The afflicted family of a Norwegian hiker who was found dead along the banks of the Hayes River is being welcomed by the communities of the first nations, hugging the family just when they welcomed their son when he began his Canadian trip two years ago.
The parents, sister and brother of Steffen Skjottelvik have been returning about their steps through northern Ontario and Manitoba, after their trip of almost 300 kilometers along the injured edge of Hudson Bay from Fort Severn, Ontario, to York Factory, Man.
Skjottelvik, 29, had planned to reach York Factory on foot with his two dogs on August 15 and was reported as missing when he never succeeded.
The search was directed by a Fort Severn First Nation team, headed by Angus thousands, who was Skjottelvik’s main contact during his final walk.
A helicopter pilot hired by Fort Severn found Skjottelvik’s body along the Hayes River on August 24. An autopsy confirmed that he drowned.
Look | The Norwegian hiker family meets the main search engine:
Steffen Skjottelvik’s family meets Fort Severn Point and the main search engine Angus thousands, who did not give up looking for the missing Trekker until Steffen’s body was found near York Factory in northern Manitoba.
Hundreds of community members gathered in Fort Severn on Saturday, aligning to meet Skjottelvik’s family and offer hugs, gifts and sentences.
Family spokesman Christian Dyresen said Skjottelvik spent a month in the community before leaving for York Factory.
“These meetings are really something special. Knowing the first nation, being received by the first nation in this emotional way, the fact that they took Steffen as one of his own makes it really special,” said Dyresen.
“We all feel that we are invited to something that is completely unknown,” he said, adding that the family feels inspired by the customs and traditions of the community, just like Skjottelvik had been for years.
CBC News has also communicated with Fort Severn First Nation to comment.
Look | Steffen Steffen Steffen Skjottelvik embraced in Fort Severn:
Fort Severn First Nation, who directed the search for Steffen Skjottelvik, greeted their family and celebrated their memory.
Dyresen said that Skjottelvik arrived in Peawanuck, a community in northern Ontario that is the home of the first nation of Weenusk, in the spring of 2023.
He was making a documentary about traveling in northern Canada on foot, Dyresen said, with the aim of finally arriving in Alaska.
Dyreson said Skjottelvik established a camp on the outskirts of Pewanuck, moving closer as he knew the members of the community. Finally, they welcomed him and he met a young woman who changed everything.
“I think he didn’t plan to fall in love … he really fell in love with a local girl here,” he said.
Her love for this young woman and the community that she is her gradually changed the approach of her documentary from her trip to the north to “her love for the first nation and this part of Canada,” Dyreson said.
Skjottelvik’s family met the young woman on Saturday and has been traveling with her on the footprints of her last trip since then.
“The family first met her and welcomed her as part of the family. That is also an emotional part of this trip, so that the family finally knows it,” Dyreson said. “She is now part of our group.”
When CBC News arrived in Dyreson in Gillam, man, on Sunday morning, they were about to board a helicopter to the York factory, guided by the same pilot who found him.
The group also planned to travel to Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge, the remote Northern Manitoba Lodge, where he was last seen alive.
A cameraman from the Noruega Nrk national broadcaster has been documenting the journey of the family of Oslo to York Factory while working to “comply with Steffen’s plan to make a documentary,” Dyreson said, adding that Skjottelvik had discussed the potential dangers of his trip with the group.
Skjottelvik had brought hours of recordings, which is believed to be damaged, with him on this last walk. He was filming out of York Factory, said Dyreson, and probably captured his final moments before trying to cross the Hayes.
He had covered about 295 kilometers of the 300 -kilometer walk depending on his last GPS coordinates, RCMP told CBC News shortly after his body was found a week ago.
His Togo dog, who was born on the family farm in Norway, was found on the other side of the river in York Factory, looking at the water for two days. The two Skjottelvik dogs survived and are currently in Peawanuck, Dyreson said.
“We believe we can count every part of Stephen’s trip,” said Dyreson.
“This documentary, of course, has now had a sad turn, but the family would like to keep telling its history.”
A large cross was erected on the riverbank in front of Fort Severn First Nation painted in the red, blue and white of the Norwegian flag. Dyreson said there are plans to place monuments on the places he visited.
The great deputy chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Anna Betty Achneepineskum, whose advice represents 49 nations of northern Ontario, including Fort Severn First Nation and Weenusk First Nation, said the hiker was deeply attended by the communities he found.
“I hope his family knows how people cared and his time spent in the communities of the first nation, people really took care of him,” said Achneepineskum.
“That is why they responded so fast when it disappeared and I hope that provides some comfort to the family,” he said.
Achneepineskum said the community members really appreciate that Skjottelvik’s family traveled to Peawanuck and Fort Severn to share stories and pain with those who met him.
“What we will recover is the tremendous love and the care that the first nations are showing,” said Dreson
The family will celebrate a funeral for Skjottelvik on Monday afternoon at Winnipeg.
