March 30: Iceberg hooking is no sport

I foster my longterm fascination for Inuit culture. Years ago, I was one of the lucky ones sent by McGill’s rural medicine program north of the Arctic Circle to Inuvik. Besides great rural medicine education, I see pingoes in Tuktoyuktuk, walk on the Arctic Ocean at Sachs Harbour, Banks Island, visit the well equipped nursing outposts. I cross the mighty Mackenzie River on a skidoo pulled sled. I ride along the Dempster Highway.

Not so long ago, I picked up James Houston’s biography out of the bargain books bin. I am transported to the 1950’s when Houston introduced Inuit art to the rest of the world.

At home, I gaze at my own dancing bear. For more, I cross the street to visit the Museum of Inuit Art with its impressive collection of whale bone sculptures and soapstone pieces, or TD bank’s private collection nearby. Today, I view the Inuit Modern exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario--a giant dancing bear, an intricately carved Sedna, the intertwining of human and animals, the juxtaposition of shamans and Christian symbols, Ashevak’s famous enchanted owl.

Annie Pootoogook’s modern Inuit homelife pieces with Cornflakes and other packaged foods lends to thought. As a nutritionist, I fear the change of diet that exposure to the southern world brings. This is a people who, despite diets without fresh greens and sunlight, have survived. What would the introduction of convenience foods and other processed edibles do to this society?

I gaze at my favourite Lawren Harris scene: Lake Superior. I see "the original" when working in Northern Ontario. I view the curious juxtaposition of Alex Colville’s two paintings of his wife, 33 years apart. He is one of my favourite living Canadian artists.

I climb the Gehry designed staircase to view David Blackwood’s prints of Newfoundland. My summertime visit to Bonavista shows a quaint little fishing village, living up to the name bestowed by John Cabot. But Blackwood displays a much darker side of Bonavista. Even the wedding scene is sombre as a funeral march. I suspect he is much more realistic than my vision. Life is not easy on 'the Rock'. Difficulty earning a living is as present today with the demise of the cod industry as it was with seagoing fishermen in stormy seas. On display is a long hooked pole used by sailors to extricate themselves out of rough waters. Unmentioned is the need of icebergs or other firm objects nearby to use this pole effectively.

Enough right brain activity for the day--I return to Sunnybrook for day two of chest compressions and cardiac rhythms.