Made it to Nain

A first post from Nain! I made it into town yesterday, and the phone service is back today. My hosts have a DSL connection, so we have internet access, though the village wide data connection is still down…meaning I don’t have access at work. But things are shaping up. I’ve gotten all but one of the boxes I sent up, and the office is set up. Today I did an interview on the local radiostation, which I will upload when I get the file. It was brief but fun…they interview most visitors who are going to be here for a while, and then translate the interview into inuktitut. It functions as a community introduction and local news, and probably some entertainment as people get to see all the strange folks who wander their way here.

The weather is cold and clear. The wind died down a bit yesterday, and the temperature has been dropping a bit. Folks here are happy…it means that the ocean will freeze enough to support snow mobiles and they can go to their camps. Many people have cabins up and down the coast, and the only way they can get to them easily is to go over the ice. Others have them inland, and go by way of interior trails. But most are along the coast. My impression is that most people use them on the weekends, rather than going out for months at a time. It makes sense…many have jobs, and kids in school. But they still use them to hunt and fish and relax, and to cut wood to bring back to their houses.

Fran (our community liaison) and I went around letting people know that I am here, and what are plans are. We are planning a community forum for next Thursday night, and found space to hold that. And we are planning three focus groups as well—one with young people, one with elders, and one more general. We hope that the focus groups will give us some feedback on the questions we are planning to ask, and help get the word out about what we are doing. I went over the survey with Fran today, and she made some important changes and additions. I am anxious to get started with the interviews, but I know that things will be busy soon (too busy), and that the preparation is going to help.

Beyond planning the project, Fran asked if I would be interested in getting out on the land while I am here. People do a lot of partridge hunting this time of year, which sounds fun, and is good to eat. The caribou are pretty far inland right now, but come closer to the coast later in the winter. It would be a cold adventure…out on skidoo for a few days…but I would love to do it if it works out. I remember going seal hunting in Alaska as one of the more amazing things I did there. My warm clothes were here waiting for me here, and are warm enough for a trip like that. I don’t have a picture of me bundled up yet, but will post one when I do.