Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories
Every yr, March is designated Women’s History Month by presidential proclamation to mirror on the often-overlooked contributions of girls to United States historical past. The National Women’s History Alliance, which spearheaded the National Women’s History Month motion, introduced the 2023 theme, “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories,” to honor ladies who’ve devoted their lives to “producing art, pursuing truth and reflecting the human condition.” Throughout 2023, the NWHA will encourage recognition of girls, previous and current, who’ve been lively throughout storytelling mediums, akin to print, radio, stage, display, blogs and podcasts.
I used to be first referred to as to the artwork and science of storytelling in 2007 on the age of 10 whereas on Natural Habitat Adventures’ inaugural expedition to see child harp seals within the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The seal inhabitants was recovering from centuries of business attempting to find oil and the fur commerce, and the rising menace of local weather change was sinking its formidable footprint into the Canadian panorama.
Here, within the Magdalen Islands, pregnant harp seals give beginning on steady sea ice between late February and mid-March. Our helicopter touched down on an ice floe every day, and I might squeeze my sister’s hand in pleasure. “Today is the day; I can feel it!” I squealed into the headset mic. Through the crackling suggestions of the intercom, I might hear our Expedition Leader, Melissa Scott, hopeful however trustworthy about our odds of creating contact with the furry pups.
A photograph I took of my youthful sister as we lifted off the bottom on our very first helicopter experience.
We by no means did attain the newborn seals, because the ice was dangerously skinny. I’ll not have returned dwelling with rolls of animal images, however I did memorialize all of the knowledge, compassion and moxie imprinted on me by Melissa. She taught me that no matter how shut you’re to nature, you’ll be able to nonetheless assist save the planet by lending a voice to the animals and people who’ve traditionally been silenced.
My explorations have since taken me to the highest of Mt. Kilimanjaro, beneath the waves with Galapagos penguins, beneath rain forest canopies in Southeast Asia and throughout the plains of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. With my journalistic voice and digicam in hand, I aspire to empower women and girls to grow to be lifelong advocates for endangered species and stewards of our planet.
And now, as one in all many ladies who comprise this firm, it’s a particular privilege to introduce Nat Hab’s Women-Only journey sequence, Women within the Wild. I’ll share a glimpse of our latest itineraries and inform you the tales of girls pioneers who embody the spirit of Conservation by means of Exploration.
Women within the Wild
Nat Hab & WWF vacationers go to the the Inuit Village of Tasiilaq throughout their East Greenland Arctic Adventure © Ralph Lee Hopkins
Women within the Wild was born out of a want to attach vacationers with trailblazing ladies who’ve lengthy been leaders in international exploration, entrepreneurship and science. Women from Africa to the Arctic carry the torch for shielding environments that maintain their households and endangered species like pangolins, wolves and polar bears. In addition to our conservation journey partnership with World Wildlife Fund, Nat Hab helps varied philanthropic initiatives in our locations, guaranteeing our actions profit communities, safeguard wildlife and protect cultural heritage.
Louise Arnar Boyd was the primary American lady to steer an Arctic expedition. She fearlessly found, mapped and documented uncharted territory within the far North, paving the best way for future explorations and informing vital local weather change analysis right now. In 1955 Boyd chartered an airplane and have become the primary lady to fly over the North Pole. Before her dying in 1972, she requested her ashes be scattered within the Arctic Ocean. Boyd’s legacy lives on by means of her images, which proceed to encourage and inform individuals concerning the magnificence and fragility of the Arctic area.
“We want to create a space for women who are ready for the next big adventure of their lives, where they can feel empowered to be themselves in some of the wildest places on the planet,” says Annie Van Dinther, veteran Expedition Leader and visionary designer of Nat Hab’s Women-Only Departures.
