Trip To Iqaluit In Nunavut, A Canadian Arctic City

In 2004, I completed two Inuit art buying trips to Iqaluit (formerly Frobisher Bay), the capital of Nunavut, Canada’s newest territory. For both trips, I flew out of Ottawa on Canadian North airlines. The other airline that services Nunavut is First Air. Only the last half of the jets was allocated for passengers as the entire first half was for cargo. Being so remote, Canadian Arctic Inuit communities pretty well have to have everything shipped up there by plane or by boat during the summers since there are no roads connecting to the rest of Canada or even between each Nunavut community. The Arctic landscape from the air was desolate, hilly and barren. As the plane got closer to Iqaluit, the airport’s small terminal building stood out with its bright yellow color. The airport itself is within walking distance to the rest of the town. There are taxis that charge a flat rate of $5 per trip anywhere in Iqaluit. Interestingly enough, these taxis also pick up and drop off other passengers along the way so shared rides with others are common here. There are several hotels in Iqaluit and rooms are generally clean, comfortable but quite basic. Accommodations and...