Kathy's diary Baker Lake May 1998

Creator: Andrew Stewart | Date: 2026 May 11

Title: Kathy's diary Baker Lake May 1998
Creator: Andrew Stewart
Date: 2026 May 11

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TUES MAY 26, 1998 Stayed up til 3:00 AM carefully packing the exhibit & heaving clothes into my suitcase. Blasted out to the taxi in my socks leaving behind my hairbrush, a half-eaten bowl of Cheerios, an unswept kitchen floor and an un-hugged Rose who had fled to the safety of the curtains when the taxi driver rang the bell. Worst of all, I left behind the freshly poured bottle of rubber cement. Smooth sailing (flying) all the way to Baker - left at 11 AM & arrived 8:30 PM same day. Ate a lot of not-so bad airplane food. Andrew & I hooted over a Seinfeld book - hysterics really. 27° in Toronto. - 10° in Baker. David Webster met us with the RCMP guy - we rode in his truck - The exhibit arrived safely thank god. Had a tour of the heritage centre in progress - fabulous - I'm now worried that my little pieces of paper will pale in comparison. Lots of 3-D stuff - caribou skin tent & figures, a kayak, Clarence Tilenius diorama etc. Tea & to bed - we're staying in the nurses station residence a few doors away - very nice. David loaned us some dishes. WED 27 Breakfast at David's - met his wife Sally (an Inuk) and dog Harry. (Hairy?) Lovely place high up overlooking the lake. The lake is frozen 7 feet deep. There are boats frozen in farther out. Sleds. Saw a jeep driving around on the ice. Not a lot of snow left though - they had a thaw a few weeks ago. It's cold & windy though. The town is very tidy - no garbage lying around - the governor general is coming you know. Roads have new red gravel. (the red carpet). At the centre - met Clarence Tilenius - he's wonderful. 85, one arm - very handsome, charismatic, funny - his wife Penny is

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here too - she's just great. Andrew & a bunch of others went out to collect rocks for the diorama. Now Clarence has to match his painting up so it blends away into the distance. Andrew discovered to his horror that he only brought the pants he was wearing - (no room in his bag & then he forgot). So he'll have to meet the governor general in smelly drawers. Lucy's doing translation for me. It's a beehive of activity. David is bustling. Terry & Rose arrived from Yellowknife (museum people) to set everything up. My glue dilemma - Darren can't come up as planned (his grandpa is ill) so we have to do his display. Andrew has asked if he can find rubber cement & put it on a plane to Baker ASAP. Failing that there's some huge bottles of white paste I can use. Shopped at the Northern for food & a shower curtain. Juice is $11.95, Minute Rice 6.00 - ARG. Macaroni & cheese & cabbage salad for dinner. Got everything ready for Lucy to translate. Visited the Avaala's - John & Vera & Roy - just knock lightly and walk in. Visitors are always appreciated. Shoes off, walk in - kids running around. John & Vera sitting on the couch - - we sit on the floor & yak - tea & chips. Looked at Roy's report and a rock he found in Germany. Vera showed me books written by Jan ___ ? on people in remote places - Sahara etc. One was on Baker L. & she was in it -- done 7 years ago. Really great - lots of colour photos. Lovely long visit. The Avaalas have won loads of trophies & medals for dog sled racing - they're all on display. The older girl looks after the 2 year old boy Robin

