Unit 5 Images of Greenland

Narrator In 2014, photographer Matthieu Paley traveled to Greenland to learn about the
lifestyle and diet of the Inuit. Here he talks about his experience.
Paley I decided after much research to go to Greenland. And I went to the eastern part
of Greenland, which is less inhabited. And so I went to this place called
Isortoq. And they eat only meat traditionally.
This is Isortoq. That’s the whole of it. And it took me two flights and two
helicopter rides to get there. I had contacted a family before, so when I arrived I
was met by this family. And I spent ten days sleeping there in the living room. I
was staying there with Bengt—he’s there in green—and Dina (standing up).
And they’re hunters. They go hunting a few times a week. They’re active
hunters still.
Narrator Soon after his arrival, Paley joined his hosts on a seal hunt. He took photos of
the experience.
Paley So we go out. We drive out and they are looking for what they like, mostly
seal. So she’s looking at this environment, looking for little black spots to pop
up.
Narrator For four days, they searched for seals, but weren’t able to find any. However,
they did catch several birds called ptarmigan. Paley took photos as Dina
prepared the birds for dinner, but it wasn’t really what he was looking for. For
Paley, it didn’t feel like a real Arctic experience.
Paley So I said, I asked Dina cooking, and I said, “Do you have like anything like
more Arctic, like whale?” And she’s like, “Yeah, I got plenty of whale meat.”
So she popped out this beautiful bag of you know… I’m like “nope, not
working.” But then I still needed to get some hunting scene, you know
something that is telling where you see… And then I hear about this other
hunter, who would often go hunting on canoe, because you can approach
animals much more quietly. And I said, “Hey, bring me on.”
Ah yes… I saw something here, I think, a little black spot. Yeah yeah! Magnus,
Magnus, here!
That means “head of a seal.” Sign language. And so, that’s right there. You
see—that’s the head of a seal. It comes out, for about 10–20 seconds, and then
it would just dive back in. So you have to be quick, you have to be close. Also,
you need quiet sea, because if there’s waves you can’t see the head.
Narrator That day, they were able to see the seals, but again weren’t able to catch any.
But one day, when Paley was hunting with Bengt and Dina, they finally caught
one. They brought the seal back to the village.
Hunting and preparing meat has been part of life for the Inuit for thousands of
years. Although the Inuit are starting to adapt to the modern world, in some
ways their lifestyle remains the same as it has been for generations. And so the
Inuit continue to survive in this remote place at the top of the world.