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The Nunavut Song - Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie

Druidus

Keeper of the Grove
(You can skip to the song/lyrics, if you want, the first couple paragraphs are just some background info on Nunavut itself [and some of my thoughts], and the stuff after the song/lyrics is extra info on Nunavut. It's there if you want to read it, but the main point of this thread is the song and lyrics themselves. It's a nice little song, good for a laugh, so give it a listen/read!)

I doubt that many people outside of Canada (and, really, even within Canada) know much about Nunavut. It is the largest territory/province in Canada, taking up 20% of our land, while having the smallest population of them all. It's a huge swath of the arctic, filled with myriad resources (metals [precious and otherwise], oil, diamonds, medicinal plants, fresh water [even if mostly frozen], methane, etc.), and, in its own right, Nunavut is a beautiful land. The tundra is gorgeous, even if not in the same manner as a forest.

More than that, though, it is the only territory/province/state in North America where, for the most part, indigenous Americans retain control of the government. The Inuit, who have lived in Nunavut for thousands of years, since well before the arrival of Europeans, have unprecedented control of their ancestral territory. Sadly, one of the biggest reasons for this is that the most easily obtainable natural resources have been exploited by Europeans already, with none of the profit going to the wellbeing of the Inuit. Sure, there are massive amounts of those resources (and others) remaining, but that's only because it's more difficult to get to them than in the south. It's unfortunate that this is the only reason why the Inuit were allowed to form their own government and continue to exist in and control their ancient homeland, but at least it has allowed them that. I don't agree with the majority of the Inuit on a number of things (like wanton hunting of endangered animals such as polar bears, according to them because it's their ancient lifestyle and they don't believe that animals like polar bears could go extinct), but I still think they have far more of a right to their home and their resources than do the European newcomers.

Anyway, I just think that Nunavut is a fascinating place in this world, and should be seen a beacon of hope to the rest of the Amerindians in North America (I'm Mi'qmak myself). I can only hope that the Inuit do a better job of managing their land in Nunavut than Europeans have done with the rest of North America (in general). When you stop to think about it, it's interesting, almost astounding, that slightly over 30,000 people (all of the Inuit in Nunavut - their pop. has grown since the song was produced), govern/control 1/5th of the entirety of Canada's land (which is the second largest country in the world, by territory size). I think that's awesome, because, AFAIK, no other Amerindians have been so fortunate, and it will provide the Inuit with a strong and enduring economic potential well into their future and the future of Canada itself.

What prompted this post was a song I found on my Dad's old iPod. I found this "Nunavut Song" about half a year ago, and I was immediately in love with it. It's poignant, clever (if just a tad repetitive), and funny, all in one package. I'll provide the lyrics and a link for you to listen, and I hope you can enjoy it as much as I do. If you have any questions about Nunavut, feel free to ask them in this thread, too, because I grew up in Nunavut's capital, and I definitely know a lot about it.

Song link:

Grooveshark - Free Music Streaming, Online Music


Lyrics for "Nunavut (Song)" by Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie (I apologize for the slightly subpar quality of the lyrics, I was only able to find them online in one source, and I had to edit it substantially to even get it to this level of accuracy.):

(In case you only read the lyrics without listening to the song, you should know that the play on words in the lyrics is that Nunavut can be pronounced as either "Noo-na-voot" or "None-of-it", although the former is most common. :p )

For aeons did the men and women, seals, and beavers of Nunavut suffer and toil for their overlords.
Long did they labour under the oppressive white yoke of the evil Canadian government...

Until one day, a rag-tag displaced group of frustrated Inuit got together and formed a specially-trained elite council. And this council wrote a letter.
And that letter led to a meeting. And that meeting led to some other meetings.
And meeting after meeting for years did they meet. Each meeting leading to another meeting until ONE DAY...
There was a meeting...

Which led to a vote, which led to some more meetings, which spawned some paper-work, which led to another couple of meetings, and from that meeting was forged the arctic council. And they had a meeting.

And from that meeting was born a document, which in turn led to another vote and some more meetings..
Which led to the birth... of a Territory...

When the white man came up North
dressed in his finest furs,
he told you that he owned the land,
You just smiled and shrugged and you said "Ppphhbbt... sure."

Uranium, oil, and gold
Man, he took a ton of it.
You asked him what was left for you
and he said, "Nunavut".

Patiently, you sat and you planned,
Quietly you made your stand
Through facts and email, shaking hands...
You said, "Come on whitey, give us back our land!"

You wondered what could possibly become of it...
"We'll keep Canada," he said,
"You can have Nunavut."

Nunavut,
for us you bear no malice...
Nunavut
You freed your borealis...

After Y2K,
when the ozone's burned away,
I think I'll visit Nunavut for a tropical holiday...

Now there's twenty-seven thousand Inuit,
takin' up twenty percent of Canada's land;
in a country where nobody could tell you
where the hell that borderline does stand...

It's not that we don't give a damn.
I don't mean to make fun of it,
but one fifth of my country,
is also Nunavut...

Oh Nunavut,
for us you bear no malice..
Nunavut,
c'mon and shake your borealis...

After Y2K,
when the ozone's burned away,
I think I'll visit Nunavut for a post-apocalyptic holiday...

And all the Inuit say "qaly-qoly'quawaliquilal..." (Me: Lol, I don't know Inuktituk, so I can't get this line right.)

Enjoy!


:p :D


BTW:

Nunavut is aptly named, and means "Our Land". Inuit means "The People" (it's common all over the world for various peoples to call themselves "The People").

Here is some info about Nunavut:

This is the flag of Nunavut:

nunavut_grunge_flag_sjpg1266.jpg


anderson-nunavut-flag.jpg


Two of the colours of the Nunavut flag, blue and gold, stand for the richness of the land, sea and sky. The white stands for the arctic, and the red stands for Canada.

"The Inukshuk stands for the stone monuments that are created to mark special places and to guide people through the arctic.

The blue star is the North Star (Niqirtsuituq) which also helps guide people. Many can find their way at night by looking at the North Star. It also stands for the guidance and leadership of the elders which remains unchanged like the North Star."

Here is the Coat of Arms of Nunavut:

coat_of_arms-nunavut.jpg


The official flower of Nunavut, the Purple Saxifrage:

purple_saxifrage.jpg


The official bird of Nunavut, the (rock) ptarmigan:

rock_ptarmigan.jpg


The official animal (other than birds, I suppose) is the traditional sled-dog, the husky:

20100205t211034z_01cjw04jpg.jpeg.size.xxlarge.letterbox.jpeg


The official tree of Nunavut:

Well, N/A, because there aren't any, lol!

Nunavut's official motto is:

Nunavut, Our Strength

~90% of Nunavut's population is comprised of the Inuit people.


These sites have some more (mostly) accurate info on Nunavut, as well:

http://mhercules.tripod.com/nanavut.htm

http://www.explorenunavut.com/nunavutinfo.php
 
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