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Nunavut Sivuniksavut

368 Dalhousie St. Ottawa, ON K1N 7G3 Tel: (613) 244-4937 Fax: (613) 244-0058 ns@magma.ca

A report on the trip to South Africa byNunavut Sivuniksavut students

April 25-May 10, 2006

Discovering SouthAfrica’s

Long Road to Freedom

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1st Year Students:

When we travelled:

Oolamie Padluq KimmirutAnguti Johnston IgloolikThomas Peyton PangnirtungJason Sudlovenick IqaluitBobby Misheralak Coral HarbourThomas Aggark ArviatRebecca Sammurtok ChesterfieldMishael Gordon Rankin/IqaluitCeporah Mearns PangnirtungNaiomie Akavak Hanson IqaluitTina Decouto IqaluitConnie Adamie Coral HarbourCorenna Nuyalia IqaluitPam Gross Cambridge BayApril Pigalak Kugluktuk

April 25 - May 10, 2006

Who travelled:

Nadia Mike-Dulmage IqaluitMathew Nauyuk PangnirtungPatricia Peyton PangnirtungAnnie Aningmiuq PangnirtungVicki Hainnu Iqaluit

Staff & Board:

Jackie Price

Morley Hanson

Bert Rose -NS Board

2nd Year Students:

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Population:47 million79.5% Black9.2 % White8.9% Mixed race or colored2,5% Asian/Indian decent

About South Africa - some facts …Size:It’s big -the 25th largestcountry in the world! The sizeof the Qikqtaani region plushalf of Kivalliq!

Indigenous peoples:They include the San (perhapsthe oldest known group), theNguni People, which includesZulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi;and the Vendi and Tsongu.

Government:For hundreds of years South Africans had beendominated by Euroean colonists. Black andcoloured people were first allowed to vote infree elections in 1994. The African NationalCongress (ANC) won a majority, and theirleader, Nelson Mandela became President.

Language:South Africa has 11 officiallanguages!!

The count down really began on March 24, 2006. “Only one more month, weleave in one month.” From this point on various students could be heard saying:“Three weeks”, “two weeks”, “only one week left”, “we leave tomorrow”. Anyconversation about this trip began with a countdown and was mixed with a lot ofexcitement, anticipation, and a little bit of fear. These feelings made sense -South Africa is so far away and so much of a mystery.

Like years past, the year-end international trip was amazing. What made thisparticular trip special was the kind of learning that occurred. In trips past, NSstudents took the lead in teaching people about Inuit culture and Nunavut. Onthis trip South Africa was doing most of the teaching, and boy was there a lotto learn. The learning wasn’t one sided though, as we represented and explainedNunavut and Inuit history to many people, through cultural performances andinformal conversations. At the end of the trip many students realized thatthere were more similarities than ever expected, regardless of the geographicaland cultural differences.

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Ottawa

The twenty students on the trip were from 10different communities in Nunavut.

Nunavut to Ottawa - 2,090 kilometres Ottawa toSouth Africa - 15,256 kilometres!

Cape Town,South Africa

Ottawa Amsterdam

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TRAVELING: Planes, Trains and Automobiles

We did a lot of traveling in this trip, and we used all sorts ofmeans to get to our destinations.

Planes...Ottawa-Montreal (bus): 2 hours

Montreal – Amsterdam: 7 hours

Amsterdam – Cape Town: 11.5 Hours.

Total travel time: 20.5 Hours

Trains...Although we flew into Cape Town, we took the “Trans Karoo”train line to get to Johannesburg. The distance between bothcities is 1407 km - a train trip of 26 hours! It was a beautifultrip that allowed us to see the countryside.

and AutomobilesWe were always on the road in South Africa! Cape Townserved as our base for the majority of the trip, but we didtake a number of day... or two day trips! To get around, wedrove in mini-buses or “condos” as they are called in SouthAfrica. What a great way to see the country! On all ourtrips, we had amazing bus drivers.

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Being Tourists in Cape Town . . .

Our hostel was perfect: great food, cozy rooms, an incredible view!. That’s Table Mtn. in the background - we went right up to the top!

“I woke up and Iwent outside and Icouldn’t believemy eyes. I’venever seen aplace thisbeautiful!”

- Ceporah MearnsPangnirtung

Although we had lots ofexchanges withorganized groups, wealso had some time tobe tourists! In CapeTown, we visited keytourist stops like:Table Mountain, theBeach, Cape Point, andof course, we went tosee the penguins!!!!

