Heart of the Arctic

            Our journey began with a charter flight from Toronto to Kangerlussuaq airport, located at the base of a fjord of the same name in western Greenland.  At more than 160 kilometers it’s one of the world’s longest coastal indentations (Kangerlussuaq is an Inuit word meaning “the long fjord”). We were met by the 73-passenger  Ocean Nova –  a converted Greenland coastal ferry – which would be our home for the next twelve days and 2004 nautical miles. We sailed west along the fjord under a full moon with the northern lights flickering just above the surrounding mountain tops. By morning the ship had made its way out of one fjord and into another, Evighedsfjord, or Eternity Fjord, our morning destination for the first of many coastal explorations. In groups of ten to twelve, passengers clambered aboard Zodiacs to motor through the ice-strewn waters to see the glaciers and remarkably sculpted ice floes up close.

            We continued our journey along the Greenland coast to Kangaamiut, a village of four hundred, notable for it’s Crayola-colored houses and spectacular setting.  In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, we were treated to a gourmet buffet of food “from the land” that included muskox, caribou, smoked whale blubber, roasted seal and muktuk (whale skin).  Smoked whale blubber is definitely an acquired taste!

            From Nuuk, we made the 44-hour crossing of Davis Strait to Canada’s Baffin Island to cruise the coast in search of wildlife (six polar bears sighted) and visit the Inuit communities of Pangnirtung, Kimmirut, Cape Dorset and Iqaluit.

            These communities are renowned as centers for Inuit art  –  the printmaking and tapestry studios in Cape Dorset and Pangnirtung are world famous. While printmaking is a relatively new art form here -- it was introduced to the Inuit of Cape Dorset in the late 1950s by artist James Houston -- stone carving has been central  to Inuit culture for centuries. On doorsteps, backyards and work sheds in every community we watched carvers creating whimsical dancing bears, elegant whales, swooping owls and abstract human/animal “transformation” carvings.

The intimate cultural experience was rounded out with on-board lectures from archeologists, zoologists, Inuit art experts, photographers and filmmakers along with printmaking and carving demonstrations from two renowned Inuit artists. It was a crash course in Inuit art and culture. Fortunately there was no test at the end, as I kept skipping out of the lectures to photograph the passing scenery. For this photographer, the jaw-dropping beauty of Greenland’s coastal fjords was a rare treat, but the warm welcome we received from our Inuit hosts in every community left an impression I’ll not soon forget.