Pond Inlet

Today we reached Pond Inlet, Nunavut where the staff took care of the necessary immigration essentials to allow us to land in various places in Canada.  This is a scene along the way.


After the immigration formalities were taken care of, we took zodiacs to land in Pond Inlet and tour the settlement.


The experience was rather depressing.  We learned that during the 1960's Canada wanted to make its presence in the region known so Inuit children were forcibly removed from their homes and shipped off to be "educated" at a school in Pond Inlet.  Families gradually moved off the land and into the town to be with their children.  At some point the working dogs that allowed the Inuit to hunt and continue their traditional lifestyle were slaughtered to be sure the people could not leave the towns where they were placed.
The Inuit language was originally only oral.  The written language on these signs was created by Catholic missionaries so they could translate the Bible.