SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
"I'm just so, so happy to have her home safe," said Bren Kolson as she welcomed her daughter, Kiera Kolson, back home to Yellowknife. "I'm very proud of my daughter as a young person to have taken the initiative to go on this extraordinary trip."
Kiera Kolson braves the cold en route to the North Pole earlier this month. - Christian Åslund / Greenpeace photo |
Kiera Kolson, 27, a Dene rapper and the Arctic outreach campaigner for Greenpeace in Yellowknife, recently returned from a trip to the North Pole.
She was one of four youth ambassadors on a team of 16 people which travelled on skis to the Pole as part of the Save the Arctic Campaign. Although there were just 16 people involved in the expedition, they were travelling with the support of 2.7 million individuals who signed a petition in solidarity with the campaign.
To raise awareness for the cause, Kolson and her 15 teammates flew to a Russian outpost on the ice at the 89th parallel, 30 km from the North Pole. It took them seven days to reach their destination, and when they finally got there, they cut a hole in the ice and lowered an eco-friendly time capsule into the water.
"We planted this flag for the future, which contained millions of signatures, to request that the uninhabited area of the North Pole is turned into a global sanctuary," said Kolson.
She pointed out that efforts to expand offshore drilling and industrial fishing are imminent threats to the long-term sustainability of Arctic communities.
"I think that it's important that the next generation engages itself into understanding exactly how it is we can integrate our voices and our concerns to the future we will inevitably be inheriting from those in power right now," she said.
While the focus of the trip was the preservation of the Arctic, Kolson insists that the scope of the initiative is global.
Up and coming actor and New York native Ezra Miller was inspired to join the expedition in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which devastated his hometown. The trip even included a participant who was believed to be the first ever resident of the Seychelles to travel to the Arctic. Renny Bijoux joined the expedition to raise awareness about the hurricanes which have been hitting his native land, as a result of global warming.
"So when we look at the capacity of this Earth that we're all sharing, saving the Arctic is not a one-region reality," said Kolson.
When it comes to the trip itself, Kolson can only laugh as she explains why it took them so long to cover 30 km.
"The one thing we didn't really think about is the fact that there's a continental drift. So we'd be skiing and skiing, then set up camp. Then we'd wake up. We'd have skied five kilometres, but we've drifted back four."
Although Kolson was grateful for the experience, it took its toll on everyone.
"By the fourth day people were getting sick. I was getting blisters. I started rolling my ankles."
They also had two of their four sleds break, and at one point their guide almost fell through the ice, but she was lucky enough to only have one of her legs go through.
Fortunately, they had "the yellow brick," which could receive video and text messages from supporters from around the world. Over the course of the week, they received messages of encouragement from the likes of Pamela Anderson, Vivienne Westwood and Bishop Desmond Tutu, who were all signatories on the petition.
Although she just got back, Kolson is already preparing for her next trip. She plans to travel to Sweden in May and participate in the Arctic People's Conference, as well as the Arctic Council Meeting where Canada will be assuming its role as council chairman for the year.
Her job may keep her on the move, but Kolson welcomes the challenge that comes with her position.
"I'm just trying to take these opportunities to bring the voice of the North and the concerns of the North to the south."
