Gjoa Haven
The community of Gjoa Haven is located about 250 kilometers above the Arctic Circle in the central part of the Nunavut Territory. It is home to about 1,000 people (Jan, 2000) of which 950 are Inuit and 50 non-Inuit. Gjoa Haven is a typical Nunavut community in regards to ethnicity, population, lifestyle, and the economy.

The Northern
The Northern Store and the Qiqitak Coop are the two main stores in town. Both are general stores in that they sell groceries, dry goods, Ski-Doos, boats and motors, etc. We have a small confectionery named "Akkiks", which opens 3-4 nights a week for a few hours to sell pop, chips, chocolate bars and cigarettes. We also have a take-out "Gjoa's Shoppe" which sells bars, cigarettes, and some fast food such as french fries, and again they are open 4-5 nights a week.

Qiqitak Co-op
The Northern changed its name from the 'Bay' in 1992, and used to be known as the Hudson Bay Co. In many communities, including Gjoa Haven, the Northern is built on the site of an old Hudson's Bay Trading Post. Qiqitak Co-op is part of the Arctic Federated Co-op family, which operates general stores in 24 Nunavut communities. Both stores have the same type of merchandise and charge similar prices. At left is a photo of people parking their Ski-Doos outside the Qiqitak Coop to do some shopping, pick up their mail, or perhaps pay a telephone or Cable TV bill.

Prices
Prices vary from one Nunavut community to another and they change throughout the year. An annual sealift barge brings most of the non-perishable goods to Gjoa Haven stores but things like milk, cheese, eggs, bread, fruits and vegetables have to be flown in each week. Each store stockpiles supplies from the barge but when they run out of Coke, sugar, or any such item, they have to fly those products in. The price goes up accordingly because of the high air-freight rates. The air-freight from Yellowknife to Gjoa Haven is about $3.20 per kg. which makes perishable items quite expensive. A 4-liter jug of milk cost $13.00 in Gjoa Haven compared to $4.00 in Edmonton. Heavier items like potatoes, bananas, cantaloupe or cabbage are also 3-4 times as much as in Edmonton. There is a Canada Post subsidy for stores to fly in perishable (healthy) foods, but air freight and store expenses conspire to keep prices high. Many people order supplies for themselves on the barge and stockpile groceries and dry goods in their homes, in an effort to save money. Non-perishable items such as coffee, sugar, fishing poles, music CDs and Ski-Doo parts are stockpiling food at home.

Stores
Stores are usually open six days a week, and they employ many Inuit people on cash, stocking shelves, and in the office. Because the communities are relatively small by Canadian standards, the stores quite often provide many other types of services such as: banking services, post office, cable TV service, video rentals, mail orders, photo developing and are a clearing house for many arts and crafts products from local artisans.

Amundsen Hotel being painted
Gjoa Haven has one large hotel, and a small bed and breakfast. The Amundsen Hotel is owned by the Qiqitaq Coop, and can accommodate 26 people in 13 rooms. Mary's Inn is a Bed and Breakfast, owned by a local development corporation joint-venture. It has four rooms that can accommodate 5 people, but additional buildings (houses) can be used if they are needed.

Both places have a restaurant or eating facility just for guests. Local residents are not permitted to dine at the hotel unless they have a room. The daily rate for a room with three meals is $210 at the Amundsen Hotel and $170 at Mary's Inn. The cost is not a function of the quality of service, as much as it is supply and demand. These prices are on par with the costs at other Nunavut hotels. Most hotel guests are travelling on behalf of government or construction companies and the costs are borne by big business.

The hotel industry is very seasonal in Nunavut. When the weather starts to warm up in April, contractors come around to look at projects or do some groundwork. As well government employees visit various Nunavut communities to introduce new community programs. The busy season lasts 6 months, until about October, when the weather cools - construction slows down, and government budgets are almost depleted. During the peak of the summer months both the Hotel and the B&B have been known to add extra bunks in each room to accommodate the overflow of construction workers, or a group of people in town for a conference. The hotel industry is subject to government rules and regulations. Hotel conditions vary from one community to another, but the nature of the industry is boom (in summer) and bust (in winter). Allowances are made as the alternative of sleeping in a snow bank is usually less palatable.

