Monday, November 19, 2007
DAY 4: Culture
After buying our pricy goodies at the gift shop, we walked down to the bay for a cultural demonstration.
First, a Greenlander traditionally dressed, complete with sealskin boots and a drum made from polar bear stomach, performed a drum dance. Although most drum performances are now done for tourists, the drum is still considered to be a important part of the Greenlander culture. Drum dance was how their history and lore were passed down. This particular story is about a raven and goose that fall in love during the Greenland summer. When it's time for the geese to migrate, the raven decides to go with the goose. He will rest on the goose's back when breaks needed to be taken since ravens can't swim. But across the ocean, the goose remembers that the raven can't be trusted since his kind steal goose eggs and doesn't let the raven rest. The ravens eventually drowns. (Reminds me off the Silverstein boa constrictor poem).
Then another local demonstrated traditional spear fishing in a kayak. A kayak is especially made for the owner, based on the size and height of the person so that it is as balanced and watertight as possible.
As we walked from the airport to the village of Kulusuk, we could hear the yapping of the dogs. After a few minutes, we were able to walk up a hill near the cemetery to see the village in the distance... small, brightly painted houses.
The cemetery had lots of plain white crosses. There were no names on the grave markers because, although most of the Inuits had converted to Christianity in the last century, there was still some remnants of their "pagan" religion. One being that, a person is made of three parts: the spirit, the body, and the name. When someone dies, his spirit goes on, his body decays, but his name is still alive.
The village was pretty small; perhaps 30 houses. Most of the residents stayed inside, except for some children playing ball. The general store was similar to one in the Poconos, complete with a gun rack (except this one had lots of dried fish jerky). The gift shop was different though... you could take home a polar bear skull, seal skin, or do as we did and get a tinyhandcarved polar bear made from reindeer horn (and a bracelet made from sealskin and gut).
