Editing Preparation Gjoa Haven Workshop (section)

=Day 2: Building Igloo=

The second day of the workshop took a completely different shape. 

Eight community members (three elders, four youth and the interpretor) joined with the eight participants from the south to build an igloo together. 

[[File:Observing elders instructing the youth (photograph by de Wildt, 2022).jpg|thumb|Observing elders instructing the youth (photograph by de Wildt, 2022)]]
[[File:Prof. Whitelaw receiving instructions on how to cut a block (photgraph by de Wildt, 2022).jpg|thumb|Prof. Whitelaw receiving instructions on how to cut a block (photograph by de Wildt, 2022)]]
[[File:Lifting blocks together (photograph by de Wildt, 2022).jpg|thumb|Lifting blocks together (photograph by de Wildt, 2022)]]
[[File:David Siksik carving space for the next block (photograph by de Wildt, 2022).jpg|thumb|David Siksik carving space for the next block (photograph by de Wildt, 2022)]]
[[File:Group picture with finished igloo (photograph on self-timer by de Wildt, 2022).jpg|thumb|Group picture with finished igloo (photograph on self-timer by de Wildt, 2022)]]
[[File:Thumbnail IMG 4300001002003.jpg|thumb|Finished igloo]]

Community elders took the lead. And for the first hour, southern participants just observed. 

As David and Jimmy discussed how to make the cuts and the outlines of where the igloo was to be built, they instructed the four young men that had joined to assist and learn, on what to do. 

After a while, as agreed, two of the young men started to teach the southern researchers how to cut a block.  

It became clear during the evaluation of the day that the elders had expected our blocks to all be "rejects". Our cuts were nevertheless clean enough for the blocks to be all used in the igloo. 

Being able to build this structure together was considered by some southern participants as the highlight of the trip:

''"(...) that's one of the, the most amazing days I've ever had'' (Prof. Whitelaw, 2022 post workshop interview)". 

While others considered it an opportunity to appreciate inuit Qaujimajatuqangit in new ways:

''“I realize Indigenous knowledge is also tied up with spirituality and, and, you know, different epistemologies and all that stuff, I get that, but  what David and, and Jimmy demonstrated is, you know, evidence based  cultural practices that the way that the snow comes together, the, kind of landscape where you're going to find that this is all based on, uh, experience. It's all based on, you know, many generations of experience and even, you know, the slant of the igloo walls when we started to construct it. And, all of that is, is evidence based in a way. And, and, you know, so sometimes people are dismissive of indigenous knowledge systems without appreciating that a portion of these knowledge systems are deeply empirical or deeply experience based. And that's just one of the things that struck me that. You know, that, that this reflects years and years of experience across generations to perfect this art form'' (PI prof. Lougheed, 2023 post workshop interview)."