Setting sail with the wisdom of Inuit

The cruise industry has long been a subject of contention among Nunavut communities. However, despite objections based on ecological and social disruption, there are economic opportunities that the industry brings to the territory.

The territorial government, since 2021, has implemented a program called the Nunavut Marine Tourism Management Plan (NMTMP) to not only capitalize on the opportunities, but to use as a medium to teach tourists about authentic Inuit culture.

In the 2019 cruise season alone, 4,219 tourists came to Nunavut, according to the 2021-22 annual report under the Tourism Act.

“Cruise operators spent $848,394 across 17 communities to access tours, performances and logistics support for their passengers. During the 2021, cruise season, cruise ship operators remained shut down.”

The Covid-19 pandemic brought the Nunavut cruise industry to a halt in 2020 and 2021.

Visits by the Crystal Serenity in 2016 and 2017 brought both global attention to Nunavut marine tourism. It was also the impetus for the Government of Nunavut to step up oversight in its marine governance efforts while also reflecting the values and wishes of Nunavummiut.

To that end, the NMTMP was drafted in 2021-22, to run until 2027. A feature of the plan is “hiring Inuit expedition crew members and spending money on tours, performances and other services across the region. Expedition cruise tourism encourages cultural exchange and learning, providing Nunavummiut with supplementary income and full-time employment opportunities.”

Communities directly benefiting from the cruises include Pond Inlet, Resolute Bay and Cambridge Bay.

Nalunaiqsijiit

Voyages include multiple cultural advisors or “nalunaiqsijiit,” which translates as “to make it clear, to have no doubts” or “informers, connectors.” They provide programming developed by the Government of Nunavut, Adventure Canada and the Nunavut Fisheries and Marine Training Consortium program, which provides ongoing funding.

“This opportunity-based program enables Inuit to work as expedition team staff members on board marine tourism vessels — not only in Nunavut waters but worldwide,” the 2021-22 annual report states. “These jobs include zodiac driving, polar bear monitoring, presentation delivery, guiding during on-the-land hikes and other miscellaneous duties on board the vessel... There is a significant degree of industry buy in to the program, with cruise operators guaranteeing internship positions on board their ships each year that the program runs."

Lena-Marie Krause, junior port operations manager of destinations with TUI Cruises, said, “In general, there are two reasons [for] having Inuit on board: first it is a great opportunity having the cultural exchange and our passengers do appreciate the talks, which we organize together with the Inuk on board, a lot. Secondly, it is a requirement from the Nunavut government. We couldn’t visit this area without having an Inuk on board.”

Helen Kimnik Klengenberg of Kugluktuk has served as an Inuit cultural advisor on cruises. She was approached by another Elder and friend who is also advising for the cruise line. She said they also serve as observers on voyages to ensure the cruise line staff and passengers are taken care of when they make stops along their journey and that they keep a safe distance from wildlife.

"I talk about how we live, that we are a hunting and gathering society," Klengenberg explained. "I talk about the past so that we can learn from it, show old pictures and explain what our clothes were made from and how important it was and it [is] to hunt the caribou and seals for our clothing and oil source. I [lit] my qulliq at Herschel Island for the first time, [passengers] were fascinated by it, and the fact it was the only source for heat, light and cooking.

“My first trip was in 2022 in the Nunavut Eastern High Arctic and western Greenland,” Klengenberg recalled. “If I say so myself, the guests enjoy my presentations very much. The passengers are on this expedition to learn about the Arctic and its people, and the ecology of the North. Many experts are on board to talk about various things.”

'Inuit are very visible'

Inga Hansen, a journalist and academic from Greenland, said, “Early in the spring I started to contact Adventure Canada. Then I was interviewed and was asked to sail with them to Northwest Passage. Of course I said yes, because as a person and as a journalist, I have always been interested in coming to our kinsmen[‘s] land. We have the same culture and same language, just with dialects. It is the first time I am sailing with Adventure Canada, it is fantastic. The director, Jason Edmunds from Labrador, has made Adventure Canada very interesting. Inuit culture and staff from Greenland and [Canadian] Inuit are very visible, it is the first time in my life I experienced Inuit [being a critical component] an international industry like that. I wept tears in the beginning of our tour when I realized it was like that."

When asked about about potential drawbacks of the industry, neither Hansen nor Klengenberg cited any. In fact, Klengenberg sees only benefits to the cruise ship industry in Nunavut.

“I think we can grow out [the] tourist Industry in the North so that it brings in some much-needed insertion of income from an outside source so that the communities economy can grow," she said. "There are many benefits and little drawback. Every expedition is concerned about global warming and we can learn from the research, [the] impact it has on the animals and see for ourselves how the polar bears are coping. So far we have seen three polar bears on drifting ice and they are very healthy — north of King William Island.”

Hansen is currently on a cruise that sails from Greenland. She reports that cultural advisors are extremely busy, having little free time.

"I screen[ed] my film 'In the Wake of a Modern Life, Women Becoming More Educated’... I can talk to passengers easily, they are very friendly and they would know so much about our lands and our culture," she said, adding that she sometimes makes new friends in the process. "The cruise in the Arctic is necessary to learn about our way of living and culture. And the silence in the land you can feel, you cannot feel in other countries. To come to [Northern] Canada is just to meet families, very friendly Inuit along the coast.”