Karen Mackenzie
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 26, 2007

CLYDE RIVER - After a nerve-racking last-minute scramble for passports, four young Clyde River women made their way south to Minnesota as part of an exchange project with an American school.

Elisapee Iqaqrialu, Saramee Kautuq, Anna Churchill and Ida Kolola got their passports 45 minutes prior to departure and landed in Apple Valley, Minn., on Sept. 24, returning on Oct. 8.

One of the best parts of the stay was simply getting to know their host family, according to Iqaqrialu and Kautuq, who stayed together at the home of a local couple.

The group also spent time touring some local schools, visiting an amusement park and doing a little shopping.

Clyde River teacher Geoffrey Ivany and local nurse Amy Harty accompanied them.

While exploring the city, the girls had a chance to share some of their own culture as well.

At one school, Iqaqrialu and Kautuq demonstrated their throat singing for a crowd of more than 100 people. Later, they had the opportunity to record themselves singing in a school recording studio, which was burned onto CD so they could bring it home to their families.

"They're pretty good," said Ivany.

On another day, the pair taught a group some Inuit games.

"Like one-foot high kick, two-foot high kick, arm pull," they rhymed off.

Last spring, Clyde River hosted five students and a science teacher from the Apple Valley School of Environmental Studies - also known as the "zoo school" for its proximity to a local zoo.

Both the zoo school and Quluaq School fundraised over the past year to bring the Clyde River groups down in return. The education authority and recreation department in the Baffin community also provided support to the group.

The girls, who are all students or recent graduates of Quluaq School, had submitted letters to apply for the trip earlier in the year.