Arctic Mark in Stanley Park

Playing Inuit Jump-Rope at Okpilik Lake

This is a great traditional game called "Avatuk." The Avatuk is a big bundle of hide (in this case musk-ox) attached to a long rope, and the object is to jump over it, just like skipping rope, except that that big clump of hide packs a formidable wallop when spun around at high speed by the two players holding the ends of the rope. Some of the smaller kids who tried it had their feet swept out from under them and landed flat on their backs, much to the amusement of the onlookers.