Iqaluit 15 or 20 years later

I was a resident of Iqaluit from 1971 to 1979, and then intermittently while negotiating the ITC land claim, and I have always held Iqaluit close to my heart.

I seem to always gravitate to the Nunatsiaq News site to see what is happening in the most beautiful part of the world.

While I have been away for a long time, I always remember with fond memories the many close friends I made there during my time with the new hamlet, with Okota and Paton, and with the negotiating team for the ITC claim. Many names I recognize, especially those from Apex where I always lived, and I’m glad to see that Bill MacKenzie was recognized with a memorial award recently.

Names like Gord Rennie, Anne and Bob Hanson, Dick Abernethy, and Ken MacRury come to mind. Now I am living about as far away from Iqaluit as you can get, on the shores of the South China Sea, on the island of Hainan, teaching in a university, and I seem to find myself telling my students about life in Iqaluit so long ago.

I am not alone, as I have spoken with so many who spent a long time, or a relatively short time, in Iqaluit and it has been one of the highlights of their life. I only hope that the people of Iqaluit remember some of us, and that the newcomers realize that others were there before you. We got fresh food once a month, ordered our major food order once a year, and I built two houses in Apex with supplies brought up by ship on the sealift.

This has gone on much more than I expected, but it shows the intensity that many of us remember the days before Iqaluit became a much larger and more “important” place than we experienced. I am only glad that I had the chance to experience it, and have had one child born in Apex, and who incidentally is ready and willing to come back.

Greetings from Wuzishan, on the shores of the South China Sea to those who may remember such people as Markosie Peter, Jimmy Sheutiapik and Eeteetook.

Ross McKinnon
Qiongzhou University
Wuzishan City
Hainan Island
China
mckinnonross@gmail.com