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- very attentive & loving. The seven year old Ruth , the one with the perpetually worried expression, was whirling about with a stuffed bear in the back of a yellow windbreaker pretending it was an amauti. Very cute. Roy's baby is about 6 months old - very heavy & chubby -- big cheeks -- a sweetie pie name is Jessica. When it was time for bed Ruth gave Roy a nose rub goodnight. Am impressed with Andrew's Inuktitut. In the vestibule there was some large blackish bits of caribou sitting about. Yum. It is clear that the Avaalas are very fond of Andrew. Walking home was nice nice - really light out. But a cold wind which had increased by the time I was in bed. Am reading The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell. Terry & Rose arrived from Yellowknife -- museum people -- they are working madly to set everything up -- make stands for dolls, hang paintings, conserve kayak, arrange dioramas, etc. Curfew siren goes off at 8 on school nights. THURS. A shower finally - we were low on water until now. Took Lucy a bunch of stuff & we finished up translation and printed out some coloured text. Andrew is working on sorting & identifying artifacts with an elder (lady) (Nipihatnaaq) who speaks no English. He was feeling a bit useless this morning but the rest of the day has been busy. We ate lunch at the Northern cafe - chicken burger. Convinced Andrew to buy a pair of jeans. Miraculously found Rubber Cement!! In the Automotive dept. of course -- for patching tires. to Checked out laminating machine at the school. Also the xerox machine at Hamlet Office. Worked until 1:30 nearly 1:00 AM! Spaghetti for supper.

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FRI. am writing at home now - June 15 -- Can't remember details. Worked like mad -- used laminating machine at the public school -- NEIL helped -- did a test run on a large sheet -- no probs. Fed some more in -- the Caribou diorama text etc & disaster! wrinkles major & air bubbles !! Really humiliated & worried - can't re-do. ARG. Andrew is now up to his eyeballs doing artifact labels -- not only research & writing but typing and cutting & mounting. I felt a little isolated working alone when everyone else was enjoying the hustle & bustle, joking etc. Oh well -- had to be done. About midnight David Webster delivered 3 huge lake trout caught by Sally that day - whew! We froze one, gave one to Terry & Rose & Andrew gutted the other & we ate some of it. Very tasty. SAT- more of the same. late in the day a young student Sean ____? arrived he's going to spend 6 weeks studying to qajaq building -- brought all his own food. Talked a blue streak. He's very keen & bright -- an Op. Raleigh type. He stayed to supper -- fish again Had to stay the night too -- got locked out -- put him on a sofa with old smarties under the cushions. Next day NO WATER - tank empty - ARG -

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Tank got filled eventually but was inconvenient for a while. More of the same -- did all the scrapbooks ready for lamination -- whew. My fingers are permanently glued -- no fingerprints left. Free dinner at the RCMP -- barbeque in the garage -- burgers & dogs, & cake. Loads of kids with grape juice cheeks. Visited Avaala's again to identify something from a dog harness -- thought John would know -- he did. Andrew brought Birket-Smith volume from 5th Thule Exp. to show them - Vera pored over it. Andrew & I walked out on the lake one evening -- I felt a bit nervous and then really dumb as a truck & snowmobile drove by. Notes on Baker the Hamlet -- no longer just the upper road and the lower road -- lots of roads, lots of houses farther up the hill and farther east -- a more affluent housing development (that's where David Webster lives). In fact the people at this end of town now own their houses. A real gap developing in the community. There are some very poor people in town too -- David says that in winter some often go on the radio to ask for food. Everyone is concerned with making money now -- so a lot of the younger people think that if you don't have a job & make money there's nothing to do and no point to anything. and think that then Which is a normal attitude in most societies -- it's a shame though because the old concept of community sharing (ie food) is disappearing and greed has set in -- every man for himself.