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Being Tourists in Cape Town - mountains, beaches, and the famous Cape of Good Hope!

“After Table Mountainwe went to the beachand we had lots of fungoing into the waterand playing volleyball.It’s my first time inSouth Africa and itspretty awesome!” Oolamie Padluq, Kimmirut

The Cape of Good Hope isthe extreme southern tip ofAfrica. The Atlantic Oceanon one side and the IndianOcean on the other! It’s astormy place - hundreds ofships have been wreckedtrying to get around thispoint!

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Garden Route Game Lodge….safari time!!

The scenery was amazing,the lodges were uniqueand the transportationwas memorable!

The Garden Route Game Lodgeand Park was a wonderful placewhere we were able to relax,stay in luxurious huts and see thebig animals of Africa. Thefriendly and informative guidesat the park told us lots about theanimals during our two-day visit.We also got to see someinteresting country on the 3 hourdrive to the Lodge

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… GREAT African animals

The safari jeeps broughtus within a few feet ofelephants, giraffes,rhinos, lions,wildebeests, springboks,and zebras. We alsovisited the ReptileCentre, where we sawvarious snakes andreptiles … and we wereable to touch them! Justimagine the screams!

“We were allin awe of theanimals!”

April Pigalak,Kugluktuk

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!Khwa ttu - the San Culture and Education Centre

Carlos and Kondino sharing their knowledge of the land and animals.

The San are one of the indigenous peoples of South Africa. At !Khuwa ttuvisitors learn about San culture, history and art. In addition, the centreprovides training for community members to support communitydevelopment and empowerment. We were the first official guests to stayat the centre!!

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!Khwa ttu - sharing our cultures…

Kondino givingus a Sanlanguagelesson. Theymake clickingsounds whichare reallyhard to do.

Maps can always lead to interesting conversations.Roman showing us the San homelands which stretchacross several countries - just like us.

We had lots of interaction with the peopleat !Khwa ttu. The various discussions atthe centre really allowed us to get abetter grasp of South Africa’s history.

We learned about the San’s experiencewith colonization, apartheid, and civil war.We learned about San language andculture, and heard about familiar realitieslike language loss and language reclamation.Most importantly, we learned aboutcultural resiliency and pride.

It was a great part of our trip, and manystudents realized that the San and Inuitaren’t too different.

“We were greeted byMichael, Roman, Kondinoand Johnny. They took usto one of their classroomswhere we learned aboutthe project. We also had adiscussion with them aboutwhere they come from andwhere we come from.”

Pam Gross,Hay River/Cambridge Bay.

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!Khwa ttu - School Program

Classrooms built out of shipping containers - how resourceful!

!Khwa ttu has a special school forthe children of the employees.These young students held a specialplace in all our hearts!

We spent a whole morning withthem! They did a presentation ofsongs and dances for us, and in turn,we did a presentation of song anddance for them. Afterwards we dida lot of interacting as we taughtthem Inuit games. It was a lot offun!

“The kids were soawesome andnaglingnaq.”

Rebecca Sammurtok,Chesterfield Inlet

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!Khwa ttu Friends

It was very hard to say good-bye to everyone at the centre. In the space of 3 days we hadmade some great friends. As expressed by Rebecca Sammurtok of Chesterfield Inlet:“We took group pictures, then said a long goodbye, some people cried.” Before we left, theNS students gave various gifts to people at the centre, including books, crafts and art.The NS students themselves also donated money (from their own pockets) to the pre-school program. Although it was sad to go, we all left with warm memories.

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Cape Town Walking Tour

The Bo-Kaap, a former slave quarters and now aMuslim area of Cape Town

Many of the homes of District 6 were bull-dozed. Somefamilies are only now building and returning to the area.

A walking tour of Cape Town was our firstintroduction to South Africa’s history ofapartheid. Our tour guide, Colleen, took usto District 6(http://www.districtsix.co.za/frames.htm)a place that was deemed a “white only”area in 1966. The “black” and “coloured”Africans who lived there, includingColleen’s family, were forcefully removedfrom their homes on a few days notice andat gun point. At the District 6 Museum weread people’s memories of the experience.It was a hard part of history to hear, butit was a situation that many from Nunavutcould understand.

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TOWNSHIPS …a visible result of apartheid.

