Igloolik celebrates the renewal of life with age-old songs, games

IGLOOLIK – At least two reasons accounted for the jubilant air inside Igloolik's Ataguttaaluk Elementary School on Monday night, Jan. 14.

After glimpsing the sun for the first time since late November, the community gathered to celebrate its annual Return of the Sun festival. And the outside temperature was a balmy -19 C, triggering a full-blown case of spring fever in the standing-room-only crowd.

In the middle of the gymnasium, elders Therese Uttak, Susan Avingaq and Tamarisie Aqqiaruq tended their qulliit. After the opening prayer and remarks by Mayor Paul Quassa, several children darted into the circle to blow out the flames.

In the darkness, singers performed the traditional Return of the Sun incantation and ayaya songs while elder Joe Piallaq used flint to ignite a new flame. Once lit, the flame was passed around to rekindle the qulliit, symbolizing the end of darkness, the renewal of life, and a good hunting season to come.

Since 1991, Igloolik has paused each January to celebrate the sun's return, as the community's ancestors did for millennia during the years they lived on the land. When Inuit moved into settlements and adopted Christianity in the 20th century, the rituals were lost until the late 1980s, when John MacDonald, former manager of the Igloolik Research Centre, began research for The Arctic Sky, his acclaimed book on Inuit cosmology.

As MacDonald and his colleagues at Igloolik's Oral History Project interviewed elders Noah Piagaattuk, Niviattian Aqatsiaq, Francois Quassa and others about Inuit astronomy, star lore and legends, they heard about traditional rituals for leaving behind the "Great Darkness," a time of hardship, and welcoming back the sun.

"As soon as we discovered this, everyone thought it would be a nice thing to celebrate," MacDonald says. The local Inullariit Elders Society and the Igloolik Research Centre joined together to host the annual event, sometimes combining it with other cultural initiatives such as Inuktitut Language Week with linguist Leah Otak.

Throughout history, return of the sun rituals, with regional variations, have been observed by Inuit throughout the Arctic. In Alaska, for instance, Inuit would stand atop their igloos and bark with joy, or hold newborn boys toward the sun to make them strong.

In the Igloolik region, the annual celebration has typically been quiet and symbolic, focusing on children. In addition to the qulliq ceremony, children often observed certain taboos such as the "half-smile."

According to an interview with the late Niviattian Aqatsiaq, in the archives of local Oral History Project, "The children used to go outdoors and keep watch for the Sun and if they saw it, were to come back in with only half a smile."

This smile, to be performed on the left side of the face, symbolized the reserved welcome the sun received initially, since Inuit realized the coldest months of winter still lay ahead.

String games, or "ajaraaq," were discouraged at this time of year because Inuit feared that the sun might get tangled in the strings, holding back its rise in the sky. However, children were encouraged to play "ajagaq." This game involved tossing up a bone and trying to poke a stick through holes in the bone. Inuit believed this would entice the sun to rise higher in the sky.

This year's events in Igloolik are anything but quiet. The hamlet has obtained economic development funds to extend the usual one-day celebration to five days.

Festivities, sponsored jointly by the hamlet and the elders' society, were coordinated by Quassa and filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk, who is also videotaping the events. Activities will take place at the elementary school gym and a large igloo (qaggiq) on the sea ice in Turton Bay.

Besides speeches by local dignitaries, including elder Rachel Uyarasuk, and special guests from Iqaluit, festivities will include traditional throat singing and ayaya songs, a candy toss and a craft sale. Each day competitions, including drum dancing, talent show, Western Arctic dance (jigging), fashion shows of traditional and contemporary clothing and dog team races, will be held.

The grand finale on Friday night will consist of a traditional feast, an announcement of competition winners and cash prizes, followed by fireworks.