Catherine PorterVerified account

11/There is a housing emergency in Nunavut. Many of the homes I visited were run-down and crowded. Building costs are hefty because everything needs to be shipped in. Cape Dorset’s waiting list for social housing is 3 yrs long — relatively short, compared to other hamlets.

12/The town is haunted by Ed Horne, a convicted pedophile who taught here for 3 years starting 1978 & sexually assaulted 100 boys, by one estimate. It’s not hard to understand why locals distrust the education system. Of 30 kids who start kindergarten only 7 finish high school.

13/Hamlet councillor Chris Pudlat told me while art had helped some in the town, it could not fill an existential crisis. What he said stuck in my head till this day.

14/ "My grandparents were born in igloos or skin tents on the land, literally,” said Pudlat. "They had a role towards the wellbeing of the camp or family. They had a sense of purpose in life. That was taken away. They were just waiting for a hand-out from the government."

16/ I met him on second trip there in January. He started drawing about three years ago, after an injury made construction work too painful. Like every single other artist there, he’s had no formal training. He’s just learned by doing it.

17/He draws animals he’s seen while hunting. Like most Inuit, being “on the land” isn’t just recreation for Quvi, it’s what makes him Inuit. He lived nomadically traveling by dog sled for first years of his life, before moving to town for schooling.

19/Most artists told me they dreamed of this — making enough money through their art to buy a snow mobile or boat. But the costs are steep. A snowmobile costs $14,000Cdn, and gas for one day of boating is $100. Few artists make that kind of money.