Roald Amundsen and the Northwest Passage -- College of Charleston Professor Conducts Field Research

I want to write basically an account of the Northwest Passage discovery. I was trying to enter the character in order to write about him and I read books about Amundsen and I was not satisfied. I thought there is something missing. We landed in a complete white plain and I felt like I was in a National Geographic documentary because it was surrounded by ice. I met with Pauli Kaluak who is the grandson of Ronald Amundsen. He immediately looked at the way I was dressed and he said to me, you look pretty but it doesn't work here. He just took me to his house, he undressed one of his sons and I put on the son's parka and boots and everything else. After that we immediately went to see all the major spots that connect with Amundsen's story. So I went with the hunters, I built an igloo. I didn't sleep in it because it was really atrociously cold but we built it and it was an interesting experience. It's amazing the skill that is involved. I've been trying also to learn a little bit the Inuktitut, the local language, even though it's hard. The sled they have is just a flat board. It was a different style from other parts of the Arctic and it just slides and sometimes actually you just have to run with the dogs because you know there are some uneven terrain. I think that Amundsen really learned when he was up in the Arctic. Not only did Ronald Amundsen learn a lot from the Inuit but the Inuit learned from him. It was a real exchange.