Recreation
Recreation is an important part of life in Gjoa Haven. The winters last from Sept. to May, with about six-weeks of the mid-winter in 24 hour darkness. The ambient temperature from Dec. to Mar. is about -35 degrees Celsius, with windchills dropping it another 15-20 degrees on many days.

For much of the year it is dark and cold outside and many people are unemployed during the winter months. Half the population of Gjoa Haven is under 18 years of age and typically the young get bored with nothing to do. To combat boredom and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which affects some people during the period of 24-hour darkness, most Nunavut communities have excellent recreational facilities. In Gjoa Haven we have a full size hockey arena and a school gym where basketball, volleyball and badminton tournaments take place - women, kids, elders, anyone and everyone is welcome to participate in various tournaments throughout the winter. Hockey is the most popular sport in Gjoa Haven, and many Gjoa Haven youth are excellent skaters and hockey players. Recreation is always important, and throughout the long arctic winter, it helps keep you healthy, both mentally and physically.

Other forms of recreation enjoyed in Gjoa Haven are feasts and dances, which take place throughout the year. Gjoa Haven residents take every opportunity to enjoy a feast or drum dance, and the functions are very sociable and a lot of fun. If a friend or relative comes to visit, the community will have a dance to honor their visit. At Christmas time, our community hall hosts a dance every night with games and activities for all ages, often going until 6:00 in the morning. Gjoa Haven is a dry community (no liquor) and all the social functions serve to exhibit the amicable and gregarious nature of our community.

When the summer solstice begins and we get sunshine 24 hours a day (around May 1st) the Hamlet of Gjoa Haven has a week of games and activities to celebrate the arrival of the summer sun. The community has various games and contests such as sled racing, Ski-Doo races, and igloo building contests. Everyone is welcome to participate and they have separate contests for boys and girls, men and ladies with cash prizes for each competition.

During the summer months many Gjoa Haven residents enjoy boating and fishing. The community has a softball field, (more gravel than field) but for most residents, summer is a time to be out on the land and many people leave the community in June and return in August or September. Camping on the land during the summer is a traditional recreational pursuit as caribou, muskoxen, seals, geese and arctic char are in abundance. Many people like to hunt and fish, enjoy the traditional lifestyle and stock up on food for the winter.

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From Nunavut Images Collection

Quqshuun Illihakvik
In Gjoa Haven the school (Quqshuun Illihakvik) encompasses levels Kindergarten to Grade 12. The school used to go to Grade 8 but in 1997 it was expanded to include Grades 9 -12. After completing Grade 10 students have to go to Cambridge Bay to complete high school. We also have Nunavut Arctic College in the community. The college delivers adult education and upgrading, as well as specialty courses in such areas as office management, jewellry making, computer studies and other short term courses as required.

Nunavut Arctic College boarded up during summer months
Education is a relatively new phenomenon for Gjoa Haven, and in fact for much of Nunavut. Our school opened in 1972, and many local residents had no opportunity for formal education prior to that date. Many Inuit continue to give their children a traditional education in hunting, fishing, and other cultural pursuits and teach their children traditional Inuit values and skills. While it is important that Inuit continue to learn and remember their traditions and values, it doesn't preclude an education in math, science, language and computers.

Schools and education came to Gjoa Haven as part of the government package of housing, social services, and a wage economy, along with centralization and urbanization and which many Inuit do not yet fully endorse.

The prevailing attitude towards school and education, along with other systemic factors, is reflected in the statistic that less than 10% of Inuit students throughout Nunavut graduate from high school. At Quqshuun Illihakvik 42 students started kindergarten in Sept 1999, while only five students graduated from Grade 10 the previous year. Language immersion is another issue. In Gjoa Haven Inuktitut immersion is the norm for Grades K-2, after that it's English. The Nunavut Government is now considering a policy to incorporate Inuktitut imersion into the curriculum of all Nunavut Schools, for K-4. Since 85% of Nunavut's population are Inuit, the immersion program will have a big impact in preserving Inuit language and culture.

