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Across Arctic America: Narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition
Between 1921 and 1924, Knud Rasmussen led a small band of colleagues in a journey of investigation across the top of North America. The full scientific report of that 20,000-mile trek by dog sled from Greenland to Siberia, known to history as the Fifth Thule Expedition, fills ten volumes. This single volume, Across Arctic America, is Rasmussen's own reworking and condensation of his two-volume popular account written in Danish and gives the essence of his experience of the Arctic and its people.
It was the people who most captivated the Greenland-born Rasmussen, who had become a virtual adopted son to the Eskimos of the far northern district still known by the name of the trading post he established there, Thule. His first four Thule expeditions extended the limits of the known world in Greenland solely, but Rasmussen's Fifth Thule Expedition demonstrated the unity of the Eskimo world from the Atlantic Ocean to the Chukchi Sea, proving the people all shared the same basic language and culture.
As historian Terrence Cole notes in an introductory biography, "The intellectual and spiritual life of the people themselves were his primary interests, not simply geographical discovery, and thus even when following the tracks of previous explorers, he found uncharted territory. His basic principle was to first earn the trust of the local people by showing understanding and patience: living with the people and not apart from them, sharing their work and their food."
That was how Rasmussen approached the entire Arctic: he did not live apart from it, skimming over its surface like the fame-seeking polar explorers of the time such as Peary and Cook, but immersed himself in it so successfully that a Canadian Inuit elder once marveled that he was "the first white man [he had ever seen] who was also an Eskimo."
Of most significance to readers today, though, is that Rasmussen was also a noted writer. He wanted to share not just the observations he made but the feelings he experienced, and so in Across Arctic America he offered what fellow arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson described as "not only a work of literary charm but also one of the deepest and soundest interpretations" of Eskimo life ever put into a book.
This volume, published in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the completion of the Fifth Thule Expedition, includes an introduction by Classic Reprint Series editor Terrence Cole and an index.
It was the people who most captivated the Greenland-born Rasmussen, who had become a virtual adopted son to the Eskimos of the far northern district still known by the name of the trading post he established there, Thule. His first four Thule expeditions extended the limits of the known world in Greenland solely, but Rasmussen's Fifth Thule Expedition demonstrated the unity of the Eskimo world from the Atlantic Ocean to the Chukchi Sea, proving the people all shared the same basic language and culture.
As historian Terrence Cole notes in an introductory biography, "The intellectual and spiritual life of the people themselves were his primary interests, not simply geographical discovery, and thus even when following the tracks of previous explorers, he found uncharted territory. His basic principle was to first earn the trust of the local people by showing understanding and patience: living with the people and not apart from them, sharing their work and their food."
That was how Rasmussen approached the entire Arctic: he did not live apart from it, skimming over its surface like the fame-seeking polar explorers of the time such as Peary and Cook, but immersed himself in it so successfully that a Canadian Inuit elder once marveled that he was "the first white man [he had ever seen] who was also an Eskimo."
Of most significance to readers today, though, is that Rasmussen was also a noted writer. He wanted to share not just the observations he made but the feelings he experienced, and so in Across Arctic America he offered what fellow arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson described as "not only a work of literary charm but also one of the deepest and soundest interpretations" of Eskimo life ever put into a book.
This volume, published in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the completion of the Fifth Thule Expedition, includes an introduction by Classic Reprint Series editor Terrence Cole and an index.
415 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1932
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About the author
Knud Rasmussen
138 books31 followersKnud 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
March 26, 2015
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.”
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.”
August 29, 2025
En stor anbefaling herfra til dette på alle måder store og smukke fortælling om Knud Rasmussens møde for 100 år siden med Inuit på en slæderejse der over 3 år besøgte bopladser fra Grønland til Alaska. Næsten profetisk skriver han til slut:
“Inden mange år vil denne religion være en saga, og den hvide mand vil have nivelleret alt ud og underlagt sig alt, landene og menneskene, deres tanker, deres syn og deres tro.
Jeg føler mig lykkelig over, at det faldt i mit lod at gå fra boplads til boplads på en tid, hvor der endnu lå den store oprindelse over alle sind.
Derfor oplever vi også det vidunderlige, der ligger bag den kendsgerning, at vi på hele den vældige strækning fra Grønland og til Stillehavet ikke blot mødte et folk og et sprog, men også en kultur, som til alle tider vil komme til at stå som et eksempel på menneskelig sejhed, kraft og skønhed”.
“Inden mange år vil denne religion være en saga, og den hvide mand vil have nivelleret alt ud og underlagt sig alt, landene og menneskene, deres tanker, deres syn og deres tro.
Jeg føler mig lykkelig over, at det faldt i mit lod at gå fra boplads til boplads på en tid, hvor der endnu lå den store oprindelse over alle sind.
Derfor oplever vi også det vidunderlige, der ligger bag den kendsgerning, at vi på hele den vældige strækning fra Grønland og til Stillehavet ikke blot mødte et folk og et sprog, men også en kultur, som til alle tider vil komme til at stå som et eksempel på menneskelig sejhed, kraft og skønhed”.
April 29, 2016
A fast, accessible read. The narrative flows quickly and despite the book's size it is much less imposing from within.
