I am afraid that the hunting profession, and consequently a fundamental part of our culture will disappear, unless the normal ice winters return. The last two winters, the sea has been ice-free until the middle of December. Last year, a supply ship docked in the middle of December. The last ship used to dock at the end of August. The ice is also breaking earlier than normal.
We're going to try to concentrate on tourism, and to promote fishing instead of hunting. Yet, this is an extensive, costly and uncertain process, and the climatic changes that we are experiencing are violent and swift. Our capacity for change is not improved by the extensive climatic changes either. Conditions are more rainy and windy than we are used to.
Our entire culture and identity is based on the proud hunter: self-sufficient, both economically, mentally and physically. This is why I hope that the industrialized nations will put an end to their CO2 pollution, so that we in the Arctic don't lose our culture.
Axel is a school principal and former Deputy Mayor of Qaanaaq, Greenland’s northernmost district.
About Qaanaaq
Qaanaaq district is one of the places in Greenland where the indigenous hunting culture is the most alive and essential for survival. Some 600 of the approximately 800 inhabitants live in the town of Qaanaaq; the remaining 200 live in five settlements, the northernmost settlement of Siorapaluk being the northernmost settlement in the world. In the town of Qaanaaq, more than half of the inhabitants are directly dependent on hunting, and in the settlements it is even more.
Since the polar Eskimos immigrated to this area from Canada some 900-1,000 years ago, people have been living in this extreme climate, on the verge of what is humanly possible, with snow and ice for 10 months a year and polar darkness for four. Their livelihood has been based on hunting seals, whales, walruses, polar bears and birds. Using dog sledges and kayaks, the hunters have been able to access rich natural resources in the ice-covered sea from the ice edge. Qaanaaq is the only place in Greenland where kayaks are used for hunting.
The lacking and thin ice has had disastrous consequences for the hunters who have not been able to hunt as usual. Their catch has been too meager to even feed the dogs, and because of the meager catch, they have not been able to afford to buy dry feed. The past two winters, the situation with the emaciated dogs has been so critical, that the Home Rule have had to step in and administer disaster aid to the hunters, enabling them to buy - among other things - dry feed for the dogs. The fact is that Qaanaaq district cannot afford to lend the hunters economic support.
In a district characterized by extreme weather conditions, few inhabitants, and more than 620 miles - as the crow flies - to the nearest neighboring district, alternatives to hunting are very few.