Power Plant
Gjoa Haven generates all its own power. A power grid and telephone poles carry electricity throughout the community to every home, office, school and building that uses power. The power plant is composed of three large generators, which run on diesel fuel. The main generator is the principal producer for community electricity, and if that generator should fail or malfunction, a back-up generator will automatically kick-in within a few minutes. The third generator is an auxiliary unit should there be a problem with the first two.

Our community is highly dependent on power, moreso for heat than light. During the winter months if the power fails, you can feel your house get cold within 20-30 minutes. Each home and building has an oil-heated furnace, which needs power to operate, and with a power failure the temperature inside the home drops quickly. The danger in losing heat/power is freeze-up. In all our homes we have water lines connecting the water tank to the sink, toilet, shower, washer, etc, and if the power is gone for 4-6 hours these lines will freeze.

Similarly in our grocery store, with a prolonged power failure all the canned goods, soda pop, fruit and vegetables, would freeze, and in general a loss of power for more than six hours or so depending on the outside temperature, would be a disaster for the community. For that reason the NTPC (Nunavut Territory Power Corp) has trained people in Gjoa Haven and in every Nunavut community, to avert prolonged power outages. If the problem is of a more serious nature, the Power company will fly in expert technicians within hours to correct the problem.

Municipal Services
The Hamlet of Gjoa Haven is our municipal government. The "Hamlet" looks after snow clearing, water delivery, sewage pump-outs, garbage pick-up, and by-law enforcement, among other things. Hamlet is a type of city council, with 8 locally elected 'councillors' and a community mayor. It is managed by a Senior Administrative Officer (SAO), who oversees the various local departments such as: housing maintenance, water/sewage and garbage pickup, heavy equipment and garage maintenance, community economic development, community recreation, by-law enforcement, municipal building permits and various other community services. The Hamlet basically runs the community and is the biggest employer in the community. Our Hamlet employs about 50 full-time and 25 part-time staff.

Hamlets across Nunavut are core-funded by Nunavut Government, under a formula based on population, need and other variables, and Hamlet is mandated to deliver municipal services to the community. Although the population of Gjoa Haven is about 1,000 people, the cost of maintaining local infrastructure is high. The Hamlet's annual budget can be as high as $10-12 million. Some communities are 'Municipalities', some are 'Hamlets' and Iqaluit is a 'Town'.

The Hamlet plays an important role in Gjoa Haven, as it does in all the Nunavut communities. The federal government disperses its transfer payment to Nunavut Government in Iqaluit, who then disperses a percentage to communities for municipal services. An elected Hamlet Council makes the decisions on community needs and the SAO and staff administer to those needs.

Every home, school, and building in Gjoa Haven that uses water has a water tank built inside the premises in a heated area and a sewage tank, usually located under the house with a heat trace to keep sewage from freezing. Hamlet water trucks fill up water tanks three times a week, and sewage trucks pump-out everyone's sewage three times a week. We also have garbage pick-up twice a week. Because of the logictics, the cost of this service can be $400 per household per month, but it is heavily subsidized by Nunavut Government and the average homeowner in Gjoa Haven would pay $30 - $35 a month for municipal services. We use a lake nearby for fresh water with a pumphouse to load the trucks, a sewage lagoon located one or two km out of town, for dumping sewage. We also have an open pit away from the community for all the community garbage.

Hamlet also is in charge of community by-laws. By-laws deal with building permits, land usage, care and handling of dogs, garbage pick-up, snow clearing and many administrative processes within the Hamlet structure. One by-law states that children under 16 have to be at home or in their house by 10:00 PM during the winter, to encourage early retirement on school nights. A siren sounds at 10 PM and the by-law officer will drive around the hamlet ushering kids home, although sometimes it becomes more of a game of hide-and-seek.

Another by-law states that husky dogs have to be tied down. On a first offence the owner is fined, on a second offence the dog may be shot. When huskies get loose they sometimes form a pack and have been known to attack a child or elderly person.

Arts/Crafts
Gjoa Haven is typical of Nunavut communities in that it has many artisans who make traditional soapstone carvings, jewelry, sewn items and Inuit art; however, the quality of work produced by Gjoa Haven carvers is recognized in the industry as exceptional. There are two or three 'pockets' of very talented carvers and artisans in Nunavut, and our Gjoa Haven carvers have a very good reputation.

