Category: Events

We got our Walk to Tuk t-shirts in the mail today!

Hand Games is a popular traditional game up North. The basics are that one team hides objects in their hands and the other team has to guess which hands contain objects. I’m still a little fuzzy on the details beyond that, but here’s a summary of the rules. There’s a lot of drumming and singing and dancing, which makes it all very exciting (and a little bit confusing).

Hand Games are big money up here. Even small community games can net the winning team hundreds or thousands of dollars. Large championships can be in the tens of thousands.

Traditionally, Hand Games are played only by men, but there has been a recent shift towards the inclusion of women.

We’re into the nice part of winter in Tulita. The days are reasonably long now, it’s sunny, and there’s plenty of snow. Perfect for skiing, snowmobiling, and generally being in a good mood. There has been a noticeable increase in our energy levels. Although sewing group is on hiatus, there are still plenty of activities going on in town. The recreation director is running boot camp three times a week, there’s yoga twice a week, badminton on Tuesdays, and the arena is open most of the time.

Also, during January and February each year, the NWT Recreation & Parks Association runs an event called Walk to Tuk. Teams log their walk times and need to collectively walk a distance equivalent to the distance along the Mackenzie River from Fort Providence to Tuktoyaktuk (1,658 km). Teams that complete the distance get t-shirts (this year’s colour is purple). This year, I am the team captain for the Meandering Moose – we have already made it to Tuk and are on our way back to Fort Providence. Last I checked, we were wandering through the wilderness somewhere near Port Radium.