The book is a summary by Knud Rasmussen, "the father of Eskimology", of his expedition across Arctic North America to document the 'Eskimo'. As such the book is more focused on the Inuit, their way of life, their customs, their myths and folklore, and their perspective on the world than it is about his expedition. Don't expect a riveting travelogue full of courageous exploration and heroic feats against long odds. This is a summary of an ambitious three-year long dogsled trip from Greenland to Siberia in 1921: but no new lands were being explored and no new records being set.
Instead of self-aggrandizement, Rasmussen's fascination with Inuit culture is the inspiration behind the book. Rasmussen himself was quarter Inuit through his mother and spoke Kalaallisut fluently, greatly aiding him in his ethnographic work amongst the Inuit he encountered.
In the book he writes about the wizards he befriended, the snow tunnel homes, their wars with the natives to the South, their hunting customs, their amulets and magic songs, the demographic challenges incurred by female infanticide, and the resourcefulness of a people perpetually on the verge of starvation.
Rasmussen's short book, more an exercise in humanism than academic anthropology, is full of wide-eyed wonder. In it he makes explicit the linguistic and cultural unity of the 34,000 odd Inuit people scattered in tiny bands--the final Stone Age remnant of humankind--across thousands of miles of some of the bleakest lands on Earth. His sympathetic portrait of a people includes superstitions, shamanism, and encroaching cultural assimilation.
The details of the journey itself are dealt with in almost summary fashion with most of the book's emphasis dedicated to notable observations of the people he meets and befriends. The first year or so of the expedition he is working in concert with other specialists in and around Hudson Bay. It isn't until after the first year that he sets off towards the vast Barren Lands to the West towards the Bering Strait with two Greenlanders, completing a two year odyssey across a prehistoric world undergoing rapid transformation.
The book is a summary by Knud Rasmussen, "the father of Eskimology", of his expedition across Arctic North America to document the 'Eskimo'. As such the book is more focused on the Inuit, their way of life, their customs, their myths and folklore, and their perspective on the world than it is about his expedition. Don't expect a riveting travelogue full of courageous exploration and heroic feats against long odds. This is a summary of an ambitious three-year long dogsled trip from Greenland to Siberia in 1921: but no new lands were being explored and no new records being set.
Instead of self-aggrandizement, Rasmussen's fascination with Inuit culture is the inspiration behind the book. Rasmussen himself was quarter Inuit through his mother and spoke Kalaallisut fluently, greatly aiding him in his ethnographic work amongst the Inuit he encountered.
In the book he writes about the wizards he befriended, the snow tunnel homes, their wars with the natives to the South, their hunting customs, their amulets and magic songs, the demographic challenges incurred by female infanticide, and the resourcefulness of a people perpetually on the verge of starvation.
Rasmussen's short book, more an exercise in humanism than academic anthropology, is full of wide-eyed wonder. In it he makes explicit the linguistic and cultural unity of the 34,000 odd Inuit people scattered in tiny bands--the final Stone Age remnant of humankind--across thousands of miles of some of the bleakest lands on Earth. His sympathetic portrait of a people includes superstitions, shamanism, and encroaching cultural assimilation.
The details of the journey itself are dealt with in almost summary fashion with most of the book's emphasis dedicated to notable observations of the people he meets and befriends. The first year or so of the expedition he is working in concert with other specialists in and around Hudson Bay. It isn't until after the first year that he sets off towards the vast Barren Lands to the West towards the Bering Strait with two Greenlanders, completing a two year odyssey across a prehistoric world undergoing rapid transformation.
August 10, 2018
"H'm, well," answered Netsit, "we don't really trouble ourselves so much about the meaning of a story, as long as it is amusing. It is only the white men who must always have reasons and meanings in everything. And that is why our elders always say we should treat white men as children who always want their own way. If they don't get it, they make no end of a fuss."
March 24, 2023
Niesamowite przeżycie, czytać słowa mające 100 lat (1924) opisujące świat takim, jakim autor go widział i co o nim myślał. Nie chodzi tu tylko o Inuitów, ale też o postać "białego człowieka", jego wyobrażenia o świecie i kulturę którą wytworzył, wyprzedzając resztę świata o milennia.
June 7, 2024
Długo mi to zajęło, ale bardzo się cieszę, że przecyztalam. Polecam, ciekawa:)
August 24, 2023
It may come as a surprise that literary genres do not last forever. Aside from books explaining how to use a particular operating system (helpful CD included!), or similar volumes which become obsolete because they exist in virtue of such rapidly changing phenomena as consumer electronics, one genre which simply seems to have gone out of vogue is the exploration narrative. Knud Rasmussen’s Across Arctic America: Narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition (1927) is a model of this genre par excellence. Indeed, the book may be best understood as the apogee of the exploration narrative, along with modernism, the 19th century, Rasmussen’s career, scientific racism, and a couple of other things.
Rasmussen was born in Greenland in 1879 to Christian, a Danish missionary and linguist, and Louise (nee Fleischer), a woman of both Greenlandic Inuit and Danish descent. He came to speak the Greenlandic Inuit language fluently, a skill which served him well on his seven expeditions across the arctic. Among other factoids, between 1898 and 1900, he attempted to work as an actor and an opera singer. After a brief stint as a journalist which took him to Sápmi, he returned to Greenland in 1902 and began his career as an explorer. He married Dagmar Andersen in 1908, who had been living in Uummannaq since 1903, a small town on the western coast of Greenland. Uummannaq would come to serve as the base for all of Rasmussen’s future expeditions, particularly after he co-founded a trading post (named Thule), which helped safeguard the Danish monopoly in Greenland. The expedition recounted in the book took place between 1921 and 1924, and was primarily aimed at doing ethnography (in European parlance, ethnology) in the circumpolar north in order to ascertain the prehistoric origins of the Inuit peoples. Among the information collected and highlighted over the course of the book are folklore, artifacts, and human remains. By all means, the Fifth Thule expedition propelled Rasmussen to fame in his day and solidified his place as a preeminent expert on the Inuit peoples.