As an industry, the arts and crafts sector has been a roller coaster over the past ten years. The prices carvers earn for the same type of carvings will range from $200 - $500 throughout the year, based on local supply and demand and the volatile worldwide demand for Inuit arts and crafts. Due to the nature of the industry, the financial benefits accrued through the sale of carvings does not often go to the Inuit carver who created the artwork. Gjoa Haven carvers have sold carvings locally to the Northern or Coop store for $500-$600, and then seen those same carvings on sale at a gallery in Yellowknife for $5,000-$6,000. (1000% mark-up).

It is the nature of Inuit artists to be independent thinkers and creative people. These same attributes which produce beautiful works of art, hinder the carvers from working in groups or associations, so they can get better prices and better markets for their products collectively.

Still many Inuit carvers earn a living and support their family through arts and crafts. Soapstone is the preferred medium for artwork in Gjoa Haven because it is soft and easy to work with and it is free. Carvers will usually travel in a group of three or four Ski-Doos and sleds to the soapstone 'quarry', located about 80 km to the southeast of the community. Using pry bars and excavating tools, they will collect a sledfull of dark green soapstone rock. Since Gjoa Haven is located on an island (King William Island) the carvers can best collect stone when the ocean is frozen and they can travel the whole distance by snowmobile.

The carvers will bring the stone back to the community, put a chair and table outside of their house and plug in an extension cord. Today most Inuit carvers use power tools to carve. The tools are small hand tools and bits, similar in size to dentist's drills. The carvers usually wear a mask of some sort to protect their lungs, as a fine dust comes off the carvings when they are being sanded and drilled.

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From Nunavut Images Collection

Health
In Gjoa Haven there is a new health care facility. The old health center was too small and a new health center was built in 1998, at a cost of $2.5 million. We have four full-time nurses and a support staff of social workers, community health workers, maintenance and administration people. Just like education, health care is free to all Nunavut residents.

Nurses in Nunavut work more independently than nurses in a more structured hospital environment and they are often asked to perform above and beyond the call of duty. There are no resident doctors in our community, but a doctor and dentist travel throughout the central arctic on a circuit, coming to Gjoa Haven three or four times a year. The doctor/dentist will stay for a couple of weeks and treat whatever patients need attention. In the mean time the nurses are asked to administer to the medical needs of the community. Since there is no drug store or pharmacists, the nurses dispense the prescription drugs after they've made a diagnosis. They often make the decision on the care and severity of injuries and illnesses whether a patient can be treated in the community, should fly down to the hospital in Yellowknife, or needs to be medi-vacced immediately in an emergency. A nurse is on call 24 hours a day and sometimes nurses will have to travel out on the land to attend to someone who was injured or became ill at their camp.

In addition to their busy schedule, many nursing stations provide a range of community medical workshops and clinics. They hold clinics for community residents about safe sex, sexually transmitted diseases, pre-natal care, health and hygiene, drugs and alcohol, nutrition and a wide range of social and medical issues.

While the nurses and support staff deal with most situations, a Lear jet is available to come to the community and fly emergency cases to Yellowknife, at a cost of $15,000 per flight. Some months there may be 20 medi-vac flights, some months 1 or 2. The costs of health care are high in the North, but the quality of attention and service in most communities is excellent. Although Nunavut has a small hospital, Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories is closer, and most medical emergencies are brought there.

Fuel
Gjoa Haven has a 'tank farm' as do all Nunavut communities. The tank farm is a series of huge storage tanks that provide gasoline, home heating fuel, naptha and other petroleum products to community residents. Gjoa Haven's tank farm was recently renovated at a cost of $5 million. Since there is no road network in Nunavut and no highways connecting to the 'south', all the fuel has to be transported in by barge sealift, pumped to our tank farm and made to last for a full year until the next barge arrives. Gjoa Haven has flown in fuel, which is a very expensive proposition.

Again because of the logistics, a litre of gasoline brought on the barge might cost $2-3, but with government subsidies residents pay about $.80 a liter for gas and for home heating fuel. The tank farm has two pumps similar to gas stations anywhere in Canada and residents drive their ATV, pick-up truck or Ski-Doo to the tank farm for fill-up, and usually bring along 8-10 of the ubiquitous 5-gallon plastic jugs to supply fuel for their fishing or camping trips. Most Gjoa Haven residents have a dozen or so 5-gallon jugs in their shed, as they are essential for any trips outside the community. The tank farm and our local stores sell oil for gas-mix and maintenance.

