People from Nunavut visiting Qaanaaq. Source: Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa, David Qujaukitsumit assi

Exchange visits between Qaanaaq and Inuit in Nunavut will once again be an option when the calendar shows May.

The Nunavut Qaanaaq Association has announced in a press release that the annual exchange visit between residents of Qaanaaq and Inuit relatives from Nunavut will take place again in May.

It has now been 35 years since this exchange program was first implemented.

About ten Inuit from Canada travel to Qaanaaq, and about the same number from Qaanaaq visit Nunavut.

During the visits, a communal meal and dance are arranged, says David Qujaukitsoq, secretary of Nunavut Qaanaaq:

We plan to go fishing, among other things, and will also organize various games and activities outdoors. In the evenings, social gatherings are especially popular, where we have fun and play various games. The most popular thing is always the dancing—we dance in the Canadian-Inuit traditional style, and we are very much looking forward to it.

David Qujaukitsoq says that the transport in connection with the exchange visits is by private chartered plane from Canada, and that each participant pays around 5,000 kroner ($ 760) for the flight. Accommodation in the city is arranged by the local hosts.

“We chartered a private plane from Grise Fiord, which is quite expensive. There are many requirements when you travel there—you have to have a passport and pay entry fees,” he explains.

He also says that the Greenlandic food that the Inuit from Nunavut love is something they have already started preparing in Qaanaaq:

“These days, it is fortunately quite easy to get hold of halibut, so we expect to buy quite a bit. We plan to make dishes with reindeer meat and boiled seal meat. And if we are lucky and someone has caught reindeer, we will also try to get it,” says David Qujaukitsoq.

Source: Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (in Greenlandic)