On Inuvialuit Time

“Oh Mama Mia, would you look at that!” cheers Inuvialuit park ranger LeeJohn Meyook as I enter the 120-year-old kitchen of the Herschel Island community house. He is marvelling at plate of squares covered in vanilla icing. I wonder what all the excitement is about, but quickly remember that being a 14-hour motorboat ride along the Beaufort Sea and far from the nearest shop selling any type of dessert merits this enthusiasm. As I creak across the floorboards to the table and watch my dad pile one into his mouth, I notice these squares have a rather squishy texture. LeeJohn extends me an offer as my dad shoots me a stern look that silently demands I accept it. Sweeping the jiggling cube up to my mouth, it hits me that this is no dessert square. “Muktuk, an Inuvialuit delicacy,” dad marvels as the fishy tartness soaks into my taste buds. The whale’s fatty flavour seeps through more strongly with each chew as I catch on that the vanilla icing is actually beluga whale skin.

“My little granddaughter wants it all the time. I have to explain to her it’s a treat!” a local man remarks. With that comment, I immediately feel privileged for this blubber on my tongue, privileged for the offer from these people that define resilience in the 21st century. Despite newfound challenges presented by climate change and globalisation, Inuvialuit here are persevere with hunter/gatherer traditions of their ancestors. These traditions date back generations before American whalers travelled here in search of baleen and oil, building most of the now-abandoned structures that remain in Pauline Cove today. I examine the drunken appearance of these whalers’ graves across the tundra, dispersed in a staggered line across the cove. Having been exposed to over a century of below -50C winters, the graves now tilt from the warming permafrost below while curious caribou stare at me from a distance. I stare back in gratitude for welcoming me to their home, and as the midnight sun continues to shine throughout the night, assure myself I will never forget this day at Qikiqtaruk.