Nunavut Government is very cautious in the care and handling of petroleum products and there are many rules and regulations on community tank farms. Fuel spills of any degree are treated seriously, with the contaminated ground quite often being excavated and removed, a costly effort on frozen tundra.

Anglican Church
Gjoa Haven has a Catholic Church, an Anglican Church and a Pentecostal Church in the community. Since the 1930's, when southern missionaries came to the North to establish organized religions, many Inuit communities have adopted Christian beliefs. In Gjoa Haven it was around 1960 that the Catholic and Anglican churches were built. Anglicans and Catholics represent 75% of the population. The Pentecostal Church came in 1993 and they have about a small following. The balance of residents are either agnostics, or Inuit elders who hold traditional beliefs in shamans and Inuit legends.

Catholic Church
In traditional communities like Gjoa Haven religion is a sensitive subject - people take religion seriously. For thousands of years Inuit people held traditional beliefs with a wholistic view of life, whereby: the animals of the land, fish in the sea, the earth, wind and all the elements were interrelated. Every living thing was the hunter and the hunted, predator and prey. From the mighty polar bear to the ubiquitous ringed seal, Inuit would hunt and use all parts of the animals for food, clothing and sustinence, both for them and their dog-team. The hunt was life and a spiritual experience. Similarly when an Inuit died their spirit was returned to the earth in both the physical and spiritual sense.

Religion
Physically, the dead were sometimes buried under a loose covering of stones, or left on the tundra for their remains to be returned to the earth. Contributing to this practice was the fact that burial in the permafrost was impractical and impossible. Sometimes an older person would intentionally wander away from the camp when they felt their usefullness was expired, or they had become a non-contributing member of the camp, and another mouth to feed. Inuit camps sometimes starved during the winters, when food was scarce or the caribou didn't migrate as they were expected. There often was a legitimate correlation between the amount of food, and the number of productive members in camp.

Spiritually, traditional Inuit beliefs include reincarnation. When someone dies, his spirit is reincarnated and reborn in the next baby born to the family, or the camp. Quite often the name of the deceased is adopted by a new generation.

Economy
Gjoa Haven is a traditional community in transition to a wage economy. While traditional pursuits such as hunting, fishing, carving, etc put food on the table and support many families, the creation of Nunavut and the decentralization of Nunavut Government offices to Gjoa Haven and other small communities, is having a positive effect on our economy.

Many residents work for the various Nunavut Government departments, such as Health, Social Services, Education, Motor Vehicles and Justice, although many of the senior positions are staffed by professionals recruited from southern Canada. Our Hamlet Office employs 70-75 full and part-time people to administer municipal services. The third largest employer is the construction industry. For 3-4 months each year there is a construction boom in Gjoa Haven as there is in every Nunavut community, whereby, new houses, school additions, health centers, etc are built. When the weather turns cold near the end of Sept, many people are laid off and are unemployed during the winter.

Employment is very much tied to the seasons in Gjoa Haven and in Nunavut. During the summer months there is usually lots of work for everyone, and during the winter the community goes into hibernation, like the animals of the land. Construction is seasonal. We get the occasional camera crew and tour boat, some fishermen, sportsmen and a few tourists who come during the summer and create employment for local guides. Many government employment programs tend to operate during the summer, creating more employment. During the winter, construction slows down, the tourists and sportsmen stay away, and people tend to stay at home and hibernate.

The nature of 'work' is also changing. Just ten years ago, traditional skills and pursuits were essential, not just to learn how to survive on the land, but to put food on the table. With new opportunities created through Nunavut Government policies of decentralization, communities like Gjoa Haven are experiencing employment opportunities and a new demand for trained and educated Inuit.

Law and Order
Gjoa Haven has two resident RCMP officers based in the community. The RCMP are usually from parts of southern Canada and they stay for a 2-3 year term. In 1998 we had a new RCMP station constructed with office space, a waiting room, coffee room, and two holding cells, at a cost of $1 million. Our community by-law officer often works with the RCMP on projects.

