TUKTOYAKTUK - Under the cover of darkness on the eve of the winter solstice, dozens of children set out into the snowy shadows off the coast of the Beaufort Sea in Tuktoyaktuk on a mission. Eager to witness the rare lunar eclipse, they worked into the wee hours building a surprise to delight those still asleep in their beds.

A group of Tuktoyaktuk children worked for hours in the middle of the night building snow sculptures in Joe and Diane Nasogaluak's front yard to win the community's snowman building contest Dec. 22. Among the group are Courtney Keevik, 12, Hazel Felix, 10, Larsen Nasogaluak, 12, Dee Dee Nasogaluak, 4, J.D. Nasogaluak, 8, Henson Nasogaluak, 10, Aaron Raddi, 13, Joe Nasogaluak and Diane Nasogaluak. - Katie May/NNSL photo

In Joe and Diane Nasogaluak's front yard they gathered, before a backdrop of Christmas lights and a draped polar bear hide, bearing heaps of glittery white snow.

"We had the Ski-Doo going and we'd pile the kids on. All the kids brought the snow. Us adults, we just waited here for the snow. They all did the hard work," Joe laughed. "We wanted the town to wake up with a sculpture."

By 3 a.m. they had just about finished their masterpiece: the wintry likeness of a hunter and his igloo, surrounded by frozen coney fish and caribou antlers – to keep the foxes out, of course.

But in their fervour some young ones missed seeing the moon enveloped in darkness as just before midnight it was eclipsed – the first lunar eclipse to coincide with the winter solstice since 1638.

"Most of the kids got so into making the igloo they even forgot about the moon. It was a memorable time," Joe said.

"It was beautiful out, nice and bright, and then all of a sudden I was kind of upset with the moon because it got dark," he joked.

They were rewarded for their nighttime endeavours, however, when the hamlet judged its community snow sculpture contest the next day. The Nasogaluak's yard, complete with a lit-up snow star hanging from the rooftop, charmed the judges and earned them the top prize of $300.

The contest happens in Tuk every holiday season – usually a busy time for Joe, a polar bear guide and sport hunter. But this year he took some vacation and decided to use that time to be with his family and help "beautify the town."

"It seems more like the holidays when people are all excited and happy and you get people that come the next day, stopping and taking pictures," he said. "It makes holidays more fun."

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