Eskimo Life

by Fridtjof Nansen

Translated by William Archer. This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1893 edition by Longmans, Green, and Co., London and New York.

Genres: History, Travel, Nonfiction

398 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Best known for the Fram expedition, an attempt to reach the North Pole by using the natural drift of the polar ice in the ship Fram, carrying fuel and provisions for twelve men for five years.

Reviews

[Carra Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the digital edition and the great pity is that the original illustrations are not there. However the coloured photographs are absolutely beautiful and I find Nansen's insights delightful. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the life of the natives of Greenland from the bygone era as it is quite obvious that their lifestyle has changed significantly since this work has been written. Still I would imagine thst the insights and reflections on their life found in this work are presently invaluable as an almost time travel device to dip into a world and life style long lost to modernity. Nansen furthermore aknowledges the unfortunate effects of interaction of Europeans and Greenlanders and makes one very aware of how much damage the obsession with Christianisation has done to cultures which were magnificent in their own right.
I would suggest that people who find Victorian terminology in reference to non-Europeans offensive leave this book alone. However even if Nansen uses this terminology it does not mean his believed Greenlandians to be inferior to him. At least this is the impression I got.

[Gabs DiLiegro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read! I learned about Fridtjof Nansen at the Fram museum in Oslo. He was a scientist who was stranded for a winter in Greenland in 1888-89. In this book, he writes about his experience living with the Greenlanders, a study into their culture, how his perception of them changed, and how European missionaries were destroying the Greenlander’s culture and skills.

“But one winter, unfortunately, is far too short a time in which to attain a thorough knowledge of so peculiar a people, its civilization, and its ways of thought - that would require years of patient study… but it is scarcely possible to live for any time among these people without conceiving an affection for them - for that, one of winter is more than enough”

“Then came the Europeans. Without knowing or understanding the people or its requirements, they started from the assumption that it stood in need of improvement in every possible way, and consequently set to work to disturb and overturn the whole social order….The missionaries thought that they could make this wild, free people of hunters into a civilized Christian nation, without for a moment suspecting that at heart these people were in many respects more Christian than themselves and had put into practice the Christian doctrines of love and charity more fully than any Christian nation“

“European morality is in many respects of such doubtful value that we have scarcely the right to pose as judges. After all is said and done, it is possible that the most essential difference between our morality and that of the Eskimos is that with us the worst things take place behind the scenes, in partial or complete secrecy, and therefore produce all the more demoralizing effect, while among the Eskimos everything happens on the open stage”

“Greenlanders know nothing either of a God or a devil, believe neither in punishment nor in reward after this life, and yet they live virtuously none the less… morality to a great extent springs from and rests upon natural law and not religion”

[Cubex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a bit of a heartbreaker, because Nansen was documenting the Inuit at a time when their culture was being destroyed by European influence. He clearly had a deep love and respect for these people, and he had an unusually keen understanding of what was happening to them and what would probably happen to them in the future. His anger and despair come through even with his characteristically understated writing style.

Because the Eastern Greenlanders had been less affected by Danish missionary and commercial influence, he was just in time to carefully study some of the old folklore and material culture, which later literally saved his life, as related in Farthest North: Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship Fram, 1893-96, and of a Fifteen Months' Sleigh Journey, Vol. 1. So many other polar explorers died needlessly because they weren't willing to study aboriginal skills with the reverence that Nansen brought to it. For example, he found that Inuit clothing was a complete system from underwear to outerwear, and was not effective when mixed with European fabrics or cuts, but I think it was hard for other "civilized" explorers to believe that this "primitive" culture had a technology more sophisticated than their own.

Some of the highlights for me were the descriptions and illustrations of the highly refined Inuit hunting and fishing gear, the detailed accounts of their spirit world, and the rousing diatribe against missionary work and colonialism at the end of the book. A surprising part was the correlation of Inuit folklore with Scandinavian folklore, indicating that maybe the 10th century Norse colony that vanished (as related in The Greenlanders) may have been partially assimilated into the Inuit culture. Some of his other speculations about the origins of myths seem a little far-fetched, but are interesting nonetheless because they gather up so many mythologies from other times and places. All in all, it's an entertaining and informative book ending with a pessimistic prediction, which the epilogue provided by over a century of history sadly proves right.

