Author, adventurer.
Born at Durban on 24 April 1945, daughter of Wasyl and Frances Polon, she attended Durban School. She married at a young age and moved to Herchimer, south of Churchill, and had three daughters. She is best known for being the first and only woman to kayak the whole of the North West passage alone, between 1991 and 1994. She wrote a journal about those voyages entitled “Kabloona in a Yellow Kayak” that won Manitoba Book of the Year in 1996. Following her book launch, she traveled across Canada as a motivational speaker. Prior to her death at Winnipeg on 20 May 2000, she was working to bring more tourists to kayak in northern Canada. She is commemorated by Victoria Jason Park in Winnipeg.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Victoria Jason Park (255 Redonda Street, Winnipeg)
“Inuit relearn an old skill, get new idea,” Winnipeg Free Press, 15 September 1997, page A9.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 23 May 2000, page C10.
“Kabloona’s legacy deserves honour,” Winnipeg Free Press, Sunday 30 July 2000.
“No honour for the dead,” Winnipeg Free Press, Thursday 13 July 2000.
This page was prepared by Angela Graham and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 21 December 2014
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