ICC Nuuk, Greenland, part 9: On the Day of the Seal, children catch tiny animals in a tidepool

As seal was being barbecued on rocks suspended over tiny fires, I noticed children gathered around a couple of tiny tidepools.

I ventured over for a closer look. They were most intent on what they were doing and they were catching something. I did not know what.

A boy prepares to place his catch in a cup while a little girl peers into the pool in search of hers.

She thrusts her hand into the water and catches it.

Now she goes for the cup to place it in.

Everyone is interested.

A boy also makes a successful catch. What are these little creatures?

H'mmm... looks like baby shrimp to me.

Whatever, they are a source of endless fascination.

Now, I have spent the past week in a state of exhaustion beyond all reason and I haven't pulled out of it yet, but I will see if I can finally catch up a bit on my Greenland work and finish this series off. I will never get it all in here, but ICC Alaska is looking for funds to enable us to make a little magazine-style book on the General Assembly, so I trust it will all come together in the end.

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ICC Nuuk, Greenland, part 8: Three of the many gifts and awards given - a mask to the Premier, an Edmunds to Mary Simon, a belated plaque to Jose Kusugak, who learned about his cancer too late

I did not suddenly return to Greenland. I am still here in Wasilla, but with a mountain of work left over from Greenland and now it is time to start posting it, so I will begin with a little award and gift-giving.

There were many gifts and awards given out at the 11th General Assembly of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, held in Nuuk June 28 - July 2. Each of the many speakers received a gift and many honored and accomplished people who attended in non-speaking capacities did also, but, to keep it simple, I will limit this presentation to three.

First, this Iñupiaq mask was given by North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta, President of the Alaska Delegation, to Premier Kuupik Kleist of Greenland, left, in honor of his nation having served as host to this year's General Assembly.

Basking in the honor with him is Hans-Pavia Rosing of Greenland, right, who served as the first Chair of ICC and has been active in the organization throughout its entire history.

This is Ronald Brower Sr. of Barrow, the artist who made the mask.

The most prestigious honor handed out at each General Assembly is the Bill Edmunds Award, named for a man who grew up in Labrador, Canada, to become an Inuit activist. Edmunds was involved the founding of ICC in 1980 and remained active in the organization for the rest of his life.

Mary Simon, a past Chair of ICC, has also been a leader in ICC since its beginning. Here, outgoing Chair Jim Stotts presents her with a plaque that acknowledges her many accomplishments.

Stotts then gives her a scuplture as a gift.

Simons speaks to the General Assembly.

"We still have a lot of work ahead of us to work to improve the lives of our fellow Inuit. Our health and wellbeing should be our next major goal. We must do this in order to provide a better future for our children and youth," she told them, after acknowledging the honor. She said it came as a total surprise.

As do all gathered from each of the four nations, delegates from Greenland and Canada give Simon a standing ovation.

She waves back.

Jose Kusugak, the former President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, a national Candian Inuit organization, and the current President of the Kivalliq Inuit Association in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Canada, was the 2006 winner of the Edmund Award. 

However, the plaque that he was to be given failed to arrive when the 10th General Assembly met in Barrow in that year, so he was awarded it this year, immediately after Simon received hers. It proved to be perhaps the most emotional moment of the entire General Assembly.

"I really did want to come here and somebody was trying to prevent me from coming here," Kusugak told the assembly, "A few months ago I was diagnosed with cancer and they operated, but they said it was a little too late." He said he wanted to come anyway and to tell the circumpolar people to please exercise their right to get their health checked up early and ofteb, especially if they suspected that something might be wrong.

Despite being told it is a little too late, Kusugak has not given up. He asked the people for their prayers. "I have grandchildren that I want to see grow up and I'm too young... I might have gray hair, but I'm too young."

As he speaks, his words follow on the large screen in the background.

Kusugak is 59.

As he leaves the podium, Kusugak receives an encouraging shake of the hand.

Translators inside Canada's translation booth stand in Kusugak's honor. Interpreter Martha Flaherty wipes away a tear.

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ICC Nuuk, Greenland, part 7: On the flight out, the song of a Greenlandic choir slips through my inflight movie headphones

Although I have much left to report from ICC Nuuk and more pictures to display, I must now do it from another place. As you can see, I boarded an Air Greenland Dash 8 turbo-prop and flew out of Nuuk. At first, we went north, to Kangerlussuaq, where the US military once built an airstrip long enough to handle the big jet that I would need to transfer to before I could continue on to Copenhagen.

Looking down at a fjord, near the coast.