So while Rasmussen wrote profusely, perhaps it makes sense why he is most readily available in the English language to a general audience via his Across Arctic America (translated from the Danish). Granted, Rasmussen is slightly better known in the Nordic countries and particularly in Denmark as something of a national hero. But why should one read this book, today, in the year 2023, a century since the expedition took place? Certainly not because great man-ism is something that needs to make a comeback. As is evidenced by the numerous racist, paternalist, and colonialist remarks scattered throughout his book, Rasmussen was no great man (no, not even after the apologia which you will doubtless find in the introduction to this book or in countless other descriptions of his life). There is no ambiguity in the fact that he viewed Inuit peoples as childlike anachronisms, soon to be "extinct," clinging to ways of being which were fundamentally of the past and which would inevitably be discarded as they progressed technologically and assimilated into white society. One should recall that the 1920s were the absolute height of the Eugenics movement, and while Rasmussen may not have been so extreme as to suggest immediate annexation and re-education of the Inuit peoples, the views he espouses in the book indicate that he was far from a passionate defender of traditional ways of life. Writing as someone who knew and understood that Denmark, Canada, the U.S.A., and the U.S.S.R. would soon have greater control upon the arctic, Rasmussen occasionally takes the role of policy advisor to provincial governors and lawmen. For example, after describing Inuit people's harsh living conditions in one chapter, he concludes that "the white man, though bringing certain perils in his train does nevertheless introduce a gentler code, and in many ways lightens the struggle for existence." While some Inuit people may disagree, I think you will find many more who believe that the bargain was not worth it.
On the subject of great man-ism, the entire framework by which we consider greatness has radically shifted since the book was written. The final line reads, "Nature is great; but man is greater still." I struggle to think of worse modernist hogwash than this. Perhaps engraved on a plaque at the bottom of a skyscraper? Or emblazoned in the constitution of a country that no longer exists? Nothing could ring more hollow when one pauses to think, just for a second, about the devastation wreaked upon the circumpolar north by anthropogenic climate change. That being said, it makes me sad to read people hail and laud this book as the accounts of a man who tirelessly fought the elements to travel more than 20,000 miles over the course of three years. What kind of an achievement is that anymore? More importantly, he collected stories, songs, poems, prayers, and more from a multitude of villages, ensuring that their voices would continue to be heard long into the future. Sure, buy this as a gift for your uncle if you're looking for the typical curio which will entertain and inform. But there are also serious lessons to be learned for those willing to look. Occasionally, Rasmussen's informants break through and speak to us, their humanity overcoming any fiddling on his part: "'H'm, well, answered Netsit, 'we don't really trouble ourselves so much about the meaning of a story, as long as it is amusing. It is only the white men who must always have reasons and meanings in everything. And that is why our elders always say we should treat white men as children who always want their own way. if they don't get it, they make no end of a fuss.'" These moments are the ones worth waiting for, and while they don't make the book a five star experience, they do say something about meaning and how we choose to make it or not make it (if that's something you care for).
Sources-
https://inuit.uqam.ca/en/person/rasmu...
March 20, 2022
Helt unik beskrivelse af et folk/mange folk som ikke findes længere. Af en kultur som ikke findes mere.
September 4, 2018
Rasmussen creates a fascinating portrait of the traditions and customs of the Inuit in this summary of his three year long trek across Arctic America. The size of this book raises the possibility it could suffer from repetitiveness or painstaking detail, interesting to only researchers or true Arctic enthusiasts. But Rasmussen's insightful observations and good humor lets the pages go by, and makes it accessible to an everyday reader.
His recordings and descriptions are often poetic and theory and science are given their place briefly as the sun blinds the eyes and the dogs race on to another village.
His admiration for the Inuit is very much worth noting and the pictures were also much appreciated.
His recordings and descriptions are often poetic and theory and science are given their place briefly as the sun blinds the eyes and the dogs race on to another village.
His admiration for the Inuit is very much worth noting and the pictures were also much appreciated.
June 26, 2019
Книга, описваща пътешествията на един датчанин сред различни ескимоски племена от Гренландия до Аляска. Разкрива техните вярвания, обичаи и начин на живот. Ценна е от историческа, антропологическа и етнографска гледна точка. Препоръчвам на всички, интересуващи се бита и културата на този народ.
March 16, 2024
Really refreshing to see a "white man's expedition" that doesn't go the way of cook et al. And the intro has it right- half poetry half anthropology, really a beautiful read.
February 21, 2023
Knud Rasmussen was remarkable in many ways. A practical organizer, detailed researcher, extreme sportsman, lover of culture, and excellent writer. Over 100 years ago he organized a team to study native peoples of the Arctic from Greenland through Siberia, in 5 stages called the Thule Expeditions. Realizing that Native culture was beginning to become subsumed by Europeans in Greenland, he and his team sought to catalog all of the Arctic tribes, learn about their language, customs, lifestyles, and spiritual beliefs, and finally to write about them in an effort to preserve their mostly Stone Age cultures.
