Our Favourite Nunavut Blogs

The Internet is rife with blogs on Northern living — many abandoned, some ongoing. Nunavut has the most active bloggers; a remarkable feat, considering the territory isn’t exactly known for high-speed, affordable Internet access.

Samia Mardwar, Up Here magazine
Not Another Southern Blogger

It’s true: given our population, there are a surprising number of Nunavut blogs. As of 2011, there were over 100 blogs listed on the aptly named Nunavut Blogs site. Many are irregularly updated or are now defunct (including Nunavut Blogs), the latter often ending with a final blog post explaining a territorial departure.

Luckily, fantastic new writers and photographers are always entering the blogosphere. From these, we have created a list of the Nunavut blogs we visit and link to regularly. We really enjoy reading what our fellow Nunavummiut bloggers are posting, and we think you will, too!

Townie Bastard

Craig Welsh, Iqaluit

Townie Bastard, a.k.a. Craig Welsh, has been dubbed one of the “Godfathers” of Nunavut blogging. Since moving to Iqaluit five years ago, Craig has been documenting his life and writing some really informative posts. For example, he penned the ever-useful Moving to Iqaluit FAQ post (or should we say posts, as he has since followed up with versions 2.0 through 5.0). Craig has also been a guest blogger for Finding True North with his very popular – and again, super useful – post, How to Sealift to Iqaluit.

 

Run Gloria Run

Gloria “Guns” Song, Cambridge Bay

As one half of Scary Bear Soundtrack, Gloria has been documenting her life in the capital of the Kitikmeot, Cambridge Bay. Her posts cover a wide range of topics, including food bank fundraisers, locally relevant music, and… workouts with Richard Simmons?! Gloria is quite the prolific writer beyond her blog as well, and has been a contributor to CBC News North, Up Here, Arctic Journal, and Daily Xtra. Like Craig, Gloria has also guest blogged for Finding True North, contributing a Cambridge Bay entry to our series of community travel guides. Though Gloria has recently left Cambridge Bay, her bandmate, Christine Aye, has not, and so you can expect more Nunavut-related content on the Run, Gloria, Run as the ladies continue to write and record from across the country.

 

jesse+cam

Jesse Ajayi, Kugluktuk

Jess writes, “I live and work in the Canadian arctic – a place rich with stories, which I’m retelling here.” True to his word, Jesse maintains a stunning site that features his photography videography, mostly shot around the community of Kugluktuk. While the blog section itself is private, the rest of his website is a feast for the eyes, and includes collections of his footage, such as Street, On the Land, as well as Cultures and Traditions.

 

ArcticDeco

Colleen Healey, Iqaluit

Colleen is the founder of Arctic Deco, a fun and unique home decor blog that we adore. The focal point of her website is her early-80s family home in Iqaluit, which has been undergoing all sorts of renovations (before-and-afters), decorations (design ideas), and innovations (DIY projects). Her blog posts include tips and tricks for attaining Arctic hominess, and might be the only place on the web where you could find out how to plant bulbs in the middle of winter or how to be energy efficient in our fossil fuel-reliant communities. Colleen is also quite the artist; check out our post featuring her illustrated Nunavut Valentine’s Day cards.

 

Sarah on the Road

Sarah McMahon, Pangnirtung

Sarah has been blogging about her life in Pangnirtung since 2009. Her early blogging endeavours started with Newbie in the North, and she is still going strong today! Sarah’s posts have a personal touch, regularly including personal reflections or anecdotes from adventures like ice fishing at Iqalukjuak or snowmobiling to Auyuittuq National Park. Sarah has a visible passion for photography, and is an active #nunagram contributor by way of her Instagram account.

 

Ron Wassink

Ron Wassink, Iqaluit

Ron’s blog, which he started in 2010, focuses on his “environmental, environmental portraiture, and documentary photography.” It’s no surprise, then, that most of his posts are beautiful photo essays that cover nearly every aspect of life in Iqaluit, including ice concerts, giant igloos, Cape Dorset print sales, and shifting seasons. One feature we really like about Ron’s blog is the widget that shows you where in the world has last visitors have logged in from, proof that the web really does bring us all together!

 

Inclusive Iqaluit

Carolyn Curtis, Iqaluit

Carolyn is probably Nunavut’s newest blogger, and we’re so excited she has decided to start writing. Carolyn is the Volunteer Coordinator for Iqaluit’s Inclusion Café, which we recently featured on our blog, so it seems only natural for her to write something she knows a lot about: inclusion. With only two blog posts published at the time of writing this, we’re looking forward to more thoughtful pieces by this inspiring woman.

 

Honourable Mentions

Of course, there are the pioneering Nunavut bloggers that have paved the information superhighway for many of us. These Nunavut blogs may not be as active today, but they’re still worth checking out:

• The House & other Arctic musings, Clare Kines, Arctic Bay
• I’ll Have Nunavut, Ian Etheridge and Suzanne Parm-Etheridge, Iqaluit
• The Daily Muise, Tara Muise, Rankin Inlet

 

Which Nunavut or Northern blogs do you follow? Do you have a favourite Nunavut blog that we missed? Please let us know in the comment section below! 

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