'It's just insulting': Backlash over Brit's claims of being first woman to solo traverse across Nunavut island
Some Nunavut residents are pushing back against a British visitor's claims that she is the first woman to traverse solo across Nunavut's – and Canada's – largest island.
Camilla Hempleman-Adams completed the trek from Qikiqtarjuaq to Pangnirtung, through Auyuittuq National Park, on March 27, according to an Instagram post with a video capturing her journey from multiple angles.
She's made headlines around the world, including the BBC, about being the first woman to trek solo across Baffin Island.
The trek from Qikiqtarjuaq to Pangnirtung is only a fraction of the length of Baffin Island, which spans 1500 kilometres.
Auyuittuq, which means "the land that never melts" in Inuktitut, is a designated national park. It gets up to 300 visitors annually according to Parks Canada.
CBC has previously reported on a woman who ran a similar route in under 24 hours. Dorset, Thule, and Inuit have also lived in the area for thousands of years.
Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona, who's originally from Baker Lake, has complained to Hempleman-Adams and some of the media outlets who've posted her story. Kabloona is also an avid hiker has done the trek from Qikiqtarjuaq to Pangnirtung with others several times.
"We have been in Nunavut and in the Baffin area for thousands of years before even white people started recording time," Kabloona said.
"It's just insulting to negate that part of history and for a British person to come over and say that they're the first person to do something with our colonial history."
Kabloona said she's tired of seeing people heading to the north with a colonial attitude about exploring the region – and wants an apology from Hempleman-Adams.
"We go and do the things that you're calling exploring and adventuring ... and [for us] it's just regular life," she said.
Inuit Heritage Trust said it doesn't keep track of records such as the one Hempleman-Adams has claimed to set.
Neither does Parks Canada, which said in a written statement that the department's records are for public safety purposes only, and "do not document trip motivations or serve as records of personal or professional achievement."
"However, Inuit have inhabited Inuit Nunangat since time immemorial, leaving footprints, history and knowledge across all lands, passes, and traditional places in the north, Nunavut, and Auyuittuq National Park," the statement reads.
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