His method was to go by dog sledge (often running alongside the sledge, which was loaded with provisions and documentation paraphernalia), and to live among the Natives. Across Arctic America is the account of what Rasmussen personally learned about native groups during this 4-year-long expedition from Baffin Bay through Siberia. Other team members pursued different routes to study other Arctic people and places for their own research purposes, and Rasmussen wisely let them publish their own research, or not, as they preferred.
Fluent in Greenlandic (Greenland Natives' language), surprisingly enough Rasmussen discovered that a similar language was spoken, with a few variations, all the way to the Alaskan west coast. He picked up on different regional dialects, and used them to expand his ability to communicate. He only occasionally remarked on the weather, a brutal climate that I can barely imagine, especially with long traveling long days. He was particularly interested in spiritual beliefs and folk tales. An excellent storyteller himself, he presented what could have been dry and statistical in a precise, lively, and caring way, embracing the idea that all cultures are equally valuable and desirable to preserve. This sentiment was decidedly uncommon in the US and throughout the world in the 1920s.
From his vast volumes of research, Rasmussen edited Across Arctic America perfectly. Occasionally he hints that there is more to tell, or that he chose one group that represented, more or less, several related groups. Each group is unique and interesting, and their story never gets boring or bogged down. On the contrary, the book kept me reading long into the night. Filled with historic photos and a few helpful maps, a little Native poetry, and direct conversations, this volume presents a delightfully unusual look at the world of 100 years ago.
Highly recommended for historians, outdoorsy types, Native culture advocates, armchair explorers, and readers interested in unusual lifestyles—of both Natives and explorers.
His method was to go by dog sledge (often running alongside the sledge, which was loaded with provisions and documentation paraphernalia), and to live among the Natives. Across Arctic America is the account of what Rasmussen personally learned about native groups during this 4-year-long expedition from Baffin Bay through Siberia. Other team members pursued different routes to study other Arctic people and places for their own research purposes, and Rasmussen wisely let them publish their own research, or not, as they preferred.
Fluent in Greenlandic (Greenland Natives' language), surprisingly enough Rasmussen discovered that a similar language was spoken, with a few variations, all the way to the Alaskan west coast. He picked up on different regional dialects, and used them to expand his ability to communicate. He only occasionally remarked on the weather, a brutal climate that I can barely imagine, especially with long traveling long days. He was particularly interested in spiritual beliefs and folk tales. An excellent storyteller himself, he presented what could have been dry and statistical in a precise, lively, and caring way, embracing the idea that all cultures are equally valuable and desirable to preserve. This sentiment was decidedly uncommon in the US and throughout the world in the 1920s.
From his vast volumes of research, Rasmussen edited Across Arctic America perfectly. Occasionally he hints that there is more to tell, or that he chose one group that represented, more or less, several related groups. Each group is unique and interesting, and their story never gets boring or bogged down. On the contrary, the book kept me reading long into the night. Filled with historic photos and a few helpful maps, a little Native poetry, and direct conversations, this volume presents a delightfully unusual look at the world of 100 years ago.
Highly recommended for historians, outdoorsy types, Native culture advocates, armchair explorers, and readers interested in unusual lifestyles—of both Natives and explorers.
September 2, 2009
Across Arctic America: Narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition is Rasmussen’s account of his 1921 expedition from Greenland to Siberia by dog sled. Or to be exact, his 1921-24 expedition, because this was an epic three year trip. They went a long way — 20,000 miles — but they certainly could have done it faster if it was one of those expeditions done for their own sake. Rather, this was a scholarly expedition; for the first year there were a large group of specialists in different disciplines based in Eastern Canada. Then Rasmussen set off with just two companions, Greenland Eskimos* called Miteq and Anarulunguaq, to continue his anthrolopogical investigations across the whole continent.
I went to quite a lot of trouble to get this book, but when I received it my heart sank a bit, because it’s huge, the kind of book you could club seals with. I imagined I would be trawling through dry, old-fashioned prose for weeks. Actually it’s an anti-Tardis book, smaller on the inside; it’s a reprint edition, and they’ve obviously enlarged the original print considerably and then surrounded it with lots of white space. It makes for quite a short 400 pages. And the narrative romps along at a very respectable pace; the scientific report of the Fifth Thule Expedition filled ten volumes (not all written by Rasmussen), and his popular account of the trip in Danish was two volumes, which he edited down considerably in translating it into a one-volume English version. So it’s not carrying any excess weight.
Rasmussen’s interest was in comparing the Eskimo cultures from his native Greenland and the various Eskimo groups of North America. I didn’t realise that there was such a cultural continuity across the whole region; Rasmussen’s first language was Greenlandic and he was able to talk with Eskimos all the way across Canada, until finally in one part of Alaska he found some with a dialect sufficiently different from his own that he required an interpreter.
Every wizard has a belt, which often plays a great part in his invocations of the spirits. I was fortunate enough to acquire one of these belts from a woman who was herself a witch doctor, named Kinalik. It consisted of an ordinary strap of hide on which were hung or strung the following items: a splinter from the stock of a gun worn in recognition of the fact that her initiation had taken place by means of visions of death; a piece of sinew thread, which had formerly been used to fasten tent poles with, and had on some occasion or other been used for a magic demonstration; a piece of ribbon from a packet of tobacco; a piece of an old cap formerly beginning to her brother — the brother was now dead, and was one of her helping spirits — a piece of white caribou skin, some plaited withies, a model of a canoe, a caribou’s tooth, a mitten and a scrap of sealskin. All these things possessed magnetic power, by virtue of their being given to her by persons who wished her well. Any gift conveys strength. It need not be great or costly in itself; the intrinsic value of the object is nothing, it is the thought which goes with it that gives strength.
