November 10, 2013
The big ice is sick." These words, spoken by an old Inuit hunter, express what is happening to the Arctic. It is a dying land.
Ragnar Axelsson, storm, Ittoqqortoormit, from Last Days of the Arctic: Journeys with the Greenland Inuit.
Ragnar Axelsson travelled the austere landscape of remote Greenland and Canada by traditional dog sled, often crawling at 5 kilometres per hour at -40 °C. "You're fighting the cold and wind, just watching white ice over and over. It's a long time between some action." The temperature posed gruesome challenges, he recalls: "Your fingernails get loose when you're trying to open the camera."
The ice is now inaccessible for long periods, changing hunting seasons and methods. Its retreat has opened isolated villages to tourism, changing the aspirations of the younger population and saddening those who wish their traditional culture to persist. Combined with a decreased demand for hunting products, the changes are causing Inuit hunters to lose hope.
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