Friday, March 10, 2017

Inuit Leisure And A Long Winter

These shots date to the final day of Winterlude- February 20th. In Confederation Park, a stage was set up through the festival for various uses, with the Lord Elgin Hotel and the Aboriginal Veterans Monument as a backdrop. On this day, a number of Inuit teens were doing a demonstration of games the Inuit use to get through the long winters of the far north of Canada. I found each in turn to be fascinating. Here in this first shot, two are engaged in the game of musk ox- pushing against each other's heads as a show of strength, in the same way the animals do. The object in the game is to push your opponent back across a given line.


Another game was leg wrestling- two girls went on their backs, one arranged in one direction, the other  facing the other. The idea is to hook one leg, and try to pull your opponent off their back, using just that leg.


The third game was fun to watch- a high kick. One person held a pouch, suspended from a stick, while two others would take turns trying to kick the pouch. The stick was raised after each player threw a kick. You try leaping that high.


And they finished up with singing- both the girls and the boys.

28 comments:

  1. Having fun and is good how the 'events' don't seem to be vast and over-the-top, but nice to relate to. And so Inuits are not only in the high northern latitudes but have settled all round i suppose.

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  2. more awesome sun rises. neat-O!!
    ( ;

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  3. Fun to watch William 😊 but I was distracted by the magnificent sculpture in the background, fabulous series of images!

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  4. @Julia: these days some have ventured south, often for education.

    @Francisco: thanks!

    @Marleen: it was.

    @Beth: thank you.

    @Grace: it is an impressive monument.

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  5. i bet that was fun to watch! love how the sun's rays are shining down!

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  6. Fun and interesting to watch! Have a great day!

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  7. How interesting! That must have been entertaining and educational to watch. Sounds like it's a good thing the young ones do those games.

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  8. The sun rays look so beautiful in last few pictures!

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  9. @Tanya: it was fun!

    @Nancy: thanks!

    @Cloudia: you're welcome.

    @Sharon: these are good activities to keep going on.

    @Klara: I enjoyed having a rare sunny day!

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  10. Fun day but I hope it is warming up for you!

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  11. Those look fun way to get through winter :-) High kick is quite impressive!

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  12. It's a long dark winter up there!

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  13. Kudos to the kids! Entertaining and very creative and I could see where those games could be used in other parts of the world, also.

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  14. @Janet: well today's been below freezing with light snow.

    @Tamago: I couldn't do that!

    @Linda: me too!

    @RedPat: a very long winter.

    @Catalyst: it was!

    @Lowell: these are good ways for children to develop skills, and for adults to keep them honed.

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  15. Sort of reminds me of our NFL combine that just wrapped up. :-)

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  16. These events are amazing. they also spend hours with the string and making figures with string. They also gamble with pebbles or sticks.

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  17. The first one made my neck ache just looking at it. The last one showing the leap and kick was fantastic.

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  18. You had a good vantage point. I love that all of these games require people to interact with each other.

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  19. Simple but challenging games. Fascinating to watch I imagine.

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  20. I think I've seen this group before. We went to the International Aboriginal Festival with students one year. They are fabulous! Thanks for the good memory!

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  21. Excellent photos as always, William!

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  22. Must have been great to see this LIVE.
    Always so much nice happening in your city!

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  23. @Revrunner: this is more interesting than the NFL!

    @Red: it is quite a culture.

    @Mari: thank you!

    @Kay: I agree.

    @Gemma: they were.

    @Jennifer: that wouldn't surprise me.

    @Norma: thank you!

    @Gunn: it was!

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