Robert Bateman:
www.robertbateman.ca"I stepped off the PBY Flying Boat on to the shore of a new world. At least it was a new world for me. It was tundra. Everything seemed in miniature ... willows 3" high, old spruce trees at knee level. I was a Gulliver in a Lilliputan landscape. The air was filled with the calls of birds ... whimbrels, longspurs, the guttural chuckles of willow ptarmigan. The low light of the long Arctic evening kissed the magenta rhododendron blossoms that were clinging to the pebbly ground. I had arrived in Ungava, the name for Arctic Quebec, in 1953. I was there as a geological field assistant to map potential iron ore. I was to spend 4 months in what was metaphorically and actually a Garden of Eden. Our party consisted of 4 "white" men and 2 Inuit (Eskimos to us in those days). Jimmy Emateluk and Georgey Kowkoy, our native helpers, said that their people, who had a coastal culture, had never ventured as far inland as we were mapping. And we knew that we were the first people of European stock to walk the area. We named the lakes that are ow on the official maps. The landscape reminded me of Scotland, with rolling hills, heather and harebells. Birds were abundant: golden eagles, gyrfalcons, peregrine falcons and countless numbers of other species. The lakes teemed with Arctic char and speckled trout of impressive size because they had never been fished ... a Garden of Eden indeed.
To my delight I found myself exploring the same ecosystem somewhat further east fifty four years later. I was with a group of artists and naturalists on the George River. I was especially delighted that the landscape seemed unchanged and unspoiled. The only difference I could see was that is was now more accessible with regular float plane service and a few comfortable hunting and fishing lodges. The people who run these lodges, such as our hosts, Pierre and Jean Paquet who own Norpaq Adventures, seem to have high environmental values so that the area will stay unspoiled and the fish and caribou populations will remain sustainable for future clients. It was a great joy to wander over the eskers amongst the ankle-high colourful blossoms and leaves of the dwarf shrubs. One could imagine standing in the same beautiful landscape hundreds of years ago. That is a precious thought in the 21st century."