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Things are coming together at the Heritage Centre -- Terry has to make the plexi stands for the doll case. He made fake snow around the igloo by shaving plexi & mixing it with glue. The large display case for Sally's headed amauti arrived on Tues fully assembled and wouldn't fit through the center door. It's in the RCMP garage. Can't get it apart -- need a "special tool" apparently so the company said they'd send it right away. Well by the next Monday there was no sign of it so Terry used some brute force & discovered that it really only needed an allen key -- he had a full set -- so took it apart no problem. He hadn't had time up until then to figure it out anyway. David has hired two teenage girls -- about 15 I think named Valerie & Lillian -- to work the summer at the Heritage Centre. They are bright, articulate & funny & energetic. Very helpful. Very giggly. During slack moments (there are very few) they play cards on the computer -- solitaire. Lucy is great -- she does all the translation -- & helps run the Centre. I think she'll take over from David eventually -- that's what he hopes. I guess the trick will be to fundraise. Terry is the preparator & Rose the conservator from the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife -- they are a couple and are just great. Terry can make or fix anything. They shipped a huge wooden packing crate full of tools and equipment. The crate is stamped "Property of the Royal Ontario Museum." Rose did a wonderful job on the two qajaqs that needed repair & care. She also (in Yellowknife) cleaned the Jessie Oonark wall hanging that David rescued from the mayors office -- it was stained & had smelled of cigarette smoke It is truly beautiful.

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I went out one afternoon to with Mike ___ (a Scot) and David, in Mike's old truck to gather more rocks for the diorama — needed medium-sized small gravel rocks with good colour and lots of lichen rocks attached, and a quantity of gravel. We drove way up to the radio tower (Mexican Sombrero) — (there's are so many roads now!) and got a good view of the town & surrounding land. We loaded up some buckets & heaved them into the truck. When the back hatch slammed shut, the window slid down into the door and couldn't be retrieved so we drove back with all the windows all open wide & the truck filling up with exhaust fumes and cold air. We gathered the gravel from the quarry — nice red rock — they've used it on the roads. Clarence is working long hours every day trying to blend his painting foreground into the real rocks — choosing certain ones etc. Also the dimensions & set-up given him at the outset are not what they are now so there are many frustrating & worrying adjustments to be made — most important is the top of the f canvas, now on a slant with exposed support frame. So Boris has set to wok work to solve it aesthetically. Penny has laboured too — they are a great team. They are staying with Boris & his wife at the lodge & are well taken care of. Andrew & I wanted to spend some time alone with them so we arranged to have dinner at the lodge — the cook is Francis or Francine — married to Henry Ford the art dealer. Most delicious. The lodge is beautifully designed — Boris did a huge wall collage of photos of people culled from historic sources and his own. Very graphicly pleasing — Clarence regaled us with stories of polar bears etc.

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Boris is a very interesting person -- a bit reserved but with a good sense of humour. He's ha got an amazing background. Apparently a former ballet dancer. Worked with Clarence at the National Museum doing dioramas etc. Worked on the committee for Expo 67 -- did the layout of the whole complex and the graphics! His ar Now he runs an eco tourism operation in Wage B Wager Bay and Baker Lake -- 2 lodges. His wife is a Scot I think -- a nurse. Really nice. Black M Kathy Bergquist has arrived - she's the one who organised and produced the book that is being launched -- the elders' recollections written by Hattie Mannik. She's striking to look at - a long mane of white hair with bangs and a youthful face -- my age I think. She's great. We went to lunch at Northern & she told us all about the time she attempted to raise musk run a musk ox farm. (Her husband has allergies so it the project was abandoned after a couple of years) very funny. She's lending a hand, polishing display cases etc. Andrew is still doing label label labels. There's some worry about other display exhibits -- one from the RCMP. and one from Debbie Webster -- haven't arrived yet and only 2 days to opening. Debbie's flight held up due to weather. In the end they put her on an army flight & she arrived the night before the big day. David is able to pull strings. The RCM panel arrived in the knickers of time having been inadvertently re-routed to Thompson Manitoba. The "special key tool for the amauti case arrived the day after the opening.

