Intellectual Culture of Copper Eskimos (Thule Expedition, 5th, 1921-1924 : No 9)

by Knud Rasmussen

English, Danish (translation)

350 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1929

About the author

Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (1879–1933) was a Greenlandic/Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" and was the first European to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled. He remains well known in Greenland, Denmark and among Canadian Inuit.

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only 100 years ago, many Arctic cultures lived in the Stone Age. That is, no iron tools or agriculture. They subsisted by hunting on sea and land, living through bitter cold dark winters. Often they went hungry, but also shared meat and blubber from successful hunts with their communities. Division of labor followed gender. Girls, considered useless children who could not hunt, were often abandoned to the elements. Thus, adult men had to compete for the reduced female population, employing trickery, bigamy, and murder. Intellectual Culture of the Iglulik Eskimos explores the culture, mythology, spirituality, beliefs, and social structure of the Iglulik of Baffin Island, mostly through stories and folk tales.

So many fascinating aspects in this society. The taboos about eating or preparing caribou with seals and whales, and the many taboos about hunting and preparing walrus and polar bears. Woman giving birth alone in a separate snow hut, and remaining there during an “unclean” period. Folk tales about women marrying different animals, perhaps a metaphor for particular men. Ceremonies and wife-swapping games. The accurate drawings of caribou and strange illustrations of good and evil spirits. Cautionary tales about dangerous and necessary hunting far from home. The taboo against eating human flesh, and the occasional need to do so to survive. This stunning collection reveals a society and lifestyle that is hard to imagine these days, only 100 years later.

Rasmussen sought to document and preserve Iglulik culture, as he knew it would change rapidly as cultures from the south and east encroached. Having learned the language in his native Greenland, his translations are better than other sources. It’s obvious that he asked the right questions and was patient in getting the stories correct, to express the viewpoint of the Iglulik as accurately as possible.

Mostly the stories are unusual, from modern Western perspective. They create a picture of a society that is difficult to imagine, but worth contemplating. For example, the last very short story is about a newborn who flings itself on its mother, kills and eats her, and then kills itself. This message is hard to comprehend, but others are more understandable from our perspective. For example, the spirit made up of holes who speeds childbirth by showing the infant the ease and fascination of emerging into the world.

Read it if you, like me, have interest in history and all things Arctic.

[Ungala Panikpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

you have to read this