Kingdom of the Monarchs © Court Whelan
Women within the Wild occupies a particular place within the coronary heart of Nat Hab Founder and President Ben Bressler, whose ardour for ecotourism was sparked by his mom, Rozie. Rozie was a real power of nature—she spent her weekends within the Nineteen Sixties and 70s championing civil rights and marching in Washington towards the Vietnam War. In her pursuit of equality, Rozie turned an lawyer to assist uplift the voices of girls throughout the nation. Between caring for her household and learning for the Bar Exam, Rozie paged by means of dozens of journey books, planning her subsequent nice journey. Cross-country street journeys reworked into worldwide escapades. She led her household from artwork and historical past museums in Japan and Spain to cultural emersion excursions in Mexico.
“I’d like to share a newspaper story that would make my mom proud. It’s a first-person account of a group of intrepid women and their Nat Hab journey to the sub-arctic to see the northern lights. If my mother were still alive, she would have understood the power of women joining together to explore the world and discover themselves. And she would have signed up for this trip in a heartbeat (if only to get away from my brother and me),” relayed Ben.
© Eddy Savage
A Women within the Wild journey is a singular alternative to mirror on intimate discoveries in nature among the many camaraderie of girls from all walks of life. You’ll return dwelling enriched by awe-inspiring wildlife encounters and a with new respect for the ladies who’ve been pivotal in understanding life on our planet. From the Canadian Arctic to Mexico’s monarchs, try our slate of upcoming expeditions by means of the feminine lens:
Aurora & the Arctic
Taken by Nat Hab traveler on a Women within the Wild journey to see the northern lights © Judy Wilson
Nat Hab’s first foray into journeys for girls, led by ladies, was on the 7-day Northern Lights and Arctic Exploration departure in February 2020 in Churchill, Manitoba. “This trip is all about learning what it took for women to survive the Canadian Arctic. It’s about expanding our knowledge of natural history and science, and most importantly, it’s about discovering what we’re capable of alongside like-minded individuals. Put simply, it’s the trip the women Expedition Leaders of Nat Hab have always wanted to take themselves!” Exclaimed Van Dinther.
Recognizing Churchill’s historical past as an 18th-century fur-trading put up—and as a spot of human occupation courting again practically 4,000 years—the journey brings to gentle life on the tundra by means of canine sledding excursions and conventional expertise workshops, together with stitching footwear, snowshoeing and igloo-building. Travelers meet ladies who run wilderness entice strains, conduct analysis on the Churchill Northern Studies Center and orchestrate modern-day Arctic expeditions.
© Eddy Savage
They go to with surviving Elders of the Sayisi Dene Nation and learn the way they preserved their identification after the federal government forcibly relocated them from their dwelling in Duck Lake, Manitoba, within the Nineteen Fifties. The ladies additionally hear from Katie deMeulles as she regales the experiences and accomplishments of her late mom, Myrtle deMeulles, a revered Elder from the Manitoba Métis Federation. You’ll see examples of “Myrtle’s Caribou Hair Sculptures,” which rejoice Métis tradition and illustrate the deep connection shared between Aboriginal individuals and Arctic animals. “I taught about 60 other people how to do [tufting], and they are now passing that knowledge down to other people. Now, these people that I taught years ago have taught their daughters. You know, I stress the fact that it’s very important that we keep all these things alive and growing,” Myrtle shared with interviewer Marcy Markusa in 2015.
We Swim within the Same Waters – “Spirit in the water, spirit in the sky, spirit on the earth, all are connected. My piece is about ancestral legacy, what was passed on to us and what we will leave for our children’s children…” shared artist Charlie Johnston at the 2017 competition, Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans in Churchill, Manitoba.
Eager for extra tales? Check out “15 Native Tales about the Northern Lights” on our weblog Good Nature Travel! WWF visitor author Marsea Nelson describes how Indigenous peoples from the United States to Greenland and past understand the mystical phenomenon of the aurora borealis.
