#I have a deep fascination with Inuit culture

[starwarmth]

do folks have a fascination with cultures and/or biomes that are so different than their own or is it just me

[bienvs3000w24]

Painting the Sky: The Beauty of the Northern Lights

Welcome back to my blog! This week I was so excited when I read the prompt as there are so many amazing things that excite me about nature. After taking some time to think I settled upon the phenomenon of the northern lights or aurora borealis!

Since I was a little kid, I have always been so fascinated with the northern lights, and it has always been something that my family and I would talk about going to see. As a young girl, my dad would constantly tell me and my sister stories of his childhood where he grew up in Deep River, Ontario. The northern lights are very common there, and he would often see them. Since then, this has become one of the top things on my bucket list. To be able to experience this beautiful aspect of nature with my family is something that I am excited to do! Luckily, we are starting to plan a trip to Deep River to go visit old friends and see where my dad grew up and of course, witness how these beautiful colours can paint the sky! 

The Aurora is initially created by the sun, specifically from the charged particles on the sun's surface which create solar winds (Bourdreau et al., 2023). These particles travel far through the cosmos and occasionally interact with the Earth's magnetic field in a region called the ionosphere (Bourdreau et al., 2023). In this sphere, the solar winds will interact with various particles like nitrogen and oxygen, creating the bright stripes of colour that glow and light up the sky (Bourdreau et al., 2023). As a science major, I find this information super interesting and wanted to share it. Almost everyone knows what the Northern Lights are but I feel like many don't know how they actually came to be.

I have conducted much research on this topic, specifically looking at how this natural phenomenon affects people and culture. One of my favorite aspects about this natural wonder is how people connect and interpret it. Scientists have been able to figure out how the northern lights occur, which I briefly explained above, however for me, sometimes the cultural explanations can be even more intriguing and beautiful. For many Indigenous communities that inhabit areas of Canada where these lights are commonly visible, they are represented in their spiritual, oral, and cultural traditions. In their eyes, the lights represent manifestations of spirits or their ancestors as they dance across the sky, telling tales of creation and existence (Fikowski, 2021). Similarly, the Inuit tribes believed that they could converse with their dead relatives and ancestors through the magic of the lights (Hurtigruten Group, 2023). Scandinavian folklore shares some similarities with the Indigenous peoples, however they also have their own take on the lights. The northern lights are thought to be the works of the supernatural, with some legends stating they represent pathways for gods to travel between their world and our mortal world (Hurtigruten Group, 2023). Some legends state that these lights represent something more evil, telling stories of the dangers they possess (Hurtigruten Group, 2023). It's so interesting how one aspect of nature can be interpreted so differently worldwide. To me, this is such a major aspect of nature interpretation. Being able to share your beliefs and stories with others offers new perspectives and strengthens the bonds people have not only with each other but with nature as well. By looking at these legends and belief systems we can learn many valuable lessons about the interconnectedness between the natural world and preservation of cultural heritage to be passed down to future generations (Beck et al., 2018). 

The next time you think of the Northern Lights or are lucky enough to have seen it, I want you to keep this in mind, and take a moment to reflect on the rich cultural traditions that are associated with this wonder. I really hope I get to see the Aurora Borealis with my own eyes soon!

References:

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage: For A Better World. Sagamore Publishing.

Boudreau, D., Turgeon, A., Sprout , E., & McDaniel, M. (2023). Aurora. National Geographic. 

Fikowski, T. (2021). “those are our ancestors in the sky:” sacred beliefs about the Northern Lights. CTV News: Calgary. https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/those-are-our-ancestors-in-the-sky-sacred-beliefs-about-the-northern-lights-1.5661211 

Hurtigruten Group. (2023). History of the Northern Lights: Myths and legends. Hurtigruten. 

Seedokmai, C. (2024). Northern lights appear as ribbons of green and purple light streaking across the sky and reflected in the water below. https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/k6okX2VVUg4qWoyxuNLsf7-1200-80.jpg.webp

[tlbodine]

The Wendigo is Not What You Think

There’s been a recent flurry of discussion surrounding the Wendigo -- what it is, how it appears in fiction, and whether non-Native creators should even be using it in their stories. This post is dedicated to @halfbloodlycan​, who brought the discourse to my attention. 

Once you begin teasing apart the modern depictions of this controversial monster, an interesting pattern emerges -- namely, that what pop culture generally thinks of as the “wendigo” is a figure and aesthetic that has almost nothing in common with its Native American roots...but a whole lot in common with European Folklore. 

What Is A Wendigo? 

The Algonquian Peoples, a cluster of tribes indigenous to the region of the Great Lakes and Eastern Seaboard of Canada and the northern U.S., are the origin of Wendigo mythology. For them, the Wendigo (also "windigo" or "Witigo" and similar variations) is a malevolent spirit. It is connected to winter by way of cold, desolation, and selfishness. It is a spirit of destruction and environmental decay. It is pure evil, and the kind of thing that people in the culture don't like to talk about openly for fear of inviting its attention.

Individual people can turn into the Wendigo (or be possessed by one, depending on the flavor of the story), sometimes through dreams or curses but most commonly through engaging in cannibalism. Considering the long, harsh winters in the region, it makes sense that the cultural mythology would address the cannibalism taboo.

For some, the possession of the Wendigo spirit is a very real thing, not just a story told around the campfire. So-called "wendigo psychosis" has been described as a "culture-bound" mental illness where an individual is overcome with a desire to eat people and the certainty that he or she has been possessed by a Wendigo or is turning into a Wendigo. Obviously, it was white people encountering the phenomenon who thought to call it "psychosis," and there's some debate surrounding the whole concept from a psychological, historical, and anthropological standpoint which I won't get into here -- but the important point here is that the Algonquian people take this very seriously. (1) (2)

(If you're interested in this angle, you might want to read about the history of Zhauwuno-geezhigo-gaubow (or Jack Fiddler), a shaman who was known as something of a Wendigo hunter. I'd also recommend the novel Bone White by Ronald Malfi as a pretty good example of how these themes can be explored without being too culturally appropriative or disrespectful.) 

Wendigo Depictions in Pop Culture

Show of hands: How many of you reading this right now first heard of the Wendigo in the Alvin Schwartz Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark book?

That certainly was my first encounter with the tale. It was one of my favorite stories in the book as a little kid. It tells about a rich man who goes hunting deep in the wilderness, where people rarely go. He finds a guide who desperately needs the money and agrees to go, but the guide is nervous throughout the night as the wind howls outside until he at last bursts outside and takes off running. His tracks can be found in the snow, farther and farther apart as though running at great speed before abruptly ending. The idea being that he was being dragged along by a wind-borne spirit that eventually picked him up and swept him away.

Schwartz references the story as a summer camp tale well-known in the Northeastern U.S., collected from a professor who heard it in the 1930s. He also credits Algernon Blackwood with writing a literary treatment of the tale -- and indeed, Blackwood's 1910 novella "The Wendigo" has been highly influential in the modern concept of the story.(3)  His Wendigo would even go on to find a place in Cthulhu Mythos thanks to August Derleth.

Never mind, of course, that no part of Blackwood's story has anything in common with the traditional Wendigo myth. It seems pretty obvious to me that he likely heard reference of a Northern monster called a "windigo," made a mental association with "wind," and came up with the monster for his story.

And so would begin a long history of white people re-imagining the sacred (and deeply frightening) folklore of Native people into...well, something else.

Through the intervening decades, adaptations show up in multiple places. Stephen King's Pet Sematary uses it as a possible explanation for the dark magic of the cemetery's resurrectionist powers. A yeti-like version appears as a monster in Marvel Comics to serve as a villain against the Hulk. Versions show up in popular TV shows like Supernatural and Hannibal. There's even, inexplicably, a Christmas episode of Duck Tales featuring a watered-down Wendigo.

Where Did The Antlered Zombie-Deer-Man Come From? 

In its native mythology, the Wendigo is sometimes described as a giant with a heart of ice. It is sometimes skeletal and emaciated, and sometimes deformed. It may be missing its lips and toes (like frostbite). (4)

So why, when most contemporary (white) people think of Wendigo, is the first image that comes to mind something like this?

Well...perhaps we can thank a filmmaker named Larry Fessenden, who appears to be the first person to popularize an antlered Wendigo monster. (5) His 2001 film (titled, creatively enough, Wendigo) very briefly features a sort of skeletal deer-monster. He’d re-visit the design concept in his 2006 film, The Last Winter. Reportedly, Fessenden was inspired by a story he’d heard in his childhood involving deer-monsters in the frozen north, which he connected in his mind to the Algernon Blackwood story. 

A very similar design would show up in the tabletop game Pathfinder, where the “zombie deer-man” aesthetic was fully developed and would go on to spawn all sorts of fan-art and imitation. (6) The Pathfinder variant does draw on actual Wendigo mythology -- tying it back to themes of privation, greed, and cannibalism -- but the design itself is completely removed from Native folklore. 

Interestingly, there are creatures in Native folklore that take the shape of deer-people -- the  ijiraq or tariaksuq, shape-shifting spirits that sometimes take on the shape of caribou and sometimes appear in Inuit art in the form of man-caribou hybrids (7). Frustratingly, the ijiraq are also part of Pathfinder, which can make it a bit hard to find authentic representations vs pop culture reimaginings. But it’s very possible that someone hearing vague stories of northern Native American tribes encountering evil deer-spirits could get attached to the Wendigo, despite the tribes in question being culturally distinct and living on opposite sides of the continent. 

That “wendigo” is such an easy word to say in English probably has a whole lot to do with why it gets appropriated so much, and why so many unrelated things get smashed in with it. 

I Love the Aesthetic But Don’t Want to Be Disrespectful, What Do I Do? 

Plundering folklore for creature design is a tried-and-true part of how art develops, and mythology has been re-interpreted and adapted countless times into new stories -- that’s how the whole mythology thing works. 

But when it comes to Native American mythology, it’s a good idea to apply a light touch. As I’ve talked about before, Native representation in modern media is severely lacking. Modern Native people are the survivors of centuries of literal and cultural genocide, and a good chunk of their heritage, language, and stories have been lost to history because white people forcibly indoctrinated Native children into assimilating. So when those stories get taken, poorly adapted, and sent back out into the public consciousness as make-believe movie monsters, it really is an act of erasure and violence, no matter the intentions of the person doing it. (8) 

So, like...maybe don’t do that? 

I won’t say that non-Native people can’t be interested in Wendigo stories or tell stories inspired by the myth. But if you’re going to do it, either do it respectfully and with a great deal of research to get it accurate...or use the inspiration to tell a different type of story that doesn’t directly appropriate or over-write the mythology (see above: my recommendation for Bone White). 