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There's a lot of security involved with the arrival of the governor general. Andrew & I joked, before arriving ourselves, that we would be bunking in with the gov his excellency & his wife in the old nurses residence. In fact, a week before his arrival, a team of security & RCMP arrived to check out everything - the route, the town, the museum, the people, exits, access etc. David told them about a loony in town who, for years, has been writing crazy letters to the Queen. So they got a photo of his house & found out all about him. David told them so as to avoid any undue embarrassment -- not that he would be dangerous. The gov gen. (Romeo Leblanc) has a very tight itinerary that includes a children's choir (or is it Brownies?) and rangers demonstration at the airport, drum dancing, a fancy lunch of caribou & char, opening ceremonies, a tour of the heritage centre, a tour of the Jessie Oonark centre and a tour of the town & a drive out of town for a 360° view of the land. In total 5 hours then whisked away in a private jet. The vans have arrived & are parked a vice felt vests were pres The RCMP with VIP licence plates. (David Webster subsequently bought one of them.) David was playing a game -- hockey? a few weeks ago and someone smashed into him & bruised his ribs so that he is in considerable pain a lot of the time. We have been were without water for two days - the pump broke so we had to use the toilet at the centre and carry water back & and forth in a kettle for tea & washing up. ARG. Otherwise the accomodations are great -- new mattresses on the beds. Lots of heat. Lots of room. Lovely view.

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School ended end of May so now the kids sleep in & watch TV all day & only emerge about 8 PM to play until all hours. As it is light all the time it doesn't matter -- their time is their own: A great place to be a kid. No one calls for their kids to come in -- it's a small town & everyone knows everyone. Bikes everywhere. There aren't as many dogs in town as I remember from 10 years ago - used to be that something would set off a dog howling & soon the entire town was howling -- it was hilarious up to a point but not when you're trying to sleep. Apparently this winter a virus (rabies?) swept through & killed about 60 dogs. Very sad. Another round of laminating at the school - halls are empty but Neil was there -- we put in a new roll of laminate to try and eliminate wrinkles. Unfortunately it fed in the wrong way & twisted around a roller (just like an old washing machine). We spent nearly an hour pulling & prying & cutting. ARG. (Actually I think I said Jeez a lot not realizing that Neal is very religious.) In the end the wrinkles came not from the roll of laminate but from the actual roller -- a big gouge in it ... so I just put everything through, wrinkles & all. Oh well. Had visitors -- Kathy Berquist & 2 women in education? in town for the big event -- we made tea & while Sean regaled them with his tales of woe about ethics & permissions to do his research, I trimmed the scrapbook pages -- they look OK. Andrew passed around his macadamia nuts.

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Next day I had Andrew punch holes in the scrapbook pages - he wore a special hat for the task & we spent the morning cracking jokes in German accents. Poor Andrew spent all week identifying artifacts for with Nipihatnaaq, Lucy translated, he searched in books for additional info, wrote them up, cut made the labels, and set them in all the cases. That very afternoon someone stopped by - an elder & some others to see how things were progressing. Perused the artifact cases & started pointing out mistakes - The problems arise from arise from because there are about five different linguistic groups in Baker so not only do they have different spellings for things, there are often completely different words. It's hard to please everyone & it's impossible to do everything to get so he & Lucy figured out a few things, made a few changes -- re-doing labels did not cheer him up. The two girls were busy cleaning in the gallery room and used windex on the big caption - which was black text on yellow background -- Smear ! The print dissolved & resulted in a greenish mess. They were mortified but not at fault. Hmm - perhaps the worst can be cut off to minimise the damage. The big day - we were in the museum until until noon, ate lunch and then headed over to the Hamlet Office where crowds were starting to gather. A stage was set up in front of the office with chairs for the elders. The RCMP were in full scarlet, the Rangers in their red jackets & caps. Valerie and

