Expedition Avannaa is about many things at once, but mainly it is about people whom we meet on the road. Without their generosity we would have never gone so far. Without their love we would have frozen to death on the road. Without their voice we would have never been heard in the bigger world. Avannaa’s Ambassadors are people of all ages and from all walks of life, from Central Asia to Chukotka, from Greenland to Nunavut.

Let us start with our youngest ambassador Ajara who helped us organize the First Greenland Week in Central Asia in 2012. Ajara is only 12. She lives in a small settlement not far from the scared lake Issyk-Kul and has never left her land. “I am longing for something, but I don’t know what it is. I won’t know until I see it”. She has a big dream of becoming an emergency medicine doctor and work in the most distant corners of the world, connecting lands and people that are invisible to each other.

Ajara, the youngest Avannaa’s Ambassador in Kyrgyzstan. Photo © Galya Morrell

Angaangaq is an Eskimo-Kalaallit Elder whose family belongs to the traditional healers of the Far North from Kalaallit Nunaat, Greenland. His name means “The Man Who Looks Like His Uncle”. Angaangaq bridges the boundaries of cultures and faiths in people young and old. His work has taken him to five continents and over 40 countries around the world including South Africa, North America, South America, Asia, Arctic Europe, and Siberia. He has represented the Arctic peoples in the United Nations General Assembly, and spoken before governments, politicians and international origanizations a wide range of issues, including the impact of climate change on the indigenous peoples of the arctic region. As a traditional healer, storyteller and carrier of a Qilaut (drum), Angaangaq helps to resolve intra-familial and tribal/community disputes through the use of talking circles.

Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq, shaman, healer, storyteller and carrier of the Qilaut . Photo © Sven Nieder

Piita Irniq. Inuk extraordinaire. He was born in an igloo and lived there till he was 11 years old. A hunter. A teacher. An artist. A politician. One of the founders of Nunavut. Protector of Inuit culture. He creates bridges where there are none. And he gives hope when none is left. He helps us to reinvent ourselves and to move forward. Piita served as the second Commissioner of Nunavut from April 2000 to April 2005. As an artist, Piita Irniq works in many different mediums – bone, stone, skin and pencil. But with one medium he achieves results that no one else can. It’s us – humans. When we lose our integrity and turn into sand, he rebuilds us – giving us a new shape and a new life.

Piita Irniq. Inuk Extraoridinaire. Photo © 2014 Galya Morrell

Judith Varney Burch, an Inuit Art Expert, is a co-founder and director of Arctic Culture Forum. A collector, a story-teller, an educator and a bridge-builder. Her passion for the Arctic has no rivals. She incessantly travels the world – from Alaska to Nunavut, from Siberia to Mongolia – trying to connect people through art and keep old traditions alive. She also serves as a Research Collaborator for the Smithsonian and is an honorary board member of the NACA – Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association. When she is not curating an exhibition, lecturing at universities and museum all over the globe or visiting the Arctic, she can be found at her gallery, Arctic Inuit Art, in Virginia. If anyone can address the evolution of Inuit art and culture over the past 25 years, it’s Judith.

Judith Varney Burch. Collector, educator, Inuit Art Specialist. Photo: courtesy Judith Varney Burch Archive.

Olga Letykai. She was born in a small settlement of Enmelen, Chukotka, and still lives there. An artist, a throat-singer, a composer, a scientist, an activist, and a politician. No matter which role she has to play, she stays who she is – the real woman of the Arctic. The real savage and the real aristocrat. Olga is a dreamer, but as much as she is a doer. She has talked and performed in front of the audiences in more than 40 countries inspiring people to remember their roots and live a better life than they do today.

Olga Letykai. Artist, throat-singer, activist, politician. Photo © 2013 Galya Morrell

Isabella Elyakova. For many years Izabella lived on the Pole of Cold in Yakutia – the coldest settlement in the Northern Hemisphere with average winter temperatures of – 58F, no running water or indoor toilets. She buried her husband, and then she lost her only son to the war in Chechnya. What to do? To fall in the mud? To drown the heart in alcohol? To go insane? To commit suicide? Instead, she became an artist. She walks along the infamous Road of Bones built by the prisoners of GULAG turning it into the Road of Life uniting people and giving them a Hope. “Feed the Light and don’t feed the Dark” – says Izabella. “That’s the responsibility of the Arctic Woman and the Arctic Artist.” Are any of you depressed this morning? Feeling hopeless and sorry for oneself? Then look at Isabella. Yakutia stands on women like her.

Izabella Elyakova, artist, educator and healer from Yakutia. Photo © 2012 Galya Morrell

Vlad Rintytegin. Winds are harsh in Chukotka. They can blow you off into the Tundra, and even further away. But some people can fly with the wind. This is Vlad Rintetegin. He is Chukotka’s Raven. He flies above the sea ice and below it – half-spirit, half-man. Vlad flies high. He can see the weather. He can see the future. We are asking him about ours. He tells us the story. You can ask him too if you want. Vlad flies high above the snow and ice of his native Chukotka, and his biggest dream is to connect all the people who live in the small isolated settlements around the Globe so that they don’t feel isolated or abandoned. He is a dancer, an educator, a healer and a bridge-builder. He works with the young generation carefully raising them in traditions of his ancestors trying to overcome the negative impacts of civilization and through cultural projects reduce the number of suicides among young people in his region.

Vlad Rintytegin. Traditional dancer, healer and educator from Chukotka. Photo © 2013 Galya Morrell

Avannaa’s Ambassadors are people of hope. “Live life to its fullest even when things get sour. Don’t give up if the tragedy strikes. Try to understand yourself – both in the light and in darkness. Laugh at yourself and help the neediest,” – their words. People on this picture have been through so much pain and sufferings – if only one only knew! And yet – they know how to survive in the harshest conditions on Earth, how to stay happy no matter what and lighten the world for others! Let’s learn from them and let’s be their friends!

Avannaa’s Ambassadors. Photo © 2012 Galya Morrell