Kinalik was still quite a young woman, very intelligent, kind-hearted, clean and good-looking, and spoke frankly, without reserve. Igjugarjuk was her brother-in-law, and had himself been her instructor in magic. Her own initiation had been severe; she was hung up to some tent poles planted in the snow and left there for five days. It was midwinter, with intense cold and frequent blizzards, but she did not feel the cold, for the spirit protected her. When the five days were at an end, she was taken down and carried into the house, and Igjugarjuk was invited to shoot her, in order that she might attain to intimacy with the supernatural by visions of death. The gun was to be loaded with real powder, but a stone was to be used instead of the leaden bullet, in order that she might still retain connection with earth. Igjugarjuk, in the presence of the assembled villagers, fired the shot, and Kinalik fell to the ground unconscious. On the following morning, just as Igjugarjuk was abou to bring her to life again, she awakened from the swoon unaided. Igjugarjuk asserted that he had shot her through the heart, and that the stone had afterwards been removed and was in the possession of her old mother.
The emphasis of the book is very much on the anthropology; there’s relatively little of the Boys’ Own adventure stuff about what it’s like to travel by dog sled across the Arctic — it’s there, but it’s not the point. He spends far more time talking about his interactions with the locals, relaying songs, folk stories and religious beliefs, talking about hunting techniques, building methods and clothing. All of which I found fascinating. He is keenly observant and clearly has a sympathy with the Eskimo. On the other hand, it’s amazing how much more careful we have become about the language we use in the past hundred years; Rasmussen is about as well-informed, sympathetic and enthusiastic an observer as any people could want, and yet by modern standards there are times when his phrasing comes across as mildly patronising and paternalistic. I don’t say that as a criticism of him, and I don’t imagine that a modern observer would necessarily be any less patronising in their real attitudes; I just think a modern writer would be very self-conscious about that risk and would bend over backwards to avoid any hint of it.
If all this anthropological stuff sounds a bit dry, well, I guess if it’s really not the kind of thing that interests you it might be. But Rasmussen writes well and has a sense of humour, as with this exchange, after he has been told a fable about the Fox and the Wolf:
This seemed an odd sort of ending, and I said as much. “What is it supposed to mean exactly?” I asked.
“H’m, well,” answered Netsit, “we don’t really trouble ourselves so much about the meaning of story, as long as it is amusing. It is only the white men who must always have reasons and meanings in everything. And that is why our elders always say we should treat white men as children who always want their own way. If they don’t get it, they make no end of a fuss.”
I left it at that.
Across Arctic America is my book from Greenland for the Read The World challenge. I found it absolutely fascinating; it offers a glimpse of a people living in quite extraordinarily harsh conditions at a time when many of them were largely untouched by the modern world.
I went to quite a lot of trouble to get this book, but when I received it my heart sank a bit, because it’s huge, the kind of book you could club seals with. I imagined I would be trawling through dry, old-fashioned prose for weeks. Actually it’s an anti-Tardis book, smaller on the inside; it’s a reprint edition, and they’ve obviously enlarged the original print considerably and then surrounded it with lots of white space. It makes for quite a short 400 pages. And the narrative romps along at a very respectable pace; the scientific report of the Fifth Thule Expedition filled ten volumes (not all written by Rasmussen), and his popular account of the trip in Danish was two volumes, which he edited down considerably in translating it into a one-volume English version. So it’s not carrying any excess weight.
Rasmussen’s interest was in comparing the Eskimo cultures from his native Greenland and the various Eskimo groups of North America. I didn’t realise that there was such a cultural continuity across the whole region; Rasmussen’s first language was Greenlandic and he was able to talk with Eskimos all the way across Canada, until finally in one part of Alaska he found some with a dialect sufficiently different from his own that he required an interpreter.
Every wizard has a belt, which often plays a great part in his invocations of the spirits. I was fortunate enough to acquire one of these belts from a woman who was herself a witch doctor, named Kinalik. It consisted of an ordinary strap of hide on which were hung or strung the following items: a splinter from the stock of a gun worn in recognition of the fact that her initiation had taken place by means of visions of death; a piece of sinew thread, which had formerly been used to fasten tent poles with, and had on some occasion or other been used for a magic demonstration; a piece of ribbon from a packet of tobacco; a piece of an old cap formerly beginning to her brother — the brother was now dead, and was one of her helping spirits — a piece of white caribou skin, some plaited withies, a model of a canoe, a caribou’s tooth, a mitten and a scrap of sealskin. All these things possessed magnetic power, by virtue of their being given to her by persons who wished her well. Any gift conveys strength. It need not be great or costly in itself; the intrinsic value of the object is nothing, it is the thought which goes with it that gives strength.
Kinalik was still quite a young woman, very intelligent, kind-hearted, clean and good-looking, and spoke frankly, without reserve. Igjugarjuk was her brother-in-law, and had himself been her instructor in magic. Her own initiation had been severe; she was hung up to some tent poles planted in the snow and left there for five days. It was midwinter, with intense cold and frequent blizzards, but she did not feel the cold, for the spirit protected her. When the five days were at an end, she was taken down and carried into the house, and Igjugarjuk was invited to shoot her, in order that she might attain to intimacy with the supernatural by visions of death. The gun was to be loaded with real powder, but a stone was to be used instead of the leaden bullet, in order that she might still retain connection with earth. Igjugarjuk, in the presence of the assembled villagers, fired the shot, and Kinalik fell to the ground unconscious. On the following morning, just as Igjugarjuk was abou to bring her to life again, she awakened from the swoon unaided. Igjugarjuk asserted that he had shot her through the heart, and that the stone had afterwards been removed and was in the possession of her old mother.