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Lillian were in fabulous outfits, handing out flags & buttons. Valerie was wearing the distinctive Baker Lake Black and white outfit. Very elegant - and a black beret. Lillian was wearing a beaded outfit with a fringe of caribou teeth & bone and a fabulous head decoration. It was chilly waiting around - we were but finally the VIP vans rolled in and discharged the governor general, his wife, the mayor and Peter Tapitai and all the body guards in shades. The speeches were mercifully short thanks to David Webster -- he'd told us that as word got round of the celebrations all sorts of self-important people called him to say they wanted to give a speech. Even Sheila Copps, Minister of Heritage was turned down. "Too boring" said David. Someone sang O Canada in Inuktitut to start things off. The speeches were all translated except for Pirjuaq -- he was quite a commanding & passionate speaker but I only recognised two words -- tuktu and umingmak - he made lots of spearing gestures. There was also a book launch & copies were handed out to elders who participated. The elders also each got to shake hands with the governor general. CD's were handed out - recordings of traditional toons. These things The body guards were stoic behind their shades -- there was one woman who looked quite severe -- casting a steely eye over the crowd, had hands crossed in front, legs apart. Terry was joking about setting them off by speaking into the your wristwatch or into your collar. Things broke up & the dignitaries went to tour the museum. Andrew & I said hello to Peter Tapitai -- he had a 1/2 tan - top 1/2 of his head was white from wearing a helmet.

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Then we talked to Killulark -- he was in fine form & posed for pictures & Andrew tried on his snow goggles. Andrew thinks he dyes his hair - he's apparently quite the man about town. He was one of the elders who went out on the Kazan w Andrew. His wife was there too -- very gracious. We purchased a bunch of copies of Hattie's book & had her autograph them -- one for David Pelly too, and one for Max and one for Darren. (and one each for both of us). I declined the CD. Then we ran into the Avaalas, & Vera asked us to go to the cabin with her. Yay! We dashed home to put on warm clothes -- I was thrilled to get a chance to wear my new fuzzy lined zip-leg pants. Trudged over to their place & loaded up the sled. Andrew & I rode rode like little kids, bouncing along on a pad of caribou fur - caribou . Little Ruth with the worried face rode we nonchalantly on the behind Vera on the skidoo -- hands hanging straight down. It was glorious - we zipped over snow & rock & lichen & slush, leaving the town behind in minutes. We passed a few other cabins here & there. After about 1⁄2 an hour we stopped for a cigarette break for Vera & Roy & John caught up to us -- their dogs were leading their skidoo and were all hot & sweaty & panting & climbing all over each other. Great dogs - the Avaalas love them and are quite affectionate with them. We stood about in the snow in the bright sunlight under a very blue sky and a flock of ducks flew overhead. Andrew & I exclaimed that spring is here & felt all warm & fuzzy when suddenly BLAMBLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM! Roy was blasting away with his shotgun

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-- we saw signs of spring -- he saw lunch. Luckily for us he was a bad shot. Off again finally arriving at their blue cabin on edge of the Thelon River. So twinkly while John & Roy & Roy's brother (?) (don't know his name) staked out their dogs & set up dog houses. Vera, Andrew Ruth & I turned over big chunks of reddish brown caribou meat set out to dry & picked off all the gravel on the other side. We snacked on the some dry crispy bits. Then I spied a little sik sik very close by & I exclaimed out loud something about my camera. Andrew remarked that he it wasn't going anywhere & then I saw the trap. His hind leg was caught in it -- he was shouting & scrabbling at it -- obviously in pain -- probably hungry, thirsty & frightened. Vera ignored it & Ruth chucked a few little stones at it when I asked what she was going to do with it she said "Mittens". Arg. Unfortunately he was still there when we left - no one put him out of his misery. Andrew & I were a little unnerved. Ruth just skipped about. Then time for tea - oh - when the dogs were being staked out one got away & bounded out of sight over the hill. They said he was probably planning to run home. So John jumped on the skidoo & gave chase. He arrived back just as tea was ready, dog under his arm. We We contributed some cheese & chocolate & dried apricots to the saltines and Dad's cookies. The sun shone & it was beautiful. Vera said that in summer the land around their cabin is covered in blueberries. Ruth & Roy took me inside & showed me a butterfly (swallowtail) -- dead but displayed on a shelf.

