Kangiqsualujjuaq makes the most of cruise ship visit

Elder Norman Snowball pretends to take his turn at the wheel of the Clipper Adventurer when the ship docked Sept. 21 in Kangiqsualujjuaq. (PHOTO BY PASCAL POULIN)

Elders and community leaders came on board the Clipper Adventurer for an elegant meal when the cruise ship docked Sept. 21 in Kangiqsualujjuaq. (PHOTO BY PASCAL POULIN)

Sarah Pasha Annanack and Charlotte Morgan show cruise ship passengers how to make a mitten from a caribou hide Sept. 21 during the Clipper Adventurer’s Sept. 21 stop in Kangiqsualujjuaq. (PHOTO BY PASCAL POULIN)

(updated Sept. 26)

Sept. 21 was no ordinary day in Kangiqsualujjuaq: students were let off early from school and nearly everyone in this community of 700 turned out to welcome the Clipper Adventurer cruise ship.

The visitors on board for Adventure Canada’s “Heart of the Arctic” voyage included 109 passengers from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, along with 25 experts — such as historians, archeologists and musicians — and 65 crew members from 14 different countries.

Kangiqsualujjuaq mayor Kitty Annanack only got news of the visiting ship a few days before it arrived – the second ever to visit the community – and prompted locals to prepare a day of festivities.

“Thanks to my fellow Kangiqsualujjuamiut, everyone participated,” she said. “It was really exciting, we did well.”

Kangiqsualujjuaq was the ships’ fourth stop after Kangerlussuaq, Kangamiut, Nuuk and Monumental Island, elders and leaders from Kangiqsualujjuaq were invited on board for a meal, served up by the ship’s restaurant staff.

Two Canadian customs and immigration officers also boarded the vessel to make sure the ship’s passengers and crew had their passports in order.

Then, everyone was allowed to travel by zodiacs to the shore: there, white tents had been set up so locals could do cultural demonstrations for the visitors. Local elders showed them how to sew their own mittens or how to tan caribou hide.

After a tour of the village on the local school bus, cruise passengers hopped off at the community’s cultural centre to see a 29-minute National Film Board film from the 1960s about the Annanack family — whose members are still prominent in Kangiqsualujjuaq.

For many locals in the audience, it was the first time they’d ever seen “The Annanacks,” which tells how in 1964, the Annanacks, with other Inuit in the George River community, formed a co-operative that included a sawmill, a fish-freezing plant and a small boat-building industry.

At the recreation centre, local artisans also had the chance to sell their handicrafts, including the handmade jewelry of Kangiqsualujjuaq’s IPL students.

Later, musicians, including local accordion player Elijah Annanack, performed at a community dance.

“I spoke to a lot of [the visitors] at the recreation centre, and they really liked it,” the mayor said. “They had lots of questions.”

Annanack said the fall colours make September a beautiful time to visit the community, despite the persistent fog.

When the cruise passengers headed back to the ship, two residents of Kangiqsualujjuaq went with them — Mary Annanack and Jobie Unatweenuk, who work for the Torngat National Park — the cruise’s next destination before it heads down the Labrador coast to end up in St. John’s, Newfoundland next week.

This year marks the first year of a new partnership between Adventure Canada and Makivik Corp..Makivik sealed a deal earlier this summer with Adventure Canada, on Ontario-based company, which has offered “comfortable and educational voyages to the Arctic, and the world,” since 1988.

The deal created a new company, owned 80 per cent by Makivik and 20 per cent by Adventure Canada.

Annanack says the community hopes to receive another cruise ship next year – this time, with a bit more notice so residents can be ready.

“It was pretty well done in a short time, but it would be better to plan ahead,” she said. “Out local artists could make a lot of money.”

This year marks the first year of a new partnership between Adventure Canada and Makivik Corp..Makivik sealed a deal earlier this summer with Adventure Canada, on Ontario-based company, which has offered “comfortable and educational voyages to the Arctic, and the world,” since 1988.

The deal created a new company, owned 80 per cent by Makivik and 20 per cent by Adventure Canada.

With files from Jane George, Sarah Rogers, and Pascal Poulin in Kangiqsualujjuaq