Hermès goes to Nunavut!

Many Canadians never see the Arctic but an adventurous group of employees from Hermès won their dream trip to travel to the Canadian Arctic and learn about the Inuit way of life. The contest was offered by Hermes to their employees worldwide; the employees were asked to submit a dream of any kind, travelling or otherwise. The ten winners were from France, Korea, Hong Kong and England went to Iqaluit and Kimmirut!A bit of info about Nunavut:The cost of living in Nunavut is the highest in Canada. The average temperature in January is -30°C and in July is 15°C. In Inuktitut there are 14 words for snow. Iqaluit experiences 24 hours of daylight per day in June, and six hours of daylight per day in December. Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun and English are the main languages. Only 28,000 people live in Nunavut which spans 1,900,000 sq km of land and water. Nunavut became a territory in 1999 but have a culture and history that spans millenniums. There have been people living there for approximately 4,000 years. Usually when someone refers to The North, they mean anything above the 60th parallel.I love that Hermès gave their employees a trip of a lifetime. How many companies offer this type of experience?! The Hermès team learned to fish, travelled to an iceberg and made tea from fresh ice! One employee has never see snow before! The teams also went to visit the fur production course at the Nunavut Arctic College campus in Iqaluit to see how the Inuit use sealskin. The team were surprised to learn that the entire seal is used for food, clothing, fuel, and arts and crafts! The Inuit believe they must give equal respect to the spirits of the land, animals and plants. Many of the students want to learn & continue their traditional use of the land including hunting and trapping as their ancestors have done.

[Source: Northern News Services]