Watchers In The North

On patrol with the Canadian Rangers in Nunavut

- Philip Cheung

When I was eighteen and going through my training with the armed forces, I travelled to Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, to learn survival skills from a unit of the Canadian Rangers. It was my first encounter with the military branch, which is made up of 5,000 part-time members, many of whom are Indigenous, spread out across more than 200 communities in remote regions of Canada. The Rangers are often tasked with teaching southern military units traditional survival skills: they give instruction on how to hunt, fish, and trap game and how to build shelters in harsh environments. They also share their expertise in tracking and land navigation.