Igloo

by

The grand dictator

Good morning Brave hearts!

Colour your world to the dictates of fashion. An array of beauty unfolds to greet you. The grand master of influence and adventure. A call to the superior mind, to the inferior will, to the jealous and the courageous, to be spoiled and to secumb, to the master of human destiny, to be fated and ill fated, for necessity, for income, for prosperity and for nation building.
Fashion!
The word echoes in the ears of centuries old man. The fine garments, the decorative interiors, the gilted gold and bejeweled ornaments. The fun of the grandeur, the privilege of the covering, the daring to be individualized and the refreshing outlook of a different approach.
Hail, great human! Come to the wild! Here is where all destiny awaits. In business and trade, in negotiation and marriage, in adventure and lifestyle. Come, live your lives in the great Canadian north, where the dictator surrounds you and compels your compliance. Look to the forest, almighty human, there is the answer to your needs.
The aboriginal peoples of Canada clothed themselves in the finest and most sought after garments in the world at the time. Fur and leather are the trademark of their apparel. Hunting and trapping are the trademarks of their lives.
The bountiful forest and the open tundra yield animal life by the thousands. The daring lives of the bold northern hunter as he skillfully sets his trap line and waits in eager anticipation of the dollars to come. The stealthy hunter who stalks a prey of fleet footed wild for food and for fur. What brings you here, oh brave hearts, to settle in the remote far north? A land of danger and destitution for most. A land of changes and peril.
Cloak yourselves like kings. The seal gives up hides of waterproof warmth, for snugly insulated footwear, warm and impermeable. No dampness there, no winters chill, no ice cube toes or frostbitten feet. A necessity of an age gone by, where warm mukluks, kept us warm and dry. A coat of caribou, deer or bear. For centuries old man clothed himself in the finest cloth that man could find, fur.
Bejeweled in feathers, claws and teeth, bone for knives and ornamentation, the life of the land drew the cunning and daring, the strong and agile, the persistent and healthy. The clever craftsman of ingenuity and necessity, created a culture, a life, a world of their own.
Drawn to the hunt, by need or adventure, the northern man is a rightful settler. The need for the wild, as it gives up it’s treasure, is returned in the dutiful knowledge that waste is intolerable. All parts must be used, in meat, in fur, in bone, in teeth. The wild gives up their lives so sparingly, that precious gift must not be wasted.
Cloak yourselves in fur and feather, leather and hides from hats to boots, to mitts to coats, to pant and shirts.
Oh great dictator, you dress so well, for fashion calls us from our warm abode to venture out into the cold, to the north, to Canada, to settle and trade and to become the nation that we are. The nation of the fur trade.

This clip is about building an igloo, but look at their traditional garments!
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
January 17, 2014

by

Igloo

Good Morning Brave hearts

Wake up to a day of architectural delights. Fascinating domains from our cold climate. The perfect dome shape of carved snow, of barking dogs and aurora borealis brilliance, to start the morning off right. Add endless darkness, sub zero temperatures, a little wind chill and here’s the start of a great day in the far north.
Brave human, a day of reckoning with severe climate, possibly predators and elusive game makes today a day of challenge for the Arctic champions of survival. During the darkest months of the year, when the cold is the deepest and the snow is the highest, those tiny domes in the snow, protected small villages of independent and high spirited individuals, who saw the great north as a frontier, called home.

Click to access 2_a_history_of_igloos.pdf

Way back in far off history, tells a time of human migration throughout Asia to Canada. People were mobile and robust, following herds of game animals, in search of food. Following the call of the wild, to the daunting task of immigration and settlement, of the new frontier, of the far north.
These ingenious people with inventive minds, created the dwelling of snow for shelter and habitation. The landed migrants of Asia, set up domiciles of snow, igloos, to house themselves, during the long winter’s cold. A snow house of warmth and comfort, easy to build, with readily available building materials.
High up in the Arctic tundra, above the treeline, where wood is sparse or non-existent, remains the ancestors of those ancient pioneers. Settlers to the far north with courage and creativity, the daring human, with perseverance and skills, tackled a task of bold survival in extremely harsh conditions and carved a niche of humanity, in a land of constant challenge.
Out on the barren landscape, stands a village of domes. An Inuit village of igloos, carved from compacted snow and filled with an Inuit family and their precious belongings. Furs to sleep on, whale oil for light and cooking, utensils and tools. The daily awakening to a wind swept view of barren, snow covered land. To temperatures dropping to more than -40 and to the more chilling need for food.
Feed the hungry, great hunters. The caribou roam in herds and the walrus plays in the ocean. Yours is a land of extremes. A call to the will of the indomitable human.
Bravo to you, almighty human and to the will of survival. To your place in our history and to your perfect domes, the igloo, on our list of the seven wonders of Canada.
written by Dr, Louise Hayes
January 10, 2014