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The Arctic Voice Expedition's Glenn Morris and Stephen Doughty paddle at sunset. The kayakers are journeying 3,000 miles to collect the stories of the Inuit and to link schools in the Arctic with schools in the United Kingdom. - photo courtesy of Alison Sigethy

IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY - A group of British and American kayakers is journeying 3,000 miles by kayak and dog sled across the Arctic to hear about the experiences of Inuit in relation to climate change.

The Arctic Voice Expedition made the first leg of their journey last summer, kayaking from Inuvik to Kugluktuk over the course of several months. The voyagers were completing the second stage this month, which takes them to Gjoa Haven.

Throughout the expedition, the team has interviewed elders from various Arctic communities as well as established links between schools in the North and schools in the United Kingdom with the goal of creating a dialogue between children from different parts of the world.

The team hopes to generate awareness in the U.K. among both adults and children, as to how actions in the south are affecting the North and its people.

"I really believe now that in the U.K., we need to know what's happening in other parts of the world and we can't go on treating the world like it's an inexhaustible resource," said team leader Glenn Morris. "We've got to start putting the brakes on certain things and we've got to start saying 'hang on, this is enough. There are people in other parts of the world that are being affected by the behaviour of us down south.'"

With the schools project, children in the North are able to communicate directly with children in the U.K. by setting up live conferencing over the Internet.

In Kugluktuk, the Jimmy Hikok school is working towards an exchange with a school from a tiny fishing village in England.

The team is also hoping to arrange for a dozen children from the U.K. to join a youth-elder camp in Cambridge Bay, where youth from the area would have the opportunity to teach traditional skills they have learned from their elders to the youth from overseas.

"I'm very happy for what Glenn is doing," said Eva Otokiak, one of the residents interviewed by the team in Cambridge Bay.

"I think it will reach the people all over. Something meaningful to people will come out of it.

"It's a very good thing because the children have to learn now. Even (though) they're young, they have to be taught these things in their schools. I'm glad Glenn is doing this with the elders too because the elders have a good knowledge of what's good and what's bad and how it can be changed."

"I'd love it to be a massive project, but you can only do what one person can do," said Morris. "We've come in with humility, with people who respect the Inuit, respect their land. We do not come in with any notion that we're going to teach them anything. We want to learn from them. That's why we're here."