An annual snow sculpture contest in Attawapiskat has been bringing families together for decades.
The event, sponsored by Attawapiskat First Nation, took place in late December with 24 family households showing off their creativity and carving skills.
The traditional activity has been happening in the community for many years, said Coun. Jack Linklater Jr. He recalled how as a young boy he used to help out his brothers or watched his family do snow sculptures.
“It feels pretty exciting and brings some kind of joy to community members especially with this COVID time,” he said.
“This year has been difficult for everyone, especially trying to go about our annual contest or annual activities. The unique thing about this is the whole family got involved with their snow sculptures … There’s nothing really to do with COVID time right now and it’s a good thing to get together.”
Contestants had about 1.5 weeks to create a sculpture. Usually, participants wait for two or three days for snow to harden up before starting to carve it, Linklater Jr. said. The biggest sculpture this year was a 10-foot gnome made by Willie Lazarus.
The judging took place Dec. 29 by five randomly chosen judges. They had to do their evaluations separately in order to avoid close contact with others due to safety regulations, Linklater Jr. said.
“We try to pick people who aren’t from here like paramedics, NAPS or teachers or maybe someone from another community,” he said.
The sculptures were evaluated based on their creativity, presentation appearance, effort and overall expression.
The first place went to George Koostachin whose sculpture depicted three polar bears ice fishing. David Linklater, who carved a dog sled team and a person ice fishing, got the second place, followed by Peter Kataquapit who carved five snowy owls.
The rest top 10 winners include Nancy Tookate, Joseph Louttit and Olivia Noah, April Edwards, Diane Kamalatisit, Fletcher Kioke, Willie Lazarus and Linda Loutitt.
People typically leave their sculptures up all winter long, Linklater Jr. told TimminsToday.
The response from community members has also been positive, he added.
“(People) say all of them should be winners. The snow sculptures are very detailed and they’d like to see this happen again every year,” he said. “It is a pretty good turnout this year, a lot of good feedback.”