[Ak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Läste den på Norska. Intressant att läsa en bok från 1891. Jag vet inte om min utgåva var bearbetad, men den kändes överraskande fräsch för att var mer än hundra år gammal. Nansen skriver om Eskimåerna på Grönland, han tar upp aspekter på hela deras liv. Som historia, utbredning, kultur, samhällsliv, ekonomi osv. Han använder sig både av skriftliga källor och sin erfarenhet.

Det intressanta för mig är att han tycks skriva boken som en kritik mot andra som skrivit om eskimåer och deras ociviliserade livsstil. Han kritiserar missionärer, och betraktar eskimåernas livsstil som förstörd. Enligt Nansen hade folket på Grönland ett hårt, men välanpassat liv med sin egen moral och kultur i harmoni med naturen, och civiliseringen och missionen har till större delen försämrat deras levnadsförhållanden. Nansen har inte ett "romantiskt" "den lycklige vilden" synsätt, utan ett naturvetenskaplig seende. Som: de hade en moral innan kristendomen kom som var nästan "socialistisk" till sin natur. Det var inte civiliserat i våra ögon men väl fungerande och moraliskt. Eller: Missionärerna ville att Grönländarna skulle bo i små familjeenheter och bli bofasta. Detta rubbade deras väl utprövade boende med bland annat större bostadshus på vintern och nomadiska tält/boenden på sommaren då husen antingen "luftades" eller övergavs. Boende året runt i små hus med dålig ventilation gav eskimåerna sämre hälsa. Moderna skjutvapen: kan tyckas bättre men det rubbade mångfalden på jaktbytet och mängden man sköt, inget gick till spillo tidigare och faunan återhämtade sig.
Det finns många sådana exempel i boken, och klassiska är att civilisationen också förde med sig nya sjukdomar, sprit, kaffe och tobak.

Jag kan ju inte mycket om inuiternas kultur, så jag vet inte om Nansens fakta stämmer. Men överlag tror jag att hans beskrivning av deras förhållande till naturen, jakt, kläder, och andra "konkreta" företeelser är mer riktiga än kapitlen om myter, religion och till viss del samhället. Jag har för mig att Nansen var ateist, och det märks dels i kritiken av missionärerna men också i kapitlen om myter, religion och inuiternas andliga ledare.


Nansen är hård mot sitt eget samhälle. Han kritiserar bland annat den hätska politiska och massmediala tonen.
Det blir extra starkt när man tänker på hur gammal boken är. Om man bortser från synen på kvinnor så är boken otroligt "nutida".

[A.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fascinating look at the 'Eskimo' of Greenland, at the end of the nineteenth century. Nansen's sympathy for these people is palpable, as he sees their culture being destroyed by Western influence, and particularly by missionaries hellbent on converting them to Christianity. Of course some of Nansen's phraseology and attitudes reflect the racism inherent in Victorian society, but he is a man with enormous empathy for these people. The first part of the book is a fascinating look into their culture and artefacts of living. The second part, dealing with 'Eskimo' religion and the effect of Christianisation and Western influence, I found a little more tedious, but no less important to read about. Nansen has little time for Western attitudes of superiority or for the assumption that Christianity is inherently better than the native religions.

Having read this soon after learning about Peary’s abhorrent treatment of the 'Eskimo', Nansen's attitudes are amazingly refreshing for the time.

[Ela Bělíková · Rating 3 out of 5]

Racism of 19th century combined with the anti-americanism of the czech edition is quite deadly

[Torgeir · Rating 2 out of 5]

read in norwegian

[Trey Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Swedish edition, 1985, bundled with "På Ski Över Grönland"

[Smath Sandy]

The book is almost like a camera or a recording device that does not keep anything without it ... Throughout each line of the book I think and I was present in that period of time or I live among these people
I wish this author had visited other places in the world