But if your real interest is in the “wendigocore” aesthetic -- an ancient and powerful forest protector, malevolent but fiercely protective of nature, imagery of deer and death and decay -- I have some good news: None of those things are really tied uniquely to Native American mythology, nor do they have anything in common with the real Wendigo. 

Where they do have a longstanding mythic framework? Europe.

Europeans have had a long-standing fascination with deer, goats, and horned/antlered forest figures. Mythology of white stags and wild hunts, deer as fairy cattle, Pan, Baphomet, Cernunnos, Herne the Hunter, Black Phillip and depictions of Satan -- the imagery shows up again and again throughout Greek, Roman, and British myth. (9)

Of course, some of these images and figures are themselves the product of cultural appropriation, ancient religions and deities stolen, plundered, demonized and erased by Christian influences. But their collective existence has been a part of “white” culture for centuries, and is probably a big part of the reason why the idea of a mysterious antlered forest-god has stuck so swiftly and firmly in our minds, going so far as to latch on to a very different myth. (Something similar has happened to modern Jersey Devil design interpretations. Deer skulls with their tangle of magnificent antlers are just too striking of a visual to resist). 

Seriously. There are so, so many deer-related myths throughout the world’s history -- if aesthetic is what you’re after, why limit yourself to an (inaccurate) Wendigo interpretation? (10) 

So here’s my action plan for you, fellow white person: 

Stop referring to anything with antlers as a Wendigo, especially when it’s very clearly meant to be its own thing (the Beast in Over the Garden Wall, Ainsworth in Magus Bride)

Stop “reimagining” the mythology of people whose culture has already been targeted by a systematic erasure and genocide

Come up with a new, easy-to-say, awesome name for “rotting deer man, spirit of the forest” and develop a mythology for it that doesn’t center on cannibalism 

We can handle that, right? 

This deep dive is supported by Ko-Fi donations. If you’d like to see more content, please drop a tip in my tip jar.  Ko-fi.com/A57355UN

NOTES: 

1 - https://io9.gizmodo.com/wendigo-psychosis-the-probably-fake-disease-that-turns-5946814

2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo#Wendigo_psychosis

3 - https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10897/10897-h/10897-h.htm

4 - https://www.legendsofamerica.com/mn-wendigo/

5- https://www.reddit.com/r/Cryptozoology/comments/8wu2nq/wendigo_brief_history_of_the_modern_antlers_and/

6 - https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Wendigo

7 - https://www.mythicalcreaturescatalogue.com/single-post/2017/12/06/Ijiraq

8 - https://www.backstoryradio.org/blog/the-mythology-and-misrepresentation-of-the-windigo/

9 - https://www.terriwindling.com/blog/2014/12/the-folklore-of-goats.html

10 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_in_mythology

[tshepiso-reads-books]

Cinnamon Rolls Falling In Love | East by Edith Pattou

Started: April 1st, 2020

Finished: April 2nd, 2020

East was the bookish manifestation of a warm hug on a cold night. I almost instantly fell in love with the world and characters of this story and adored the time I spent reading it.

East is a retelling of the Norwegian fairy tale ‘East of the Sun West of the Moon’. It’s the story of a girl who gets taken away by a magical White Bear to live in his castle for a year in exchange for the return of her family’s health and prosperity. A wonderfully charming romance ensues.

East has a very strong focus on familial bonds and the story actually follows the perspective of Rose our protagonist, her brother Neddy and her father. I adore fairytale retellings that depict loving families and East offers that in spades. We see time and time again in this book the lengths every member of Rose’s family would go to to protect each other. The intensity of the love in this family was beautiful and truly comforting.

While I wouldn’t call this book a straight-up romance a lot of time is spent on Rose and the White Bear’s relationship and I adored every minute of it. These two have a very slow burn romance filled with quiet moments of understanding. The build-up from strangers to companions to lovers was absolutely amazing because Rose and the White Bear were filled with so much kindness and compassion for each other. While I understand the appeal of enemies-to-lovers seeing two cinnamon rolls will always shatter me into a million pieces.

The Troll Queen was also an excellent antagonist in this novel. We see snippets of her perspective throughout the novel and they give us a deep understanding of her motivations. I always find stories with believable villains all the more satisfying and getting to understand the intricacies of the Troll Queen’s mind added a fascinating layer of depth to the novel. She truly viewed herself as the protagonist of her own story and her inability to see the cruelty of her horrific actions made her all the more terrifying.

More than just a romance East is an action-adventure travel story and the second half of this book is thrilling because of it. We see Rose going on a harrowing journey across the arctic tundra and the detail and description in Pattou’s writing brought the setting to life. If you ever want to feel bone-chillingly freezing I would highly recommend reading this book.

While this book was perfect for me I did have some concerns when it came to its depiction of Inuit characters. I will say there was an astounding amount of detail when it came to the depiction of Inuit culture. I can’t speak to its accuracy but certainly felt extremely well researched. My one problem with the storytelling was the prominent Inuit character Malmo was depicted as a stereotypical Magical Native American who existed solely to guide our white protagonist and teach her the ways of nature. I would like to say that I’m not the authority on Native American representation and Pattou seemed very respectful of Inuit culture, however, she did play into some very overplayed and uncomfortable tropes.

Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I had an absurdly wonderful time reading this story.  It was warm and comforting and exactly what I needed. I fell head over heel in love with the story and the amazing character within it and I’ll probably be reading ‘East of the Sun West of the Moon’ retellings until the end of time because no other fairy tale brings me as much pure joy as that one does.

[hangingfire]

Yuletide 2019 roundup

Pour one out for The Terror; it's passed 1000 fics on AO3 and so 2019 is probably the last year it'll be Yuletide-eligible. I contributed to this fact this year with two fics.

But meanwhile, I was gifted five, FIVE stories this year. Four of them are Untitled Goose Game fics. Clearly that game has touched a nerve. And one was an absolutely delightful and moving crossover between Iain M. Banks’s Culture novels ... and the Discworld.

Longer rec list to follow later (maybe; I say that every year and never remember to do a proper recs post, but this year I’m going to try to at least remember to bookmark my shit). Meantime, here’s my personal goodness.

First: my gifts.

Untitled Yuletide Fic by runicmagitek for hangingfire (Gen) Fandoms: Untitled Goose Game (Video Game), Dreamwidth - Fandom, AO3 Tags: Goose (Untitled Goose Game), Crack Crossover, Humor, Satire, Video Game Mechanics, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Internet, Literal Fanfic Problems, Yuletide was not actually harmed during the making of this fic, Yuletide Treat Summary: It's yet another lovely year for the Yuletide Exchange, and there's a horrible goose wandering the internet. Or: How the Goose Stole Yuletide. Words: 5,983 My notes: This is funny as hell, particularly for those of us who have been doing Yuletide for a while. Packed with meta jokes and fourth-wall humor, and all around a delight.

Picking Bodies by karanguni for hangingfire (Teen+) Fandoms: The Culture - Iain M. Banks, Discworld - Terry Pratchett Tags: Cheradenine Zakalwe, random guest appearances, Crossover, Beware small wrinkly bald men, Yuletide Treat Summary: Floating around in the deep near-void of space, shaped like a disc balanced precariously atop four volumes of ship, was the GNU Man In The Funny Black Hat. Words: 3,498 My notes: Funny story! When I saw a request to beta a Culture/Discworld crossover pop up on the YT Discord, I thought “oh hey, I am uniquely qualified to do this beta!” So I volunteered, but forgot to mention my AO3 name, and, well, long story short, I ended up beta’ing my own gift. (“Wow, it’s almost like this was written for ... me ... oh.”) It’s mildly mortifying for everyone involved but also funny, and honestly with a story this good, I can’t even be mad. I never would have thought to mix these two universes, but it’s done very well, and also is a fine tribute to Banks and Pratchett. (N.B. There is some suicidal ideation involved, but it’s well within the Banks canon range.)

Sunny Side Goose by neosaiyanangel for hangingfire (Gen) Fandoms: Untitled Goose Game (Video Game), Sunny Side Skies (Webcomic) Tags: Goose (Untitled Goose Game), Chase (Sunny Side Skies), Adam (Sunny Side Skies), Petty Inconvenience, Goose is Chaotic, Theft, Humor, Just a Goose Having Some Fun, Task Lists (Untitled Goose Game) Summary: To do: Steal coffee man’s marker Words: 1,295 My notes: I was completely unfamiliar with Sunny Side Skies, so I had to look it up before reading this fic. And the goose really does fit perfectly into that webcomic’s world.

Untitled Yuletide Fic: Madness Edition by runicmagitek for hangingfire (Gen) Fandoms: Untitled Goose Game (Video Game), Dreamwidth - Fandom, AO3 Tags: The Boy | The Wimp (Untitled Goose Game), Crack, Humor, Satire, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Internet, Even More Literal Fanfic Problems, Questionable Human Anatomy of Video Game Character(s), oh no I'm back on my bullshit, Sequel, that no one asked for, Yuletide was not actually harmed in the making of this fic, but the fate of this poor town is now questionable, Yuletide Treat. Summary: It's up for debate whether it's still another lovely year for the Yuletide Exchange, and you are wondering where the heck did everything go when the goose dropped it out of the internet. A companion piece/pseudo-sequel to Untitled Yuletide Fic Words: 958 My notes: If you liked the first one, you’ve obviously got to read this one too.

not on my watch by spoke for hangingfire (Gen) Fandoms: Untitled Goose Game (Video Game) Tags: Goose (Untitled Goose Game), stopping eldritch horrors that don't have the nerve to show their faces Words: 202 My notes: The townspeople don’t actually know how good they have it, and model villages are creepy.

And second: the stuff I wrote.

Hunger by hangingfire for fabulous_but_evil (Teen) Fandoms: The Terror (TV 2018) Tags: Harry D. S. Goodsir & Lady Silence | Silna, Harry D. S. Goodsir & Cornelius Hickey, Commander James Fitzjames & Harry D. S. Goodsir, Captain Francis Crozier/Commander James Fitzjames, Harry D. S. Goodsir, Commander James Fitzjames, Cornelius Hickey, Lady Silence | Silna, Off-screen Relationship(s), Historical Summary: A history of the desires of Harry Duncan Spens Goodsir. Words: 2,178 Director’s commentary: When I got my assignment, the first section basically wrote itself within an hour (and is, I confess, inspired by/ripped off from a thing MFK Fisher wrote about shrimp and corpses). The rest took ... longer. But it did all fall together eventually, and I’m actually very pleased with how it turned out, particularly with the ending. 

