning blogosphere

Good morning all. I just got back from Dene Games, and I have some great video. Keep tuned in from your office cubicles all over Canada, and I'll do my best to keep you entertained.

You are watching and tuning in. I was recognized by my backpack after last night's broadcast, and the kids all know to "click on my head".

Stay tuned, I'm posting for the next hour and a half.

Live on location

Ever done that thing where you hold a mirror up to a mirror, and the reflection seems to stretch into infinity? That's a little what it felt like today, as I chatted with our anchor Holly Bernier for a segment about this blog for APTN National News. I'm looking into that big electric eye through one of my own... just a little weird for me.

Juanita took some pictures for me while I was doing my thing at the Athlete's Center.

When I started doing this, the Iqaluit camera operator Jimmie Papatsie said, "I don't want to be on the internet."

I agreed.

I lied.

Here is Jimmie from my point of view.


Here is Jimmie fixing my microphone and my shirt, making sure I don't look like a moron on national TV, as he always does.


and here we are from the point of view of people watching us, wondering who the heck I am talking to anyway.


Tune in tonight at 6:30 Eastern -- I'm still stuck in my own time zone mentally -- and see my interview, and see what the other reporters have been up to.... and from the sounds of things they have been up to a lot.

[Five minutes later] Now I know what they are up to. Dene-Za has a wrap-up of the first few days for you and Amos will be bringing you a very Northern, very aboriginal, very unique fashion show. If this makes me our online correspondant, does that make Amos our fashion reporter?

Well Dressed Men

Team Nunavik (Northern Quebec) are hands down the best dressed team at the Arctic Winter Games. Look at those parkas, that is real fur on the trim, and the jackets were produced through a corporation owned by the aboriginal people in Northern Quebec.

The first thing that George Berthe (left) and Michael Gordon told me about their parkas was that they were unwilling to trade it for my APTN National News jacket. Then they explained how well the jackets have been received.

Jan Jensen

Athletes are sleeping in schools throughout Yellowknife, and some are even staying at the military hangar near the airport. As you can imagine, sleep is a precious commodity when sharing housing with a small army of teens.

Jan Jensen is from Greenland, and after he woke up, we had a great chat about his time at the games. There was a bit of a language barrier, but his English is a lot better than my Greenlandic.

With their European influence, the Greenlandic are feared in soccer.... Jensen doesn't look so scary.... but he was still half asleep.

Clara Tutcho

Clara Tutcho is a 33-year-old Yellowknife Special Olympian. The AWG's have yet to include Special Olympics in their medal program, but this figure skater was invited to do a demonstration program at the Games. She just got back from the Special Olympics in Quebec City.

Douglas Ollie

Douglas Ollie is a hockey player from Arviat, a community in the central Kivalliq region of Nunavut (see, I told you about those people from the Kiv and their love of the puck). His AWG's were cut short, by taking a shot on his ankle during hockey. He is staying positive.

Douglas tells us a little about the town of Arviat, and along with hockey, they love Bingo.