Don'd Blog Gjoa Haven II

The hamlet  was welcoming.  Houses with 2 stories have fire escapes. The snow mobile carcasses are used as parts stores for
current snow mobiles.

Like all native villages the fruits of hunting and fishing are on display.

Arctic char.

Here is the "Honey Wagon" that cleans out the septic tanks. We needed a service like this when we lived in Anchorage in the 1960's.  Each house is also served by a potable water truck. The  55 gallon drums are coded green band for recycle and orange band for trash.
Electricity is generated in the villages by diesel electric generators.
Notice the many street lights on the utility poles to serve in times of the year when darkness reigns.  The lateral lines off the poles are for electricity and cable TV but not phone.

The people are warm and friendly. How would you like a group of strangers in red coats checking out your town and taking pictures of everything imaginable and more?

I am a member of an internet group that is interested in John Franklin's explorations (Remembering the Franklin Expedition). I was hoping to meet up with Louie Kamookak, Inuit historian and a member of the group. I was disappointed that Louie was unavailable on the only day I was in town. 

On the day of our visit we were  fortunate to meet Jonathan Moore, an archeologist for Parks Canada, near the dock.

 Margaret Bertulli, a Naturalist on our trip, told me that he was like a rock star among the searchers for the missing Franklin ships. She said that it was Jonathan who was at the sonar when the Erebus was found in 2014. He was in town today preparing a new diving platform for next year - see background above.

While talking to him I told him how excited and impatient we were to see what the underwater archeologists would find. He said he understood completely and that they felt the same way.