Polar Bears of Churchill
© Court Whelan
Our polar bear information is a consummate naturalist and out of doors explorer wanting to share her information of the North. She’ll train you about Churchill’s cultural historical past and the long-lasting bear that reigns as Queen of the Arctic and serves as an indicator species for local weather change. As you head out on the tundra in our Polar Rover seeking Arctic wildlife, relaxation assured that it’ll be a lady on the helm of our custom-designed monster truck, too!
© Brad Josephs
As one of many first firms to function adventures in Churchill greater than 30 years in the past, Nat Hab has grow to be intimately acquainted with the local people. By working sustainable expeditions for a whole bunch of tourists annually, we contribute financially to Churchill whereas utilizing journey to lift our visitors’ consciousness and encourage their very own conservation actions. Nat Hab additionally contributes to WWF’s Arctic packages by growing our scientific understanding of polar bear conduct, speaking the specter of diminishing sea ice and aiding communities in mitigating human-wildlife battle in polar bear habitat.
Every one in all our Churchill excursions features a private go to with an area canine musher and their staff, and a experience by means of the boreal forest behind a staff of sled canines. © Court Whelan
Our objective is to transcend showcasing nature to straight contribute to the well-being of Churchill and the encircling environs that maintain its resident wildlife and other people. Through years of creating shut relationships, we’re capable of provide our vacationers unique alternatives to satisfy revered Elders of First Nations, Inuit and Métis teams in Churchill. These storytellers are a number of the most senior of their communities, passing conventional information to youthful generations and our vacationers. Meet ladies who’re the spine of this historic Arctic settlement and see Canada by means of their eyes!
Nineteenth-century Inuit explorer Tookoolito, often known as Hannah and Taqulittuq. Born close to Cumberland Sound on the east coast of Baffin Island, Tookoolito had a wanderlust like none different. As a teen, she traveled to England along with her husband Ebierbing (Ipiirvik) and met Queen Victoria. Shortly after, the couple guided American explorer Charles Francis Hall all through the Arctic for 10 years. Tookoolito additionally saved the USS Polaris’s surviving crew after being stranded for six months in 1872.
Alaska Bear Camp
© Brad Josephs
Following within the contrails of pilot and conservationist Celia Hunter, our group of adventurous ladies will fly by non-public aircraft throughout Cook Inlet to our sustainable bush camp in Lake Clark National Park, a world-renowned bear-viewing vacation spot. On the location of an previous homestead, our camp fronts the bay in a pristine setting that appears simply because it did when the primary pioneers ventured into these distant wilds.
© Court Whelan
During our journey, be taught concerning the position of girls in Alaska exploration and conservation and get to know our Alaska Bear Camp supervisor, Caprice Stoner, who has passionately guided operations for greater than 17 years.
In addition to managing the each day operations of Bear Camp, yearly, Caprice (pictured left) seeks to enhance her information and coaching as a naturalist and journey journey skilled by means of getting new expertise and extra information certifications. She has additionally labored as a mountain climbing, biking and kayaking information and has an in depth background in interpretation of pure and cultural historical past. In current years, as bear viewing within the Chinitna Bay area of Lake Clark National Park has grow to be rather more common, Caprice has labored with the park service to create constant guidelines and practices for respectful, low-impact bear statement. Watch this video of Caprice to see her ardour in motion! © Court Whelan
Each of our deluxe tent cabins is called after an individual of historic significance. We proudly honor ladies like Celia Hunter, who protected the Pacific Northwest from Project Chariot’s nuclear warhead blasts; the Yukon River from the huge Rampart Dam; based the Alaska Conservation Foundation; and have become the primary feminine president of The Wilderness Society.
