The day began with strong emotions for one of the mushers who awoke to find two of his dogs dead. It was indeed a dreadful morning for Harry Okpik, who lost two of his dogs during the night, probably fighting over females in heat. According to four-time champion Peter Kiatainaq, who can’t seem to take the lead this year, a lot of the dogs, including his, are affected by the few females in heat taking part in the race, keeping the males up all night, on constant alert, preventing them from getting the rest they need overnight to perform on the trail each day. Delayed by the situation at hand, the departure of the dog teams from their campsite in Kuugaluk was heavy in emotions, at least for some. Fortunately, the rest of the day went by without any incident, other than some very tired dogs. Thankfully, the trail was much smoother than yesterday, as the sun was shining high and strong on this beautiful spring day. When the dog teams started showing up on the horizon, the crowd gathered on the sea ice in front of the community of Puvirnituq started shouting “Qimutsiit! Qimutsiit!” (“Dog Teams! Dog Teams!”) The first team to arrive was Willie Cain Jr.’s. The young 24-year-old musher and his partner were treated like champions, hoisted up on their sled, as if they had already won the race. The excitement grew even stronger as the dog teams pulled in one after another, but definitely reached its peak when Johnny Sivuaraapik and his late father’s dogs made it to his hometown, his arrival evoking the memory of the late Tamusi, Sivuaraapik, who was the first one to win Ivakkak, in a race that ended in Puvirnituq in 2001, leading the way for many other Inuit of the younger generations to follow in his footsteps and pursue the ancestral tradition of dog sledding. Needless to say the emotions were running high, as Johnny was welcomed by his family and fellow Puvirnitumiut, who all remembered his late father, who was also an important member of their community and of the Nunavik community as a whole.

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The dog teams will be taking a break on Sunday and the race will resume on Monday, as they will be heading out towards Akulivik, the next village on their itinerary. More news then…