Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 11/00) - Three brave Yellowknife souls are embarking on a 7,000-kilometre arctic odyssey from the Alaska/Yukon border to Iqaluit, Feb. 20. The information they gather from the 100-day trek will be put on an Internet Web site for the rest of Canada and the world to see.

The group of adventurers are participants in the Arctic Millennium Project, which was co-ordinated through Aurora College in Inuvik. Thanks to funding from the Millennium Bureau of Canada and many other corporate and community sponsors, project organizers raised $250,000 to undertake the journey.

Peter Hardy is a Yellowknife science teacher and Internet whiz. He is going along as the educational specialist on the expedition.

"We're really gearing the trip towards students. We want them to be inspired by what we're doing and we want to bring the communities and the North into the world view," said Hardy.

"We'll be showing a new level of technology and we'll be showing how that technology can be used to connect Northerners to other parts of the world."

Yellowknifers Rob McPhee and Roseanna Strong are also members of the team, along with Toronto photojournalist Dominic Stubbs, Inuvik's Julian Tomlinson, and Gjoa Haven's Paul Iquallaq.

With digital cameras, the team will be capturing comprehensive images of the Arctic coast that can be shared with the world through the Internet.

"Teachers and students can view the information we collect and learn about the ecology, traditions, culture and people of the Arctic coast," said Hardy.

"The Arctic is a really important part of Canadian identity. Many people think about the images of polar bears, Inuit people, and snow- covered tundra when they think of Canada. They're images that come from the Arctic."

Tomlinson is the Arctic Millennium Project 2000 chairman. He said they are "running flat out" right now to ensure everything is ready for the Feb. 20 departure date.

They will be towing two 22-foot-long komatiks full of supplies. Survival support will come from Paul Iquallaq, who is the expedition leader and a traditional knowledge expert. Also, Rangers will come out from each community to meet the travellers and guide them in.

Communities along the route, 19 in all, are donating traditional food and support. As well, Gjoa Haven residents arranged for each expedition member to have a set of caribou skin garments to use for the trip.

"I'll be so glad when we're out on the trail," said Tomlinson.

"We're going with some of the best people in the North and we have a huge support network of volunteers."

The team will also be responsible for carrying a bottle of Arctic water across the Northwest Passage as part of a nation-wide relay event. The Trans-Canada Trail Foundation launched the relay event to celebrate the opening of the Trans-Canada Trail, and the group will be responsible for the Arctic leg of the relay.

"We're in partnership with the Trans-Canada Trail Foundation," said Tomlinson.

"It's up to us to ensure the relay reaches Nunavut communities."

The Internet site they developed to showcase the trip is called frozentoes.com.

"The intent of all of this is to create the legacy of a permanent virtual classroom for Northerners," said Tomlinson.

"We're trying to create a gateway for information on the North and create it in a way that will get students excited about learning about their own backyard."