The Yellowknife Airport

For anyone thinking of taking a trip to the Northwest Territories, this is one of the first things you'll see when you get off the plane. The thing is, you're not going to see a polar bear anywhere near Yellowknife because the few that do reside in the Western Arctic live much farther North.

Almost all of the populations of polar bears in Canada's North roam the tundra of Nunavut, which was once part of the Northwest Territories. But for more than seven years, Nunavut has been its own territory, and the N.W.T. has been left searching for its own cultural icons.

There are a few, like birch bark baskets, moccasins, and bead work which originate in the N.W.T. But many of the gift shops in Yellowknife still stock tonnes of Inuksuit and soapstone carvings, all of which are distinctly Eastern Arctic, read Nunavut. N.W.T. licence plates are still the shape of polar bears, and a 'Nanuq' skin still sits on the floor of our legislative assembly. With no action since the two were divided in 1999, I'm not sure this will, or should, ever change.