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June 17/04 - Spend day touring Ottawa and hiking in Gatineau Park.
We have aslo been invited for a private tour at the Canadian Museum of Civilization
with Dr. David Morrison.
Group overnights at Geoff Green's house on the shores of the Gatineau River.
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(Posted 7:00 pm)
A ‘dispatch’ about the day, and some photos, will be posted either later tonight or tomorrow as the gang begins their journey north.
Stay tuned.
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(Posted 7:00 am Friday)
What a day! Had a great time visiting Ottawa sites and three special venues, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Museum of Civilization, Museum of Nature, and Old Chelsea for ice cream! Tonight was packing, briefings, swimming, filming, general chaos, and a presentation by Dr. David Gray about the Arctic. Last night we had a great introduction to the Arctic by George Hobson, and with the presentations throughout the day today, the students are now more prepared and excited about the adventure ahead of us.
Here are a few photos of the day below ... around the board room table at the ITK office. Inuvialuit exhibits and Dr. David Morrison are at the Museum of Nature. And dinosaur bones, at the Museum of Nature’s headquarters. FOR ADDITIONAL PHOTOS of June 17th ... please visit our ‘Gallery’ of images ...
JOURNAL ENTRIES
Zev Rudberg - June 17
After a great night's sleep in a tent (located in Geoff's huge yard) I felt prepared to meet the day. It let me know that sleeping in a tent was possible, and prepared me to do that every day of the trip!!
Sarah Burns - June 17
I slept comfortably on a couch (in the girls designated cabin) after an exhausting flight. After wake up we all went down to the river in for a QUICK bath using bio-degradable shampoo. The water was freezing! No joke, I could hardly breath, yet it was quite invigorating, and it started off the morning right. We departed for our education filled day at 8:45, and headed towards the ITK. There we met Eric, Steve, and Tuni! All were very enthusiastic about their area of expertise, the relations between Inuits and the western world. It was interesting to learn about western effects (often negative ones) on the inuit culture and ecosystem. Next we traveled to the Museum of Civilization. There we were given a private tour of a temporary exhibit on the history of Inuit culture. Our guide, was very learned, and really psyched us out to meet and be with the Inuits. Following that we went to lunch in right outside the museum, it was a gorgeous day and it was good to get some good Canadian fresh air. We were very lucky to go to the place we visited next. We went to the museum of nature, which is not usually open to the public. There we toured there botany department, were the were kind enough to set aside the pressed plants that we are likely to see in the artic. Preceding our interesting tour of the botany department, was an even more exciting visit to the paleontology area. There were tons and tons of old native dinosaur bones (most were reconstructed). Speaking of tons, we next learned about the "One-Tonne Challenge" which encourages people in Canada and world wide to reduce their Greenhouse gases, which are having devastating effects on the world today. The goal for each person is to use one tonne less of these harmful emissions. From there we went to a creative, and delicious home made ice cream store, where all of us scarfed down our treasured treat. We are all totally excited for the upcoming adventure of our life!
Ingrid Bajewsky - June 17
To get the most out of a trip it helps to have some appreciation of the place you are going to visit. Our intrepid young adventurers spent the day meeting representatives from various organizations and learning about life in the Arctic. First stop was the office of ITK to hear about the modern challenges facing Arctic inhabitants - contaminants, climate change and influences from the south, among other things. At the Museum of Civilization we were treated to a private tour of one of the Arctic exhibits. The students saw artefacts and learned about how the way of life in the Arctic has changed through time. After a picnic lunch we headed to the Museum of Nature's collections headquarters. The students were treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of collections not accessible to the general public. Curators of the collections entertained the students' questions as they marvelled at some of the specimens. A presentation on climate change was a great primer for the discussions we'll be having once we arrive at our Arctic destination. The day's presentations culminated with an after dinner slide presentation at 'base camp' (Geoff's place) given by David Gray. Not only did the students gain valuable background information that will prepare them for their arrival in the Arctic, but they also they gained an appreciation for a variety of careers revolving around Arctic studies and were energized by the enthusiasm of all the people they met today who clearly cherished the uniqueness of the Arctic and it's people. Oh, and did I mention, they ALL recommended that we try muktuk (a.k.a. whale blubber)?
Colleen Christensen 6/17/04
Wow. It has been a busy day, and it has all gone by so fast, except when we would have to "do it again." It is great to have the film crew with us, but it can get a bit tedious at times when we need to do establishing shots for the shows that will run in the fall. It is hard to even remember what all we did today; my head is just about spinning with all the information we have been presented with. Lets see, in the morning, we woke up, went for a quick swim in the river - it was refreshing, afterwards anyways. Then breakfast and loaded up in the vans. I was in the Team Inukshuk van. First we went to ITK (Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami). We had a great presentation with a few of the people there, it gave us more of an idea of what to expect, and what is going on in the communities today. They mostly focused on Nunavut information, since that is where we will be going. They gave us some great handouts, one of which is what is presented to smaller local communities and organizations to translate and edit a version of the climate change and contaminate information. That was very interesting to see, as it needs to be presented to the Inuit communities in a very different way - so that they won't be alarmed or scared to eat the country food, since it is the best thing for them. Next we were off to the Museum of Civilization. We had an intimate tour with Dr. Morrison in an exhibit that he put together on the Inuvialuit. We could have stayed there for hours. Next we went to the Museum of Nature, but not the museum that the public see. We got a behind-the-scenes tour of the arctic collections. We saw t-rex skulls, a woolly mammoth, a six-foot beaver… and many things yet to even be excavated. We then got a great presentation on climate change, and then on the One Tonne Challenge. On the way back to Geoff's house, we stopped for homemade ice cream. I had a Sobe. Then back here, when some had a dip. Our doctor, Rick, arrived and TVO interviewed me about my first impressions. One of the first interviews to come. Then dinner, info on packing, packing - where we had to trim down our luggage to make sure that it will all fit on the plane tomorrow, and then David gave us a short presentation on the Arctic. Time for bed! Wake-up call is at 5:30… Pond Inlet or bust!
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS click here |
