Discover the Discoverers

More than Snow

If you didn’t grow up in the Far North, you might think of it as a whole lot of ice with no trees and some interesting animals. But the Arctic environment is more than that, as you’ll see at the Canadian Museum of Nature’s “Extraordinary Arctic” exhibition. If you can’t make it to Ottawa, you can still see lots online about everything from incredibly tough Arctic plants to the prehistoric creatures that roamed the North.

Punch’s Story

The thousands of kilometres flown by Clennell “Punch” Dickins (featured in the comic in our December issue) helped claim the Arctic for Canada. This amazing aviator took his bush planes farther north than anyone had ever dared to fly. You can learn more about him and other pilot pioneers at the Western Canada Aviation Museum in Winnipeg. Dickins is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.

Northern Art

If you’re lucky enough to live in or visit Nunavut or the Northwest Territories, you’ll be surrounded by the unique art of the North. In fact, the government of Nunavut says the region has more artists per person than anywhere else in the world. If you can’t get to the Arctic, though, you can still admire Inuit paintings, sketches and carvings at the Museum of Inuit Art in Toronto, the Musée d’art Inuit Brosseau in Quebec City, and many other museums all over Canada.