NWT - Eight teenagers heap their plates with bacon, eggs, sausages, hash browns, fresh fruit, yogurt, muffins, toast, cinnamon buns and chocolate éclairs. This is their first breakfast after two weeks surviving on rice, oatmeal, couscous and bannock.

Members of the sixth annual Arctic Youth Leadership expedition returned last week from a two-week journey along the Horton River. From back left are instructor Dave Pigott, instructor Geoff Kooy, instructor Michelle Smallman, co-ordinator Kevin Floyd, Brandon Nartok, Tom McLeod, Devin Aviugana. In middle row, from left, are Swea Vgyuk and Patricia Qiyuaqjuk. In front, from left, are Shannon Ciboci and Olivia Netser. - Katie May/NNSL photo

A group of 10 Inuvialuit and Inuit youth from Aklavik, Inuvik and Nunavut departed July 6 on the sixth annual Arctic Youth Leadership expedition up the Horton River to Franklin Bay, near Paulatuk. Eight of them returned to Inuvik on July 20. Two participants went home early and did not complete the program, which is sponsored by the Inuvialuit Development Corporation and Nunasi Corporation.

The first day was the hardest, the group agreed. They were at Whaleman creek, along with three instructors, paddling faster and longer than most of them ever had in their young lives. Then, it snowed and the weather worsened, hovering around 5 C for the whole trip, with only one day of relatively easy travel.

"I was like, this is actually happening. It felt like it wasn't even real," said Devin Aviugana, 17, from Repulse Bay. "I just started to do the things that they (the instructors) were telling us that would make it easier."

Fourteen-year-old Tom McLeod, from Aklavik, described the expedition as a "drop-in learning experience."

"It was hard at the start but then it basically got easier from there," he said. "It's like here you are; do it. Or don't, and you'll get really skinny and sent home."

Though they didn't know each other beforehand, the teens bonded during the course of the journey, particularly during downtime as they huddled in their tents playing crazy eights.

"Being stuck with the same people, you kind of have no choice but to get to know them," Aviugana laughed.

The youth earned four high school credits for successfully completing the trip, which combined wilderness survival lessons with leadership training. Plus, they've got some exciting stories to tell – such as the grizzly bear they encountered nosing around their camp and their dive into the Arctic Ocean.

Nellie Cournoyea, CEO of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, welcomed the young travellers back home at their breakfast banquet in Inuvik July 21.

That firsthand experience will give you that initiative and the determination that you are part of something that's from way back, from your ancestors' time to now, and it's a wonderful opportunity to express yourself," she said.

When their instructors asked the youth what they would take away from their experience and bring back to their communities, many of the teens emphasized the importance of positive thinking, teamwork and believing in oneself.

"Life isn't always simple," said 18-year-old Olivia Netser, from Iqaluit. "That's the biggest thing I learned."