During the mid-1900’s the South African government setout a formal policy of “apartheid” - of separating all theraces of people in the country. Many Africans were forciblyremoved from their communities and ordered to settle in“townships” just outside the major cities. It was illegal forpeople to leave the township without a pass. Townships hadvery poor infrastructure and limited government supportsand programs. Some townships only got electricity threeyears ago and some still don’t have any. Water is providedfrom community taps and all toilets are public.

We visited a lot of townships, and saw a wide range of livingconditions. In the townships of Gugulethu (pop.340,000)and Bonteheuwel (pop. 70,000), the students came face toface with extreme poverty: most homes were small shacksmade from scrap metal, all tightly crowded together. InBonteheuwel the unemployment rate ranged from 60 – 80%.

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TOWNSHIPS

In some townships, there were greatexperiences in community development andempowerment. In Langa, we visited acommunity centre,Guga Sthebe, that includeda pottery workshop, providing communitymembers with practical work experience.Here we were able to talk about theimportance of community-based training. Wealso had a treat with some great music fromlocal youth.

In Khayelitsha we visited a play school/daycare, visited the local craft market, toured asmall “bed and breakfast”, and met a womanwho had set up a sewing shop that providedtraining to local women. We also learned of awomen’s housing cooperative that hadmanaged to build many houses and createhealthy neighbourhoods.

“The township tour wasdefinitely an eye-opener!The wonderful people of thetownships have beenwrongly convicted to life inpoverty, yet they have stillseemed to achieve a contentin which some of the morefortunate people in the worldhave not. Amazing.”

Tina Decouto,Iqaluit.

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Mandela Park Township

The Zuluchoir wasoverwhelming- we hadnever heardsinging likethat!

A local bouncedancer. We sawsome incrediblemoves!

There aren’t many ways of making money in thetownships and not many people ouside the townshipsreally understand what life is like in them. Silvia, atMandela Park township, had recently started abusiness to bring tourist groups into the township tolearn about her people’s culture. We experienced anevening filled with African food, Zulu singing and“bounce” dancing, a funky dance style set to SouthAfrican hip-hop/rap. It is here where we also gaveour first performance. The people said they’d neverhad people come and do a performance for them. Thethroat singing was really popular.

Some students were nervous visiting the township atfirst - it didn’t “look” like an attractive place - butthese feelings were gone as soon as we startedinteracting with the people, especially the kids!After each visit, many students expressed how thetownships felt like their home community.

“The local people wereunbelievably friendlyand so welcoming. Ifelt unsure at thebeginning of the trip,but Silvia and hercolleagues were sohospitable. The wholeexperience was one ofa kind!”

Mishael Gordon,Iqaluit

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Soweto

Hostels which housed black workers for the goldmines of Johannesburg.

We loved shopping for crafts. That’s NelsonMandela’s home across the street.

School students waiting for their buses.

Our final day in South Africa, we tookpart in a day tour of Soweto, the largesttownship in South Africa (5 millionpeople). Soweto was home to NelsonMandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu,two well-known figures in the struggleagainst racial inequality.

Soweto was the centre of manyimportant events in the political historyof South Africa. We visited sites wherestruggles took place, which werereactions to apartheid. In learning aboutthis history, we really appreciated thestrength and resiliency of South Africanpeople.

Corenna and Jackie trying out the famous“Soweto burgers” - a total meal in one

sandwich!

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Soweto…the Hector Peterson Youth Memorial.

Famous photograph of an unknown boycarrying the body of 12 year old HectorPeterson, the first young person killed in theSoweto uprisings.

On June 16, 1974 hundreds of Sowetoyouth marched in the streets inprotest of government languagepolicies. The protest turned violentand many people were shot and killed.The event sparked a wave of actionand protest across the country whichhelped bring the downfall of theapartheid government.

Throughout the many years ofprotest against the government,thousands of Africans were killed.The Hector Peterson Memorial wasbuilt to honour the youth who gavetheir lives in the struggle forfreedom. We were all deeply movedby this story.

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Robben Island

The limstone quarry where hundreds of prisoners, like NelsonMandela, would spend their days breaking rock by hand.

Robben Island, 12 km. off the coast of Cape Town, isone of the more famous historical sites in S. Africa.It was here that the apartheid government sentpolitical prisoners - Africans who had been convictedfor their actions in trying to bring an end toapartheid. And it was here thatNelson Mandelaspent 18 of his 27 years in prison.

