IQALUIT, Northwest Territories -- You won't find Nunavut in your atlas. It won't officially exist until April 1. But its new leaders already have the welcome mat out, hoping to make it a hot destination for tourists undeterred by the cold.
Nunavut will become Canada's third territory, comprised of the eastern 60 percent of the Northwest Territories. Its government will be dominated by the Inuit -- still called Eskimos by many Americans -- and the fledgling tourist industry will try to promote Inuit culture and traditions.There aren't a lot of people -- 27,000 in a region bigger than Alaska and California combined. But for outdoors-loving visitors, there is plenty to see and do: North America's northernmost national park on Ellsmere Island; breathtaking, sheer cliffs on Baffin Island; kayak expeditions into arctic fjords; wildlife ranging from polar bears to musk ox to narwhal -- a walruslike creature with a unicornlike tusk.
There is a summer of sorts in Nunavut, in July and August. That's the prime season for hiking across the open tundra, kayaking either on rivers or at sea, and visiting historic sites.
Winter lasts from September through May in much of Nunavut, so there is an understandable effort to promote snow-related activities. Outfitters offer expeditions on dog-sled, snowmobile or cross-country skis. There are even lessons in igloo-building.
At the end of April, Nunavut's biggest town -- Iqaluit -- celebrates the coming of spring with its weeklong Toonik Tyme festival, featuring community feasts, games and dogsled races, igloo-building contests and entertainment.
Winter or summer, most adventure-style trips to the Nunavut wilderness are arranged with a tour operator or outfitter, some based in the region and others in more southern cities. Nunavut's new government will have responsibility for licensing these entrepreneurs.
Hunting is a major attraction, although wildlife-protection groups are not happy that the legal prey, on a strict quota basis, includes polar bears and grizzly bears.
There are a couple of major obstacles in the way of a rapid tourist boom in Nunavut.
One is the high cost of getting there. Its towns are accessible only by air, except for a few cruise-ship stops, and airfares are high because of the lack of competition in the region. Many towns have air service only once or twice a week, and bad weather can play havoc with flight schedules.
The other problem, readily acknowledged by the Nunavut Tourism Office, is that the hotel and restaurant availability is limited and unsophisticated.
Iqaluit, the capital-to-be, has about 175 hotel rooms, and some quality dining choices. Most of the other towns -- although less influenced by "southern" modernization -- offer only one lodging place, with a prospect of shared bedrooms and bathrooms.
Even when tourists come with the best of intentions -- hoping for a glimpse of authentic Inuit lifestyles -- there can be embarrassing moments. Many visitors are surprised to find that today's Inuit live in houses, not igloos, wear factory-made winter gear rather than sealskin coats, and favor snowmobiles over dogsleds.
"That in itself is a conflict. We haven't met the expectation of the tourist," Redfern says. "It gives us the opportunity to educate them about how we're changing, about how we got to where we are today and how we're trying to reconcile our traditional life with contemporary life."
"The majority of tourists don't want to be rude," she says. "But they often don't have the information to know exactly what Inuit culture is like, and how to not be intrusive."