The emphasis of the book is very much on the anthropology; there’s relatively little of the Boys’ Own adventure stuff about what it’s like to travel by dog sled across the Arctic — it’s there, but it’s not the point. He spends far more time talking about his interactions with the locals, relaying songs, folk stories and religious beliefs, talking about hunting techniques, building methods and clothing. All of which I found fascinating. He is keenly observant and clearly has a sympathy with the Eskimo. On the other hand, it’s amazing how much more careful we have become about the language we use in the past hundred years; Rasmussen is about as well-informed, sympathetic and enthusiastic an observer as any people could want, and yet by modern standards there are times when his phrasing comes across as mildly patronising and paternalistic. I don’t say that as a criticism of him, and I don’t imagine that a modern observer would necessarily be any less patronising in their real attitudes; I just think a modern writer would be very self-conscious about that risk and would bend over backwards to avoid any hint of it.
If all this anthropological stuff sounds a bit dry, well, I guess if it’s really not the kind of thing that interests you it might be. But Rasmussen writes well and has a sense of humour, as with this exchange, after he has been told a fable about the Fox and the Wolf:
This seemed an odd sort of ending, and I said as much. “What is it supposed to mean exactly?” I asked.
“H’m, well,” answered Netsit, “we don’t really trouble ourselves so much about the meaning of story, as long as it is amusing. It is only the white men who must always have reasons and meanings in everything. And that is why our elders always say we should treat white men as children who always want their own way. If they don’t get it, they make no end of a fuss.”
I left it at that.
Across Arctic America is my book from Greenland for the Read The World challenge. I found it absolutely fascinating; it offers a glimpse of a people living in quite extraordinarily harsh conditions at a time when many of them were largely untouched by the modern world.
March 20, 2022
Virkelig en skuffende læseoplevelse. Det er jo en klassiker blandt rejse- og oplevelsesbøger. Og jeg var meget spændt på at læse Danmarks/Grønlands store polarforsker fortælle om sine rejser. Ikke mindst, fordi han også er berømmet for sit litterære virke, vitalisme - og Tom Kristensens heltedigt, da Rasmussen døde.
Men, men, men. Den Store Slæderejse kunne også hedde den lange og monotone læseoplevelse. Bogen omhandler den 5. Thule Ekspedition i årene 1921-24 fra Grønland, over arktisk Canada til Alaska og Beringsstrædet mod Sibirien. Formålet med rejsen var at indsamle viden om inuitterne (eller eskimoerne, som Rasmussen så uproblematisk og "uskyldigt" omtalte kulturen, da bogen blev skrevet - og Hansen Is polemikken endnu ikke var opstået i 2010'erne).
Bogen fortaber sig i små detaljer. Det kunne være sjovt og interessant i sig selv, men disse detaljer har det med at omhandle det samme om og om igen.
De bedste sekvenser i bogen er:
- Beskrivelsen af åndehulsfangst
- Overvejelser over, hvordan han får antropologiske genstande med hjem gennem forhandling og det etiske i denne gerning (skal man snyde dem, skal man give dem en god pris (og hvad vil det sige), og hvad får de ud af at jeg får det her med)
- Refleksioner over hjemve - at Rasmussen slet ikke har følt hjemve på selve rejsen, fordi det var umuligt at få kontakt med dem derhjemme, men at hjemveen så kommer, når han nærmer sig et sted, hvor det vil være muligt for ham at telegrafere hjem
Men, men, men. Den Store Slæderejse kunne også hedde den lange og monotone læseoplevelse. Bogen omhandler den 5. Thule Ekspedition i årene 1921-24 fra Grønland, over arktisk Canada til Alaska og Beringsstrædet mod Sibirien. Formålet med rejsen var at indsamle viden om inuitterne (eller eskimoerne, som Rasmussen så uproblematisk og "uskyldigt" omtalte kulturen, da bogen blev skrevet - og Hansen Is polemikken endnu ikke var opstået i 2010'erne).
Bogen fortaber sig i små detaljer. Det kunne være sjovt og interessant i sig selv, men disse detaljer har det med at omhandle det samme om og om igen.
De bedste sekvenser i bogen er:
- Beskrivelsen af åndehulsfangst
- Overvejelser over, hvordan han får antropologiske genstande med hjem gennem forhandling og det etiske i denne gerning (skal man snyde dem, skal man give dem en god pris (og hvad vil det sige), og hvad får de ud af at jeg får det her med)
- Refleksioner over hjemve - at Rasmussen slet ikke har følt hjemve på selve rejsen, fordi det var umuligt at få kontakt med dem derhjemme, men at hjemveen så kommer, når han nærmer sig et sted, hvor det vil være muligt for ham at telegrafere hjem
January 1, 2024
- 50 degrees Celsius temperature, blizzards, snow and ice everywhere. Hunting with primitive tools, face to face with the prey. Spear,harpoon, snow-knife, bow. Reindeer, seal, walrus, salmon. Blood, meat, liver, bones. Murder, hunting, death and survival. Traveling on sled drawn by dogs. Starving for days. Brutal struggle to stay alive. Eating fresh raw meat of the prey right after killing. 6 year olds hunting with success. Building igloo within an hour. Sleeping on ice-beds, being mesmerized by shaman performances. Dancing, singing together in the community Igloos. Swapping wife. Joy and laughter. Timelessness.