Celia Hunter at Camp Denali Alaska in August 1957. © Kit Case
You’ll see the identify “Margaret,” endearingly known as the “Grandmother of the Conservation Movement,” who in 1924, turned the primary lady to graduate from the University of Alaska. In a congressional testimony concerning the Alaska Lands Act Mardy famously acknowledged:
“I am testifying as an emotional woman and I would like to ask you, gentlemen, what’s wrong with emotion? Beauty is a resource in and of itself. Alaska must be allowed to be Alaska, that is her greatest economy. I hope the United States of America is not so rich that she can afford to let these wildernesses pass by, or so poor she cannot afford to keep them.”
You’ll additionally hear the heroic story of Ada Delutuk Blackjack, an Iñupiat seamstress turned Indigenous interpreter, hunter and survivalist for the ill-fated Arctic expedition led by Vilhjalmur Stefansson to settle Wrangel Island in 1921.
Ada Blackjack
Iceland: Circling the Land of Fire & Ice
© Court Whelan
Consistently cited as one of many greatest locations on the planet to be a lady, the seafaring nation of Iceland beckons female-empowered exploration. Take it from Viking Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir—higher often called “The Far Traveler.” As her nickname suggests, Gudrid ventured to Norway and Greenland and even made a pilgrimage to Rome. Her biggest exploit, nonetheless, was crusing throughout the Atlantic to the Americas some 500 years earlier than Christopher Columbus stepped foot in The New World. Her adventures are immortalized in Thirteenth-century Icelandic texts referred to as the Vinland Sagas. According to the Saga of the Greenlanders (Grænlendinga Saga) and the Saga of Eric the Red (Eiríks Saga Rauða), Gudrid lived in North America (recognized to the Vikings as “Vinland”) for 3 years and had a son named Snorri, who was the primary European to be born there.
© Heather Chrystie
Inspired by Gudrid’s spirit for journey, our vacationers will make a whole circle round Iceland by non-public mini bus, chartered aircraft, boat and 4×4 Super Jeep. Led by our seasoned Expedition Leader and an area information, our all-women fleet will witness whales within the far-flung Westfjords, see hovering Atlantic puffins and hike from volcanic fields to glacial precipices.
© Court Whelan
Here, the place the North American and Eurasian plates collide, geothermal forces create a dynamic and dramatic panorama—an expertise of pure nature at its strongest, matched solely by the grit of the ladies who stroll the nation’s black sands.
Mexico: Kingdom of the Monarchs
© Court Whelan
Journey into the highlands of Central Mexico with two feminine Expedition Leaders wanting to share their ardour for this area’s pure and cultural heritage. Witness hundreds of thousands of monarch butterflies gathering at their winter roosting websites in Mexico’s forested highlands, and learn the way the feminine monarchs—every of which lays between 300-500 eggs—assist preserve an insect inhabitants that undertakes an unimaginable 3,000-mile annual migration from the northern U.S. and Canada to Mexico.
Riding small Mexican horses supplied by the local people (and led by your individual caballero, so no prior horseback expertise is important), we ascend the path by means of the forest as hummingbirds and pink warblers accompany us to the center of the monarchs’ migration web site. © Daniel Hagaman
Our guides will share the tales of girls who have been integral in enriching our information of the monarch migration. Listen to the adventures of Mexico-born Catalina Trail (then often called Cathy Aguado), the girl featured on the duvet of National Geographic in August 1976, who helped uncover the winter roosting web site.
Catalina Trail captured in her factor for the Nat Geo cowl story “Discovered: the Monarchs’ Mexican Haven.” Check out this enlightening interview between Catalina and journalist Monika Maeckle from 2012!
Learn about environmental training efforts within the U.S. and the long-term well being of monarch populations from entomologist Karen Oberhauser. Meet ladies from the small rural neighborhood of Angangueo, whose households have skilled the monarch migration for generations, and see how touring with Nat Hab & WWF helps the native economic system.
© Court Whelan
You’ll return dwelling not simply awed by the monarch migration however impressed by the numerous ladies whose heroic efforts have preserved Mexico’s butterfly sanctuaries and guarded North America’s monarch populations.
Happy Women’s History Month & Happy Trails!