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Top Canadian space researcher featured Tuesday as second Naka Festival continues

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Dr. David Knutsen, aurora scientist with the University of Calgary is a featured speaker at the Naka Festival this week. photo courtesy of Astronomy North

The second annual NAKA festival was off to a strong start as of Tuesday night.

The festival, which started March 2, runs through to Saturday and is co-organized by several organizations including the City of Yellowknife, Yellowknives Dene First Nation, North Slave Metis Alliance, NWT Arts, Spectacular NWT, and Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.

Dr. David Knutsen, aurora scientist with the University of Calgary is a featured speaker at the Naka Festival this week.

photo courtesy of Astronomy North

Dr. David Knudsen, an aurora scientist from the University of Calgary, specializes in studying the aurora with satellites and rockets and other measurement equipment.

He is among the guests who was scheduled to speak at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre on Tuesday night. His speech was too late for Wednesday's print edition, but he said in an interview that he was looking forward to visiting Yellowknife for the first time and visiting a location with an aurora that he has been researching in his career.

"I am going to give a history of aurora research in Canada and then highlight Canadian technology that has been invented for that exploration over the years. Then I will talk about the current understanding of the aurora from the science perspective and where the gaps are (in research) because there are some basic questions that we still can't answer."

Part of his trip will also be to get feedback from Indigenous and non-indigenous Northerners who have grown up with the aurora to get an understanding of their experiences.

"A lot of people (in Yellowknife) will have seen a lot more aurora than I have because I'm often studying it while sitting at a desk or lab," he said. "I have been aurora watching all over the world but never in Yellowknife so far. But I am hoping (my presentation) can be a conversation a little bit. I'd like to hear about peoples experiences there and get into a bit of a back and forth."

Festival so far 

Tuesday also featured an NWT Festival Arts Market at the upper level of Centre Square Mall, featuring numerous northern and Indigenous arts displays, including piping by William Greenland.

Dave Zethof, special events co-ordinator with the City of Yellowknife, said he was pleased with how the event grew from its inaugural year in the first week of March 2019. He said it was especially gratifying to work with Indigenous and non-indigenous governments to put together a full week-long schedule this year.

Zethof said the festival committee has worked to ensure its events are during the day so not to compete with other events taking place, such as the Snowking's Winter Festival.

"A lot of our events are strategically timed during the day to give something for tourists to do," he explained. "We have always known there has been a bit of a lull for when they get on the buses to see the aurora. We have timed the events for that."

Monday saw opening ceremonies take place at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre and a film screening of Aurora Love at the Snowking's Winter Festival snow castle.

The rest of the week promises to engage Yellowknifers in northern arts and culture.

For foodies, there will be a special Taste of the North Thursday at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre featuring local food harvesters. 

Other highlights throughout the week will include a discussion by special featured guest Chris Cannon, a PHD candidate from the University of Alaska, who specializes in Northern Dene astronomy. He will speak on Friday and Saturday.

Cultural Gala 

Liz Liske is co-ordinating the second Indigenous Cultural Gala hosted by the Yellowknives Dene First Nation this Saturday at the Chief Drygeese Centre in Dettah. The event will feature different artists, 10 designers, three musicians and other forms of artistry by northern Indigenous people.

"On the bigger side we are going to be showcasing northern Indigenous artists and showcasing their talent, artwork and majority of the people involved that you will see up front is showcasing garments and mukluks and gloves that they have handcrafted and beaded themselves," Liske said.

Liske said the event will have a common theme among all artists that involves promoting Indigenous languages. She was involved with naming the event with the Wilideh name Naka.

The full schedule of the week can be seen here.