A clean community helps to make a healthy community and the citizens of Makkovik take cleanliness seriously.

To view more photos from Makkovik, please click here.

Listen in as Kate Kyle of CBC Radio follows participant Regina Saimat of Nain through the different stations of the Inuit Health Survey on board the Amundsen.

‘It’s really good for me because I get my health checked,’ Saimat told Kyle as the two waited on the Nain dock.

Listen to the complete podcast here.

The Inuit Health Survey crew emerged from their cabins this morning and gazed out at… nothing. Fog had settled over the community of Postville and those on board weren’t able to catch sight of it until the fog lifted in the late morning.

The hardworking Land Team in Postville ensured that all participants were prepared for their trip to the ship.

The Amundsen heads to Makkovik this evening, the second last stop for the Inuit Health Survey in Nunatsiavut.

Jellyfish swam beside the anchored boat throughout the day.

To view more photos from Postville, click here.

Edna is our resident Inuinnaqtun expert and has been an interviewer and translator with the Survey. She has lived in four communities we passed through this summer and seemed to find old friends in each. Many happy returns to you!

The Inuit Health Survey sailed into Hopedale early this morning. The community was formally called Agvituk or ‘a place where there are whales.’

The Moravian mission building is said to be the oldest wooden structure east of Quebec. It was established in 1782.

Hopedale was home to a radar station that was part of the larger Pinetree Line, built in the 1950’s across Canada’s hinterland to detect perceived threats from Soviet bombers. The Hopedale station was manned by the United States Air Force. Pillars such as these are all that remain of the station that once boasted a movie theatre and bowling alley.

All over Hopedale, timber teepees sit in front of houses. Community members travel approximately 70 miles to a place called Kangigituk to collect the wood that is used to heat their homes. The trip is easiest made in the wintertime by snow machine and the wood is stockpiled throughout the year. 

To view more photos from Hopedale, click here.

Resettlement figures prominently in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador. Hebron and Nutak in northern Labrador were two of approximately 110 communities to be relocated between the mid-1950s to mid-1960s in the government sponsored resettlement scheme.

The parents of Nain Land Team member, Katie Winters, were part of the forced exodus from Hebron.

‘In 1959 they were told that Hebron was too isolated, too far, and that the hills were too high, that it was too hard for the planes to land in Hebron. They were told that the missionaries won’t provide for them anymore- that the hospital would close, that the store would close, so they were told they had to move south of Hebron. And they didn’t even have a say in it. They just listened to what the missionaries told them- that they had to move,’ Winters said. That year, the Moravian Church closed its mission and the government ended operations at its supply depot in the community.

Winters’ mother was relocated down the coast to Makkovik and later moved to Nain, where Winters still lives. Her father spent time in Nain and in the north of Labrador after Hebron was shut down.

‘They were told that there would be houses ready for them and there were no houses. Some of them were even living in tents throughout the winter. Overcrowding occurred in some of the houses,’ Winters said of the situation in Makkovik.

The lifestyle of Hebronimiut changed overnight. In northern Labrador, the animals were more plentiful than around the communities they were resettled into. In addition, the char had been bigger, tastier and the flesh redder, Winters said. The people had been told of a great number of seals in and around the Makkovik area. In fact, hardly any were to be found.

Traveling to traditional hunting and fishing grounds wasn’t always an option for those who were resettled. With dog teams, it would take days to return north. Nowadays, a trip to where Hebron once sat takes only a day’s travel on a snow machine.

Hardships beyond the material was also the fate of those who were relocated.

‘Gee, my goodness, the treatment that the people who were relocated from Nutak and Hebron, the treatment that they had from the people there,’ Winters trailed off in her Newfoundland lilt. ‘They were mocked and teased, some people were throwing stones and rocks at them. The kids weren’t supposed to go sliding on certain parts of the hill. They used to have their own route from their school to their homes so they wouldn’t get teased and bullied. They had it hard.’

Almost 20 years after the relocation of Hebron and Nutak, the Inuit of Labrador began a process that would ensure major decisions wouldn’t occur again without the proper consultation. In 1977, the Labrador Inuit Land Claim was filed and on December 1, 2005, the Nunatsiavut Government came into being. Winters translated the final agreement. The communities of Nain, Hopedale, Postville, Makkovik and Rigolet fall within the Nunatsiavut region. 

After three decades of meetings, consultations and traveling for a group of dedicated negotiators, the realization of the Land Claim was ‘a big moment,’ Winters said.

‘They are just in the middle of transition right now. The federal and regional government still have a lot of control over our justice system, our health system and education system. Eventually, slowly, the Nunatsiavut Government will take over all the programs and services,’ she said. Winters and others in Nunatsiavut look to the other Inuit Land Claims across the Canadian North and hope that they too will see similar benefits for their homeland.

How Katie stays healthy: ‘I continue to eat my traditional food, go on hikes, go out on the land- it heals your mental well being.’

It’s an East Coast and Arctic fusion in Nain, Nunatsiavut’s largest community and the region’s government centre.

To view more photos from Nain, click here.

It was a day of homecoming for Health Survey crewmembers, most of whom worked on other legs of the survey during the past two years. The crew was welcomed on board and greeted the staff who had traveled with the Amundsen from Iqaluit.

Staff members hail from each region of the country, but no one’s trip equalled that of Theresa Kakkianiun’s of Kugaaruk. She wins the prize for most flights taken to get from her hometown to Nain, Labrador- a whooping 13!

The Amundsen overlooks the beautiful community of Nain.

Linda Van Pelt unpacks clinic supplies.

From left, Jutanie Arnaquq, Pauloosie Onalik, Jo Jo Aninqmiuq and Eena Alivaktuk get in a game of crib while they still can. The Health Survey will be visiting five communities in the next six days.

The Amundsen left the protection of Resolution Island early this morning and set sail once again for Nain, Nunatsiavut. While the sea continues to make the ship roll, the waves are paltry in comparison to what were estimated to be seven metre high waves in this stretch of water yesterday.

The Amundsen and its crew are expected to be in Nain by noon tomorrow where the rest of the Health Survey crew will board. Participants will be brought on board on Tuesday, a day later than expected.

A community celebration is happening in Nain this evening to kick off the start of the survey in the region.

Last night after emerging from the protected shelter of Frobisher Bay, the Amundsen and its crew weathered big waves that made for a rocky time at sea. The unsuspecting landlubbers on board awoke in the early morning hours to the noise of unsecured belongings and furniture being thrown across their cabins.

The Amundsen is currently stationed in a protected area, waiting for the storm in close by open seas to subside. From all accounts, the waves are massive.

The calm before the storm. Frobisher Bay protected the Amundsen from high winds and waves.

Furniture was tied together in the lounge, ensuring it would stay in one place.

A falcon joined the journey, perching on the top deck of the ship.