Northern Perspectives Interview: Thomas Suluk

NP: What were your general impressions of the Soviet North?

Suluk: My general impressions have to do with geography. First of all, it is huge, east to west, and it looks dry. There are very few lakes, even in the North. All they seem to have are rivers. The cities and buildings look like they are from the 1940s or 1950s; it's like stepping back into history. There are a lot of similarities wherever you go- it all looks the same: concrete buildings. Not that I'm putting them down, but I guess that's the way things are there.

 There does seem to be a lot of pollution-haze-across the country. Perhaps it is from a lack of emission controls. A lot of cities are still operating on coal and similar fuels, which burn with thick, black smoke.

NP: What about the Inuit? How much time did you spend with them?

Suluk:We spent only a couple of days with them. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't good, and we weren't able to go to some of the other communities near Alaska-near one of those islands where Soviets and Americans are supposed to be able to look at each other. We did take a little side trip on a ship and went into an Inuk-type community, although you would not notice the difference in terms of the buildings and so on-they are all similar, as I said before. But the people were just like us. In fact, I think the mayor is Inuk.

 We visited with a couple of their poets, or storytellers. They have a high profile and are well respected in the community. We had an opportunity to try and exchange a few words. We couldn't converse, naturally, but we could, by pointing and saying a word, understand each other.

 When I said my name was Suluk, she asked, "Like flying?" Suluk is a feather, so she understood that name. We understood "cold", "sky", and "clouds". We could make out the words-although there were different endings on the root words. Other than that, I did not hear much of their native language. They spoke mostly Russian.

NP: How big was the village you were in?

Suluk: It was a village of less then 1000; altogether. about 800 Inuit.

NP: What was the main activity? Do residents still go hunting?

Suluk: The main activity is reindeer herding. I don't think they hunt much anymore; they don't hunt as a matter of survival. They're also involved in fur farming and fur trapping. But they frown on hunting. To them it wouldn't look good for the government to have people who still live in a Stone Age type of activity, which is how they consider native hunting in Canada. I guess they feel that hunting is outdated.

NP: You mentioned that there is considerable emphasis on reindeer herding. Do you see that as a viable option for our North?

Suluk: Well, I think there's a problem of geography. As I mentioned before, there are very few lakes in that area, so it would be easy for them to follow the reindeer, but in our North, because there are too many lakes, too many streams, too many rivers, I don't think it would be practical. Caribou cross any place. They cross lakes, they cross rivers, they cross narrows. I don't think our geography is suited to following caribou around. In the winter, it may be possible, but then again our winter is too cold.

NP: Given the switch from hunting to herding, how did the native way of life compare with that of Inuit in northern Canada?

Suluk: Only a certain group are herders, but then there are others who dress the meat for market, and there are artists who work on skin and bone. There was a lot of carving, although it looks a bit like assembly-line work, where each piece is similar.

 There was also a lot of country food. There were caribou tongues, a lot of caviar, a lot of fish, some basic bread, soft-drinks, something similar to beer, and a lot of bottled water-perhaps because we were foreign dignitaries and they had to be careful. In one place we visited, what looked like an outpost camp, we were served reindeer, to me, it was no different than caribou meat prepared northern style, like the way we prepare it in a pot over a fire.

In a northern part, they all had reindeer clothes, and their little camp, the way it looked, was no different from what we would have if we were out hunting in the summer. They had an old blackened kettle over a small pile of rocks with firewood. I took along some photos of my brother when he went out in the winter-time in caribou-skin clothes and walked a couple of hundred miles just to show that it can still be done. When they saw those pictures, they said there was no difference.

NP: Was it possible to talk with average people, to go into their homes and see how they live?

Suluk: Yes, we did go to a couple of homes. First, in the North, where the residents live in apartments. One belonged to a northern native person and a Russian woman. It was a mixed marriage. In fact, they said they encouraged mixed marriages-whether it is to produce more uniform people or not, I can't say. They had a fairly clean apartment, but their toilet facilities were a bit outmoded-just a hole drilled through the concrete floor. I guess this was a makeshift sewage line, and you just cover it with a block of plywood. That was in the North. I believe that toilet paper and other niceties like that were a bit scarce in a lot of places.

NP: So there was a fair degree of openness, as opposed to controlled functions where contact was restricted?

Suluk: There was one case where a native person definitely tried to make contact. He managed to pull some strings and was allowed to ride in our car to a reception. But when we arrived, I noticed that he was prevented from coming in. He was definitely trying to make contact of some kind, but unfortunately we didn't understand each other's language at all.

NP: Did you see any churches during your visit?

Suluk: We went through a church just outside Moscow-a Russian Orthodox church, the kind of churches they used to have under the tsars. We attended one of the services-there were a lot of candles, and people-mostly old-chanting and receiving communion or taking part in the state-approved services. We went through a hall where there were pictures of the apostles and Jesus and so on. It was more like a museum. But we did talk to an Orthodox priest about religion. In fact, I had a discussion with them about church history.

NP: Was there much talk about Canada? What were people's impressions of this country?

Suluk: Canada has a fairly good reputation in that it is not a superpower. I suppose their view is that although Canada has a wealthy Western culture, we're not as bad as the Americans. We're part of NATO and so on, but we're a country that they may be able to have normal relations with. There were a lot of Canadian flags, but, then again, I guess people were expecting us in a lot of places. When they saw our flag they waved, but there weren't coached crowds, just people lined up on the street out of curiosity.

NP: Did you discuss the subject of Soviet Inuit participation in the Inuit Circumpolar Conference?

Suluk: I did talk to an official based in Moscow-an Inuk-who said that there wasn't going to be any participation by the Inuit because they don't lack anything. There is no need for them to go. I guess that translated as a lack of approval.

NP: Did you press the issue?

Suluk: We pressed it in our talks with Soviet officials. In an official meeting, Mr Crombie raised it again upon my urging. They got a little upset with our raising it again, because we had been told that they weren't going to deal with it. They were not pleased. Georges Erasmus, being a little more outspoken sometimes, got into a bit of a fight-an ideological argument.

NP: Did the Soviets give any indication that there might be conditions under which they would participate?

Suluk: No, but I have been talking with a couple of people from the Soviet Embassy here. It seems that some doors may be opening to their participation, but nothing really official. It's a very tricky situation. We talk a lot, to try and convince them that we don't mean any harm to their country. We can't possibly subvert their people- that's for sure. They can always send whoever they want.

NP: So there remains a possibility?

Suluk: If we do it carefully and nicely enough, I think there could be a breakthrough.