Serious crimes are not a big problem in Gjoa Haven, or throughout Nunavut. Gjoa Haven has been an alcohol-free community for 18 years and that contributes to the quality of life in many ways. When a crime is committed, perhaps an assault or a break and enter, the person is charged. If they have been drinking they will spend the night in our local jail. Once charged they are usually released on their own recognizance, and will have to attend court when the court party comes to town (about three times a year).

The court party consists of a circuit judge, prosecuting and defence lawyers, court clerks and assorted support staff. They may stay one or two days in Gjoa Haven, to hear all the cases pending. People usually plead guilty and receive a small fine. If it is a repeat offender with a long record they may be sentenced to a jail term of 3-6 months. In that case the RCMP will put them in jail for the night and the next day they'll escort the prisoner to Yellowknife for transport to a correctional facility in Hay River.

The RCMP have two twin otters based in Nunavut, and sometimes the RCMP plane will stop in Gjoa Haven to pick up prisoners. RCMP use a lot of equipment in their detachment. Each station has a pick-up truck for patrol, a good boat and motor, a couple of Ski-Doos and ATVs, good communications equipment and a reserve of supplies on a loaded komatik.The RCMP are the central agency for coordinating search and rescue efforts, and the detachment needs to be ready when an emergency occurs.

Law and order is a difficult job in a small community. You may arrest someone one day and be playing hockey with them the next night, or if it's the son of the mayor or a community leader you may be asked to attend a council meeting to defend your position. It takes a special type of character to function in the fishbowl-type life of a small community.

Transportation
The transportation options into Gjoa Haven are limited. Nunavut is the only province or territory in Canada that has no roads leading into it. In other words you cannot drive into Nunavut, or any Nunavut community from anywhere else in Canada. Similarly very few Nunavut communities are interconnected by road. To visit Gjoa Haven or travel in Nunavut, you have to fly.

The airlines are the lifeline to the outside world. Six days a week we have a commercial carrier that travels from Yellowknife to our community. The plane carries passengers, mail, perishable groceries such as bread, milk, fruit and vegetables, and general cargo such as Ski-Doo parts, small tools and equipment. The planes change their configuration each day adjusting the number of seats to correspond with the number of passengers, so that each flight maximizes the payload of passengers and cargo.

For many years we had just one airline (First Air) but in 1999 a second carrier began competing (Canadian North). Both airlines have similar routes, schedules and prices . Their routes service the central arctic communities of Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven, Taloyoak and Pelly Bay each day, making a return trip to and from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Air travel is very expensive in Nunavut, which is reflective of the high operating and maintenance costs for the airlines.

Once each year Gjoa Haven has an annual resupply from a sealift barge. The barge arrives in the first week of September, once the Arctic Ocean is clear of ice. Our barge is owned and operated by Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL), and is based in Hay River, NWT. The barge is actually a series of flatdeck barges towed by a tugboat. The barge travels from Hay River, down the MacKenzie River to the community of Tuktoyaktuk, on the Beaufort Sea, where a sea tug then tows the barges through Coronation Gulf along the famed Northwest Passage, and on to Gjoa Haven and other central arctic communities. The voyage from Hay River to Gjoa Haven takes a full two months, and any materials or supplies that are transported by barge have to be ordered many months in advance. Our grocery store brings in a year's supply of non-perishable groceries and dry goods by barge sealift, and many contractors bring in heavy equipment or the materials to construct new houses, schools and other structures.

The average cost of barge freight is about $1.00 per kg. as compared to the average air freight of $3.20 per kg. It is much more economical to bring in supplies by barge. You can only use the barge once a year, and unfortunately for Gjoa Haven, it arrives at the end of the summer construction season. Contractors often bring in construction materials on the barge in September, have them sit all winter and start building the following year in June, when the weather warms up.

