Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

UQSUQTUUQ/GJOA HAVEN
Gjoa Haven students are venturing to Norway this month to experience its culture and learn how famed Arctic explorer Roald Amundsen is perceived in his home country.

Seven students from Qiqirtaq Ilihakvik's Grades 8 to 12 classes will drum dance at the Fram Museum in Oslo and sleep on the Gjoa - the first ship to successfully navigate the Northwest Passage, and which the community is named for - as Norway is commemorating the centennial of Amundsen's trip to the South Pole. It's a project two-and-a-half years in the making, said Trina Sallerina, teacher at Qiqirtaq and co-leader of the Traditional Norway Group, the name of the group of students who are making the trip.

"Right now, I've got butterflies. It's a minor miracle we're able to have a project like this," she said. "Two and a half years is a long time to motivate students and it's a long time to keep momentum going with the project."

Amundsen, the first explorer to successfully reach both poles, wintered in what is now Gjoa Haven in 1903-1905, during his trip through the Northwest Passage.

He learned survival skills from the Inuit, which helped him in his subsequent voyage to the South Pole in 1911.

The group will leave Nunavut on April 12, returning April 23. They were set to head to Norway for the groundbreaking of the new protective area the Fram Museum is building for the Gjoa. However, red tape postponed the trip this past September, explained Sallerina.

"It's humbling to know something so deep-rooted and something so traditional as drum dancing can actually be something you can show somebody else and they can take pride in it as well," she said. "It's just another day for us but for Norway, it's something they haven't experienced. This is really amazing."

All the students hear is the story behind Amundsen, said Sallerina.

After the trip, the students will be able to continue the tradition of storytelling with their own stories of the ship and their trip to Norway, she added.

"We don't have how they (Norway) actually feel and see him (Amundsen). But he's very much alive in Norway. I'm really hoping that can become an essence we can also bring back to Gjoa Haven," she said. "I'm just as excited as seeing the elks as I am about going to Norway."

George Sallerina, Jamie Takkiruq and Roseann Ruben are three of the students going to the Scandinavian country, and they said they are excited to go to Norway.

Takkiruq, a Grade 8 student, said he's excited because he's never been to the Scandinavian country.

"I think it would be a great experience to learn more about how Gjoa Haven was found by Amundsen," said the 12-year-old. "I am doing very good in my drum dance practice and it's one of my favourite things to do so I hope I will be able to do a lot better in Norway."

As for George, he is looking forward to sleeping on the Gjoa and learning more about what Amundsen did while he was in what is now Gjoa Haven.

"We've been working on this very hard," said the 15-year-old Grade 11 student.

Ruben is excited they're finally going. The 16-year-old said practising the drum dancing has been going well.

"I am excited to see the Gjoa ship and to finally be able to go after all this time."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.