No More Reasons Not To Fall by hangingfire for theravenwrites (Teen) Fandoms: The Terror (TV 2018) Tags: Major Character Death, Harry D. S. Goodsir & Lady Silence | Silna, Lady Silence | Silna, Original Female Character(s), Off-screen Character Death, Inuit Character, Grief/Mourning, Wakes & Funerals, Archaeology, Misses Clause Challenge Summary: A team of archaeologists and an exile meet on an island, a hundred and seventy years apart. Words: 1,854 Director’s commentary: The recipient had a prompt involving future archaeologists within the universe of the show finding relics from the expedition. I’ve been fascinated with that sort of thing all my life (the issue of National Geographic about the dig at Herculaneum with the famous Ring Lady on the cover made a huge impression when I was a kid) and so that prompt just sent me running at speed. It was originally going to be another one of my fake-academic articles, but that fell apart fast (the only remainder is the last “Now” section), and instead I went with the two-timeline, parallel-story structure that you see now.

[stonyrubbish]

Words Run Amok

[Note: This is the first in a bit of branching out for this blog into something I had always intended to do with it; namely, interspersing various musings from my passion for linguistics. As you'll see, this interest often intersects in various ways with my other more esoteric interests.]

Language/Culture X has Y words for Z

Did you know the Eskimos "have 50 different words for snow"? You've no doubt heard it in any case (with the number, in a real life game of "telephone" gone wild, slowly increasing over time). I've never been clear on why this seems to be most well-known the example of vocabulary supposedly run amok. Of course, it's entirely incorrect on at least two levels.

To begin with, Eskimo is not only an inaccurate term but is now considered to be a bit on the pejorative side. Nor is it the case that generally more accurate terms, like Inuit and Yupik, should be substituted in an over-simplified search-and- replace; these are just the two best known groups of people who have inhabited the far north long enough to be considered native to the region. But this is not the main point I'm getting to.

If your culture places a particular value on highly nuanced variations of a common thing, your language will reflect this. Setting aside the tendency of Inuit and related languages to construct compound words whose length would bewilder even a German speaker, the resulting compounds can still generally be treated as variations on the root word (each component is itself a word or prefix of some kind, and understanding of the meaning of the whole can be gained from breaking it into and analyzing these components).

We do the same type of compounding in English, but it's just that the way our language combines different words and particles to create more complex words leaves them separate (thus forming phrases instead of new standalone words). Thus we can have fluffy snow, slushy snow, snow flurries, etc. as different "names" for snow even though we parse them as just the noun snow with clarifying adjectives. If English created compound words through lengthening, we could just as easily (given different turns of the quirks of language evolution), ended up with fluffsnow, slushysnow, flursnow, frozenskystuff, etc.

Now imagine a non-English speaker from a tropical island encountering this strange weather phenomenon that they are barely familiar with, and who doesn't know that snow can come in different 'kinds' like our manipulated examples -- they'd likely just claim that English has (at least) four words for snow.

[As an aside, I also think there is a subtle racial component to the "Eskimos have 50 words for snow" canard. Similarly to how much of 'ancient aliens' speculation amounts to an implication of "these 'primitive' brown-skinned people couldn't possibly have figured this out on their own!", the snow vocabulary issue carries an implication of "don't these silly people know they could just reuse a word and add adjectives like we do in 'sensible' English?"]

English (especially American English) has more words than I can count for car (or more generally, four-wheeled street vehicle). We have sedans, coupés, SUVs, RVs, convertibles, hatchbacks, sportscars, trucks, buses, compacts, limousines, clunkers, beetles, minivans, Fords, Porsches, etc. etc. etc. If you speak a language other than English, and have a frame of reference that either doesn't distinguish between or have an awareness of these varieties, you'd likely just translate them all as the lowest common denominator of 'car', 'vehicle', etc. After all, they each are types of passenger vehicles and if your primary motivation is just to get from point A to point B without having to walk, that description is sufficient enough. Languages use different names for distinctions their host cultures find meaningful, even when there is still a general category that captures the meaning sufficiently for many purposes; those distinctions are easily lost when a culture that doesn't place the same emphasis or awareness on those categories translates them into their own language.

[You could do the same example with computers (Apple, PC, tablet, mainframe, etc.), phones (mobile, landline, flip phone, iPhone, phablet, etc.), trees (oak, ash, birch, elm, yew, pine, cedar, etc.) or with virtually any common object where sometimes you need to make a specific enough distinction between its varieties that a different word, compound or not, is appropriate].

Translation Loss in Contextualizing Iceland Magic

This same translation problem, where essential meaning is lost if the translation simplifies into a 'lowest common denominator' word, pops up in two specific places in the study (and revitalization) of pre-Christian religion. My examples will draw primarily from northern Germanic studies, as that's where my familiarity lies.

In Old Icelandic, there are many different terms that are often homogenized in translation to words like 'magic' and 'witchcraft'. Non-magic using cultures tend to collapse all such terms into more broad and simplified ones, in part because they don't grok all the distinctions and so the terms are really just synonyms for each other (rather than retaining the importance they originally had that necessitated breaking the concepts into different words).

One operation is not the equivalent of another, and thus essential meaning is lost when replacing all words in the same category with a more generic gloss. Some Old Icelandic terms that are usually translated as merely 'magic' or 'witchcraft' include:

galdur - from the verb gala (the 'singing' of ravens, an animal closely connected with Óðinn). This is vocal/verbal magic, often involving runes. This is the most common specific type of magical practice mentioned in the Eddas and the sagas.

seidh - a form of ecstatic trance magic; a full discussion of its practice and etymology is beyond scope of this post

gandur - use of magical wand/staff (Tolkien borrowed from the Eddic poem Völuspá ("Prophecy of the Seeress") the dwarf name Gandalf ("wand elf") for his famous wizard)

fjölkynngi - means something like 'deeply skilled magic'. There's not much information available on the particulars of this form in existing sources of the period.

fornekja - The first part, forn, means "old" (e.g., as in Forni, "the old man/one", a byname of Óðinn). This is magic rooted in knowledge of the deep past (you must dig deeply into the roots of things in order to be fully transformed by them). The term is often translated into the generic (and thus mostly meaningless) gloss of 'witchcraft'.

Ignoring Nuance in Concepts of the Soul

The concept of the soul is greatly oversimplified in the Judeo-Christian-derived version we typically associate with it today.

The soulcraft of the Germanic peoples reveals far greater nuance, and a much better map for working with the concept. The Old Icelandic ideas and descriptions here are adapted from Edred Thorsson's The Nine Doors of Midgard, but are well documented especially in the Icelandic forms used here. (See also his master's thesis, published as Sigurdr: The Rites of Transformation, under his given name of Dr. Stephen E. Flowers).

There are at least eight parts of the body/soul complex in the old Icelandic phenomenology. These include:

hamr - the force that gives shape to objects, mutated by the individual human will

önd - the animating principle of the entire complex ("breath")

hugr and minni - the cognitive and reflective faculties (from the same roots as Óðinn's ravens Huginn and Muninn)

fylgja - the faculty for storing/transmitting individuality in a mysterious pattern throughout one's life (and beyond). Often visualized as a contra-sexual being, or an animal form

hamingja - usually translated as a person's innate 'luck', or the power to cause changes within the world

(Another meaningful breakdown, usually collapsed to the oversimplified concept of 'soul', is that of the ancient Egyptians: khat (body emanation), ren (name emanation), khabit (shadow emanation), ab (heart emanation), ba (core emanation), ka (transmigration emanation), sekhem (neter emanation), akh (star emanation). See Dr. Michael Aquino's Mindstar for a fuller explanation).

Languages are nearly infinitely flexible things. The way that vocabulary arises, especially for commonly used or encountered objects, is driven both by the rules of the language for creating new words that 'fit' within its phonology, and also by the distinctions that are considered meaningful. We shouldn't be any more surprised by the ways different languages collapse and combine elements to form new concepts than we should continue to be by the fascinating multiplicity of language itself.

[writingguardian]

Could you compile a list of about ten mythological monsters and/or legends that aren’t really mentioned nowadays? Nothing like Bloody Marry or Minotaurs, please, my brain wants a challenge XD ALSO! I wanted to thank you - you must put in a lot of effort into the blog and I really love all the little tips you give!

Thank you so much! Sorry that this has taken a while - full inbox here.

Rare mythical creatures and where to find them

1) Amarok (from Inuit mythology) –

“A fantastical giant wolf from the barren lands of the Arctic, the Amarok is said to hunt alone in contrast to the pack tendencies of its much smaller brethren. Many believe the legend of this lone wolf actually comes from real-time ecological periods when the untraveled deep woods were indeed populated by larger varieties of wolves (like the better known dire wolves). Some also draw parallels of this beast with the Waheela giant wolves that supposedly inhabited the northern parts of Canada.” 

2) Aqrabuamelu (from Sumerian mythology) –

The Aqrabuamelu or the Scorpion Men are mentioned in many myths written in the Akkadian language, with the most famous descriptions being in the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh. They were said to be guardians of the sun god Shamash, and were found around his abode at the Mashu mountains. In terms of portrayal, the Aqrabuamelu are described to have astronomical proportions, with their heads supposedly touching the sky and their mere glances resulting in death. However, they were also depicted as nominally benevolent beings who warned travelers of any danger in their future journeys.

3) Camazotz (from Mayan mythology) –

In terms of conventional zoology, all of the three known species of vampire bats are actually native to the New World. So, it really doesn’t come as a surprise that it is Mayan mythology that brings forth the legend of a mythical vampire creature. But the fascinating part is – the Camazotz’s legend does have many similarities to the well known vampire stories of the later eras. For example, the Camazotz has been described as a purely evil entity with the sole aim to cause terror. In fact, the legends pertain to the folkloric occasion when the Mayan Gods deliberately let loose the monster from its prison so as to destroy the entire race of Mayans – which would have made way for a new order of humans. This was supposedly done as a punishment to the existing civilization, when the people revolted against the bloodthirsty divine will that demanded human sacrifices in return for protection.

4) Erymanthian Boar (from Greek mythology) –

Greek Mythological traditions have brought us host of exalted creatures, including Kraken, Cyclops, Minotaur, Manticore and Fury. But the enormous one-ton Erymanthian Boar have seemed to elude pop-cultural references for quite some time now. Residing in the vicinity of the Mt. Erymanthus, the boar was fabled because of its sharp yet strong canine teeth that were used to gore and impale unfortunate victims who had mistakenly wondered to the ominous location. Oddly enough, the Erymanthian Boar was considered to be a repugnant form of the Greek god Apollo, who had changed himself into a monster to punish Adonis. But unfortunately for the ginormous creature, the demi-god Hercules successfully captured the boar – as outlined by one of his twelve heroic labors.