For inter-community travel people may fly, or occasionally a group of Gjoa Haven residents will travel by snowmobile to Taloyoak, Pelly Bay or Baker Lake for a hockey tournament or community feast. The flat frozen Arctic Ocean is a highway for Ski-Doos for 8-9 months each year. Generally those travelling by Ski-Doo will travel in a small convoy or group, stopping for tea and conversation along the way. Taloyoak is the closest community to Gjoa Haven, about 100 km to the NE, and you can travel one-way by Ski-Doo in 5-6 hours. Baker Lake is about a two-day trip by Ski-Doo as it is 300 km to the south, but it also takes two days to fly there because Baker Lake is on a different air route, a circuitous route via Yellowknife.

Drugs/Alcohol
Gjoa Haven has been an alcohol-free community since 1982. Through the Hamlet Council and a community plebiscite every five years, community residents have chosen to adopt a by-law which makes the possession or consumption of alcohol illegal, within the municipal boundaries.

Our community is unique in that respect. In most Nunavut communities you are permitted to import and consume alcohol, although some communities restrict the quantity of alcohol allowed. Being a 'dry' community means that if you have alcohol in your possession or on your breath you go straight to jail and are charged with a small fine (usually about $50.). Every Nunavut community has its own rules on alcohol because of its impact on families and people in the community.

We have long winters in Gjoa Haven and a very young population, typical of most Nunavut communities. Too much free time and a high unemployment rate during the winter can make life boring for younger people, and increase the attraction of drugs and alcohol. Municipal by-laws may curb the use of banned substances, but never eliminate them.

There have been a number of charges brought to trial for light drug use in the community, usually related to marijuana possession. Our community hasn't had an instance of 'heavy' drug use such as heroin. It seems this is more of a problem for the larger and more affluent regions.

Home with satellite dish
With recent technological improvements and satellite link-ups, Gjoa Haven and most Nunavut communities now have excellent communication facilities. Satellite dishes were installed in all the Nunavut communities during the 1980's and direct dial telephones are commonplace. From time to time when there are solar flares, the phone lines are sporadic but most of the year a resident can place a direct distance call from Gjoa Haven to anywhere in the world.

Communications
Similarly in the 1990's, satellite dishes were installed in all the Nunavut communities which bring in cable television. We get 25 TV stations through our local cable company (Qiqitaq Co-op). They range from the Sports Network (TSN) to Much Music (MTV) to a channel for youth (YTV), six or seven channels from Canadian cities (ITV-Edmonton, ONTV-Ontario, etc) and eight or nine USA channels from Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, etc. Some residents also choose to purchase and install their own home-based satellite dishes, but reception is poor with the smaller dishes because of our location so far North.

Many Inuit children have Nintendo 64, Gameboy and other such entertainment, as well as home computers and computer games. By June, 2000 all Nunavut communities will have another satellite dish installed which will provide a local internet server for each community. The advent of satellite technology has opened much of the Arctic to communications systems similar to any urban area in Canada or the United States.

Within the community and the local area many people use shortwave radios. In Gjoa Haven many households have a CB Radio to communicate with each other and to talk to Hamlet water trucks and sewage trucks for ordering a fill-up or pump-out. When people travel outside the community and go to their camp for a weekend or for the summer, quite often they bring a Red Radio, which is a crystal based unit capable of communicating over several hundred kilometers.

These radios are light and durable and run on D batteries. Camps talk to each other at night when transmissions are clear and, in the event of a medical or other emergency, a red radio can be used to call for help or have a helicopter dispatched.

Roald Amundsen
Gjoa Haven has an interesting history. Many Nunavut communities were created through the establishment of whaling camps, a Hudson's Bay Trading Post or a church, but Gjoa Haven was founded by an arctic explorer. In the summer of 1903, a Norwegian explorer named Roald Amundsen set forth with his crew in their small ship, the Gjoa, into the Canadian Arctic to search for and navigate the Northwest Passage . No ship had ever navigated the Northwest Passage up to this time.

Gjoa Haven
Amundsen travelled down Peel Inlet and discovered "the finest little harbour in the world", which at that time was an uninhabited little bay on the east side of King William Island. Amundsen anchored the Gjoa in the harbor and stayed for two years doing scientific research on the magnetic North Pole, which was located near Gjoa Haven at that time. Over the two years Inuit people from surrounding camps came to trade with Amundsen, who had loaded up his ship with metal products and other trade goods to prepare for such an opportunity.

