Stories Of The Far North

The Muskoxen are a group of topiaries representing the Northwest Territories, set amid a colourful bed of flowers and grasses. These mighty animals of the high Arctic are of the same general family that include mountain goats and bighorn sheep, but bigger. As a topiary form, they're larger than life, and quite shaggy.

Across the pathway is The Prospector. This represents the Yukon, and is a nod to the story of the Klondike gold rush that sparked in 1896 and sent those seeking fortune and glory into the territory, as well as into Alaska. Canadian authorities at the time required prospectors to bring in enough supplies to survive a year in the wilderness on their own. That could translate into a ton of gear. Of the countless hordes that came in from all over the world, it has been estimated that only four thousand of them hit paydirt. This topiary features a water system that circulates over the pan repeatedly.

Beside the Prospector is a glimpse of a topiary I'll show you in a couple of days.

I took more shots of the muskoxen from this side.

Nunavut, the most recently incorporated of Canada's provinces and territories, is represented by this topiary, The Drum Dancer, also seen in the above shot. Drum dancing is a cultural activity for the Inuit, used not only as music but to tell stories of all that has come before- family histories, knowledge of the land, and spirituality. 

I conclude for today with this view of where we've already been. Tomorrow's topiaries are decidedly different.