5. Baykok (Native American)

 A Baykok is a creature from Native American lore which states that a warrior who dies a dishonourable or shameful death (such as after committing fratricide) is not allowed to rest. The people wronged by the warrior will purposefully scatter his bones instead of giving him a proper burial. This means his spirit can never pass on.Baykok appear as emaciated skeletons with burning red eyes. They wear tattered remnants of the clothes they were wearing on death and their sole motivation is to kill people. The Baykok hunt humans by emitting a loud shrilling screech and then turn themselves invisible. Once their targets are paralysed with fear from the sound, the Baykok attack with their transparent arrows. Finally, with the target down, they finish the job with a large club. After this open up the victim’s chest and devour the liver within. Baykok also have the ability to fly.It is possible to reverse the curse of a Baykok by gathering up all of the previously scattered bones and giving them a proper burial.

SOURCES - 1 2

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I hope that five is enough for you, asker! But you can find even more at the brilliant sources listed above!

As always, if anybody has any writing related questions, feel free to message me, Aoife @writingguardian

[paleogenetica]

Capítulo 172 : Videos Esquimales nos ilustran remotamente a los Paleoindios iniciales

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Ver abajo en esta Página el famoso Video silencioso de “Nanook of the North” en Blanco y Negro de 1922.

Nosotros podemos ver en Youtube la Llegada del primer Hombre a la Luna. Fue un gran Paso para la Humanidad y la Cámara mostró la Huella en el Polvo Lunar.

Pero no hubo Cámara ni Video del primer Hombre que dejó su huella en América, en el Nuevo Mundo, o en Canadá o en los Estados Unidos debajo del Canadá.

Sin embargo podemos ver Videos de la Vida de los Esquimales o Eskimos en 1922, hace casi 100 Años. Era una Vida muy dura y valiente, eran muy esforzados, trabajadores, resistentes y resilientes. Sobrevivir era un Desafío muy grande.

En los Videos que he visto sobre Eskimos dicen que tenían que trabajar muchas Horas al Día para no perecer. Hoy en Día vemos Inuits o Eskimos hablando en Perfecto Inglés y con mucha Cultura, muy educados y razonables insertados en el Mundo Moderno. Van en Snowmobiles, en Carros con Llantas especiales, en Lanchas super rápidas y vuelan en Jets. Estas queridas Gentes no son el Objeto de nuestro Estudio.

Vamos a estudiar los Eskimos de principios del Siglo 20, hace mas de 100 Años. Dormían en Casas Iglús de Nieve y Hielo cuando iban de Cacería, mataban sobre todo Focas y Morsas y comían su Carne cruda. Puedes ver que eran unos Genios pescando tendidos sobre el Hielo.

También iban en grupos en Kayaks y en en los Botes grandes llamado Umiaks y cazaban Ballenas con Arpones. Las Focas y Morsas también se cazaban con Arpones y esto requería el Esfuerzo de varios Hombres, pues estos Mamíferos marinos tienen una Fuerza descomunal.

Yo reconozco que esto es muy imperfecto para ilustrar la Vida de los primeros PaleoSiberianos que se convirtieron en los primero PaleoIndios.

Hoy no existen los PaleoSiberianos ni los PaleoIndios, ya nadie tiene esa Genética que ellos tenían. Pero los Genetistas que hacen Exámenes en sus Laboratorios nos dicen que los Siberianos son mucho mas cercanos a los Indígenas de América que los Europeos o cualquier otra Raza o Etnia del Mundo.

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Creo no estar equivocado en pensar que los primeros PaleoIndios no aguantaron tanto Frío, Nieve y Hielo, ni Temperaturas tan bajas como las de la Fenomenal Película que puedes ver abajo. Y creo que eran muy inteligentes. De hecho los Eskimos me parecen inteligentísimos para sobrevivir. Solo la Inteligencia los ha preservado hasta nuestros Día.

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La Película silenciosa “Nanook of the North” me tiene asombrado por su Fuerza Maravillosa. Es lo mas próximo al Desafío que enfrentaron los primeros Americanos, los primero PaleoSiberianos que se convirtieron en PaleoIndios, probablemente viajando en Botes por el Extremo sur de Beringia y por las Islas del Pacífico NorteAmericano que pertenecen a Canadá y a Estados Unidos.

De acuerdo a Múltiples Artículos Científicos que yo referencio en este Blog de Paleogenética Paleoindios, Beringia en el Sur y las dichas Islas no estaban cubiertas de Hielo cuando llegaron los primeros Paleoindios entre 16,000 y 20,000 Años antes del Presente.

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Gary King vió el Video hace 3 Meses y comentó :

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This film was required viewing in my 3rd grade elementary school class in 1965 - Randolph AFB, San Antonio, Texas. I was fascinated by the depiction of a welcoming family living in such a rugged and forbidding world, yet seemingly oblivious to the challenges. It was just 'life as usual' to them it seemed. 

I think that the experience of seeing this film at such a young age helped steel me for life. Although it was a very forbiddingly raw picture to me at the time, it showed me that anything could be achieved if you were properly prepared and eager to move forward with a good plan. Positive and persistent motivation is key to accomplishing anything successful in life, and I have Nanook and his family to thank in helping me realize that so very long ago. I'm SO glad I found this unique gem online again! Thanks for sharing!

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Fotografía del Cineasta de Etnología y Antropología Esquimal Robert. E. Flaherty 1884-1951 :

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El primer Reality Show de la Historia :

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Robert Joseph Flaherty (Iron Mountain, Michigan, 16 de febrero de 1884 - Dummerston, Vermont, 23 de julio de 1951) fue un cineasta estadounidense que dirigió y produjo el primer documental (1922) de la historia del cine, Nanuk, el esquimal. También se conoce como el inventor de la docufiction.

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Biografía y carrera

Después de acabar sus estudios de ingeniería de minas, Flaherty comenzó a trabajar como explorador de minas de hierro para una compañía ferroviaria en la bahía de Hudson, Canadá. En 1913, en su tercera expedición a la zona, su jefe, sir William Mackenzie, le propuso filmar con una cámara la vida familiar de los oriundos de la zona. Flaherty comenzó a interesarse particularmente por los Inuit, y pasó un largo período filmándolos, hasta el punto de que llegó a desatender su verdadero trabajo (aunque tampoco importaba mucho porque quienes veían las grabaciones que Flaherty iba filmando le pedían imágenes nuevas).

Antes de comenzar la grabación de la película, Flaherty vivió con un Allakariallak (un hombre perteneciente a los Inuit) y con el resto de su familia durante varios meses. Las primeras grabaciones realizadas por Flaherty ardieron en un fuego provocado por una colilla del propio Flaherty, por lo que no le quedó más remedio que grabar de nuevo las imágenes. Con el tiempo el propio Flaherty admitió que en el fondo esto le había beneficiado porque los primeros metros de película nunca le habían llegado a gustar.

 Cuando comenzó a grabar de nuevo la película, Flaherty optó por preparar todo lo que iba a grabar, incluso el final, donde Allakariallak y su familia están, supuestamente, en riesgo de muerte si no encuentran o construyen un refugio lo antes posible, pero el iglú que aparece en las imágenes ya había sido construido, aunque solo por la mitad, para que Flaherty pudiera introducir la cámara en él y captar una buena imagen sobre cómo es el interior de un iglú.

Nanuk, el esquimal (Nanook of the North, 1922) tendría mucho éxito de público,1​ y Flaherty consiguió después un contrato con Paramount para realizar otro documental en la línea de Nanuk, por lo que Flaherty se fue a Samoa para grabar Moana (1926).

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https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_J._Flaherty

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Nanook of the North (1922)

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This is a high quality version of Robert Flaherty's documentary. I do not own the rights to the film, nor am I profiting from it. Like all American films from 1922, the picture entered the public domain in 1997.

"Nanook of the North (also known as Nanook of the North: A Story Of Life and Love In the Actual Arctic) is a 1922 American silent documentary film by Robert J. Flaherty, with elements of docudrama, at a time when the concept of separating films into documentary and drama did not yet exist.

In the tradition of what would later be called salvage ethnography, Flaherty captured the struggles of the Inuk man named Nanook and his family in the Canadian Arctic. The film has been incorrectly considered the first feature-length documentary. Some have criticized Flaherty for staging several sequences, but the film is generally viewed as standing "alone in its stark regard for the courage and ingenuity of its heroes."[

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El Video siguiente nos muestra que la Cultura Eskimo estaba basada en la Solidaridad, en la Unión y la Narrativa de Historias y Leyendas. Había mucho Respeto mágico religioso espiritual por la Naturaleza y los Animales.

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The Alaskan Native Culture - Never Alone (Culture Insights)

Lights Camera Jake

This video is all about the Alaskan Native Culture, captured from the game Never Alone.

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Tuktu- 9- The Magic Spear (Amazing Inuit skills at fishing and hunting by spear)

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Sharon Dwyer dijo hace dos Años :

This documentary took place in Kugarruk, Nunavut in the Canadian Arctic. The children you see are now grandparents. I grew up not far from Kugarruk in a Inuit settlement called Gjoa Haven. I have the utmost respect for my late mom & grandparents who lived this life, the hard traditional way. Sadly there are very few unilingual Inuit left, this is the last generation of an ancient culture that has died & it breaks my heart. They were very tough mentally & physically, much respect to my ancestors for I could never live such a tough & unforgiving life

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Tuktu- 4- The Snow Palace (How to build a REAL Inuit igloo)

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Learn about traditional Inuit culture from this fascinating series. This series documents cultural practices, skills, and values in Nunavut in northern Canada. Each episode focuses on a different topic, and does a good job of celebrating the skills and resourcefulness of the Inuit.

The territory of the Inuit (also called Eskimo, Inupiaq, Yupik, and other regional names) cover the northern and western regions of Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland. The Inuit continue to live in these areas and maintain many cultural traditions while also incorporating some modern technology into their culture as well. Inuit continue to have a deep respect and spiritual connection with the land and its resources

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HVideos 2 Years ago :

HVideos2 years agoThese people are incredibly strong and intelligent. It amazes me how they managed to thrive in such a harsh environment for so long and yet seem content.

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[themetestblooooooog]

The Terror Q&A — Paul Ready (Doctor Henry Goodsir)

Q: How much of this story did you know before being cast on the show? How much research did you do on the real Goodsir?

A: The whole world was new to me. Surprisingly I didn’t know anything about the expedition, which is really surprising, considering it’s a whole period of British history, but I suppose – because of what happened – it’s not something British history shouts about. I couldn’t believe that something so major in history was there and I was completely unaware of it. I realized what a big event this was and what a big disaster – still one of the biggest naval disasters, I think. I read the novel and then I did as much research as I could before we started.

