Halloween -- Northern style

Painted faces and warm clothing were the trend for Halloween in Igloolik, Nunavut, this year with temperature at about 30 below zero Fahrenheit, with wind chill factored in.

You couldn't have asked for a better Igloolik Halloween: Bright moonlight, clear horizon, snow on the ground, and a temperature of -38 degrees, factoring in the wind chill. Halloween is a huge deal here – hundreds of kids fanned out on the roads, many of the little ones going door-to-door on the back of their parents' skidoos. We saw dozens of babies in their mothers' amautis, the traditional Inuit parkas designed for carrying babies in hoods. The babies wore costumes too – funny hats, or face paint. If I were to pinpoint this year's predominant costume theme, it would be: homemade and resourceful. The local Co-op store sells some costumes, but supplies are limited and most people can't afford them. So the Inuit improvise, as they do in so many other aspects of life here. (Photographer Michele McDonald went into the Co-op to buy Coke today and an Inuk man who struck up a conversation told her he's found Coke does a great job of cleaning rusty chains.)

So people use whatever is at hand. We saw a lot of homemade masks, and fringed garbage bags pulled tight over bulky parkas. One boy was wearing a cardboard box that said “Taxi” on the side. Another had pyjamas over his coat. One kid was wearing snowmobile goggles, and a whole family went trick-or-treating as lace curtain panel ghosts. Some went with the Northern motif -- a boy in a caribou coat, lots of kids were in sealskin pants which people wear around here to go hunting. There was a report of a woman wearing a wolf's head. To keep warm, kids carry their open bags or backpacks around their necks in front of them so they don't need to take their hands out of their gloves. One little girl's pink princess dress barely peeked out from beneath her parka, over her heavy snow pants.

Candy is expensive for families to give out here; a bag of a dozen mini-chocolate bars can be $15. So people are resourceful this way, too, giving out popcorn, baked goods, or cereal in ziplock bags. One woman told me a little girl came to her door beaming with pride: “Guess what?” she said. “My parents are giving out candy this year.”

Posted by Linda Matchan, Globe staff
Photo by Michele McDonald
This project was supported by a travel grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
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