George Tombs, a Canadian film maker, told the story of Amundsen’s life and many exploits. Tombs underlined the fact that Amundsen was such a successful polar explorer and succeeded where others failed and in some cases even perished. His nature and habit of meticulous planning were important factors, according to Tombs. However, even more important was Amundsen’s willingness to listen to other’s experiences and learn from them.
For the Embassy it was very important to draw attention to the important part played by the Inuit in Amundsen’s success, which was largely due to skills he obtained in Canada’s North. Sailing through the Northwest Passage between 1903 and 1906, Amundsen’s ship Gjøa got stuck in the ice and he had to pass a winter in an Inuit community in Nunavut that is called Gjoa Haven today. Amundsen befriended the Inuit and gleaned valuable knowledge from observing their way of life.
Joanni Sallerina, a former mayor of Gjoa Haven, shared stories of Amundsen kept in the oral traditions in his community. The fascinating story of how the Inuit found Amundsen and his crew stuck in the ice and their first meeting was especially compelling. The Inuit took the Norwegians in for the winter and taught them how to dress and live off the land. They also learned other invaluable skills like using dog sleds and “reading the snow”, that is using the snow drift to tell directions and navigate.
Amundsen invited the Inuit on to their ship and used their rifles to hunt caribou to share the meat with their new friends. Sallerina said Amundsen was well liked and respected in the community because he in turn respected them and was willing to listen and learn. The kinship that formed between his crew and the Inuit is a somewhat rare example of mutual respect between explorers and indigenous people.
To celebrate Inuit culture, students from Nunavut Sivuniksavut, an Inuit school in Ottawa, showed traditional drumming, throat singing and games. As a grand finale they were joined by Sallerina who is a Master Drummer.