Pangnirtung Flora Experience

In this short paper I will contextualize my experience finding, photographing and learning about some of the arctic flora that exist amongst the tundra in Pangnirtung, Nunavut. First, I will highlight the collection process, second, the roll of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in learning about these plants, including the plant workshop held by Alukie and Uviluq as well as outside of this workshop, and third, reflect on an important comment made at the beginning of the program by professor Kulchyski regarding our experience with the arctic environment.

For me, the plant project began during our layover in Iqaluit when I ventured out into the tundra to explore the flora on a hike. I was captivated by the details of different textures and colors beneath me. Once we arrived in Pang, I gradually collected photographs of different plants within the immediate area, especially the hillside. This became an ongoing project that spanned the full length of the program, as a number of the plants listed did not bloom until later on, while others would suddenly disappear.

After spending some time reading about these plants in the resource book, it was refreshing to listen to Alukie and Uviluq speak about the plants in terms of what they and their family had learned over generations. Alukie noted that it was her mother who had orally passed down the knowledge of some of these plants to her, which speaks highly for the strength of oral tradition today in Inuit culture as well as the traditional ecological knowledge of the plants by people within the community as highlighted through the continued everyday uses of these plants, such as wintergreen as a pipe tobacco filler and Labrador tea.

Fortunately, I had the opportunity to learn more closely about some of the plants while visiting Uviluq, who taught me how to light my new kullik. She showed me how to carefully chop up arctic willow and moss in a way that it will burn most effectively as a wick, as well as speaking of the materials used previous to western products, including seal or whale fat and how this transformed the experience of heat for food and warmth in an igloo.


The notion of adaptability in Inuit culture has been a prevailing trope throughout my experience in Pang, and while this takes root in Inuit perseverance, it also seems to parallel with that of plant adaptation in an extreme environment. E.C. Pielou speaks about plant adaptation in their ability to literally take shape in ways that are conducive to strong winds, extreme cold and infertile soil. For example, how the dead leaves of cushion plants do not drop off, but instead accumulate, giving shelter to new leaves (Pielou, 86).

This is fascinating considering how some people speak of the arctic as a “barren and harsh land” – a statement that presumes complete isolation and an utter lack of any life form. Much to the contrary, as prof Kulchyski warned, the arctic is a place of abundant growth and far from barren when one considers the sheer number of flora thriving on the tundra. When looked at in terms of Darwin’s survival of the fittest, austere arctic plants prevail as extremely hardy with their ability to adjust.