The boy who sat in front of me.

This is the jet that I transferred to in Kangerlussuaq.

It was a four-hour plus flight from Kangerlussuaq to Copenhagen and so, after we flew for a bit, I put the headphones on and settled in to watch the inflight movie. About half way through, it seemed to me that I could barely hear the singing of the Greenlandic Choir, Aavaat, who I had enjoyed during the Day of the Seal, as I will yet post.

I did not believe it. I thought it was just music playing in my head, because when I leave a place, the music of that place does always tend to play in my head as I travel.

Yet, muffled though it was by the audio of the movie and the airplane noise, it began to sound real to me. So I removed my headphones.

Sure enough, there was a choir singing, right inside the airplane and it was Aavaat, who had performed so beautifully in Nuuk. Here are some of those who sung.

And here are a few more.

After the plane landed a blonde fellow stood up and he was holding a Yup'ik-style drum from Alaska. It was Christopher Lieu, a Danish musician who has traveled to Alaska many times to perform with Pamyua. He also performed with them in Nuuk.

The drum was made and given to him ten or 11 years ago by Ossie of Pamyua.

I am posting this from inside Terminal 2 of the Copenhagen airport and my laptop battery just went into the red. I had better stop now.

When I bought this computer, they told me the battery would be good for four hours. Ha! It's not even been a full hour.

Really irritating.

Hey! It's the Fourth of July! I am in Denmark, but by evening, I should be back in Wasilla, Alaska, USA. There will be fireworks blowing up.

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ICC Nuuk, Greenland, part 6: Seals are butchered, cooked and eaten; then there is song and dance

It was designated "Day of the Seal" here in Nuuk and to commemorate a hunter by the name of Lars, dressed dressed head to toe in seal skin, butchered a seal on the rocky beach at Noorliit. A couple of other hunters did the same, but with much smaller seals. After the butchering, the seals were cooked, both on rocks over an open fire and in kettles, boiled into soup.

Then all of us who had gathered ate the seals and they were very, very, good.

Afterwards, there was singing and dancing, both traditional and modern.

As you might suspect, I took many pictures and I suspect that I have several worthy of presentation here and I do want to show them to you, but it is 4:01 AM and pretty soon I have to pack my bag and head to the airport, to begin the long series of flights home, to be interrupted by a short night in Copenhagen, which right now I wish I could just skip and head straight for Alaska.

So I am going to hold off until I get home and then I will finish my ICC series there, sitting in my office, working on my much faster desktop computer there. This laptop is a wonder, but it can also be a frustrating pain when it gets bogged down while editing and processing high-resolution RAW photo files. Once I get a little rest and start up again, it will probably take me a couple of days to do so; maybe three.

I will then show you more of the Day of the Seal, and will finally do a good wrap-up that explains the Nuuk Declaration of 2010 and I will also present a better history of the ICC and a run-down of the issues the indigenous people of the Inuit circumpolar north face.

Doing the Greenlandic Polka under a beautiful open sky on a mostly sunny Day of the Seal here in Nuuk, Greenland.

I wish that I could stay another week and do whatever I want to do, but I can't. I must go home now.

I would like to say that I'll come back one day, but one never knows about such things.

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ICC Nuuk, Greenland, part 5: A break with Igloolik's Arctic Circus before I do an ICC wrap-up

Last night, after the delegations from Russia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland had ratified the Nuuk Declaration of 2010, elected Aqqaluk Lynge of Greenland to be the ICC Chair and had chosen Canada to host the next General Assembly in four years, they gathered for a farewell feast.

The after-dinner entertainment was provided by Artcirq - or Arctic Circus - from the Canadian High Arctic Community of Igloolik. According the Artcirq website, Igloolik, population 1500, suffers a suicide rate of four to six young adults every year. 

Artcirq was formed in response as a way to present young people with something that was fun and healthy, as an alternative to substance abuse and suicide.

Based upon acrobatics, juggling and clowning as has been traditionally practiced in Inuit culture, a group of youth formed a circus and then went to Montreal for professional training at the National Circus School. They have since performed in many Arctic Communities.

As for me, I need to figure out how to cover a few of the cultural events taking place here in Nuuk today as well as how to explain the Nuuk Declaration and prepare a wrap up from the thousands and thousands and thousands of words and statements that I have gathered and the two or three or four thousand images or so that I have shot.

I am suffering from a severe lack of sleep and horrible chest and sinus congestion that at times seems to border on pneumonia, so it is going to be a bit of a challenge, but one way or another, I will do it.