Q: How deep did you go in deciding who Goodsir was as a real person or did you more want to stick to what was in the script and develop him as a character in your own mind?

A: I went as deep as I could because I think, for me, you gather all the information you can, as many angles as you can and then you choose what’s useful as you consider the character that’s written in the script. The script is ultimately where I have to start and finish. Little things like knowing that his father was in the medical profession was a big thing and that his brother was also in the medical profession and quite successful. It gave me little hints of what I might be able to use. Why were any of these people going on this expedition? Some were going out of necessity, for financial reasons. Other people were going for adventure and other people were going to make their name. I thought it was useful that part of Goodsir’s journey was, apart from adventure and curiosity, that he wanted to make his name as well. That’s useful to get on the ship, but then circumstances pretty quickly take over.

Q: Goodsir is a bit of an anomaly on this crew. How would you describe him and how he fits into the larger dynamic of the expedition?

A: He’s certainly an open-hearted soul and a curious individual – and that is what drives him, I think. His desire to understand different cultures, his desire to understand even the surgery he’s doing. He’s still an assistant surgeon. Back in the day, there wasn’t any formal training. You observed how surgery was done and you learned on the job. His inquisitive nature is at the heart of who he is, but he’s not just a good sir. Ambition is important. He doesn’t always follow the rules. He has to break them where he can, subtly. When his superiors are telling him that this is none of his business, to keep his nose out, he still continues to burrow and find out what he needs to find out. Even though he’s a good fellow, I’d say he doesn’t always play by the rules, and I think that’s important as well.

Q: What does Goodsir think of Dr. Stanley?

A: I think it’s very difficult [for Goodsir to work for Stanley]. Dr. Stanley is someone who blocks him at every turn, it seems. I think that’s why he’s found more of an ally in Dr. MacDonald on the Terror. I think he’s there to learn and he finds it very difficult to have this obstruction above him. As the voyage goes on, Goodsir becomes a little bit cheekier. There’s a part of one of the episodes where he starts to be cheekier towards Dr. Stanley, and I think that’s how Goodsir undermines that relationship.

Q: Goodsir has been up close and personal with the Tuunbaq twice already. How do those experiences affect him?

A: I think he is tied to science, but I think he is also open to wonder, open to the unknown and to the unimaginable. Dr. Stanley, from Goodsir’s point of view, doesn’t leave space for the unknown element in the world, but I think Goodsir is ready for it. Goodsir is ready to be surprised. Having said that, being faced with a creature that is terrifying and unlike anything he’s ever come across before – how does he cope with that? He’s obviously shaken to his bones by it. I mean, there’s no doubt about it. What I think gets him through that experience is his curiosity. He doesn’t know what it is. It’s terrifying to him. What can he do? He can study and see what creature it could have been. Is there any record of this creature? Is it a bear? His curiosity is the thing that gets him over his fear.

Q: Why do you think Goodsir becomes fascinated with Lady Silence and learning her language? What is he hoping to accomplish?

A: I don’t think he does things particularly to please his superiors. I think he’s doing things because he sincerely wants to know. At the time, going to the Arctic was like going to the moon and the people that lived in that culture were so foreign. I’m sure that Goodsir was projecting. In his imagination, he’d already projected so much on the Inuit people. I think this is his chance to discover something, perhaps to be the authority on, hopefully. I can imagine, in his dreams, he could become the authority on this culture, for example. Even though he’s a good man, there’s an ambition in there. There’s an ambition to really study the culture.

Q: When Crozier vows to take away Lady Silence’s protections, how does Goodsir feel?

A: I think he completely disagrees with Crozier in that moment. I also think, unlike many of the characters, I think he’s open to the guilt and shame of what it means to go into another culture. I think from very early on, in Episode 4, he’s talking about why they are there and looking for this Northwest Passage to open up trade routes – and it already starts to ring hollow. I think that he’s really affected by the way Lady Silence is treated by Hickey. He feels very protective and very guilty. I don’t think there’s romantic love. I think it’s more like a sibling love eventually, I would say, but he does feel protective of her.

Q: How does Goodsir feel when he sees Lady Silence has cut out her own tongue? Does he bear guilt of not being able to protect her?

A: I think he’s horrified by the moment, but of course he’s already seen an example of her father’s tongue being removed. I think when someone he cares for walks in the door and is covered in blood, I think he’s really worried for her and really horrified. I don’t know about guilt in that moment.

Q: Goodsir discovers that all of the men are at risk for lead poisoning but Dr. Stanley doesn’t care. Why do you think Goodsir doesn’t break rank immediately?

A: I think he was very careful before he went to anybody with his theory. When he sees the gums of Morphin, that’s when he starts to suspect something. He carefully studied Jacko. To a modern reading, I find it quite shocking for a caring character to be experimenting on Jacko. I mean, he obviously knew it was going to head towards death, but it’s a different time period. To our modern sensibility, I think it’s extremely cruel. So, when he goes to Dr. Stanley, he’s convinced because of the studies that he’s done. He expects Dr. Stanley to do something about it immediately, but I think as soon as [Stanley] says, “You don’t talk about it anymore,” I think he knows he’s going to go to somebody else with this information.

Q: What does Goodsir make of Stanley’s suicide?

A: I think he reacts with horror. I mean, he knew there was something deeply wrong, deeply depressed about this man, who seemed embittered by life, but I don’t think he ever expected that he would go this far to kill himself and put other people in danger. Also, he’s the main medic on the ship. I think it’s terrifying to him that, not only the act, but what he’s doing is putting the men in danger because he’s the guy with the experience and knowledge of the medical world, which Goodsir doesn’t have. I think in that moment, it explains everything about why Stanley didn’t particularly seem bothered about the information he was given and it explains everything about how he’d been acting for the whole trip.

Q: How do you think Goodsir will carry on now that he is officially the doctor for the expedition?

A: I think a moment as big as that is just too overwhelming. After the dust settles – well, actually the dust doesn’t have time to settle because by the end of the episode he obviously realizes that he is the only surviving medic. I think that is a moment of fate landing on him and feeling completely out of his depth.

Q: Which of the many terrors faced by the crew would you least like to face?

A: I’ve got to say I think there’d be a lot of things I would be afraid of. Initially, I imagine there would be some camaraderie among the men. So, I think facing a harsh, unknown environment – and it becomes very apparent very quickly that they might not have the tools to survive it. I think, faced with a harsh, unknown territory and land, I think I’d be quite unnerved by that.

Q: What was your favorite aspect of shooting the show?

A: For me, it was a really great shoot and a great experience. I won’t forget how – after doing all the research I’d done about the ships, about how Victorians lived, about the knowledge that they had of the Arctic or the polar regions at the time – I still won’t forget walking into the studio and seeing the ship for the first time. That was jaw-dropping for me and a bit emotional to finally arrive on set after all the working on my own — and to see this incredible, detailed replica where I’d be working for the next few months. That was pretty epic.

[travelworldnetwork]

Culture and coastline: Greenland. Photo: Michelle Valberg

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During the pre-cruise briefing for Adventure Canada's 15-day expedition to Greenland and Labrador in Newfoundland, expedition leader Jason Edmunds says we will sail more than 2000 nautical miles (3700 km), cross cultural borders and travel through bear territory – black and polar. He emphasises that the "intended itinerary" is just that – intended, and we should be prepared to expect the unexpected.

We're up at dawn for the flight from Toronto to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, a journey that should take about six hours, including a fuel stop at Baffin Island. Our First Air 737 is the first of the two charter planes to land at Iqaluit – a spectacular descent through sunlit clouds over white-cap dotted sea and snow-scattered mountains – but for technical reasons the aircraft is grounded for two and a half hours. No biggie, we're in a pretty remote spot and it's better to arrive late than not at all.

Cut to our arrival onboard Ocean Endeavour some 10 hours later. It's dark and we've now crossed the Davis Strait three times, having been unable to land at Kangerlussuaq first time around which meant a return to Iqaluit to wait for the second attempt. Emergency glasses of wine are dispensed to keep the mood boosted and it's certainly an early lesson in expecting the unexpected. But on the chilly Zodiac ride to the ship, the day's frustrations vanish in an instant when the sky comes alive with rolling, flashing green Northern Lights. Oh yes, this is a magnificent welcome to Greenland.

Kangaamiut village. Photo: Adventure Canada

We see a tiny sliver of the west coast of the world's biggest island over the next few days. It is the start of an eye-opening journey into Inuit country and cultures, over oceans and land masses covering boundless areas of icy, rocky wilderness. Seeing and hearing a glacier calving – the breaking off of ice chunks – on our first Zodiac excursion in Evighedsfjorden, "fiord of eternity", is as perfectly timed as last night's Northern Lights show and a magical start to our adventure.

Our first landing is at Kangaamiut, a tiny fishing village in the Qeqqata municipality. An Inuit woman greets us with a traditional drum dance, we listen to an eight-strong choir singing hauntingly beautiful songs in the packed local church and witness a seal flensing near the dock. Ocean Endeavour's onboard culturalists stress that this is not compulsory viewing but that sustainable seal hunting is a vital part of Inuit culture. Choice bits of liver and blubber are shared among the group of onlookers – locals and visitors alike – but I confess, I only go as far as observing.

Nuuk, where we spend a day before crossing the Davis Strait for the fourth time, is the northernmost capital in the world and is home to the acclaimed Greenland National Museum and the strikingly contemporary Katuaq Cultural Centre. .

There's a lot to take in, let alone learning how to pronounce the place names on our itinerary, but Adventure Canada's team of 30-plus expedition leaders, culturalists, scientists and photographers impart an impressive range of expert knowledge in lectures, presentations, workshops and on-shore excursions.

Renowned Canadian photographer Michelle Valberg is on board and as well as documenting the voyage, she plays an important role in Project North, a non-profit organisation that supplies sporting equipment to children in the Canadian Arctic. As we sail towards Nunavik (Inuit-governed territory that covers one-third of Quebec province), enthusiastic passengers join Valberg's packing party to put together ice-hockey kits that we later deliver to the community centre in Kangiqsualujjuaq village. It's cold and almost dark when we arrive but the reception we receive, and the hockey game played (hard) by locals and passengers, is enough to warm hearts for a long time to come.

The weather turns colder and wilder as we head towards Akpatok island, north of Kangiqsualujjuaq in Ungava Bay. There's ice on the ship's deck and 55-knot winds and rough seas are forecast. Captain Donael Soto keeps the ship in a holding pattern in the lee of the island until conditions permit the transit to Torngat Mountains National Park, on the Labrador Peninsula.

