I don't normally go exploring in graveyards - mainly because I'm afraid of *everything* under the sun. However, the graveyards in Nunavut are different from the ones at home and I thought it'd be interesting to show you. See what a dedicated blogger I am? ;)
The Baker Lake graveyard is situated near the top of the town, up beyond the snow fence and overlooking the escarpment. With the ground being made of permafrost, you can't easily dig down - so they dig down as far as they can (maybe a foot or so) and then the coffins are covered with rocks to hold it down/keep the elements away.
When we were exploring, I was told there was a coffin that was broken and if you look into it you can see the bones...I stayed as far away from that area as I possibly could.
Most sites are marked with a simple cross, but some actually have elaborate headstones. I imagine that is a matter of cost, since a heavy headstone cannot be cheap to ship up here. There were a couple of sites that had flowers growing all around them, even though they were growing through rocks and hard land. For some reason that made me feel better - that even though they were moved on away from this world, beauty can still surround them.
-L
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