Indigo’s Ravens

cropped-IRlogo2_960Indigo’s Ravens consist of a group of women who have all had stints living in the Arctic.  We connected through our individual blogs in those pre-facebook days and the common experience of living in remote communities.

We have become a close unit, supporting each other through moves, loss of loved ones, a stillbirth, many live births, loss of jobs, new jobs, and every other experience life has thrown at us.

Some of us have met each other in person, in passing or have lived in the same community.  But for the most part, extreme distance has kept us apart.  This distance though has not been able to diminish the bond that has been forged over the last seven years.

Two years ago we experienced the loss of a woman who inspired all of us to give the world the best we have to offer.  Indigo Sweetwater traveled the north as a relief nurse and was there for us either in person or online.  She followed each of our blogs and was always leaving encouraging comments for each of us.  Once in a while the phone would ring after once of us had posted about something important happening in our lives.  She seemed to know when we needed her kind words directly.  And our post office boxes regularly had parcels full of treasures she had discovered for us.  Her passion for the north and commitment to random acts of kindness rubbed off on all of us and our lives were all changed for the better.

Indigo Sweetwater

Indigo Sweetwater

This summer our lives will be changing again as five of us meet together as a group for the first time.  Tina from Nova Scotia, Sarah from Nunavut, Jennifer from Ontario and Kennie and Kara from the Yukon are going to be dancing wildly in the Land of the Midnight Sun this June.  We all hope the Yukon is ready for us!

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The Ravens:

 

KaraKara is originally from northern BC, has been living North of 60 for the last decade with stints in all three of the territories.  She has been happily making her home in Faro, Yukon for the last five years along with her very patient husband and two feral boys.  Her career in Adult Education was left in the dust six years ago in exchange for lego, fort building, dirt digging and rock throwing.  She has never been happier.  Her favorite colour is pink and is a fan of letting her leg hair grow all winter long for extra warmth.  Preparation for the impending zombie apocalypse keeps her busy in her spare time.

 

TinaTina is originally from Beaver Bank, Nova Scotia and is currently living back there.  She lived North of 60 for 5 years, starting in Behchoko, NWT and ending up in Ile a la Crosse, Saskatchewan.  She would still be there but an unfortunate series of unforseen events brought them back to Nova Scotia in July of 2012.  She has been married for almost 15 years and has 2 amazing boys.  She had a very popular photography business in Saskatchean and is often seen with her Canon camera in hand.  When not taking pictures, she can be found counting the balls of yarn in her yarn hoard and plotting to single handedly bring down the company that wronged her family. Just kidding, well… not really.

 

KennieKennie, originally from Fredericton, New Brunswick, has been living North of 60 for the last six years and has no intention of heading back south… any time soon. Kennie started her teaching career in the high Canadian Arctic, in the hamlet of Arctic Bay, Nunavut and has called Ross River, Yukon home for the last four years. When not teaching or working on graduate courses she can be found out in the Yukon or Alaskan wilderness camping, hiking, canoeing, kayaking or flying overtop of glaciers.

 

SarahSarah is originally from Haliburton, Ontario has a history of moving around and making home wherever she is living. In the last 10 years she’s lived in various cities in Ontario, Nunavut, Manitoba and Australia! She first moved to Nunavut for about 4 years ago for a 10 month contract, enjoyed every moment of that time, and moved south after the contract finished.  In the summer of 2011, an opportunity to move back north happened.  Sarah decided to jump on a plane and move back to Pangnirtung, Nunavut.  Sarah is a firm believer that adventures can happen in your own backyard… you just need to be on the lookout and sometimes you need to jump on a plane in order to meet friends in random places and dance like no one is watching!

 

JenJen, is originally from Southwestern Ontario, and is currently living there after spending 3 amazing years in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. Although she is very content with regular visits to Starbucks, a part of her heart will always be back north. She now resides in suburbia with her 2 precious daughters, husband and a few domestic house pets. This crazy adventure to the Yukon will fall on her 30th birthday, a way more amazing way to ring in 3 decades then any run of the mill Las Vegas trip. What happens in the Yukon, stays in the Yukon. But will be publicly broadcast all over the Internetz.

 

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The Posts:

[catlist name=indigos-ravens orderby=date order=asc numberposts=-1 excerpt=yes posts_morelink=”Read more” link_target=_blank]

9 thoughts on “Indigo’s Ravens

    1. Raven Post author

      🙂 Thanks Jackie. We all are looking forward to this fun journey, and when we will all meet face to face in the Whitehorse airport!

      Reply
  1. allmycke

    Oh, how I would love to be there in June! Indigo touched me in a way I thought was impossible. For no reason at all, she sent me some cookie tins and a tea chest that I treasure very much. They are all used one way or another and I remember Indigo every time I touch them.

    Reply
  2. melissa groom

    nice to find this blog- and hear about Indigo- geez I miss her. I was lucky enough to live in a community where she came to be a nurse while our community was in freeze up and thaw. She was unique and wonderful and I was so looking forward to her return to our community in just days when we got the heart breaking news of her illness. I share your emptiness at her loss and am pleased you continue to blog in her name and spirit.

    melissa – tsiigehtchic nwt 2007-2012

    Reply
  3. Tara

    Ever since reading this – and learning more about your trip – I’ve been reading more and more about Indigo Sweetwater. I’ve been blogging since 2009, yet I don’t remember her from those early years. Now, as I sit here at my computer, I feel a sense of loss; she sounds amazing. I love what you’re doing in her honour…everything I’ve unearthed about her online screams ‘don’t let life pass you by’. Perhaps your journey will be an annual thing (if the world survives your maelstrom)…a way for her to live on. It’s life-giving even for those only living vicariously through you.

    Reply

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