April Fools Day / Hamlet Day / Nunavut Day?

We thought that, because there was no school today, we could avoid all the April Fool pranksters... but we were wrong!!  We got a surprising wake up call when our phone rang at 8:30am.  It was an Inuk friend from down the road, Billy.  He told Rosalie that there was a polar bear sighting behind the arena (directly across the road from our place) and that we should be careful and stay inside for a while with the dog.  This seemed like a logical claim, so we were nervous and listened to what he said.  Ten minutes later he called back and asked what day is was.  When Rosalie replied that it was the first of april, he shouted April Fools!!!  Haha, by the afternoon, it was a big laugh with the whole community. :)

Today was the start of our long weekend, because everyone had the day off for 'Hamlet Day'.  I asked around to try to find out the meaning behind this holiday.  I THOUGHT that it was to celebrate the territory, because April 1st is the day when Nunavut officially joined Canada as a new territory.  However, I was quickly corrected when the Inuit staff at school explained that the celebrations for that were moved to the summer (Nunavut day, in June I think?).  I wasn't even sure what the term "Hamlet" was referring to for this holiday.... but some teachers explained to me that the community of Kimmirut is actually a hamlet, not a community.  So, from what I understand, all the hamlets (small communities) in Nunavut have the day off today...  lol, but thats all I got, I think I'm still a little confused!   Either way, we had a lot of fun out on the ice this afternoon!! :)  Children, adults, elders, dogs, and everyone were all out on the harbour playing games.  We participated in egg relays, sack races, and tug of war.  It was a lot of fun, and really nice to see the kids outside of school... just having fun and being kids!  We even won a few of the events, and got gift certificates for the co-op as a prize!  I was talking with the conservation officer, Chris (our neighbor) on the ice.  I was proudly wearing my new fur mitts and he looked them over, and told me they were worth about $100 because of the good quality.  I was very surprised, and love them even more now!!  There are more games taking place this evening in the school gym, but I'm not sure if we'll make it down to those.  Its quite a walk back down, and its been snowing and blowing most of the day.  Right now, we are waiting for our dinner guest to arrive.  We are having Billy over for supper, snacks, and movies.