Online jigging contest sparks joy in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T.

An online jigging contest brightened lives in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., this holiday season. 

“It’s heartwarming,” said Tianna Gordon-Ruben, who submitted a 12-second video of her two-year-old son, Elias, dancing to the Red River jig with a green balloon in his hand.

“When he hears the fiddle music, he automatically knows it’s going to be fun, it’s time to dance.”

Jigging competitions are a common component of festive community gatherings around Christmas, as are drum dances and square dances. For the second year in a row, the hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk organized online versions of some of those traditions because of the pandemic. 

“I would say