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Roy's brother was withdrawn & silent - Vera told us another son was in jail. The rest of their family seems just great. Right beside the tea table was a box on a sled full of extra caribou bed bits - heads & legs -- covered in flies: but ultimately useful: The there was a pile of hooves & shas shin bones broken with the marrow removed. We left the men behind & Vera took us to a place high place where we got off & climbed up for a view around the land - very rocky with pools of melted snow reflecting the blue sky -- Ruth collected different kinds of lichens for me. We stopped again in a luxuriant spot luxuriant with moss & lichen of all colours & shapes -- Vera told us about her childhood in the fifties when there were no caribou to eat & her grandmother died in bed beside her. We got back to town about 10:30 at night. The light cast long shadows & the town glowed beside the lake. The snow fence also on the hill above the town still had a drift on one side. We went into their place for a few minutes & the other guys had already got back -- & Andrew gave them some money for gas. Said our goodbyes. Our plane was due out at 8 AM next morning & we hadn't packed or cleaned

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up yet. We ate some dinner. Sean came over so I tried to tidy up & do dishes while Andrew showed Sean some publications. I couldn't believe how much garbage had accumulated. We stayed up until about 2:30 with a great mess still lying around. David Webster -- actually, we'd heard a rumour that the plane might not be able to fly out because of sp fog in Churchill but we had no way to confirm at that late hour & we had no phone anyway. (And we'd missed the big caribou cook-up at the arena). So in the am -- while I crammed parkas & frozen fish into bags, Andrew ran up to the Iglu hotel to phone -- indeed the plane was cancelled but he had to go back & phone new reservation desk later on when someone was there to make sure we had a seat the next day, connections etc. So, we were relieved -- went to the Iglu for breakfast -- phoned Bev at ASI to get Chris to stay one more night with Rose. Breakfast was sort of do it yourself cold cereal, juice, tea & toast for $24.00. ARG. Terry Rose Sean & I went walking to galleries & IBC - At Henry Ford's place in the Jessie Oonark centre we checked out new pencil crayon pictures -- one was great lots of flies drawn on tents. Some new woodcuts. And some neat black metal scu flat sculpture done by Simon Tookoome when he did a workshop in Winnipeg with Joe Fafard. Dropped by the museum to check out the guestbook & David invited us to dinner even though he was beat. So we hit the Northern for chips & chocolate. Then a shower. Then up to David's at the other end of town. Burgers on the BBQ. Debbie was there too (Sally was out fishing) and his youngest son - who was about 16. Very

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shy & nerdy - maybe but had a sweet smile. We chowed down. Then watched a video David made of the fashion show at the CNE a few years ago put together by Sally -- I remember David Pelly & Laurie were in Toronto then -- & we tried to see it but the times got changed or something -- anyway it was fantastic apparently it toured in Europe. Then we pawed through a pile of wall hangings tagged & ready for Sally to send to galleries or to the Jessie Oonark Centre. Andrew & I bought one and I took a photo of one for Max. David drove us back via the other side of town -- up to the Sombrero radio tower for a look around -- Terry & Rose hadn't been out. David dropped us off about 11 pm & said he'd pick us up at 7:15 to go to the airport. ARG. Still hadn't finished cleaning up. The next morning was panic -- left behind bowls of uneaten cereal & stuff for Sean to tidy up. Oh well. Had to give back one of the large fish to David -- wouldn't fit in our luggage. Flew out with Clarence & Penny -- crazy seating -- moved around for balance. Chatted with Stewardess who was clueless about all the communities her airline touched down in. She even allowed that she'd never tried arctic char -- "Because, well, you know how how you don't like to try anything different". ARG. Pretty feeble.

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We had a long wait in Winnipeg so we took a cab to the Art Gallery & discovered Kelly Winnipeg looked a dull sort of place but maybe its because the sun wasn't shining. We did notice residential streets lined with oak trees. Incredible.