Nanook of the North

Tonight we watched a 1920s silent film about "Nanook." He was an Eskimo that worked with Robert Flaherty during his 1910-1916 explorations of the Arctic. Flaherty felt compelled to share his regard for Nanook and his culture. The film was black and white, but very well done for the 1920s. It had slides with text that described what was going on. These people's primal instinct was for food and shelter. The men wore seal skin jackets and polar bear pants. The women's amouti were made out of caribou fur, I think. They all wore seal skin boots that had to be chewed on in the morning so they would soften up. I'm sure glad I don't have to chew on Josh's boots in the morning before he puts them on! 

From snatching a white fox out of its hole, to spearing fish while lying on an ice floe, to sneaking up on a herd of walrus, Nanook's entire world depended on the food he could catch for his family. Sadly, he died of starvation while hunting for deer. This shows how dependent the first Inuit were on the land. A quick trip to the local Northmart was out of the question! We were impressed by the effectiveness of the tools they used: walrus ivory knives that cut through seal skin and hard packed snow, caribou bone and seal skin for the sled, polar bear fur for pants and stone for a pot. We also watched how they built igloos, complete with an ice window to let in the light. This film showed the raw struggle of human against animal in the fight to survive. It brought to life some of what Josh and I have been learning about the old Inuit culture. You can watch it too, on youtube at: Nanook of the North - Robert Flaherty The first three pictures below are ones that I found that are directly from the film. The fourth picture is the sunset we enjoyed as we looked over the bay.

I should also share the we ate our first caribou and arctic char while watching the movie. It was our first Arctic food from 'the land.' It was very tasty and I'm hoping there will be another open air meat market soon so we can buy some from the hunters here.

The movie poster.

Nanook's wife, Nyla. She carries her baby everywhere in her amouti.

Nanook and his men harpooned a 2 ton walrus and are fighting to pull the huge animal to shore, using the waves to help roll it in. A walrus are ferocious in water but helpless on land. This walrus didn't get to the water fast enough when the hunters struck. Walrus are a sign of good fortune.

ᓯᕿᓂᖅ ᓂᐱᔪᖅ

Sunset

                    ᓯᕿᓂᖅ ᓂᐱᔪᖅ

Sunset