Miyuki Daorana was the only Inuit on board from Nuuk to St. John’s, sharing her people’s way of life. It was a magical experience, but also lonely.
In July, a new group of students boarded Statsraad Lehmkuhl in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. They are taking part in the course Arctic Future Pathfinders, organized by UiT The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø.
They come from different academic fields, which is part of the course’s purpose: bringing together scientists, philologists, philosophers, social scientists, and lawyers to live and work side by side. During their weeks on board, they study weather, climate and the environment, as well as history, culture, language, and international law.
The students come from 18 different countries, but only one is from Greenland - or Kalaallit Nunaat, as the Inuit call their country.
Student, and teacher
Miyuki Daorana is 26 years old, born and raised in Nuuk and in Qaanaaq, the northernmost town in Greenland. Her mother is Japanese, her father belongs to the Inughuit, which is a subgroup of the Inuit people, the Indigenous people of Greenland.
Miyuki is a student, but also a teacher in the course. UiT wanted representatives of Indigenous peoples of the north to take part, and the Inuit Circumpolar Council pointed to her. After hesitating for a while, she accepted.
– I almost said no until I learned that my great grandpa was on a similar trip in the Northwest Passage back then. His journey was very different from mine, much harder, and I wanted to kind of, yeah, be in the same oceans and learn. Kind of rewrite history.
A negative ring
The words “expedition” and “research” do not sound good to Inuit ears.
– An expedition is a journey for researchers and explorers to discover places. Basically, that's what it's known for. But then when you see it from the Inuit perspective - this big ship with the sails and the rig and the ropes, it looks cool, but it can be triggering to many indigenous communities up north, Miyuki explains.
– This is because the explorers came to our lands to do research, indeed, yes, but they researched the people in a way where they measured skulls and noses and skin colour, and then they were categorized like animals, kinda. Quote unquote indicated that we are behind in evolution, and needed to be educated. And they used the research conclusions, so to say, as an excuse to colonize.
And in many ways, expedition is still another word for colonization, according to Miyuki.
– Colonization comes in sneaky words. It is not just an event of the past. It's a process, a mentality and a structure that exists today. It's in the words expedition, modernization, urbanization and industrialization, for example.
Two eyes seeing
This is what Miyuki tries to make the students on board Statsraad Lehmkuhl understand. She calls it “two eyes seeing.”
– it's basically that you use both eyes to see the world. And the metaphor is that one eye is supposed to be the western or the scientific European one, and the other eye is the indigenous approach. And they should be viewed equally and used equally, she explains.
What you carry as knowledge from books is not enough, Miyuki says.
– We Iniut have all of our knowledge about the Arctic from our life experience and the historical knowledge, and our bodily experience in living in the cold Arctic. So both of the perspectives should be used equally in for example, political discussions or decisions, policymaking and stuff.
Three Inuktun-words
The close relationship the Inuit have with nature is hard for people in industrialized societies to grasp. It shapes their entire way of life, including language.
– We follow the flow of the weather. Weather is also a word for consciousness, for example, our mental and physical and spiritual well-being connects to what's happening outside. We like silence, to listen, to listen to nature. We are people of few words, but our words are very long, we construct a sentence in one word. So it's super long words, and we need to hear the whole word because at the end it kind of reveals what it really means. That's why we listen more.
Miyuki often uses words from her mother tongue Inuktun to help students understand.
– All of the words weather, climate, spirit and consciousness are all collected in one word through «hila». So that means that our inner self and every person’s, every animal's inner selves are interconnected to the outside world. Whatever we do affects the outside world, and whatever there is in the surroundings affects us. So it's a whole, you can imagine a whole web of interconnected routes and relations.
Miyuki has more examples.
– «Inua», a very meaningful word. It means life, persona and, you know, life source and energy. It's very fluffy, but all of these English words in one. We say we are Inuit, which means we are people. But a rock or any animal also has a person. They are also people. So we don't have a distinction between animals and humans, living and non-living beings. We don't have a hierarchy there, it's a whole circular system that is connected. People might think it's crazy to say that a rock is a person, but we believe that it's a life. It has a whole life span, it has a purpose. So «inua» also means purpose. Every species of animal, every natural phenomenon has a purpose. In the ecosystem, of course. So everything is connected.
Another word that shows how nature and spirit are interwoven is «anori» or «anerraaq».
– It means storm and wind, but it also means breath and soul. It's just a nice visualization of how the wind is kind of touching everyone and everything, like it connects us all. It's some kind of a breath and every time we breathe, we live, you know? So every time we breathe, the soul is there. So the wind is the soul. And we are a part of that soul through breathing.
Miyuki smiles.
– Even every time I talk about these words, it opens my eyes even more.
Empathy
When you are as dependent on living in harmony with nature as the Inuit are, you develop a different kind of respect for the world around you. Simply put: empathy with nature.
– I think empathy is an important word that should be implemented everywhere, Miyuki says. We have been to climate change conferences where they talk about a lot of how the climate is changing. The solutions to this are quite often technical. But then we forget that the climate crisis is a man-made issue that comes from extracting and disrespecting nature and animals. So I always pull on the word empathy, because if you had empathy for the animals that are mass produced or abused, or if you had empathy for the Earth, you wouldn't have abused it , and you wouldn't have over consumed or polluted it, she says.
– So caring for nature needs to not only come from companies and regulation, but caring for nature also needs to come from the individual people who make these decisions. It has to come from the inside. So climate change needs to be fought from empathy, from love to nature. From genuine care. Empathy is a nice word that collects all the R's; respect and relationship and reciprocity. And with that comes reconciliation and restoration, and responsibility as well. Well - so empathy is a big thing.
Lonely
Miyuki does not hide that life on board has sometimes been exhausting. And lonely.
– I feel lonely because I'm the only Inuk here. That makes me the Inuit knowledge holder here on board. There's a lot of responsibility on me. I wish there was another person from Inuit, teach with me or at least talk to me in my own language and then we could spare each other.
She calls this minority fatigue, something organisers of future courses should keep in mind. Still, she does not regret joining the expedition, especially because of the encounters with people from very different cultures.
– We get to know each other in a completely different setting, sailing and doing the rigging and pulling ropes and all the coiling. It's all been magical.
Maybe life on board, in some ways, reflects what she values most in Inuit culture?
– It's very warm, very welcoming. I imagine it like a warm house in the cold winter that is bright and warm and light, with food on the table and everyone laughing and singing songs and music. And I'm very proud of the collectivity, because we're always here, there for each other. I feel even if we don't talk, we're still there for each other. Like through hugs and body language and just quality time in nature. And it's just, it's very down to earth.