This is not a black metal album, but my short summary of this breath-taking book.
After reading Duncan Pryde's book (account of Eskimo life in the 1950-60 period)I immediately searched for other available book on the Inuits. This is how I found Knud Rasmussen's EPIC saga of his multi-year journey to the land of Inuits while collecting ethnographic material.
His book was written in the very last minute before western culture practically destroyed this ancient civilization, in the 1920s . While doing a breath-taking expedition on it's own via dog-sled through the Arctic, Rasmussen collected immeasurably valuable ethnographic matter on the life, habit, and tradition of Inuit people. I truly admire how these people were able to survive on top of the ice, and their life also give a unique idea about how people lived in the stone-age.
This is not a black metal album, but my short summary of this breath-taking book.
After reading Duncan Pryde's book (account of Eskimo life in the 1950-60 period)I immediately searched for other available book on the Inuits. This is how I found Knud Rasmussen's EPIC saga of his multi-year journey to the land of Inuits while collecting ethnographic material.
His book was written in the very last minute before western culture practically destroyed this ancient civilization, in the 1920s . While doing a breath-taking expedition on it's own via dog-sled through the Arctic, Rasmussen collected immeasurably valuable ethnographic matter on the life, habit, and tradition of Inuit people. I truly admire how these people were able to survive on top of the ice, and their life also give a unique idea about how people lived in the stone-age.
January 18, 2024
I read a lot of explorer's accounts, so I was interested in how this one might be different. It's interesting that Rasmussen does seem to respect the intellectual traditions of the Inuit much more than I've seen in other writings of this kind (although I've mostly read 17th century accounts of English and Algonquian encounters, so idk how good of a basis of comparison that may be). Rasmussen includes songs, poems and traditional stories and does not seem to consider these inferior to the literary traditions of Europe. When trying to acquire Inuit ornaments for his collection, he tries to argue within their spiritual framework for why it would be fine for him to take them rather than just stealing them. He seems uninterested in converting them to Christianity. However, his account is not altogether free of words like "primitive" and "barbaric," and it's clear he believes in a linear idea of civilization/progress and that he thinks Inuit society is not dynamic but is rather frozen in time.
June 16, 2022
The story of Knud Rasmussen and his entire team on The 5 Thule expedition, which is most known for being the longest sledge journey ever performed is fascinating and inspiring. It will take you from Greenland through Canada, The North West Passage, Alaska and finally on a short trip to Siberia. When you think of all the talents Knud Rasmussen mastered as a leader of this expedition you just end up feeling dumbfounded: glaciology, archeology, ethnography, arctic history, book writing, diplomacy and the handcraft of not only steering a sledge but also navigating it safely through one of the toughest and unforgiving places on earth. On top of that he is also a good and trustworthy friend for his colleagues. Wow.
This book is for you who wants an insight into the life of one of the big arctic explorers. This is combined with extraordinary tales of the Greenlandic Inuits way of living and how they managed to adapt to nature at it’s worst throughout thousands of years
This book is for you who wants an insight into the life of one of the big arctic explorers. This is combined with extraordinary tales of the Greenlandic Inuits way of living and how they managed to adapt to nature at it’s worst throughout thousands of years
August 5, 2022
Wielka podróż psim zaprzęgiem to doskonała lektura dla wszystkich osób zafascynowanych Daleką Północą i kulturą Inuitów. Można w niej znaleźć zarówno relacje z samej podróży - często w niezwykle trudnych, dramatycznych wręcz warunkach, jak i mnóstwo informacji na temat rdzennych mieszkańców arktycznych terenów. Są wśród nich ciekawostki na temat budowy igloo (jeśli ktoś się na tym zna, może je postawić w zaledwie pół godziny, co dla mnie wydaje się totalną abstrakcją, bo dłużej zajmowało mi w dzieciństwie ulepienie bałwana), inuickich zwyczajów oraz legend i podań. Zwłaszcza tych ostatnich można znaleźć tu naprawdę sporo.
Cała opinia:
http://www.kacikzksiazka.pl/2022/07/w...
Cała opinia:
http://www.kacikzksiazka.pl/2022/07/w...
January 21, 2023
Moja fascynacja odkrywaniem i badaniem terenów podbiegunowych ma się w najlepsze i tym razem padło na Knuda Rasmussena. Sam tytuł wiele już nam zdradza, ale doprecyzuję, że ten duński odkrywca i antropolog był pierwszym Europejczykiem, który przekroczył przejście Północno Zachodnie za pomocą sań zaprzężonych w psy. V ekspedycja Thule, którą odbył Rasmussen była więc duńską ekspedycją etnograficzną, odbyła się w latach 1921-1924, a grupa przebyła łącznie 32180 km.
