The Arctic Circle has been a dream trip for me for many years, but not just across the line, I wanted to get to the very top. As far as you can drive! Last week we got to share the glorious drive to the top, up the Dempster Highway, and this week we are taking a closer look at life in Tuktoyaktuk.
The hardest part of this weeks video was to get my film permit signed and processed, because the locals themselves were eager and excited to get involved. We had several amazing opportunities around town that I wasn't even able to film yet, simply because the locals wanted to share the experiences. We were even able to participate in the processing, cooking and eating of a Beluga Whale.
Once my permit was approved, I had to get right to business, and luckily I had already met both of my interviewees while participating in activities around the town. What I learned from speaking with these women was of course insightful, but I learned so much more just being in the community. Life in Tuktoyaktuk, as much as the locals don't realize, is so different. The energy is calm, the people are relaxed, and smiles are shared everywhere. I think that this energy comes from the simple fact that people have to survive here. Remoteness is just one of the many dangers of living along the Arctic Ocean. Access to electricity, food, firewood, gas and diesel, supplies, and help, is all very limited. To live here, you have to be resourceful, strong, and possess a different skillset that anywhere else in the world. When you take all of that into account, you will see that the problems of "normal life" are quite minor.
Primary transportation around Tuk is by Quad in the summer and snowmobile in the winter. This may be something you expect to see, but when you arrive and actually see the streets bustling with locals on quads, people drying fish and processing whales, kids playing at all hours of the consistently bright days, it is more that you can comprehend outside of seeing it in person. During our stay, I spend many hours studying the habits and patterns of the local people, and the way life happens in this little town is so fascinating and different.
Every day, a new wave of tourists rattle into town after a long trip up the Dempster Highway, and in the morning they will be off to rejoin society in the south. Some will buy souvenirs, or participate in a local activity, but for the most part, they only come to dip a toe into the Arctic Ocean. We were here for two weeks, and we saw this phenomenon on repeat, and it is something I will never understand. Of all the places I have traveled, Tuktoyaktuk is arguably the greatest undertaking, and upon arrival you are welcomed with the most unbelievable campground on the Arctic Ocean. The sun may not have set until 3:00, but the sunset is incredible right from the window of the camper. You can buy dried fish and art from locals that visit the campers each day. Even with all of this, the culture and the views, the miles and challenges of the trip, people only stay for one night. I hope that this video can help change this.
Tuktoyaktuk is a beautiful community, but it is different in more ways to the rest of the world than is is the same. It has only been accessible to tourists since 2017, so this is still a learning curve for the locals, and it is also quickly disappearing. The erosion on the peninsula has been determined to be irreversible, and the residents of Tuktoyaktuk have between 30 and 50 years before they have to relocate entirely. If you are interested in a trip to Tuktoyaktuk, I encourage you to try and have an interest in Tuktoyaktuk its self. Spend some time and learn from these people and their way of life. Purchase some of the local goods and support the people and economy. Being so far away from anything else, it is so easy to forget about a small community and the handful of people that call it home, but this has been their home for thousands of years, and as humans it is our responsibility to preserve that. When the community officially relocates, I hope that there will be a great chronicling of the history here, because once it is gone there is no reclaiming it, and as tourists we can be a huge help.
If you do not have a chance in your lifetime to visit Tuk, then I hope you enjoyed experiencing it with me, and I thank you very much for watching.
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