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Everyone is on deck as the ship enters Nachvak Fiord. Sunrise adds a surreal touch to this wildly beautiful terrain and as the ship approaches Ramah Bay, a polar bear alert is broadcast across the ship. I can't believe I'm actually seeing a polar bear in its own, lonely territory, let alone managing to capture images of it on my iPhone.

Black bears also roam these parts and armed crew members patrol landing areas. We see plenty of evidence of the bears' presence in berry-packed droppings but the few we spot are foraging on distant hillsides. Other wildlife sightings are frequent and thrilling: humpback whales, seals, minke whales at very close quarters from the Zodiac ride to Nain, and too many seabirds to list here. Apart from the peregrine falcon who made himself at home on the Zodiac racks one windy morning.

From the Torngat Mountains base camp at Saglek Fiord, as at other landings, we set off on hikes of varying degrees of difficulty. The landscape surrounding the easy route to a spectacular waterfall is like something out of a painting – cool, silvery light illuminates swathes of flaming crimson and gold Arctic berry patches among the snowy hills and lichen-covered rocks. Fitter passengers take a more challenging, four-hour ridge hike and later share photos of views even more sublime.

Two polar bears. Photo: Andrew Stewart

When Ocean Endeavour drops anchor in Nain, mayor Joe Dicker comes aboard to welcome us to his town, the administrative capital of Inuit-governed Nunatsiavut. He explains that missionaries from the protestant Moravian faith established a settlement here in 1771 and Nain's wooden church, rebuilt several times since then, is still well attended. There is a fascinating history of Moravian-Inuit brass bands and one of Nain's finest play us as we disembark.

Near the dock we meet Noah, a kayak instructor, in his workshop. He not only builds traditional Inuit kayaks but possibly knows even more about their heritage and use than author and explorer Jerry Kobalenko, a passionate paddler who presents great talks and films on the ship. This journey is a constant learning experience. Our next port of call, L'Anse aux Meadows on the Newfoundland coast, is the only known Viking settlement in Canada.

L'Anse aux Meadows is a World Heritage Site and the story of its discovery by Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad and his archeologist wife Anne Stine Ingstad in 1960 is as compelling as the place itself. A boardwalk trail takes you around the site where you can see original Norse dwellings dating back at least 1000 years and further along, enthusiastic actors dressed as Vikings demonstrate crafts such as blacksmithing and making bog-iron nails in cleverly re-created sod huts.

Torngat Mountains National Park, Greenland. Photo: Adventure Canada

This experience-packed voyage comes to an end in scenic St Johns, North America's oldest city. It takes days, weeks, to process priceless memories, some funny, some moving but most of all incredibly educational. Every morning, expedition leader Edmunds broadcasts a wake-up call in his rich, deep voice and one of my favourites is when he quotes from John Steinbeck: "A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it."

FIVE FACTS ABOUT ADVENTURE CANADA

FAMILY AFFAIR

Adventure Canada was founded in 1987 by Matthew Swan, his brother Bill and their friend Dave Freeze. Today, Matthew's daughters Cedar Swan and Alana Faber are CEO and VP Operations respectively, and son Matthew James is director of business development. Cedar's husband Jason Edmunds is an expedition leader, Alana's husband Brian Faber and Matthew James' partner Devon all work in the company. A family member travels on every voyage.

Karrat Fjord. Photo: Dennis Minty

DESTINATIONS

The Arctic, including the Northwest Passage; Atlantic Canada, including Greenland, Newfoundland and the St Lawrence River; Haida Gwaii in the Pacific Northwest; Antarctica; South and Central America; Ireland, Scotland and Iceland.

THE SHIPS

Greenlandic girl in window. Photo: Michelle Valberg

Adventure Canada charters the 198-passenger Ocean Endeavour for Arctic and Northern Europe voyages, 108-passenger Hebridean Sky in Antarctica, 12-passenger SV Island Solitude in British Columbia and south-east Alaska, 49-passenger MS Panorama in Costa Rica and the Panama Canal and the 46-passenger La Pinta in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.

EXPEDITION TEAM

Up to 30 experts and local guides accompany cruises. Local guides include indigenous leaders, musicians, artists and culturalists from the regions travelled in.

Zodiak ride, Greenland. Photo: Michelle Valberg

YOUNG EXPLORERS

As well as supporting several community projects, Adventure Canada runs the Young Explorers Program in conjunction with the Explorers Club. Participants are between 18 and 30 and join select expeditions to learn about the Arctic and contribute to the world's understanding of the region through their research.

TRIP NOTES

The writer was a guest of Cruise Traveller.

Ocean Endeavour. Photo: Michelle Valberg

MORE

traveller.com.au/greenland

adventurecanada.com

FLY

Air Canada flies daily non-stop to Vancouver from Brisbane and Sydney and up to four times a week from Melbourne. See aircanada.com

CRUISE

Adventure Canada's Greenland & Wild Labrador cruises depart September and October 2019 and 2020. Fares, including one night's accommodation in Toronto and flight from Toronto to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, from US$10,040 (2019) and US$9750 (2020). Phone 1800 507 777, see cruisetraveller.com.au

from traveller.com.au

[caveartfair]

These 5,000-Year-Old Sculptures Look Shockingly Similar to Modern Art

Marble female figure, 4500–4000 B.C.. Unknown Cycladic The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Torso-Profile, 1958. Hans Arp Art 1900

The profound influence of African art—especially masks—on pioneering 20th-century artists like Pablo Picasso, Constantin Brâncuși, and Amedeo Modigliani is well-documented. More recently, the fascination of figures such as Henry Moore and Josef and Anni Albers with pre-Columbian art and architecture has been explored in depth, adding a vibrant, new dimension to the study of modernism. Yet there is another significant ancient tradition that has been largely overlooked in the discourse surrounding the trajectory of the avant-garde: Cycladic art. Predating the ancient Greeks, the elegantly simple marble figurines that have been unearthed from burial sites along the Cyclades hail from the Neolithic and Bronze ages, and provide an astonishing link between prehistoric and Western art.

Not much is known about the civilization that inhabited the Cyclades, a cluster of islands at the center of the Aegean Sea. Rich in gold, silver, copper, obsidian, and marble, the islands’ natural resources enabled tremendous prosperity, and resulted in the flourishing of an enduringly unique strain of art that lasted from around 3200 B.C.E. until about 2300 B.C.E. Without a written tradition, these striking artifacts present the only evidence of this advanced early society, and their ambiguity has only served to heighten the impact of Cycladic art on the modern imagination.

Marble head from the figure of a woman, Early Cycladic II, 2700–2500 B.C.E. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Amedeo Modigliani, Head of a Woman, 1910/11. Courtesy of the National Gallery of

As scholar Pat Getz-Preziosi has written in her excellent introduction to the field, when 19th-century travelers to the Cyclades returned to Europe with “curious” marble figurines, or sigillaria, they “were at first considered primitive, in the pejorative sense of the word, ugly, and, at best, curiosities from the dim recesses of Greek prehistory.” These objects were dutifully displayed in ethnographic museums and widely reproduced in books. In the early 20th century, modern artists looking to break with European conventions rediscovered these objects, and they came “to be highly esteemed for their compelling combination of gleaming white marble and painstak­ing workmanship, for the calm force of their essential forms, and for the mystery that surrounds them,” writes Getz-Preziosi.

Somewhat ironically, the vogue for Cycladic art that arose with the avant-garde’s appreciation spurred an illegal traffic of artifacts that has only complicated the study of Cycladic culture. As a result of such looting, “many of the Cycladic art objects now in Western museums have no provenance or any description,” Getz-Preziosi explains. The historical significance of Cycladic art has been additionally convoluted by the proliferation of for­geries produced during the 1960s.

From a formal perspective, the link between Cycladic art and modern sculpture seems obvious: The abstract simplicity, highly stylized forms, and balanced proportions of the many white marble figurines and vessels unearthed from the Aegean islands clearly translate to well-known examples of today’s most famous sculptures. Compare the head from the figure of a woman, dating from 2700–2500 B.C.E., to Brâncuși’s graceful marble bust Sleeping Muse I from 1909–10, or Modigliani’s elongated Head of a Woman (1910–11), made around the same time. The most conspicuous similarity between the three women is their pronounced noses, long slivers that protrude from the center of each sculpture. The remaining facial features are barely delineated in Brâncuși and Modigliani’s works, and don’t appear at all in the Cycladic piece.

Sleeping Muse I, 1909-1910. Constantin Brâncuși Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Despite so little being known about the Cycladic period, modern artists took note of the direct, formal qualities of these works. This lack of historical context was certainly no hindrance; besides, most artists knew little to nothing about the African and South American cultures whose formal traditions they adopted. Modern artists didn’t necessarily need to know much about Cycladic art to borrow from its aesthetic handbook. In fact, their ignorance was paramount to the development of the abstract austerity that characterizes so much modern sculpture: It is known from traces of color preserved on various artifacts, for instance, that Cycladic artists decorated their sculptures with bright colors, just as the ancient Greeks did. Imagine if Brâncuși or Modigliani had known that the eyes and mouths on Cycladic busts most probably would have been painted in garish colors, rather than the gleaming, pearly precedent they may have admired.

It’s easy to draw other connections between Cycladic art and its modern counterparts. The presumed fertility function of many Cycladic artifacts—a substantial portion of all busts, torsos, and figurines are women, while the occasional male takes the form of music maker, wine bearer, hunter, or warrior—certainly inhabits the sensual sculptures of Hans Arp or Alexander Archipenko, albeit in a secular, rather than religious sense. Arp’s Torso-Kore (1958) seems to reference the archaic mode of Greek statue in its title, but in execution, it more closely resembles the elongated torsos of Cycladic figurines, their arms traditionally folded around their bellies. His Torso-Profile from the same year, on the other hand, with its tumescent metal flesh, looks more akin to the ample Venus from 4500–4000 B.C.E. in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ukrainian Archipenko’s Flat Torso (1914) and Woman Combing Her Hair (Femme debout) (1915), take a seductively graceful approach to the female form, the undulating curves of the bronze sculptures hinting at the female shape while never explicitly stating it.

Group of three figurines, early Spedos type, Keros-Syros culture, Early Cycladic II. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Family Group, 1945. Henry Moore Phillips

Despite clear formal connections, however, the study of modern artists’ relationship to so-called “primitive art” is further complicated by the dearth of documentary evidence linking specific examples that may have directly informed their work. The celebrated British artist Henry Moore, as Alan Wilkinson notes in his essay “Moore: A Modernist’s Primitivism,” openly recorded his admiration for prehistoric art from across continents, much of which he observed in the British Museum collection. Moore’s prolific notebook drawings from the 1920s illustrate African, Oceanic, Peruvian, Northwest Coast, and Inuit artifacts and sculpture, in addition to prehistoric Egyptian, Sumerian, and Cycladic examples. “In a number of instances,” Wilkinson observes, these drawings “reveal the exact sources in primitive art for specific sculptures.”