Celem ekspedycji było poznanie zwyczajów różnych odłamów Eskimosów (tak, wiem - dziś Inuitów, ale dla płynności używam sformułowań autora 🙂) np. Eskimosów renowych, plemion znad zatoki Hudsona, Eskimosów foczych czy ludu piżmowołowego i to właśnie nie tyle sama ekspedycja, co Eskimosi są tu głównymi bohaterami. Ich codzienne życie, walka o byt, a także duchowość opisywane są z wielu różnych perspektyw i nie bez znaczenia jest tu fakt, że sam autor urodził się na Grenlandii, co mocno ułatwiło nie tylko porozumiewanie się, ale przede wszystkim było podstawą ogromnego zaufania jakim został on przez bohaterów swojej książki obdarzony. Bardzo szybko przestawali go oni traktować jak obcego i otwierali przed nim swoje domy, serca i dusze, a to przełożyło się na niezwykły portret ludzi, którzy – jak nawet sam autor zauważa w posłowiu – długo już nie przetrwają w takiej formie. Tym bardziej cieszy więc to, że w książce Rasmussena znajdziemy też sporo zdjęć dokumentujących tę wyprawę. I choć zdjęcia te są jedynie czarno – białe i nie zawsze w najlepszej jakości, to jednak fantastycznie obrazują to o czym autor pisze i faktycznie dają bardzo dobry wgląd w czasy, które już bez wątpienia przeminęły.
Jedyne, co mi w tej książce nieco przeszkadzało, to swego rodzaju romantyczno - naiwna maniera autora, aczkolwiek kompletnie nie zmienia to całościowego postrzegania tej książki, którą uważam za szalenie ciekawą i wartą poznania.
Celem ekspedycji było poznanie zwyczajów różnych odłamów Eskimosów (tak, wiem - dziś Inuitów, ale dla płynności używam sformułowań autora 🙂) np. Eskimosów renowych, plemion znad zatoki Hudsona, Eskimosów foczych czy ludu piżmowołowego i to właśnie nie tyle sama ekspedycja, co Eskimosi są tu głównymi bohaterami. Ich codzienne życie, walka o byt, a także duchowość opisywane są z wielu różnych perspektyw i nie bez znaczenia jest tu fakt, że sam autor urodził się na Grenlandii, co mocno ułatwiło nie tylko porozumiewanie się, ale przede wszystkim było podstawą ogromnego zaufania jakim został on przez bohaterów swojej książki obdarzony. Bardzo szybko przestawali go oni traktować jak obcego i otwierali przed nim swoje domy, serca i dusze, a to przełożyło się na niezwykły portret ludzi, którzy – jak nawet sam autor zauważa w posłowiu – długo już nie przetrwają w takiej formie. Tym bardziej cieszy więc to, że w książce Rasmussena znajdziemy też sporo zdjęć dokumentujących tę wyprawę. I choć zdjęcia te są jedynie czarno – białe i nie zawsze w najlepszej jakości, to jednak fantastycznie obrazują to o czym autor pisze i faktycznie dają bardzo dobry wgląd w czasy, które już bez wątpienia przeminęły.
Jedyne, co mi w tej książce nieco przeszkadzało, to swego rodzaju romantyczno - naiwna maniera autora, aczkolwiek kompletnie nie zmienia to całościowego postrzegania tej książki, którą uważam za szalenie ciekawą i wartą poznania.
May 5, 2019
I really enjoyed how Rasmussen tells the story like a narrative. It is not too bogged down with details that one feels lost, and Rasmusen delves into the livelihoods and mythos of the Arctic population.
December 4, 2021
Gripping read, I had a hard time putting this down. I also should have read this years ago. To the content, this was a deeply insightful work of ethnography, though in a way it also felt as if it was only glancing the surface. Either way, this is an essential book in the study of Arctic peoples.
January 28, 2024
Spændende fortælling, Rasmussen skriver virkelig godt. Rejselyst på C-format og den første bog jeg har grint højt af længe. Jeg har hørt The Minds of 99 "Det er Knud som er død - Live" 15+ gange i denne uge. Dog synes jeg bogen svinger meget i kvalitet, men når det er godt, er det rigtig godt.
July 24, 2025
Kultura eskimoska mnie bardzo zaciekawiła ale to w jaki sposób książka jest napisana nie pozwoliło mi cieszyć się w pełni lekturą. Momentami była nudna przez to że autor nie kreował żadnego napięcia i skakał w czasie więc z góry było wiadomo że wszystko dobrze poszło.
September 3, 2022
Værd at læse med antropologiske øjne
March 2, 2023
Północ to wciąż nie do końca odkryta kraina. Warto przeczytać jak wyglądało tam życie 100 lat temu.
October 30, 2024
Not much about the expedition itself, but about the people they met.
May 23, 2018
Bogen består groft sagt af tre ting: Historien om slæderejsen, beretning om eskimoernes og deres levevis og deres historier. Historien om slæderejsen bliver aldrig rigtig interessant eller spændende. Tværtimod er den nærmere baggrunden som binder resten sammen. Beskrivelsen af eskimoernes og deres levevis og hvordan de har tilpasse sig deres ekstreme omgivelser er spændende. Eskimoernes historier synes jeg ikke var så interessante. De var for underlige og brudstykke-agtige. Alt i alt var der for langt mellem guldkornene. Dertil – og det er ikke Knud Rasmussens fejl – var kortet bagerst i bogen så gnidret trykt, at man ikke kunne læse navnene.
May 18, 2019
Jeg havde forestillet mig en anden historie baseret på titlen. Efter min smag var der for mange sange og for mange historier og beskrivelser der gik igen. Når det er sagt så er jeg sikker på det er en vigtig bog i forhold til eskimoernes historie og det er godt den blev skrevet.
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