Makivik Magazine Issue 102

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MM: Do you plan to race in future Ivakkak races?
AG: As long as I see that my team is ready and I have no health issues,
I will participate again.
MM: Do you have any additional comment regarding Ivakkak?
AG: Having a dog team takes a lot work and dedication. It is my opinion
that in order to have good working dog team the dogs cannot be
neglected and kept just for racing interests. I raised and slowly develop
my team for seven years first before I participated to the Ivakkak race. I
wish to thank Makivik Corporation for having started Ivakkak and all of
the sponsors that support it. I also wish to recognize all of the people
in all of the communities of Nunavik that Ivakkak race goes through.
They are first class fans with logistical assistance, feasts and ceremonies
organized.
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Nunavik Tourism
MM: How long
have you been
involved with the
Nunavik Tourism
Association? (In what
capacity? And how
did you become
interested in Nunavik
tourism?)
AG: I’ve been with
the Nunavik Tourism
Association as executive
director since
1997 when it was
BOB MESHER
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x3ÇAbµ3ystui4 vt1zi7mEzî5g5.
During the annual general meeting of the Nunavik Tourism
Association.
re-launched with funding agreements from the Quebec government,
Makivik Corporation and the Kativik Regional Government.
My very first experience in tourism started as a kid at Bob May’s Big
Bend Fishing Camp on the George River in the early 1970s. My mom was
working there as a kitchen helper. Then at 12 years of age, I was working
at Elijah Watt’s fishing lodge on the Whale River doing camp chores,
and when a guide quit I ended up guiding salmon sport fly rod fishermen
and enjoyed the experience of being out on the land every day
and educating tourists about our culture and way of life.
MM: What are the most important things that Nunavik has to offer
in terms of tourism?
AG: Nunavik as a tourism destination is unique in that the Inuit of
Nunavik are still living in a vast pristine environment. Our language is
still strong and cultural activities with food subsistence practices are still
very much tied to the seasons. The Nunavik region’s landscape for the
larger picture is full of special places along with rivers, taiga tree line,
and arctic tundra. It is unspoiled by massive industrial activities; thus it
is the real last wilderness frontier of North America and, with the creation
of Nunavik Parks, certain tracts of land will be protected forever
and the world wants to see it.
MM: Is dog teaming interesting for tourism, and could it be worthwhile
for dog owners to provide dogteam rides for tourists?
AG: For sure, to offer dog sled rides can be part of a winter tourism
product in all of the Nunavik communities. I have been guiding tourists
for an American dog sledding company, which offers a weeklong Nunavik
adventure trip to its clients. Also, I work with FCNQ’s Inuit Adventures
in more of their customized shorter trips. There are economic spinoffs
to the villages, the airlines, and hotels and as well to pay some of my
expenses of owning a team. Most important it promotes the continued
usage of the sled dogs.
MAKIVIK mag a zine
31