The Baffin Island crossing was nothing new
A British adventurer recently found herself at the heart of a controversy after claiming to be the first woman to cross Baffin Island solo. Her claims prompted a backlash from Inuit in a backdrop of cultural reappropriation.
British adventurer Camilla Hempleman-Adams recently made international headlines, but not for the reasons she’d hoped. It all started on March 27. After two weeks spent covering 241 km on Baffin Island, Hempleman-Adams announced that she was the first woman to complete a solo crossing of this piece of Nunavut territory. The announcement sparked a wave of indignation in the local Inuit community, who accused her of cultural appropriation and colonialism.
Daughter of polar adventurer and explorer Sir David Hempleman-Adams, the 32-year-old already has a number of expeditions to her credit, including the North Pole, which she reached in 2008 at the age of 15, making her the youngest British woman ever to reach 90° North. Prior to her departure for Baffin Island, the adventurer, who also presents herself as a producer and stylist, had mentioned that “Parks Canada has confirmed that there are no historical records of a female solo attempt from Qikiqtarjuaq to Pangnirtung.”
An age-old presence
If this ‘first’ has provoked such a reaction, it’s because the Inuit have been present in the region for millennia. “There is no way in hell a British colonizer is coming to Inuit Nunaat [Inuit land, editor’s note] in 2025 and claiming any firsts”, Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona recalled on her Instagram account. The young woman, an Ottawa-based artist who has made the same trek several times, also recalled that the feat was nothing out of the ordinary, her own grandmother having crossed these lands on foot and several times, sometimes even while pregnant. “Every inch of this continent has indigenous history and stories like this.”
In her post, Kabloona also stated that she had demanded an apology from the adventuress and a retraction from the BBC, which had originally announced the feat. The BBC subsequently interviewed Kabloona in an article published last week, where she explained why Hempleman-Adams’ statements had such an impact: “The article hit people really hard in a very sensitive spot, because of our history and the difficulties we face every day in combatting Western colonialism, […] It’s such a clear example of how colonialism benefits from dispossessing indigenous people of their land and writing us out of history”, denouncing “privilege” and “dangerous ignorance”.
Following in Kabloona’s footsteps, other Inuit, particularly women, also spoke out against Hempleman-Adams’ statements, often with humor, as did Inuk artist Tanya Tagaq. ” In an extreme act of bravery, I would like to announce to all media outlets that @bellwoodsbeer sponsored my expedition to become the first woman to discover St. Paul’s cathedral and ascend the perilous steps to the Whispering Gallery,” she wrote on her Instagram account. The post accompanied a photograph of Tagaq posing in front of the famous London monument’s great door.
If the humorous tone is there, the annoyance is also present. “That’s it, I’m going to go walk around England and claim to be the first person to do that,” said another comment.
A renewed identity
It has to be said that this controversy is taking place in a very particular context. For several years now, circumpolar indigenous peoples, including Canada’s Inuit, have been engaged in a veritable collective process of cultural reappropriation. Tattoos, traditional songs, languages and traditions are being reclaimed, particularly by a younger generation who practice traditional cultural codes and assert an identity that colonization tried to erase. And in passing, they also recall who was here first, as well as the role played by the Inuit in Western-led polar exploration. “This is also incredibly insulting to the Inuit women in history who were instrumental in Arctic exploration, from Tookoolito to Ada Blackjack, and braved atrocious conditions and whose knowledge was vital for the continuation of the explorations. Their names are too often forgotten and put aside”, remarked a comment left on the Indigenous.tv publication linked to the case.
A process of cultural reappropriation that is all the more resonant in the current political climate. As US President Donald Trump continues to set his sights on Greenland, even projecting to offer $10 000 to every Greenlander to get the island, the Inuit are realizing their importance against the backdrop of the independence debate.
In such a context, Hempleman-Adams’s statements were bound to provoke controversy and backlash . While the young woman has since flatly apologized, deleted her blog and Instagram account and reaffirmed her deep respect for Inuit culture, the controversy may at least have served to remind us of a few obvious facts: the Inuit, and circumpolar Indigenous populations in general, have always been there, and while in the past there have been attempts to exclude them from the picture, history will now be written with them and by them.
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