The harbour became known as a haven for the Gjoa or "Gjoa Haven". After Amundsen left, the Inuit people stayed and the community was born. In the 1920's the Hudson Bay Company set up a trading post in Gjoa Haven and the community grew from there. Amundsen went on to become the first person to navigate the Northwest Passage and five years later the first person to reach the South Pole.

History
In 1849 Sir John Franklin and his two ships the 'Erebus' and 'Terror' were stuck in ice not far from Gjoa Haven, off the west coast of King William Island. Franklin and his 130 men eventually perished in the Arctic and the location of his ships and Franklin's tomb remain an arctic mystery to this day. The skeletal remains of the Franklin expedition were found where they dropped, along the coast of King William Island and 29 skeletons in one location, in a small bay named Starvation Cove.

'Erebus' and 'Terror' in pack ice
Archaelogists and expeditions have searched for Franklin's ships and tomb for the past century, but nothing has been discovered to date. No complete record of what happened to him or his men has been uncovered, and Franklin remains a genuine arctic mystery to this day. It is hoped that discovery of his tomb will reveal the ships' logs and other records that will better document the ordeal over the three years they were stuck in arctic ice.

Geography
Gjoa Haven is located on the southeast part of King William Island, 300 kilometers above the Arctic Circle (approx 68 º N, 96 º W), an area of the central arctic part of Canada that has just recently (1960's) opened up to southern 'kabloonaq' influence. This area of the central arctic is located on the Northwest Pasage and is difficult to navigate by ship because of year round ice. The seas around Gjoa Haven have no quantities of whale or walrus to attract entrepreneurs, as did areas of the eastern and western arctic, and so it remained a very traditional region late into the 20 th century. When Knud Rasmussen travelled through the area in the 1940's many Inuit had not seen a 'kabloonaq' or white man before.

The physical geography of Gjoa Haven and King William Island is very flat rolling hills, with sandy, dolomitic soil. The highest point on the 16,000 square kilometers of King William Island is a small hill, 300 m elevation above sea level. Most of the year the many rivers lakes and ponds near the community are frozen solid as is the Arctic Ocean. When you travel by Ski-Doo, it is difficult to tell if you are travelling on frozen ocean, land, river or lake.

Inukshuks
There are few landmarks to indicate location or direction, because there is little relief between land and sea. Inuit people traditionally built Inukshuks on the land to mark the location of a good camping area, perhaps where there was a good hunting or fishing spot. Sometimes a string of Inuksuit were built to mark the migratory path of the caribou.

Charlie Cahill
The writer, Charlie Cahill, has lived in Gjoa Haven since 1992. He worked as Economic Development Officer for the Government of the Northwest Territories for six years, and for three years as Community Development Officer with Hamlet of Gjoa Haven. Mr. Cahill served on the Hamlet Council, the local education committee, and worked for many years with hunters and trappers associations, arts and crafts groups, and various Gjoa Haven businesses. Currently he owns Central Arctic Management Services Ltd, and operates a tour company with two Inuit partners .

"Gjoa Haven is a typical Nunavut community, demographically, economically and culturally. When first asked to write about our community, I felt it would be a straightforward academic task, detailing the geography and history of the community, and listing the services and amenities within our municipal boundary. What I failed to capture in the project is the warmth of the people, the fun we have out fishing for char or camping on the land in the summer, the affable and generous nature of the Inuit people - the feeling of family."

Community Demographics
Gjoa Haven is a mid-size community by Nunavut standards. It is estimated that as of Jan 1, 2000 the community population totals 989 people. Approximately 931 residents are of Inuit ancestry and 58 are non-Inuit. This ratio indicates 94% of the community is Inuit. The overall population of Nunavut is estimated at 85% Inuit ancestry. Population figures in the table are based on the data collected by a federal government census conducted every five years.

Demographics indicate a steady increase in our population since 1986, between 15-20% every five years. One interesting fact in Gjoa Haven's population chart is the increase in the number of people in the 25-44 yrs old bracket. The increase is due to an in-migration of middle aged Inuit from neighboring communities during 1991-1996. We believe the in-migration was prompted by the fact that Gjoa Haven is a 'dry' or alcohol-free community and negative experiences in neighboring 'wet' communities prompted people to relocate.