a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic

As ice melts, the Inuit strive to keep their culture alive

Amid a warming climate and disappearing traditional knowledge, Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic are grappling to adapt.

When sea ice ages, the salt sinks into the ocean, leaving fresh, drinkable water on top. Charlotte Naqitaqvik collects a teapot of water at her family’s hunting camp in Nuvukutaak, near the community of Arctic Bay in northern Canada.
ByAcacia Johnson
Photographs byAcacia Johnson
9 min read
This story appears in the September 2019 issue of National Geographic magazine.
globe locating baffin island in northern canada
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In the spring, when animals migrate north and the sun never sets, Inuit children join their families on weeks-long camping trips across Canada’s Arctic. They’re taught hunting skills and cultural values passed down for more than 5,000 years. In the past three decades, multiyear ice, the thickest (and oldest) type that supports the Arctic marine ecosystem, has declined by 95 percent. Elders no longer can predict safe travel routes on thinning ice, and animal migration patterns are changing. The future of the ice—and those who live on it—is uncertain.

a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
Wearing a parka sewn by her mother, Ashley Hughes spent her 10th birthday camping with friends and family at Ikpikittuarjuk Bay. Hughes took part in the Inuit community’s annual ice fishing competition for arctic char.
a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
Seal hunting is an essential part of life for the Inuit. The skin, like this one from a recent kill, will be turned into outerwear. Passing on knowledge of hunting and food procurement helps communities survive a changing climate.
a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
A break in the sea ice means a carefully orchestrated crossing for Olayuk Naqitarvik, pulling his grandson in a qamutik, or sled, packed with supplies for a family camping trip. Despite being ill and frail, Naqitarvik’s wife, Martha, insisted on taking part to relay her deep knowledge of living off the land to the next generations.
a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
Logan and Edmond Willie, 15-year-old twins, hunt snow geese by the light of the midnight sun at their camp in Nuvukutaak.
a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
Swaddled in an amauti—a parka with a built-in baby carrier—Spencer joins his mother, Clara Itturiligaq, on a fishing trip.
In the past three decades, the thickest (and oldest) ice that supports the Arctic marine ecosystem has declined by 95 percent.
a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
Tagoonak Qavavauq, an Inuit elder, teaches children how to make a bread called bannock on a school field trip. Ancestral knowledge about how to survive on the frigid land is disappearing with the elders. Many are determined to pass down traditions, particularly to children whose families no longer hunt or go camping. Learning how to live with limited resources is key to survival at a time when food insecurity and poor nutrition are increasing problems in Inuit communities.
a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
Lloyd Willie takes a break from hunting inside his family’s tent at Nuvukutaak, an old outpost near the edge of the sea ice.
a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
Tootalik Ejangiaq enters her tent at the annual spring camp where she helps young people learn traditional Inuit skills.
Passing down ancestral hunting and survival skills is seen as crucial at a time when such knowledge is disappearing.
a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
A trail of blood leads to the Naqitarvik family celebrating a young woman’s first ringed seal catch.
a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
Marie Naqitarvik, 30, wasn’t taught extensive hunting or camping skills as a child. She learned after marrying a professional hunter. Now they hunt with their children on ancestral lands in spring.
a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
Darcy Enoogoo, 36, and his wife, Susan, take off work each year to bring their children on seal hunting trips. The ringed seal has vitamin-rich meat, fat that burns well, and skin to turn into warm clothing.
a father and daughter playing on a family camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
Darcy Enoogoo pulls a toy snowmobile for his daughter, Alana, during a tea break in their nine-hour journey to a fishing lake.
The idea behind the camping trips is to ensure that inuit traditions will survive, even if the ice does not.
a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
Owen Willie, 18, hunts snow geese on his family’s remote camp in the Canadian Arctic. Willie joined the camping trip shortly after his high school graduation and spent the spring tracking the goose migration.
a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
Winter clothing made from caribou skin keeps Valerie and Michael Qaunaq warm, while their three-year-old son, Joshua, stays bundled up in an outfit made from a harp seal.
a person on a camping trip in the Canadian High Arctic
Before a camping trip, a homemade tent dries on the sea ice in Nunavut.
Acacia Johnson is a photographer from Alaska, focused on human relationships to the Earth’s polar regions. She has made over 55 expeditions to the these regions as a photographer and expedition guide.

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