Labrador Inuit have dozens of local words for seasonal sea ice travel to describe four periods of time: The winter freeze-up, the spring thaw, the period in between when it’s safe to travel on the ice, and the sea ice season in general.
In Nain, the northernmost community on the Labrador coast, Inuit elders and knowledge holders came together as a committee called Sikusiutet (Inuttitut for “people who live on the sea ice”) over two years to create a book to share these terms. As climate change weakens sea ice in the Far North, recording this terminology is as critical to communicating safe travel as it is to preserving Inuit culture, traditions and languages.
In Nunatsiavut, the sprawling, self-governing Inuit region on the northeastern edge of Labrador, the Sikusiutet sea ice terminology book (Sikusiutet UKausingit ilingajumut in Inuttitut), originally published by SmartICE (Sea Ice Monitoring and Information Services) in 2023, includes reference photos for 51 sea ice terms and definitions in both English and Inuttitut.
Now, in partnership with Sikusiutet, The Globe and Mail presents this book as an interactive digital experience with audio of each term, translations and definitions in both English and Inuttitut, and accompanying photos.
The Globe and Mail acknowledges the Sikusiutet SmartICE Committee of Nain, Nunatsiavut as the source for the Sikusiutet sea ice terminology book; Shawna Dicker, the SmartICE Inuit coordinator from Nain, who compiled the original book; and Nain resident, Toby Kojak, who provided narration.
Reporting by Jenn Thornhill Verma; Design and development by Christopher Manza; Digital presentation by Mackenzie Lad; Photography by Eldred Allen, Johnny C.Y. Lam, Shawna Dicker, Rex Holwell, Linda Holwell Tibbo, Sean Lyall, Maria Merkuaratsuk, Gita Ljubicic, Brian Koonoo, Joel Heath, and Andrew Arreak; Visual and audio editing by Melissa Tait and Clare Vander Meersch; Illustration by Murat Yükselir.
This reporting was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network.