The Canadian Museum of Nature has an appetite to deliver a fresh take on the Arctic by hosting a festival in April where it’s all about the food.
The Canadian Museum of Nature has an appetite to deliver a fresh take on the Arctic by hosting a festival in April where it’s all about the food.
The museum is expanding beyond its expertise in science to help bring an understanding behind the culture of the north with its festival Edible Arctic.
The festival will be held from April 3 to 7 and will include a scavenger hunt, building an igloo, Inuit storytelling, a food and craft fair, and will end with the Taste of the Arctic Gala.
The focus with all of the events is to look at the role of food in the Arctic, “both through the science of the food chain and also through how people living in the Arctic rely on local food,” says project organizer Laurel McIvor.
It’s the second year the museum has held a festival in honour of the Arctic. Last year, the CMN had a month-long festival to mark the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Arctic Expedition.
“This year, we wanted to continue the momentum of last year and kind of bridge our expertise at the museum with the large Inuit community here in Ottawa,” says McIvor. “We had so much fun and the public was really interested.”
The festival is put on in collaboration with the Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre, Nunavut Sivuniksavut Training Program, Students on Ice, the National Film Board, and, new this year, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Ottawa-based national Inuit organization.
The Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre will provide its cultural expertise with hands-on demonstrations with Arctic food.
Lynda Brown, director of programs at the OICC, says the festival should help clear up cultural misconceptions and help others understand the Inuit perspective.
“I went to Texas and did a presentation and they said, ‘Ew they eat seals?’ And I’m like, ‘Well Inuit think it’s pretty gross you guys eat cows,’” she says. “So having events like this really highlight our culture and allow Canadians to have exposure to it because not everybody can get up north.”
The festival comes after one of the museum’s photo exhibits has wrapped up at Winterlude for its second year.
Explore Our Arctic Here has nine photos with descriptions about different animals, research, and a recent Arctic expedition done with Students on Ice. One photo shows a researcher putting a tracking device on a seabird’s leg to study its migration patterns. Another shows students in two boats looking small in comparison to the large glaciers ahead of them.
Margaret Beckel, president of the CMN, says Winterlude is a great way to reach people outside of the museum.
“Winterlude provides a wonderful opportunity for the museum to advance its vision to inspire understanding and respect for nature,” says Beckel. “We are able to reach people in an environment they prefer.”
The educational photos and festival are both building towards the permanent Arctic exhibit that will be launched in 2017 to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary.
The CMN has always focused a lot of its research on the Arctic, but, with fears over climate change gaining more attention, museum experts see now as an important time for Canadians to understand the North.
“The current changes to the environment in the Arctic represent one of the most significant natural history events of our time,” says Beckel. “We (CMN) have an obligation and an opportunity to help Canadians understand the nature of the Arctic’s past, present and natural future.”