'On The Land' in the High Arctic

from the Ray I. Doan Photographic Collection

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Getting ready to leave on my hunt for Musk Ox on the Arctic tundra.

Chapter 1

Years ago I saw a photograph of Musk Ox, standing in a defensive circle. Ever since that time, I've always wanted to travel to the Arctic and take a picture of Musk Ox standing in a circle. So, in spite of the fact that we've never ever had a request for pictures of Musk Ox, in May I set off for the Arctic to follow my dream. Fulfilling this dream turned out to be a lot more adventure than I ever imagined.

After some research, I decided that Banks Island, in the Western Canadian Arctic, was the place to go for my Musk Ox pictures. The only community on Banks Island is Sachs Harbor. The problem was, I couldn't find anyone to contact in Sachs Harbor. On the internet I finally found the Arctic Tour Co., who quoted me air fare and a guide from Sacks Harbor. However, when I went to book my trip they talked me out of Sacks Harbor in favor of a trip from Tuktoyuktuk, NWT. The selling point for this change was, I would see other wildlife, in addition to Musk Ox, instead of only the Musk Ox I'd find on Banks Island.

Tuktoyuktuk is pronounced Tuk - ta - yak - tuk. It is a community of 300 people on the shore of the Beaufort Sea, or the Arctic Ocean, as it's known locally. Tuktoyuktuk is in the Canadian Northwest Territories, and it's not easy to get to. The main route by air, starts from Edmonton, Alberta. I first had to fly from Edmonton to Inuvik, with stops at Yellowknife and Norman Wells. These towns are all located along the Mackenzie River. Yellowknife is the capital of the Canadian Northwest Territories. I can tell you from personal experience that it's easier to get to Shanghai than it is to get to Tuktoyuktuk.

Even though it's above the arctic circle, Inuvik is the big town down south, from Tuktoyuktuk and Sacks Harbor. It's population of 2000 people makes it the largest town in the Canadian Western Arctic. Inuvik is the headquarters of the native Inuvialuits, who number about 5000 people. The Inuvialuits are scattered around the Northwest Territories across an area that is 20% of all Canada. All of my guides were Inuvialuits.

Inuvialuits are a subgroup, of the Alaskan Inuit, native Eskimos. Before I got to the town of Inuvik, I was under the impression that the Inuit natives didn't like to be called Eskimos. In their language Eskimo means 'eater of raw fish' and was supposedly used as a derogatory name. However, I found there is an Eskimo Hotel in Inuvik and one of my guides told me they were proud of the name Eskimo. So, I'll use the more familiar name Eskimo in my story.

There are no roads to Tuktoyuktuk, although in the winter you can drive there. In the winter you can drive from Inuvik on the Ice Road, which is on the Mackenzie River. The Ice Road is plowed, and maintained at 100 feet wide, by the Canadian Government. It's about a 2½ hour drive at 60 mph. The 6 ft. thick ice will support practically any size truck. During the winter the Ice Road is a very important link to Tuktoyuktuk.

When I was in Tuktoyuktuk in May, they were having an early spring. The Ice Road was already closed, although the river was still completely ice covered. To fly from Inuvik to Tuktoyuktuk you have one choice, Aklak Airlines. Aklak is owned by the Inuvialuit people and uses small 12 passenger planes like the Beach 99. It's about a half hour flight from Inuvik to 'Tuk', as its often abbreviated by the Eskimos. There is a daily morning and afternoon fight, to Tuktoyuktuk.

Roger Gruben, the owner of the Arctic Tour Co., lives in Tuktoyuktuk. When I arrived in Tuk, Roger's wife Winnie, picked me up at the airport and took me to their home. I spend the next two nights at their house. My visit with Roger and Winnie answered the burning question of, 'Are there salesmen around good enough to sell freezers to Eskimos'? The answer is 'Yes', because lots of Eskimos have Freezers.

In fact their houses are just about like other peoples, with a few exceptions. One difference, in their houses, is they're built on wooden pilings. Tuk has permafrost hundreds of feet thick so the houses are built off the ground to prevent thawing of the ground. They referred to their houses as 'self contained' in that they have 250 gal. heated water tanks and 250 gal. heated sewage tanks. Everyone gets water delivered to their home, by tanker truck, at least three times a week. Roger Gruben has a large home, and in his case he got water delivered every day, sometimes twice a day. Sewage is picked up by tanker truck, on about the same schedule as water delivery.

Tuktoyuktuk is located on the Mackenzie delta where the river flows into the Arctic Ocean. The situation at Tuk was the same as I find at practically every other remote place in world. That is, once you've made your long trip and traveled practically to the end of the known world, what your after, and the best place to see it, is still a long way off from there. At Tuk the Musk Ox were at least a 150 miles away in a remote area of tundra.

To reach the Musk Ox I personally would be driving a snowmobile, together with two Eskimo guides who would each have a snowmobile, for a total of three snowmobiles. They felt two guides were necessary, for safety reasons, because of the long distances involved and the remoteness of the area. The Arctic is an unforgiving place that doesn't reward careless or unlucky people. I have to make a brief mention of terms here. The Inuvialuits don't use the word snowmobile. They use either 'snow machine' or 'skidoo'. I'll use the generic name skidoo for the rest of my story. There seems to be three brands of skidoos that predominate in the Arctic. These are, Yamaha, Polaris and Bombardier who makes a snowmobile trade named Skidoo.

NEXT - Chapter 2

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This page was last updated: March 15, 2008