It was a pleasant day for Mike Shouldice recently, when he and his wife, Monica, visited the large iglu (qaggiq) in Rankin Inlet, sponsored by the Pulaarvik Kablu Friendship Centre. Shouldice said the qaggiq was at least 20-feet wide and fun to visit. He said it was large enough to hold a family group and hosted various activities for people to enjoy. “They had drum dancers, people throat-singing and all sorts of things going on in there,” said Shouldice. “They also had lots of food, such as stew, tea and bannock. It was great. We sat there and yakked with everybody. “As you know, they’ve built those here before but, these days, you do see them less and less.” Shouldice said back when he was still working, the Government of Nunavut had all senior people like deputy ministers and ministers get into one and have a picture taken. He said it was just outside the legislative assembly in Iqaluit and it was huge. “Lighting a qulliq for graduations and having a little speech was never historical. But now during graduation at Nunavut Arctic College, that’s become quite the part of most activities. “Somebody lights a qulliq and says some nice things, so Inuit are creating their own tradition and a big iglu like that just represents where people used to be. “Visiting there brought back some nice memories. I love sleeping in an iglu, especially the eight-footer overnight ones. I love those days when we’d sleep in an iglu at night travelling. “I’ve been in them, too, when it was really cold out, like -40 C. You can heat them up and they’re really comfortable — and they’re quiet and bright. The wind can be really howling outside and you don’t even hear that. And they have a real clean smell to them, as well. There’s real science behind an iglu. I’d love to see this done every year. They represent real Inuit culture, knowledge and skill.”
Inuit iglu true symbol of the North, says Rankin Inlet resident
