What wonders opened out before
\nThe nomads
\nThe harshest adaptation
\nOne could feel
\nThe drama and sensation
\nOf their lives out on the sea ice
\nBreathtaking and dramatic
\nAnd so real.<\/p>\n
They took on frozen seas
\nAnd wild cold winds
\nAnd so much snow
\nExposed themselves to those extremes
\nWith temperatures as low
\nAs minus 50 imagine that
\nEvery boundary, and we
\nCan only respect these people
\nWho walked gently through history<\/p>\n
Canada the Hudson Bay
\nThe Northern regions are
\nKitikmeot region Nunavut
\nGreat expanses far
\nFrom anywhere
\nA wilderness exceptionally severe
\nThe Netsilik,\u201dpeople of the place\u201d
\nIs where they did appear<\/p>\n
Their individuality
\nA powerful driving force
\nEnduring the unbelievable
\nPhysical at source
\nTo be part of an incarnation
\nOn the barren stark
\nTheir connectedness apparent
\nWhich is how they made their mark<\/p>\n
From September through to June
\nTheir clan ship was in awe
\nIt\u2019s where families came together
\nIt\u2019s where they are most sure
\nOf taking on the elements
\nConfronting them with ease
\nOf working with their genuineness
\nAnd their identities<\/p>\n
The vastness of the ice fields
\nTheir hunting ground it be
\nTheir store cupboard of seal
\nOr polar bear there ranging free
\nThe bluest sky there ever was
\nAnd the white out everywhere
\nThe search for fresh seal
\nNeedful of the blow holes that they share<\/p>\n
Raw meat provided glycogen
\nFound in muscles and the liver
\nMinnows in a sea of ice
\nRealised the giver
\nWas Mother Nature
\nAlways she had the upper hand
\nAnd their doting respect for her
\nHelped them understand<\/p>\n
This is their last migration
\nWhat was their fight for life
\nAn overriding consequence
\nThe earthly bite and strife
\nThe all embracing spirit
\nFor total harmony
\nThe proper state of order
\nAnd continuity<\/p>\n
The camp was built together
\nIntegration their
\nHand built igloos from ice slabs
\nWhere everyone could share
\nThe internal space
\nWhat warmth was generated
\nBy the group
\nThe precedence of family
\nIn a kind of human soup<\/p>\n
They all would sleep together
\nAs one unit so to say
\nThe Caribou skins to cover
\nBut their bodies were the way
\nThey managed and were strengthened
\nBy the need undoubtedly
\nTo survive in such vile temperatures
\nAnd face their destiny<\/p>\n
The dogs were outside seemingly
\nAble to withstand
\nThe frantic icy howling winds
\nThat wreak havoc in this land
\nThe seal hunt every other day
\nIs necessary they
\nMust eat fresh meat
\nThey have to
\nAnd so they hunt away<\/p>\n
Wooden sleds and dogs
\nTo pull
\nAnd the most meagre of tools
\nThese are avid hunters
\nWho know all the rules
\nHow to find the blow holes
\nAnd sit and wait until
\nA seal comes up to breathe
\nThat when the harpoon will
\nbe plunged into its body
\nAnd then be pull onto
\nThe ice to be transported back
\nThat is what they do<\/p>\n
A long wait in the icy air
\nFor hours crouched by the hole
\nCovered over with snow
\nThe Inuit his role
\nIs to remain quietly waiting
\nAnd act when he has to
\nWhen the fluff upon the Caribou bone
\nMoves when he must do<\/p>\n
The obvious harpoon the seal
\nBreathing down below
\nIt\u2019s all done in a moment
\nUnder the ice flow
\nAnd it\u2019s about survival
\nThe Inuit they need
\nThe blood and guts and blubber
\nIf they are to succeed<\/p>\n
Every part of every seal
\nIs used nothing to waste
\nThe hunters eat the liver
\nWarm and then it is graced
\nWith due respect and honour
\nThe minerals intact
\nThe young girls drink the fresh blood
\nThat happens to be fact<\/p>\n
All the families share the spoils
\nIt\u2019s a tested technique they
\nEach know which piece they will take
\nAnd it\u2019s carved up as I say
\nThere are never arguments
\nRespect goes a long way
\nAnd everyone seems happy
\nAnd enjoys their work and play<\/p>\n
The culture comes from stories
\nExchanged most every day
\nGrand am tells her daughter
\nWho tells the children
\nSo the way
\nAhead appears to be
\nbe Happening there is s permanence
\nA great stability<\/p>\n
The Netsililk are now living
\nIn houses in a town
\nThey are not now the nomadic people
\nThat they were it\u2019s down
\nIt seems to Canada who seemingly believes
\nThe Indigenous should cared for
\nBut whether it achieves<\/p>\n
The goals I would not hasten
\nTo bet it\u2019s seemingly
\nBringing them in contact
\nWith waste and the constancy
\nOf all losing their ableness
\nTheir prominence to be
\nAble to live nomadic lives
\nTheir culture alive and free<\/p>\n
Now they seem beholden to the state
\nIn what they do
\nThey slot into the waste bins mentality
\nIt\u2019s true
\nIt\u2019s not seal meat they are eating
\nBut doughnuts and yes coke
\nThey have lost their natural diets
\nAnd now it\u2019s just a joke<\/p>\n
Sickening for more things
\nMost are on the net
\nNo one\u2019s even fishing
\nThe supermarkets set
\nThe market up before them
\nThey can just go and buy
\nWhatever happens to be there
\nAnd this is really why<\/p>\n
In the space of a few years
\nA people are forced to be
\nWeaker and less lively
\nThan they used to, we
\nWere sitting on a fortune
\nAnd we chose the easy way
\nAnd all then became weaker
\nAnd less able I can say<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What wonders opened out before The nomads The harshest adaptation One could feel The drama and sensation Of their lives out on the sea ice Breathtaking and dramatic And so real. They took on frozen seas And wild cold winds … Continue reading