Makivik Magazine Issue 112

© MAKIVIK CORPORATION
ᒪᑭᕝᕕᑯᑦ ᐊᖓᔪᕐᖄᖓᑕ ᑐᖓᓕᖓ ᐋᑕᒥ ᑎᓖᓪ ᐊᓚᑯ ᐃᓚᖃᕐᓱᓂ 2017ᒥ ᐃᕙᒃᑲᑐᓄᑦ ᓱᑲᓕᐅᑎᓱᑎᒃ ᐅᖓᒻᒧᐊᕇᕐᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᕗᔨᕕᒻᒧᑦ ᐁᓴ ᓱᕈᓯᓛᑉ ᐃᕐᓂᖓ
ᔮᓂᒻᒪᕆᒃ ᓱᕈᓯᓛᖅ. ᓯᕗᕌᓃᑦᑐᖅ ᓵᓚᖃᐅᑎᑖᕐᑐᖅ (gold) ᒪᓕᑦᑎᖓᓗ ᐁᐱᓕ ᖁᒫᓗᒃ.
Makivik vice president Adamie Delisle Alaku with the 2017 champions of Ivakkak at the finish line in Ivujivik and Aisa Surusiklak’s son Jani-Marik Surusilak.
Front: gold champion racer Aisa Surusilak and his partner Aipilie Qumaluk.
my dogs.” One winter he was forced not to race because he lost so many
dogs. Still, May is a proponent of Ivakkak. It all goes back in time, May
explained, Ivakkak and what it does for the people who participate
goes way, way back.
Raising dogs isn’t easy, it’s quite hard in fact, but it connects the
people to their ancestors.
“It’s one of the very, very important aspects of our culture for Inuit,”
he said. “We always hear the stories of survival because of the dogs from
our elders, our ancestors, they said that the Inuit wouldn’t be here if it
weren’t for the Inuit dog.”
That tradition is what makes enjoying Ivakkak year-after-year so
wonderful for many of the more seasoned competitors: they see Inuit
starting to join, trialing Ivakkak as a partner, then getting a dog and
another and then a whole team, then racing themselves and even
eventually winning.
“It’s really fun,” said May, trying to encourage a younger generation
of mushers to start to compete. There was one Ivakkak rookie this year,
he said, and another who had been an Ivakkak rookie the year before,
but this year competed with his own team.
For the 11 months of the year where you’re not competing, May
said having and training dogs can be incredibly beneficial for a person’s
mental and physical well-being.
“If you have dogs, five or more dogs, then you’re always busy,” he said.
“You always have something to do, you have to get dog food, you have
to hunt for the dogs, you have to run the dogs to keep them in shape.”
In short, May said, “you never get bored. It keeps you healthy and
they’re fun.”
May hopes that more young people will join in for Ivakkak 2018.
He hopes to see more people out on the land with their dogs, bracing
against blizzards and competing for the win.
ᐃᕙᒃᑲᑐᓄᑦ ᓱᑲᓕᐅᑎᔪᓂ 2017ᒥ ᓵᓚᖃᕐᑐᕕᓂᖅ ᐁᓴ ᓱᕈᓯᓛᖅ ᒪᓕᑦᑎᖓᓗ ᐁᐱᓕ ᖁᒫᓗᒃ ᖄᖐᔫᒃ ᑐᖓᓕᕆᔭᐅᔪᒥᒃ
ᐲᑖᐱᒃ ᐃᑦᑐᑲᓪᓚᒥᒃ (ᐊᑦᔨᖑᐊᒥ ᓄᐃᑕᖕᖏᑐᖅ) ᒪᓕᑦᑎᖓᓗ ᐃᕙᒃᑲᑐᓂᒃ ᕿᒻᒥᓂᒃ ᒪᓕᐅᒐᕐᑐᖅ, ᐳᑐᒍᖅ ᐃᕿᕐᖁᒥᒃ.
Ivakkak 2017 champion Aisa Surusiklak and his partner Aipilie Qumaluk passing the second place champions
Peter boy Ittukallak (not shown in the photo) and his partner running with the dogs, Putugu Iqiquq.
MAKIVIK mag a zine
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