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Knowing very little about Nunavut myself, I thought it would be a great idea to chat with
a resident from that area and I managed to make contact with Boyd White, the newly appointed Director of Nunavut. This may be something of a geography
lesson for some, as it was to me. Prior to this interview, I wasn’t exactly sure where Nunavut was located, let alone what it was all about.
Anyway, I called on Boyd White to improve our knowledge of our country and fill us in on the dart scene there!
Hello Boyd, and thank you very much for sparing me a little of your valuable time.
I am sure you are going to think that some of my questions are very elementary, however, our readers and myself are anxious to learn a little about you and
that distant territory that you live in.
First off, what do you do for a living in Rankin Inlet?
Hello Kip, nice to chat with you. The Government of Nunavut employs me in the
Department of Sustainable Development working in Finance.
Is your employer supportive of the time you may have to take off because of darts?
Even though my supervisor is a great supporter of community events, the time taken to attend
the Canadian National Championships is my vacation time.
Are you a family man and if so, is your spouse supportive of any time that you may have
to spend away at tournaments, etc?
I am a family man and have a two-year old daughter. As a family, we try to incorporate
vacation with the national event. In this way, we are seeing Canada and vacationing every year at the time of the national event.
This will work fine until my daughter starts school.
Does your wife play darts?
She does play, but only locally for fun and not competitively.
Are you a Canadian by birth and if so, where are you originally from?
I was born in Newstead/Comfort Cove in Newfoundland.
This is located in central Newfoundland 40 km from Gander and 40 km from Grand Falls-Windsor.
What is your favorite food and do you have any other pass times or hobbies?
Being from Newfoundland, is it surprising that my favorite food is lobster, cod, squid, and
crab and potato/macaroni salad? I also like to play softball, hockey, curling and boating.
Now that we know where you originated, what made you move to Nunavut and when did this
move take place?
I moved to Rankin Inlet in 1996 in search of a career.
As you are probably aware, the people from Newfoundland are always willing to travel to strange places in search of employment.
Now for a question that I am sure a lot of people are asking. Where exactly is
Nunavut and what is the connection with my home province of Manitoba?
Nunavut is north of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec and east of Northwest Territory.
The only land neighbors are Manitoba and the Northwest Territory. Iqualuit, the capital of Nunavut is located north of the Province of Quebec. The federal government, for tax purposes, identifies the nearest city center for Iqualuit as Ottawa and for Rankin Inlet as Winnipeg. Therefore, when we fly south we fly to Winnipeg, a journey of approximately two hours. Most of the current purchasing is done through Manitoba and through the Port of Churchill, Manitoba. Rankin Inlet is on the Hudson Bay and is one of Nunavut’s larger communities with a population of 2,500 and growing. .
Somebody mentioned to me that there was a connection between Nunavut and Nova Scotia.
This is very hard to believe, but if it is the case, what is the connection?
I heard the same thing this year whilst at the Nationals and I asked a player from the Nova
Scotia team if he knew the reason.
He explained to me that the Nunavut Legion is a local member of the Nova Scotia Legion and in the same Command. Therefore, legion darts connect the two.
Most people think of the ‘far north’ as having twelve months of winter. I assume
this isn’t entirely correct, however, what type of weather do you have?
Currently the weather is on a warming trend as it is in the rest of Canada. The
following will give you an idea of the temperatures we deal with:
January to March: Low minus 40° with a wind-chill making the equivalent of minus
65°.
April to June: Low minus 20°, high minus 5°.
July to August (summer): Low zero, high 30°, with 24 hours of day light in July.
September to December: Low minus 15°, high 5°.
What is the largest ethnic origin in Nunavut?
Inuit make up 85% of Nunavut’s population.
At the 2003 Nationals, I noted that the majority of your dart players are from Ranking
Inlet. Do you think you will be gaining players from any other locations?
Iqaluit has a number of active and very good dart players and their addition as members of
the Nunavut Dart Federation will help with the growth of darts in Nunavut.
A number of smaller communities have shown an interest but air travel costs would affect these players from getting to the territorial play downs.
The members of your territory who attended the 2003 National Championships appeared to
have fun and everybody enjoyed their presence. Do you think you will be in a position to send a full team to Prince Edward Island in 2004?
Funding, like the other provincial/territorial members, will be the deciding factor.
But first we have to expand our membership to include Iqualuit, and if they come on board, then I see a full team in PEI for the 2004 Nationals. My main
goal is to make sure we have representation of both male and female.
Well Boyd, I think we have all learned a lot about Nunavut, points that we were unaware
of in the past.
We are all pleased that darts is becoming active in Nunavut and hope the trend will continue. I hope that through this interview, an better-educated group at the Nationals will meet your members. Finally, is there anything that I haven’t covered that you think would be of interest to our readers?
Inuit are very outgoing, friendly, funny and all the things that make dart players play
darts. Therefore, I see a future for darts in the territory even to the point of requesting the national event be held in Nunavut as some point in the
future.
Inuit have lived many years on the land and have adapted very quickly to the southern ways
of life.
Inuit who are over 40 are able to tell stories of living on the land and the hardships experienced. These stories provide incite into their history and provides us the knowledge that harpooning whales and seals prepared them well for the game of darts.
I would like to thank you Boyd for the opportunity of providing the readers with some
very interesting information. I hope it gives everybody a better understanding of the Inuit and the area.
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