Today is the start of the Nunavut Quest dog team race, it’s eighth year. The original race was conceived to celebrate the establishment of Nunavut and to promote inuit culture and traditional skills. For those of you familiar with the Ididerod and other western style races you wouldn’t recognize this one.
For one thing inuit dog teams are hitched in a "fan" system. Each dog is on an individual trace attached to the kamatiq (sled), rather than in pairs along a central trace. The sled is quite different also, and rather than the light wooden racing sleds a traditional kamatiq is used. Slats are lashed across two heavy runners. It is the same sled that has been used in the arctic for hundred’s of years.
The race involves a series of stages run every day and timed. The last day involves a staggered start based on times and is a race to the finish. It runs between two High Arctic communities, which change from year to year. This year the race runs from Arctic Bay to Iglulik and the first leg starts this evening.
The town has been full of activity in the last week as teams from out of town arrived by snowmobile. There are teams from Clyde River, Pond Inlet, Hall Beach, Iglulik and of course Arctic Bay vying for the $10,000.00 prize. All of the prize money and other money for the race is raised locally in the communities through dances etc. The official time keeper for the race is once again the excellent photographer Lee Narraway, as it has been since the races inception.
This is an excellent opportunity for people to hone their traditional knowledge skills on the land, and promote the high Arctic. It will be running for over a week and I’ll let you know how it turns out.
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I have many books on northern dog races- my favorite is ‘winterdance’. I’m always captivated and inspired by these racers and their special dogs. Mushing isn’t for sissies!