Hosting on board the “Beyond Her Horizons” project, an all-female expedition to document and honor the untold stories of Inuit and Canadian women.
Project presentation
This year, as part of the Arctic Expedition, Pacifique is hosting Beyond Her Horizons—a multidisciplinary project initiated by former chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council Okalik Eegeesiak and artist Jessica Houston. Polar scientist Noémie Planat joins them to carry out scientific research en route as they sail from Pond Inlet to Nome.
This 100% female polar expedition aims to document and honor the untold stories of Inuit and non-Indigenous women in the history of Arctic exploration. Along their journey sailing the Northwest Passage, the team will visit local communities to gather stories related to Inuit women’s knowledge of their land, animals, qulliq, clothing and sewing, and their contributions to the success of early explorers during first contact and to their communities. The team will also interview women scientists, poets, educators, activists, and historians involved in Arctic exploration before and after their journey.
Pacifique is honored to host this project aboard the expedition sailing ship Que Sera. It is particularly in line with the multidisciplinary and inclusive activities carried out aboard our sailing ships. Find out more here: https://www.jessicahouston.net/#/beyond-her-horizons/.
Beyond Her Horizons is a collaborative, horizontal project. Our interdisciplinary team is composed of woman on land and at sea, in appreciation and acknowledgement of the many helping hands that make expeditions happen.
The project is funded by The Trebek Initiative in partnership with The Royal Canadian Geographic Society and The Canada Council. The project is also sponsored by NVision Insight Group and Canadian North.
Okalik Eegeesiak
Okalik Eegeesiak is an Indigenous leader who communicates the aspirations of the Inuit and Arctic community in Canada and abroad. She is the former chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council; her background also includes representing the Inuit community in various capacities through government and non-governmental organizations.
Okalik presently works between Iqaluit and Ottawa for NVision Insight Group Inc., Canada’s leading Indigenous consulting firm.
Jessica Houston
Jessica Houston is an artist who travels from pole to pole — using photography, oral narratives, painting and video — to work on climate change and social justice issues, particularly emphasizing the deep time of ice and collaboration with nature.
Through her research-based practice, Houston engages with poets, penguins, scientists and philosophers to uncover and illuminate geographies of resistance in the Canadian Arctic, Antarctica and Iceland.
Noémie Planat
Noémie Planat, PhD Candidate, McGill University, brings her scientific knowledge, her passion for sailing and her interest in education to the team. She studies the role of Pacific Waters which enter the Arctic through the Bering Strait, split into different branches and bring heat and fresher water to the Arctic.
During this journey, Noémie will carry out hydrographic (temperature and salinity) measurements from Pond Inlet to the Beaufort Sea.
On Land :
Miqqusaaq Bernadette Dean
resident of Rankin Inlet and great-granddaughter of Siusarnaq, historian, knowledge keeper
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Mariah Erkloo
sociology student at University of British Columbia and Pond Inlet resident
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Aaju Peter
Inuk lawyer and activist featured in the documentary Twice Colonized, sealskin clothing designer
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Genevie LeMoine
author and curator at The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum and Arctic Studies Center, Bowdoin College
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Sunniva Sorby
citizen scientist, explorer and co-founder of Hearts in the Ice, an organization bringing awareness to climate change
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Malaya Bishop
underwater Archaeology Research Technician on the Parks Canada Underwater Archaeology Team (UAT) researching The Terror and The Erubus sites, from Iqaluit, Nunavut
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Dr Isabelle Gapp
FAS Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Art History, JHI Visual Cultures of the Circumpolar North Working Group
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Monica Kidd
writer, doctor and polar traveler
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Dr. Maija-Liisa Harju
researcher and educational consultant McGill University, climate change and education consultant