When hunter Joe Nasogaluak is out on the land, he often looks towards Tuktoyaktuk’s sprawling field of pingos to help him find his way.
Even as a child, the ice-cored hills acted as a navigation point, as they appeared like many snowy (or grassy, depending on the time of year) volcanoes, peppered around pools of water on an otherwise flat landscape. They’re a landmark for most people growing up around the NWT community.
“When we were young kids hunting ptarmigan, our parents would tell us, ‘Don’t go outside of where the pingos are,’” he says. “I was told that then and I still tell my kids that today.”