Finding the Youth-Elder Cabin

Peter van Coeverden de Groot, one of BearWatch's co-PI's, had arrived to come help organize the final workshops with me. To make sure that the Elder-youth cabin would meet the requirements of organizing a pre-workshop meeting for multiple people, we hired George Konana to bring us there. Neither Peter nor I had been there before, so we weren't sure where, or in which state the cabin was.

George, taking advantage of this situation, told us he didn't quite understand why we would want to organize a workshop in "that old cabin". He, nevertheless, eventually brought us there by skidoo.

Cabin under construction on King William Island (photograph by de Wildt, 2022)

Arriving at the cabin, it turns out to not even have a roof, and being covered under snow. With only a couple of days left before the pre-workshop is scheduled to take place, this is a big set-back. You don't have an alternative, and fixing up the cabin over the next two days seems impossible with all the other things that need to happen. What to do?

Preparing Cabin

As it turns out, George played a prank on us.

Not only is the youth-elder cabin in great shape, it also lies next to a road- which means we can bring people there with our truck. It isn't even locked!

It needs more comfortable seats though, firewood, a toilet, and some cleaning out. But this is nothing that can not be done with some helping hands and an early start.

Preparing Elder-Youth cabin at sunrise (photograph by de Wildt, 2022)

Gjoa Haven's Elder-Youth cabin (photograph by de Wildt, 2022)

At 6 am I load up the truck and pick up Percy, Dustin, Gibson and Peter to drive up to the Cabin. A fresh, thick layer of snow has fallen last night, so the road needs to be broken in at different places. Here and there I crash through snowbanks almost a meter high, and it sprays in the air next to the truck as I keep moving. It's dark, the sun hasn't come up yet, and I have never driven off-road before. I am having fun though. Dropping the men off at the cabin I return to town to pick up the next people, while they clear the snow out of the cabin, chop wood to get the heating started, boil water, and set up the toilet. It takes me two more drives to get everyone to the cabin, and by then it is warm and cozy. We can get "started" around 11.

Program and procedures

The (pre-)workshop takes two days. However, I had designed the pre-workshop to consist only of formal moment that are recorded as part of the research, at the beginning and the ending of each day consist. In-between we’re just "hanging out". Maybe we cook something, or take pictures, play a card games, listen to the radio, or drink tea.

This design was adapted from an earlier iteration I came up with in which no researcher would be present in the cabin at all, and would only come in the morning to discuss the questions they had, and in the evening to discuss the outcomes that group had decided on. This design was to build upon my observations from community filmmaking in which it became clear how valuable in terms of knowledge renewal it was for elders and youth to spend time together, and how research could make such regenerative moments possible. However, once we had formed the group, multiple elders indicated that I should spend the full days with them.

As such, I started each day by collecting informed consent, agreeing on the payment, and by explaining why we are coming together, what I was hoping to get out of the pre-workshop. I also explained how I had prepared that particular day and the questions that I wanted to discuss. I finally informed everyone that I would be making notes, and record the formal conversations, and that there was a camera and a piece of paper, on the wall, for them to use if they think of something, or wanted to draw something.

Prayers, Cooking and Sharing Food

Although the recorded conversations were incredibly insightful in terms of how to make space feel welcoming and comfortable for people to join-in on the conversation. It was clear that there were a lot of practices and processes happening around me during the "empty" moments in which we were informally spending time together.

Making space together (photograph by de Wildt, 2022)

Mary, for example, started cutting some of the frozen fish, that was brought by Dustin, right away when she came in.

The women agreed that it was still frozen just enough, and that that was how they preferred it. As we ate the frozen fish it seemed that each person had, and took on their expected role: The boys helped set up the cabin in the morning, heat, and wood, tent and toilet. Digging out the car when stuck. The girls cooked supper, took care of coffee and tea. The elders talked and shared their insights. No negotiating or conversation was required, everyone knew what to do.

Mary’s cutting of the fish and preparing Bannock helped create an interactive environment of joy and exchange. There was a clear appreciation for the food, and for the sharing of food. There was also a lot of joking. Some of it translated for me, and some of it wasn't.

Check out the "Landmark" of making space.

Landmark: "Making Space"