At home on the land
Rangers talk breaking barriers, love for their work
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Monday, March 6, 2017
QAUSUITTUQ/RESOLUTE
Deborah Iqaluk points to a map of the Arctic showing where Fort Ross is on Somerset Island.
It's more than 300 kilometres from where she stands, in a lounge of the Martin Bergmann Complex of the Polar Continental Shelf Program, near the Resolute airport.
The Canadian Ranger has been at the facility alongside members of the Canadian Armed Forces, RCMP and media for Operation Nunalivut, an annual Arctic sovereignty operation in Resolute and Hall Beach involving about 200 personnel that began Feb. 22.
Iqaluk, 57, is one of the few female members of the Rangers. She broke what could be described as an ice ceiling by joining the Rangers more than 18 years ago in Resolute, her current home.
"They were very very happy to have a first female join their group. They were pretty excited," she said of her male counterparts.
Other females have joined but since left, she said.
Iqaluk joined to meet the challenge of doing what men can do, confident she could learn and be able to survive on the land.
The Rangers are army reservists who report observations to the military, such as planes coming and going, participate in search-and-rescue operations, and provide local knowledge.
Iqaluk is one of about 1,800 members of 1 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, which encompasses the three territories and part of British Columbia. There are 401 female Rangers in the patrol group, according to the military. Females account for 21 per cent of Rangers nationally.
She beams while describing her work with the Rangers and said she's seen practically everything so far - except a submarine.
She said one of her favourite parts is what's known as a culture day, when they go out hunting.
"(I like) the fact that I can go out on the land and learn how to explore wherever I haven't been and getting to meet other Rangers from everywhere in Canada and Rangers I haven't been able to see for a while, that's great," Iqaluk said.
After answering questions, she pulls a phone out and shows off photos of her grandchildren and family members, some living in Ottawa, as she talks to reporters.
Swiping through more photos on a phone, she comes across and shows off photos of a polar bear swimming beside her boat, mere metres away.
Another Ranger from Resolute, Matthew Manik, said Operation Nunalivut and similar exercises are important for the military members who come North.
"I don't think they could go anywhere without us," he said.
The 36-year-old was showing reporters how he cuts out blocks of snow used to build an igloo, a task that can take all day, he said.
For several years, he said he's helped with Arctic survival training for members of the military as well as search-and-rescue technicians.
Military pilots from other countries sometimes come to the site known as Crystal City, about five kilometres from the hamlet's airport and dotted with only a handful of structures, to learn how to dig snow caves in a drift and build igloos by cutting blocks of snow.
"I like survival training best and (operations)," Manik said. "Going in front of the camera, not so much."
Surrounded by reporters with almost every inch of flesh covered by winter gear, Manik is wearing a red Ranger sweater and relatively thin jacket. Is he cold?
"Nope."
He joined because being in the Rangers means doing things he enjoys.
"Being outside, going out, going on adventures, long trips. They just do a lot of the stuff I grew up with," he said.
