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Topic spans: 1967 - 2002
Arctic Winter Games
With events like "knuckle hop", "ear pull" and "sledge jump", the Arctic Winter Games are more than just another international athletic competition. The best of the North compete in ancient native games alongside hockey and curling as part of the biannual event. The Games began in 1970 as a way for folks living north of the 55th parallel to compete on their own turf. It has since evolved into a sporting and cultural extravaganza where throat singers and dog mushers help preserve the distinct northern way of life.
Snowshoe race image is an Arctic Winter Games International Photo.
3 television clips
6 radio clips
Celebrating Northern culture
Broadcast Date: March 8, 1994
Cultural events have remained a crucial component of the Arctic Winter Games since the beginning. Over the years, Russian folk singers, Alaskan drum dancers and Dene totem pole carvers have showcased and celebrated Northern culture. This year in Slave Lake, Alta., the buzz is all about Inuit throat singing. "Sounds neat, I've never heard it before," one spectator tells CBC Television. The two Inuit singers are encouraged by the enthusiastic response. They hope it'll motivate younger northerners to take up the fading art.Celebrating Northern culture
• Inuit throat singing usually involves two women in a non-competitive contest to see who can outlast the other without laughing.• Inuit throat singing is not singing per se but more like harmonic guttural chanting. It employs voice, throat, deep breathy sounds and rhythms.
• Throat-singing is practiced all over the world by cultures such as the Xhosa of South Africa, the Chukchi from Northern Russia and the Ainu of Northern Japan.
• In the 2002 Arctic Winter Games held in Whitehorse, young throat singers modernized the sound by blending traditional throat singing with rap and rock. As heard in this CBC Radio report, not everyone was thrilled with the results.
• Pin-swapping and flag-stealing have been popular "unofficial sports" at the Arctic Winter Games. This 1976 Radio report describes the frenzy surrounding these two extracurricular activities.
• Emphasizing the northern character of the Games, the Arctic Winter Games logo has three interlocking rings symbolizing athletic competition, cultural exhibition and social interchange. The logo also has an illustration of the aurora borealis (the northern lights).
• Since 1978, the Hodgson Trophy has been awarded to the team whose athletes best exemplify sportsmanship.
Celebrating Northern culture
Medium: Television
Program: Prime Time News
Broadcast Date: March 8, 1994
Host: Pamela Wallin
Reporter: Eric Sorensen
Duration: 2:23
Last updated:
Feb. 28, 2004
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9 clips in this topic . page
Radio
1:48
June 15, 1995
A Canadian and a Russian are the first people to ski to the North Pole and back.
Celebrating Northern culture.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: Feb. 28, 2004.
[Page consulted on Feb. 9, 2010.]