We were guided by a woman who herself hadspent 7 years in a women’s prison for disobeyinggovernment apartheid laws. We heard veryemotional stories of the extreme brutality andinhumanity to which the prisoners were subjected, asthe government tried to break their spirits. Theprison, however,became a centre of resistance andleadership in the liberation struggle. Today theisland is a heritage site, and is seen as a symbol ofthe triumph of the human spirit over hardship andadversity. Powerful lessons for all of us!!

Corenna reading the commentaryof one of the prisoners. We heard

heartbreaking stories, but alsoones of great courage.

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Cape Point University of Technology

The time we spent with the staff andstudents of Cape Point University wasespecially memorable. Theywelcomed us on arrival at the airportand then we shared in the historicalwalking tour of Cape Tow as well as anevening of cultural performances andsinging.

During the cultural evening studentsfrom both countries talked aboutimportant issues like studentleadership, cultural norms regardingrelationships and sexuality, andcultural diversity. And aseverywhere, we were treated to someunbelievable singing!

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Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Tina DeCouto presenting a gift to ShirleyLeventhal one of the people at CPUT who

helped us make connections with theUniversity.

April Pigalak sightseeingwith CPUT students andstaff.

Both groups of students got alongwonderfully, with all studentscommenting on their manysimilarities. Students arestudents - no matter where yougo! The true measure of thisnewfound friendship was whenvarious students broke into groupsto go shopping together!

Rebecca with some new friends!

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Direct Action Centre

Memorial statues of Coline Williams and RobertWaterwich, two students killed while participating in

the struggle for freedom. The Direct Action Centre hasworked hard to establish memorial sites so that people

will never forget their history.

Truth and memory were the central theme for our visitto the Direct Action Centre for Peace and Memory(http://www.dacpm.org.za/). Our guides, formerfreedom fighters, took us on a daylong tour called“Journey of Remembrance”. We heard personal storiesabout war and political oppression; of things like “daypasses”, permits that identified black men as able towork and travel; of women being thrown in jail if theywere caught trying to visit their husbands who werefar from home working; and of the many young peoplewho were killed for participating in protests againstapartheid.

We learned about the collective pain of the community,and how talking through the process of rememberinghelps communities rise above the pain of the past, sothat they can move forward.

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Direct Action Centre

Mike Abrams led us through exercises to help deal with thoughts and emotions from the tough stories that we’d learned.

We heard difficult stories, but throughgroup discussions and group activities, thestudents were able to work through theseemotions, and they emerged with a newappreciation of a peoples’ ability to riseabove oppression and look to the future.

Although it was a hard day of learning, weended the evening with more song anddance!

We gave another cultural performance topeople of Gugulethu and in turn a localyouth group did a dance and music show forus.

After both shows, we danced and sang thenight away!

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Memorable times for all of us….

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Sponsors

Kitikmeot Inuit AssociationTahikyoak BHP IIBA FundWalter & Duncan Gordon FoundationMiramar Hope Bay Ltd.Qikiqtaaluk CorporationNunavut Wildlife Management BoardNunavut Investment GroupNorterra Inc.Royal Canadian Legion Branch 168Greybeard ConsultingR. Hanson Construction Ltd.

Dept. of Foreign Affairs &International Trade

Indian & Northern Affairs Canada(Nunavut Region)

Northern Stores Ltd.Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.Pangnirtung DEANorthern Stores (Igloolik)Nunavut Planning CommissionArviat Hamlet CouncilNorthern Stores (Chesterfield Inlet)Kimik Co-op (Kimmirut)Chesterfield Inlet Hamlet CouncilEskimo Point Lumber SupplyMianisivik PairivikTattuinee ComputersChesterfield Inlet Development Corp.Leonie’s Place (Coral Harbour)

This extraordinary trip was made possible by the generousfinancial donations of the following organizations and businesses.

We are forever grateful to the many people in South Africa who shared their time andexpertise and offered warm welcomes and hospitality - you provided us with anunforgettable experience. Our heartfelt thanks to all of you at the following placesand organizations:

Hosts

• Direct Action Centre for Peace and Memory• Mandela Park Township• Cape Peninsula University of Technology• !Khwaa ttu San Cultural and Education Centre• Garden Route Game Lodge• Backpack and Africa Travel Centre Hostel

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TO ALL OUR SPONSORS & HOSTS

THANK YOU!QUJANNAMIIK!

NAKURMIIK!

KOANA!

MAT’NA!QUJANAQ!