February 9- Doug Writes and Shares his Inuit Friends with Us

Hi Everyone,

So…we showed up to go dog sledding and found out that it was too cold for the dogs! It was actually only about -32 but it was windy. James said that with the windchill it was too risky as the dogs lungs could be damaged. We will now be doing that tomorrow. Instead, James showed us how the Inuits build an Igloo! It was quite amazing to watch them work. Unfortunately my still camera froze so I only have a few pictures of the beginning. I’ll see if someone else on our crew had better luck and will hopefully post those later.

Inuits nowdays live in houses much like ours, but in the past they did live in igloos during the winter months. Igloo actually means “house” in their language, so an igloo can be made of snow or animal skins or other materials.


Snow igloos were used more often along the coasts, where the Inuits commonly lived in igloos made of Carribou skin supported by wood posts in summer and snow igloos in the winter. Snow igloos can also provide temporary shelter on camping and hunting trips. In fact, I’m told they are still used in this way these days.


James began by having his son in law cut large blocks of snow with a saw, which traditionally would have been done with a bode tool from a whale. He then carefully placed them in a circle, and kept adding the blocks until he eventually formed a dome. We placed the last block on top with James inside. He then cut the doorway. Snow makes such an excellent insulator that if you forget to cut a small airhole you could sufficate.


Sometimes a single candle (whale blubber) would be used and actually heats the inside of the igloo significantly. They also build a “sleeping shelf” since cool air doesn’t rise.


When we filmed in helicopter we did not get frostbite, but several of us have since then. Nothing serious.

Since it is very cold in Chicago you should all be careful about that too!