Take Moore’s Family Group (1948–49). The life-size bronze features a mother and father seated on a bench, their infant child lovingly held in the couple’s outstretched arms. Compare this minimally rendered trio with the strikingly similar group of three Cycladic figurines, held at the Badisches Landesmuseum. The couple’s sex and facial expressions are, like the persons in Family Group, barely delineated. This pair stands, rather than sits, in symmetry, but they similarly hold the smaller child figure aloft in their linked arms.

The smooth, unembellished treatment of Moore’s figures mimics the polished nature of Cycladic sculpture, and reflects the principle that unites his interest in ancient arts from across cultures, namely the fundamental virtue of “truth to material…one of the first principles of art so clearly seen in primitive work,” as he wrote in a 1941 article.

Attributed to the Bastis Master, Marble female figure, Early Cycladic II, 2600–2400 B.C.E. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Woman Combing Her Hair (Femme debout), 1914. Alexander Archipenko Nasher Sculpture Center

Yet far from a dogmatic adherence to material purity, Moore’s output, like many other modern artists of his time, incorporates “the exotic arts” as a means “of giving to his own work a broader and deeper meaning than his own immediate tradition afforded,” as Robert Goldwater wrote in his classic 1938 book, Primitivism in Modern Art. “Moore, like other artists…is suggesting that the primitive embodies certain fundamental characteristics which, far from being restricting because they are elementary, must be observed in order to achieve true freedom of expression.”

In short, the avant-garde retinue—Arp, Brâncuși, Modigliani, Moore, Picasso, Jacob Epstein, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Alberto Giacometti, Jacques Lipchitz, and Isamu Noguchi, among others—turned to the arts of foreign and ancient cultures in order to shake off the mores of Western visual tradition. Although the extent to which some of these artists were directly inspired by Cycladic sculpture remains unclear, the craze for these elegant, prehistoric artifacts around the turn of the century made an undeniably deep impression on visual culture. Many artists and historians have waxed poetic about the influence of “primitive” African and pre-Columbian art on modernism, but the formal similarities to Cycladic art are too striking to be ignored any longer.

from Artsy News

[musicmapglobal]

Interview: Untangling Zoë Mc Pherson's String Figures

Most people’s understanding of the string figure tradition starts and ends with the cat’s cradle, but Zoë Mc Pherson is not most people. The Brussels-based artist’s new project explores the history of string figures through an array of sonic and visual textures, and the result is a relentlessly future-facing vision that should see her mentioned alongside the likes of Actress, Holly Herndon and Gazelle Twin.

The germ of the String Figures concept came from Mc Pherson’s anthropological research into Inuit culture, with both original and archive throat-singing recordings resurfacing throughout the record. However, this was just a jumping off point; unpicking the many strands of String Figures is a deviously enjoyable challenge. The album threads itself through pulsating electronic and acoustic terrain, taking in everything from squalling saxophone drones to trotting Turkish field recordings via a series of dynamic rhythmic flourishes.

It’s a multi-media and multi-participant creation spanning anonymous samples, distant stories and Alessandra Leone’s continuing work developing an impressive visual aspect to the project. As Zoë Mc Pherson theorises, “Folk music is considered anonymous common property in a culture and that’s what a lot of computer music and other kinds of music data may end up becoming”. In this sense, it’s not hard to see why she sees String Figures as part of “an indigenous of the future” – rarely has ancient and modern culture been tethered together so tightly.

It’s a fascinating record to untangle, and Zoë Mc Pherson was kind enough to assist us via the following email exchange…

MusicMap: Your debut album was originally inspired by your research into Inuit culture. What led you to that field of study and how did it influence your music?

Zoë Mc Pherson: This obsession period about Inuit culture came when finding a book in my grandmothers’ boxes. I just dove into it, utilising the worldwideweb mostly. It is fascinating to read how it has evolved so fast, their “diet”, the seclusion they had to live through, forced into boarding schools, the way they were told not to pursue hunting, not to speak Inuktikut (ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ), etc.

Pretty f violent. I mean check out Tanya Tagaq’s twitter if you wanna know lots about what’s going on still today. I had honour to open up for her last year and interview her. The world needs ppl like her.

The hunting part I find fascinating. The animalism within it. The respect. Not like huge meat factories treating animals like shit and then eating it. Thanking the spirit of the animal to let them feed your family. This deep respect.

Yet nowadays, the big drinking problems, unemployment, food is extremely expensive. I have never been but spent ages online digging whatever I could find on this culture a few years back. It’s through this that I discovered the practice of String Figures, extremely beautiful and complex shapes. The stories around making string figures. And I found out, this practice happened all over the world, since ages. This human connection is there, even without being able to communicate.

Shapes ressemble each other sometimes, or are very particular, they represent animals and moments that belong to its context. From Polar bears to snakes, depending on where you live. I love this transmission aspect, from a grandmother to a little daughter, through the strings. Maybe this is actually the hidden theme of this debut.

At what point did you decide it would be an audio-visual album (and when can we expect to see the next episodes)?

I’ve always been into transmedia stuff. Performances cross media, audiovisual etc.

I met Alessandra Leone at a female:pressure meeting in Berlin two years back, when I was looking for a director to collab on my next album. She got hooked on strings too and we really clicked together on the whole project. It is very intense and amazing to work together because we’re both perfectionists, have similar aesthetic ideas, and don’t really stop working. She’s a powerful woman and artist.

Each track is a chapter – as we called it – as it is a video as well and is an audioviusal album all in one! We imagined this audiovisual album together with Alessandra, and commissioned pretty amazing visual artists, choreographers, costumes designers, DoP etc. We’re currently still working on forthcoming chapters! And of course live, we play an audiovisual show.

Next episodes will be out within the next days & months, we got some beautiful movements, improv, choreography, 3D and shots waiting for you. It’s super exciting and fulfilling.

String Figures features a range of field recordings from all over the world. Is there any particular ‘string’ that links them all? And which one brings back the most vivid memories?

I got this question many times 🙂 It’s funny. There’s no particular moment that would be so interesting to write down.

But for sure, it is a very “inner” activity, you’re in your own world (headphones), although listening to the outside world. It’s like disconnecting but connecting at the same time.

I find parts of the record unsettling, parts of it meditative and parts of it liberating, yet somehow it all feels cohesive. How did you achieve that and what do you hope listeners take away from the experience?

Haha well that’s great, happy to hear. I didn’t do anything on purpose, so not sure what to answer.

I’m already impressed by what people tell me from their listening experience. I honestly didn’t know it could touch other people and it makes me very very deeply happy that it is now a shared experience!

Mmh let me think further. I hope ppl get on a certain trip inside/outside, connect some points, let go, shake with some beats, stop and shake the other direction when another beat comes in maybe.

What was your first experience of playing music, and what music were you exposed to growing up?

Again.. haha!!! Played the fiddle, then played drums, looking forward to playing that again btw.

My mother is a singer songwriter and guitarist, she played a lot of Rhythm & Blues and Soul records. Let’s say Curtis Mayfield’s voice would be what brings me straight back to this comfy zone. I listened to a lot of Irish folk too, as Gillie collected songs and tunes back then in the ’60s in Ireland.

How does performing your new material compare to your experiences playing jazz?

Performing is awesome, we play as a duo with amazing percussionist Falk Schrauwen. We’ve worked hard to make an interesting live [show], mixing organic and electronic sounds. Take into account the live aspect of electronic music, as well as being able to be free, and improvise as much as possible.

I do still have a link with Jazz though, here through saxophone player Sam Comerford who I invited on my first EP and this LP to perform on it.

What led you to Brussels, and how would you describe the music scene there right now? Any names we should be looking out for?

Oh well, ‘Bruxelles ma belle’ as we say. It’s diverse, it’s underground. Ppl are very nerdy and aware of very good music.

Names: Why the Eye are my big brothers, they play crazy DIY instruments and turn the crowd into a trance rave zone. Ppl go mad. A lot of good stuff I have to say. Jazz scene is incredible, with De Beren Gieren as my favourite trio. And they are finally getting their deserved recognition, after about 10 years playing as a trio.

Can you send us a photo of the view from your window?

It’s raining, so no. I’d have to wait until there’s blue sky or snow to make you think life is always wonderful on Instagram. Unless you like greys.

If you want to know more about Zoë Mc Pherson’s String Figures, head to the official website here.

Photo of Zoë Mc Pherson by Camille Cooken Interview by Kier Wiater Carnihan

[travelworldnetwork]

Culture and coastline: Greenland. Photo: Michelle Valberg

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During the pre-cruise briefing for Adventure Canada's 15-day expedition to Greenland and Labrador in Newfoundland, expedition leader Jason Edmunds says we will sail more than 2000 nautical miles, cross cultural borders and travel through bear territory – black and polar. He emphasises that the "intended itinerary" is just that – intended, and we should be prepared to expect the unexpected.

We're up at dawn for the flight from Toronto to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, a journey that should take about six hours, including a fuel stop at Baffin Island. Our First Air 737 is the first of the two charter planes to land at Iqaluit – a spectacular descent through sunlit clouds over white-cap dotted sea and snow-scattered mountains – but for technical reasons the aircraft is grounded for two and a half hours. No biggie, we're in a pretty remote spot and it's better to arrive late than not at all.

Cut to our arrival onboard Ocean Endeavour some 10 hours later. It's dark and we've now crossed the Davis Strait three times, having been unable to land at Kangerlussuaq first time around which meant a return to Iqaluit to wait for the second attempt. Emergency glasses of wine are dispensed to keep the mood boosted and it's certainly an early lesson in expecting the unexpected. But on the chilly Zodiac ride to the ship, the day's frustrations vanish in an instant when the sky comes alive with rolling, flashing green Northern Lights. Oh yes, this is a magnificent welcome to Greenland.

Kangaamiut village. Photo: Adventure Canada

We see a tiny sliver of the west coast of the world's biggest island over the next few days. It is the start of an eye-opening journey into Inuit country and cultures, over oceans and land masses covering boundless areas of icy, rocky wilderness. Seeing and hearing a glacier calving – the breaking off of ice chunks – on our first Zodiac excursion in Evighedsfjorden, "fiord of eternity", is as perfectly timed as last night's Northern Lights show and a magical start to our adventure.

