The Arctic sea ice is trying to tell the world
who we are
I am a child of Inuit Nunangat, its land, its water, its ice
I am a brother, a hunter, a tea drinker, a figure skater
I left warming Arctic Ocean waters to skate
down south
climb to coach’s status, heartwarming
I am curious about our beautiful tundra landscape
fearful of our melting
frozen seascape shrinking
If you can do anything in this world, it would be to drop your ego, listen, give a shit and find your voice.
Global warming, old ice thinning, ice floes moving, ice escaping,
large chunks of sea ice floating in Frobisher Bay
holding up construction season
What does the future hold for Inuit kids like me
who fear ice-free waters, rapid changes and racism in schools
Stay curious and
question
e v e r y t h i n g
who is yelling where we are
who is whispering who we are
Ice, ice, baby
Save, save, maybe
Skate, skate, plenty
Coach, coach greatly
Love, love fully
Choose to be just
ice is the only way.
Kaniq Allerton
Grade: 12 / CEGEP I
École Secondaire Kelvin High School
Winnipeg, MB
“Ms. Elizabeth Mason, my English teacher, is now retired. This was part of our spoken word unit. I am a Nunavut Inuk. Ice is our world. Ice skating is my passion. As a Nunavut Inuk hunter and figure skater, ice is everything. ”
Bio
Kaniq Allerton is a Grade 12 student from the Inuit homelands of Iqaluit, Nunavut. He is a figure skater who is passionate about performance and poetry. For Kaniq, the sea ice and the rink ice are essential to his storytelling and lived experiences as an Inuk youth.