It Was Easy for Women to Live on Avaliuraq

Roland Saȓuaq also told stories to his daughter Lily Lipscombe about Avaluiraq, a place located on Avaliq (Avadlek Spit, also called Ualig), on the south west part of Qikiqtaruk:

 

They claim that the women used to live there. It was easy for women to live on Avaliuraq. Avaluiraq is in the Avaliq. […] It was easy, easier for women to live there, because you know how it’s hard to get wood on this side of Herschel, eh? It used to be. […] But the women used to stay home when their men are out hunting or working for the whalers or the mission there or for the RCMP and it was easier for them to live there. So they used to be a big community of almost straight women and their kids, you know. […] My dad said his mom used to live there with his brothers and sisters. (LL91 24A:13-14)

 

Notes:

Excerpt from Nagy, Murielle Ida. 1994:28. Yukon North Slope Inuvialuit Oral History. Yukon Tourism, Heritage Branch.

Photo Source: Sandra Angers-Blondin, https://www.vanishingislandphoto.com https://www.instagram.com/sandra.angers.b/