Our first landing is at Kangaamiut, a tiny fishing village in the Qeqqata municipality. An Inuit woman greets us with a traditional drum dance, we listen to an eight-strong choir singing hauntingly beautiful songs in the packed local church and witness a seal flensing near the dock. Ocean Endeavour's onboard culturalists stress that this is not compulsory viewing but that sustainable seal hunting is a vital part of Inuit culture. Choice bits of liver and blubber are shared among the group of onlookers – locals and visitors alike – but I confess, I only go as far as observing.

Nuuk, where we spend a day before crossing the Davis Strait for the fourth time, is the northernmost capital in the world and is home to the acclaimed Greenland National Museum and the strikingly contemporary Katuaq Cultural Centre. .

There's a lot to take in, let alone learning how to pronounce the place names on our itinerary, but Adventure Canada's team of 30-plus expedition leaders, culturalists, scientists and photographers impart an impressive range of expert knowledge in lectures, presentations, workshops and on-shore excursions.

Renowned Canadian photographer Michelle Valberg is on board and as well as documenting the voyage, she plays an important role in Project North, a non-profit organisation that supplies sporting equipment to children in the Canadian Arctic. As we sail towards Nunavik (Inuit-governed territory that covers one-third of Quebec province), enthusiastic passengers join Valberg's packing party to put together ice-hockey kits that we later deliver to the community centre in Kangiqsualujjuaq village. It's cold and almost dark when we arrive but the reception we receive, and the hockey game played (hard) by locals and passengers, is enough to warm hearts for a long time to come.

The weather turns colder and wilder as we head towards Akpatok island, north of Kangiqsualujjuaq in Ungava Bay. There's ice on the ship's deck and 55-knot winds and rough seas are forecast. Captain Donael Soto keeps the ship in a holding pattern in the lee of the island until conditions permit the transit to Torngat Mountains National Park, on the Labrador Peninsula.

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Everyone is on deck as the ship enters Nachvak Fiord. Sunrise adds a surreal touch to this wildly beautiful terrain and as the ship approaches Ramah Bay, a polar bear alert is broadcast across the ship. I can't believe I'm actually seeing a polar bear in its own, lonely territory, let alone managing to capture images of it on my iPhone.

Black bears also roam these parts and armed crew members patrol landing areas. We see plenty of evidence of the bears' presence in berry-packed droppings but the few we spot are foraging on distant hillsides. Other wildlife sightings are frequent and thrilling: humpback whales, seals, minke whales at very close quarters from the Zodiac ride to Nain, and too many seabirds to list here. Apart from the peregrine falcon who made himself at home on the Zodiac racks one windy morning.

From the Torngat Mountains base camp at Saglek Fiord, as at other landings, we set off on hikes of varying degrees of difficulty. The landscape surrounding the easy route to a spectacular waterfall is like something out of a painting – cool, silvery light illuminates swathes of flaming crimson and gold Arctic berry patches among the snowy hills and lichen-covered rocks. Fitter passengers take a more challenging, four-hour ridge hike and later share photos of views even more sublime.

Two polar bears. Photo: Andrew Stewart

When Ocean Endeavour drops anchor in Nain, mayor Joe Dicker comes aboard to welcome us to his town, the administrative capital of Inuit-governed Nunatsiavut. He explains that missionaries from the protestant Moravian faith established a settlement here in 1771 and Nain's wooden church, rebuilt several times since then, is still well attended. There is a fascinating history of Moravian-Inuit brass bands and one of Nain's finest play us as we disembark.

Near the dock we meet Noah, a kayak instructor, in his workshop. He not only builds traditional Inuit kayaks but possibly knows even more about their heritage and use than author and explorer Jerry Kobalenko, a passionate paddler who presents great talks and films on the ship. This journey is a constant learning experience. Our next port of call, L'Anse aux Meadows on the Newfoundland coast, is the only known Viking settlement in Canada.

L'Anse aux Meadows is a World Heritage Site and the story of its discovery by Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad and his archeologist wife Anne Stine Ingstad in 1960 is as compelling as the place itself. A boardwalk trail takes you around the site where you can see original Norse dwellings dating back at least 1000 years and further along, enthusiastic actors dressed as Vikings demonstrate crafts such as blacksmithing and making bog-iron nails in cleverly re-created sod huts.

Torngat Mountains National Park, Greenland. Photo: Adventure Canada

This experience-packed voyage comes to an end in scenic St Johns, North America's oldest city. It takes days, weeks, to process priceless memories, some funny, some moving but most of all incredibly educational. Every morning, expedition leader Edmunds broadcasts a wake-up call in his rich, deep voice and one of my favourites is when he quotes from John Steinbeck: "A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it."

FIVE FACTS ABOUT ADVENTURE CANADA

FAMILY AFFAIR

Adventure Canada was founded in 1987 by Matthew Swan, his brother Bill and their friend Dave Freeze. Today, Matthew's daughters Cedar Swan and Alana Faber are CEO and VP Operations respectively, and son Matthew James is director of business development. Cedar's husband Jason Edmunds is an expedition leader, Alana's husband Brian Faber and Matthew James' partner Devon all work in the company. A family member travels on every voyage.

Karrat Fjord. Photo: Dennis Minty

DESTINATIONS

The Arctic, including the Northwest Passage; Atlantic Canada, including Greenland, Newfoundland and the St Lawrence River; Haida Gwaii in the Pacific Northwest; Antarctica; South and Central America; Ireland, Scotland and Iceland.

THE SHIPS

Greenlandic girl in window. Photo: Michelle Valberg

Adventure Canada charters the 198-passenger Ocean Endeavour for Arctic and Northern Europe voyages, 108-passenger Hebridean Sky in Antarctica, 12-passenger SV Island Solitude in British Columbia and south-east Alaska, 49-passenger MS Panorama in Costa Rica and the Panama Canal and the 46-passenger La Pinta in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.

EXPEDITION TEAM

Up to 30 experts and local guides accompany cruises. Local guides include indigenous leaders, musicians, artists and culturalists from the regions travelled in.

Zodiak ride, Greenland. Photo: Michelle Valberg

YOUNG EXPLORERS

As well as supporting several community projects, Adventure Canada runs the Young Explorers Program in conjunction with the Explorers Club. Participants are between 18 and 30 and join select expeditions to learn about the Arctic and contribute to the world's understanding of the region through their research.

TRIP NOTES

The writer was a guest of Adventure Canada and Air Canada.

Ocean Endeavour. Photo: Michelle Valberg

MORE

traveller.com.au/greenland

adventurecanada.com

FLY

Air Canada flies daily non-stop to Vancouver from Brisbane and Sydney and up to four times a week from Melbourne. See aircanada.com

CRUISE

Adventure Canada's Greenland & Wild Labrador cruises depart September and October 2019 and 2020. Fares, including one night's accommodation in Toronto and flight from Toronto to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, from US$10,040 (2019) and US$9750 (2020). See adventurecanda.com

from traveller.com.au

[mado-science]

A Fascinating Constellation of Cultures Birdcalls echo in the rainforests of Borneo as the Penan hunter crouches before a kill. Inuit glide across the wind-scoured ice. Kogi priests traverse Colombian coral reefs and cloud forests to learn contours of the landscape entrusted to their care. In the published edition of his five Massey Lectures, Wade Davis seeks to answer the question “What does it mean to be human and alive?” with portraits of culture spanning centuries and terrain. It’s a rare work of anthropology illustrating the vitality of human imagination from Himalayan peaks to the southern sea; Davis brings new attention to peoples still practicing ancient arts and writes with the voice of a lyrical novelist. Anything but a detached textbook, it remains a work as fascinating as it is beautiful to read. And in depicting new dreams of the Earth, Davis presents one of his own. Go to Amazon

A Celebration of the Ethnosphere The profoundity, subtelty and literary brilliance of this book are hard not to extol. ¨My goal,¨ Wade Davis writes, ¨was not to document the exotic other, but rather to identify stories that had deep metaphorical resonance, something universal to tell us about the nature of being alive.¨ This goal is the main current that courses through the peaks and valleys of the book -- the mosaic of stories put together to shed luminous light on the theme of what it means to be alive and to be human. Reading without this objective in mind, I think it is easy for many to lose sight of the purpose of the many stories in the Wayfinders: to challenge through the tools of ethnography, history, and philosophy the belief in the objectivity of certain paradigms of life. The existence of a ¨paragon of humanity¨ or an ¨objective standard of living¨ or ¨modernity¨ -- ideas often taken for granted as being universal across socio-cultural contexts -- are beautifully analyzed in light of the many histories and cultures Wade Davis explores throughout the Wayfinders. His analysis, apart from being beautifully and often poetically articulated, leaves us with a set of penetrating insights that challenge and problematize our all-too-common views of the urban/rural divide, beliefs about who is advanced and who is primitive, and lead us to a conclusion that, I think, we all know in our hearts is and always has been true: ¨that all peoples ought to have the right to choose the components of their lives,¨ whether that is how they choose to see the world, the way of life they choose, or even the languages they seek to preserve. I sincerely believe that this a book which will be celebrated for decades to come, and one which has made a worthy contribution to the collective consciousness of many societies in a world dominated by the forces of Westernization and globalization. Thank you, Wade. Go to Amazon

Too much random information, not enough perspective I personally found the title of this book to be much more interesting than the actual read. Its just a lot of information presented without feeling like it is getting to any point. I feel like a lot of the facts presented don't serve the actual theme and so I become drowned in superfluous information. I was hoping the writing would provide a strong visual of what it was like to think and live as a person from ancient, primal times. I wanted to see the world through their eyes in a sense so I could gain perspective on the modern world and see how a more primal perspective is useful in day to day living. But after reading 60 pages I just felt so bored out of my mind with facts that didn't serve this understanding at all, that I gave up. I just felt like the writing was extremely dull and with an overly academic prose. That said, I couldn't quite get to the point where I felt like I could finish the book. So if someone thinks I am wrong and that the book does in fact portray what I mentioned before later on, then please correct me. Go to Amazon

Davis reminded me of what got me interested in anthropology over 20 years ago, and why I started travelling... A wonderful and important book that celebrates human diversity while at the same time warning of a rapidly accelerating global loss of culture that threatens our survival as a species, while at the same time transforming the world into a vast Western monoculture driven by industry, consumerism, and the misguided notion that there is only one true, "progressive" way to live. Go to Amazon

One Star Humanity Expansion Through Time Five Stars WONDERFUL BOOK!! The Wayfinders is Wade Davis at his best. It's rare to find a series of anthropology ... Eye-opener Brilliant metaphors throughout A continuation of the insight presented by Wade Davis in ... All Ways are NOT the Queens ways Five Stars