Warm Arctic welcome

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Prince Edward (left), Countess Sophie and Nunavut Commissioner Edna Elias attend a traditional feast in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Thursday evening. (AARON WATSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

IQALUIT, Nunavut -- Cold rain driven by a relentless northwest wind made waiting outside St. Jude's Anglican Parish Hall a misery, but it failed to dampen the spirits of the overflow crowd that had come to share a traditional feast with the Earl and Countess of Wessex Thursday evening.

"We were freezing," Eliyah King said. "It's the wind."

Inside, however, King was toasty warm, maybe too warm, the result of hundreds of bodies packed into the hall, where the air was rich with the smell of hot char chowder, sweet caribou stew and fry bread shaped like doughnuts. The longest line was to collect raw whale and caribou meat, which elders in traditional costumes cut into paper-thin slices or diced with razor-sharp ulu knives carried in soft leather pouches.

"It's crowded, but I'm happy to see them," Marta Michael, 78, said as she offered a slice of caribou for tasting (It's very mild beef-tasting and easy to chew.)

King said it was the second time he had seen a royal -- the first was "the grandmother," Queen Elizabeth, in 2002.

"And we were all outside freezing then, too," the 40-year-old warehouse manager barked with a gap-toothed grin.

While King called the presence of royals "awesome," there was little evidence anyone was awed. Most seemed intent on feasting, finding any convenient place to chow down, often in clusters on the floor, with babies howling or cooing from amauts (baby pouches) on their mother's back.

One of them, Opah Picco, her two-year-old granddaughter, Ciara, grinning from an amaut, said she came because of the novelty.

"We don't get to see many -- how do you say it? -- people like them very often."

The duke, Prince Edward, the youngest of Queen Elizabeth II's three sons, and the countess, his wife, Sophie Rhys-Jones, sat like commoners on folded chairs, feasting with apparent but, of course, refined, gusto -- the duke casual in a gold-buttoned blazer, no tie, open collar; the duchess wrapped in an elegant, full-length mushroom-coloured cloth coat, her blond hair in a ponytail.

It was Edward's 33rd visit to Canada, but his first to the High Arctic. He had asked especially to see Nunavut and Iqaluit, said Winnipeg businessman Hartley Richardson, whose seeming unlikely presence accompanying the royals came as the result of his work with Prince Edward on the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

Neither royal spoke during the feast, but they chatted with those who attended, usually after being presented and under the watchful eyes of security personnel, also dress-casual, their clear-plastic earbuds all but invisible.

One of the presentees was Polar Man, a local "superhero" who came dressed, as always, in white and green balaclava, green vest and short pants over a white bodysuit, knee-high boots and dark gloves.

"My reputation had preceded me," he quipped, when asked how he got past security.

Polar Man said his special superpower is the ability to withstand extreme cold in his light costume.

And how does he use his gift? "I do a lot of snow-shovelling in the winter," he said, adding he also patrols playgrounds to entertain kids and prevent bullying. "It's a full-time job for me."

The royals were treated to a demonstration of traditional athletic skills and a drum song, after which they were presented with a soapstone sculpture by Cathy Towtongie, president of the agency charged with creating Inuit well-being through the implementation of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, which created the territory.

"Just by coming to Nunavut, you make us feel big," she said.

An awkward moment came when Sophie dislodged a loose piece of the sculpture, thinking wrongly that she might have damaged it.

"It wasn't me," quipped Edward.

With that it was time to go. The duke led the way, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries as he passed through a gauntlet of well-wishers and into the night. The duchess followed and did likewise.

"That was really fun," said Emma Hackett, 17, a volunteer worker. "It was a good experience -- the royal presence."

Her friend, Kristen Kownak, 15, said Edward had spoken to her. "He said, 'It was nice seeing you.' He was very nice and polite."

Over the course of the two-day visit, the duke and duchess toured igloo-shaped St. Jude's Cathedral, the museum, and presented five Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medals among other awards to RCMP officers serving in the North.

"We are honoured to have him and the fact that they choose Nunavut as their destination," Premier Eva Aaariak said. "We're always proud to showcase who we are, our culture and language."

On Friday, the royals toured the Nunavut Arctic College before flying to Ontario.

gerald.flood@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 15, 2012 A11