Food Sharing in Qikiqtarjuaq

Monday, January 31, 2011

Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut

Hunters donate both seal skins and meat to members of the community. Photo by Eilís Quinn. Today we said good-bye to Qikiqtarjuaq. It’s been a wonderful community to get to know. We’ve interviewed everyone from patients to health care workers for our upcoming series on health in the North. But we’ve also had the chance to talk to plenty of regular folks about their views on health. Food costs was a top concern; how expensive it is to buy from local stores and how expensive it is to go out hunting for it on the land.

But despite these issues, there’s remarkable food sharing networks going on in communities like these. During this week alone, I saw hunters come back from land and drop off Arctic char for single mothers and elders.

Earlier this week, fresh caribou meat was flown in from a nearby community. The call went out over community radio and the local gym was filled within minutes. The meat was laid out on cardboard that almost completely covered the gymnasium floor. Some people cut off pieces of the meat to eat right there, others cut off parts of it with knives and placed into plastic bags to take home to their families.

Eilís Quinn, Eye on the Arctic

Eilís Quinn is an award-winning journalist and manages Radio Canada International’s Eye on the Arctic news cooperation project. Eilís has reported from the Arctic regions of all eight circumpolar countries and has produced numerous documentary and multimedia series about climate change and the issues facing Indigenous peoples in the North.

Her investigative report "Death in the Arctic: A community grieves, a father fights for change," about the murder of Robert Adams, a 19-year-old Inuk man from Arctic Quebec, received the silver medal for “Best Investigative Article or Series” at the 2019 Canadian Online Publishing Awards. The project also received an honourable mention for excellence in reporting on trauma at the 2019 Dart Awards in New York City.

Her report “The Arctic Railway: Building a future or destroying a culture?” on the impact a multi-billion euro infrastructure project would have on Indigenous communities in Arctic Europe was a finalist at the 2019 Canadian Association of Journalists award in the online investigative category.

Her multimedia project on the health challenges in the Canadian Arctic, "Bridging the Divide," was a finalist at the 2012 Webby Awards.

Her work on climate change in the Arctic has also been featured on the TV science program Découverte, as well as Le Téléjournal, the French-Language CBC’s flagship news cast.

Eilís has worked for media organizations in Canada and the United States and as a TV host for the Discovery/BBC Worldwide series "Best in China."

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

Leave a Reply

Note: By submitting your comments, you acknowledge that Radio Canada International has the right to reproduce, broadcast and publicize those comments or any part thereof in any manner whatsoever. Radio Canada International does not endorse any of the views posted. Your comments will be pre-moderated and published if they meet netiquette guidelines.
Netiquette »

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *