One hundred years ago, the expansion of the white world into
the Arctic was disrupting the traditional culture of the Eskimo people. Into the far north came guns, traders,
missionaries, educators, gold miners, and industrial hunting and fishing. Also, the diseases of civilization slammed
the wild people who had no resistance to them.
Eskimos seemed to be getting close to extinction.
Knud Rasmussen organized a scientific expedition to learn more
about the Eskimos before they disappeared forever. From 1921 to 1924, they traveled by dogsled
from Greenland to Siberia, covering about 20,000 miles (32,000 km). Rasmussen was born in Greenland, and Kalaallisut
was the first language he learned. He
was surprised to discover that the Eskimos of Alaska spoke a similar dialect,
and told similar stories, despite many centuries with no contact.
Rasmussen was not an arrogant bigot. He respected the natives, while also imagining
that modern science, religion, and technology was better. At every opportunity, he sought out the
elders, won their trust, and learned their stories, songs, and beliefs. Rasmussen published ten volumes of notes, and
then summarized his grand adventure in Across
Arctic America.
I’ve read several books about the Eskimos of Greenland,
learning of the endless challenges of Arctic survival. But the Greenlanders had it easy, compared to
the Eskimos of northern Canada who had no access to the sea, and a less
dependable food supply. These inland
people had neither blubber nor wood to use for fuel. They spent the long, terrifically cold
winters in unheated huts, dining on frozen meat. They lived primarily on caribou and salmon.
In the old days, their settlements were located along the
caribou migration routes. Men hunted
with bows and arrows, which required extreme patience, waiting for an animal to
(maybe) wander within range. Later, they
got guns, which could kill from a greater distance, making it much easier to
fill the freezer. In response, the
caribou abandoned their old routes, and went elsewhere. The hunters starved, and their settlements
became Arctic ruins. While one group
starved, another group several miles away might be feasting on abundant meat.
In Eskimo society, when daughters grew up, they married, and joined
their husband’s family. Sons, on the
other hand, had obligations to their parents.
Sons were the hunters and fishers, and more sons meant more security. “It is a general custom that old folk no
longer able to provide for themselves commit suicide by hanging.” Nobody wanted to be a burden on others.
Male infants were usually kept, and most females were killed,
except for those who were spoken for.
With the gift of a harpoon or pot, a marriage could be arranged for an
infant daughter. One family had 20
children — ten girls were killed, four sons died of disease, one son drowned,
leaving four sons and a daughter. The
mother was happy to have four sons, which would not have been the case if the
daughters had been kept. She had no
regrets. This was normal in their
culture.
Unfortunately, when the sons grew up, they discovered a grievous
shortage of potential brides. Polyandry
was common (marriages with multiple husbands), but these often generated
friction, resulting in an unlucky husband dying violently. No matter what a group did, overpopulation
was impossible, because the supply of food was finite. Starvation was very common, and there was no
shame in cannibalism.
The carrying capacity of the Arctic ecosystem was small, and
it varied from month to month. Each
group needed a huge territory. Warfare
was common in some places, even massacres.
Sometimes the expedition came across piles of human bones. Eskimos fought both Indians and other
Eskimos. It seems to me that the root
cause of violence is crowding; humans do not tend to be violent when they have
adequate space and food.
Modern consumers, who forage in vast climate controlled
shopping centers, might perceive the Eskimo way of life as being unpleasant and
undesirable. But, according to
Rasmussen, “they were not only cheerful, but healthy, knowing nothing of any
disease beyond the colds that come as a regular epidemic in spring and
autumn.” “A notable feature was their
lively good humor and careless, high-spirited manner.” The women worked very hard, but “they were
always happy and contended, with a ready laugh in return for any jest or kindly
word.” Eskimos perceived whites to be
uptight and coldly impersonal.
Rasmussen’s book contains many photographs of the wild people
he met along the way. I was spellbound
by some of the faces, which were gentle, radiant, and relaxed. Reading, writing, and arithmetic were unknown
to them. They had no roads, clocks, or
understanding of the outside world. I
imagine that the knowledge they possessed was mostly real, practical, and sane
— like a deep, clear stream. My mind
feels more like an enormous landfill.
As the expedition got into its homestretch, they passed
through gold mining communities, bubbles of prosperity for the lucky ones. Eskimos were drawn into the cash economy,
where they sold handicrafts and acquired sewing machines, kerosene lamps, and
cameras. Hunters were paid high prices
for skins, and they hunted “without any consideration for the future or their
old age.” Civilization makes people
crazy.
Rasmussen and his two Eskimo companions sailed to Seattle,
and then travelled to the skyscraper world of New York City. The book concludes with an exclamation by Anarulunguaq,
his girlfriend for the journey: “Nature is great; but man is greater still.” Would she have a different opinion today, as
man’s great imbalances are destabilizing the Arctic ecosystems, and the rest of
the planet, too?
Before sailing from Alaska, Rasmussen spent a few hours with
an angakoq (shaman) named Najagneq. He spoke about the great spirit called Sila. When Sila is happy, life is good. But when men abuse life, and feel no reverence
for their daily food, Sila communicates to man “by storm and snow and rain and
the fury of the sea; all the forces of nature that men fear.”
Rasmussen, Knud, Across
Arctic America — Narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition,
University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, 1999.
[Originally 1927]
