The eyes of the Arctic
Taloyoak man passes on traditional knowledge and survival skills through 30 years as a Canadian Ranger
Laura Busch
Northern News Services
Published Monday, February 24, 2014
TALOYOAK/SPENCE BAY
Abel Aqqaq has spent roughly half his life on the land.
Now, at 53 years old, the born and raised Taloyoak resident spends much of his time passing on Arctic survival skills through his work with the Canadian Rangers.
Canadian Ranger Sgt. Abel Aqqaq started with the Taloyoak Patrol when it was founded in 1984. He is now in charge of the patrol, which has become the largest in Canada's North. - photo courtesy of Lt. Paul Pendergast |
Aqqaq first joined the Rangers when the Taloyoak patrol was formed in 1984.
"They hired 12 people from the community and I was the 12th," he said.
"When I first started, they swore me in to be a Ranger and they gave me an armband, a sweater, a cap. That's what I got."
Since then, Aqqaq has risen to the Ranger rank of sergeant and leads the largest patrol in the North with 58 members.
"There's only four of us left that started in '84 that are still active and going out on the land," he said.
The Taloyoak patrol is part of the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, which has the monumental task of maintaining Canada's sovereignty throughout Nunavut, the Yukon, the NWT and northern B.C.
During his initial 10-day introductory course 30 years ago, Aqqaq said he was unsure exactly what the purpose of it all was, but over time has come to understand the importance of having locals on the ground ready to provide support to the Armed Forces when necessary.
The bulk of his work as a Ranger has involved assisting military personnel who travel North to train in the cold Arctic climate, primarily through guiding and teaching survival and safety skills, such as how to build an iglu for shelter.
"We try to teach them as much as possible in class what to expect, but it's always different when we get them out there on the land when it's really cold out," he said, adding that he can normally tell within the first day if a soldier is going to cut it or not out in the cold.
It takes the average person two to three days to acclimatize to the Arctic environment, he said.
"We just tell them, 'If you don't move around, it's going to get worse.'"
He has also passed on his traditional skills to members of the Junior Canadian Rangers and said he gets a lot of pride from watching young people come up through that program to eventually join the senior patrol group.
"That makes me really happy," he said.
"I like the younger guys to get as much training as they can."
The Rangers are also actively involved in search and rescue operations.
As the eyes and ears of the Canadian military, Rangers keep a look out for unusual activities, like unexpected ships and unusual airplanes in the area.
While they are not authorized to take a combat role, they are equipped with trusty .303 rifles - weapons Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced last year he aims to replace with more modern equipment.
"You can't beat the .303s up here," said Aqqaq. "They're old weapons, but they're the best weapons we ever had up here in the North. I don't know about the new ones that are coming out, if they're going to be as strong."
When he's not leading patrols, Aqqaq is a hunter and trapper by trade and still spends roughly half of the year out on the land.
However, price increases for fuel and supplies have been making it harder and harder to get out in the winter when the animals are farther away, he said.
"Everything is too expensive to go out all the time," he said. "But I still go out in the winter every chance I get."
His years of experience have made Aqqaq invaluable to the Ranger program in the High Arctic, said Capt. Steve Watton with Joint Task Force North.
"Abel's a very knowledgeable sergeant who has been with the Canadian Ranger program for many years," Watton said. "His knowledge of the land and his ability to work with such a large group of Rangers has been a huge benefit to the Canadian Forces."
While he has lost count of the number of military exercises he has been a part of, Aqqaq has no plans of slowing down any time soon.
He is currently instructing an Arctic Operators Advisers course in Yellowknife and will lead the group in winter indoctrination training before taking them back to Taloyoak to see how they do during a week on the land later in the month.
As far as what the future holds for the Canadian Arctic, Aqqaq had this to say: "I'm not too sure but I think there will still be Canadian Rangers a long time from now."
