Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 15/98) - Every spring and summer, hordes of Northerners leave their bug-free homes, their soft beds, their TVs and their refrigerators to return to a less convenient life on the land.

"Sitting at home, watching TV and having things like refrigerators, it's an artificial environment," said Johnathan Palluq of Clyde River.

"We are still very tied to the land -- that's the Inuit culture, and the tradition is still pretty strong."

When people head to their summer camps, some go by plane, some by snowmachine and some by water.

Palluq and six friends went the traditional way during a trip in April. They went by dog team to Home Bay, about half way to Broughton Island.

"It's good to get out of town, to a quiet place," said Johnny Pialaq of Hall Beach.

"Most people go 20 to 40 miles out of town," said Pialaq, adding most stay in tents rather than cabins.

The long days of summer provide plenty of time for hunting and fishing. Pialaq said in spring hunters go for seal, do some fishing and snow goose hunting. June is egg-picking time and in the early fall, if you have good help and luck, you could get a beluga whale.

One of the opportunities of being out on the land is the adventure and challenge it sometimes brings.

Pialaq recalled being pinned in camp by an August snow storm once. Another time his father and uncle had to act quickly when a hungry polar bear wandered into camp.

Of course, one of the challenges of being out on the land is being as comfortable as you can while you are there.

On that count, few people could beat the setup of Fort Resolution's Gabriel Lafferty.

Lafferty built himself a 26-foot plywood and fibreglass cabin cruiser for hunting and trapping trips up the Slave River and out on Great Slave Lake.

Asked if he misses the luxuries of town life, Lafferty said, "Oh, I have it all with me. I've got generators on my boat and in my cabins."

Lafferty said he spends most of the year out of town, hunting and trapping, much of the time with his son, Rocky. "I'd rather be out there (than in town)," said Lafferty. "It's nice and quiet."

For Lafferty and most Northerners, summer camping is a family event.

As Palluq said of his daughter, now just a year and a half old. "She loves the outdoors. We know exactly what to look out for. Being with a child out in the environment is not a strange thing."