Climate change and urbanization presses the traditional dog sled culture, but the dog is still an active partner in hunting and cultural dissemination. Although dog sledding is in decline in some places, Manumina Lund Jensen emphasizes that the tradition survives by changing and adapting.
Manumina Lund Jensen is assistant professor at Ilisimatusarfik and she believes that we must do away with the notion that cultural heritage is a static “box” from the past.
Climate change and urbanization presses the traditional dog sled culture, but the dog is still an active partner in hunting and cultural dissemination. Although dog sledding is in decline in some places, Manumina Lund Jensen emphasizes that the tradition survives by changing and adapting.
Manumina Lund Jensen is assistant professor at Ilisimatusarfik and she believes that we must do away with the notion that cultural heritage is a static “box” from the past.
– If you start to freeze it, then that is where the culture starts to die, says Manumina Lund Jensen and criticizes the notion that culture is best preserved through resistance to change.
Manumina Lund Jensen is current with new research on the sled dog’s role in Greenlandic culture and survival.
The dog as co-actor
Although technology is gaining ground, the researcher emphasizes that the sled dog is still an active participant in hunting and travel. This relationship is not only about transport, but about a unique, bodily knowledge and the ability to read nature, which is inherited through generations.
In North Greenland, this specialized knowledge is still central to the cultural identity and the basis of life itself. The relationship between the trapper and his dogs is therefore much more than a working relationship; It is a deep, mutual dependence.
– It is a coexistence that is based on us surviving together. Because as many trappers themselves say, a trapper cannot become a trapper without his sled dog, without his qimmit, says Manumina.
Urbanization comes with challenges
Although the sled dog is a cultural cornerstone, modern urban planning and veterinary regulations create growing barriers for the drivers.
As cities grow, dogs often become a lower priority than housing, which forces owners to move their animals away from the safe confines of the home.
This separation not only makes it more difficult to supervise the dogs’ well-being on a daily basis, but also imposes a burden on the drivers for transport.
– In Sisimiut, they have established dog areas and have removed the sled dogs from the inner cityscape – this makes it expensive for the drivers.
Rumors of wolf blood
The dog sled culture is not just a modern tradition, but a thousand-year-old story of survival that traces back to Siberia and Alaska.
Archaeological finds and Inuit stories bear witness to a time when wild wolves roamed the West Greenland fjords and crossed the sea ice from Canada. This past still lives in the dogs’ genes, as hunters have deliberately crossed wolf blood to create a more robust and enduring breed.
– Some sled drivers, who wanted to have wolf blood in their dogs, have crossed the dogs with wolves. Lund Jensen confirms this when she is asked about the rumors about wolf blood in the sled dogs.
Nanorriutit – Polar bear dogs
Among the Greenlandic sled dogs there is a special elite known as nanorriutit – polar bear dogs. These dogs are not genetically different from other sled dogs, but they are selected and trained by trappers for a life-threatening task.
A polar bear dog must have special courage, as it is not natural for all dogs to confront a bear. During the hunt, the dogs are released to catch up and hold the polar bear at bay until the catcher arrives.
– This knowledge of selecting and training the right dogs is a form of bodily experience that you cannot read about in a book, elaborates Manumina.
Inatsisartut must listen to the drivers to preserve the sled dog culture
To ensure that the sledge tracks do not disappear for future generations, Manumina Lund Jensen points out that the politicians in Inatsisartut must first of all listen to the drivers and understand the local challenges.
It is about everything from the high feed costs to the frustration over urban planning, where dog areas are often scrapped in favor of construction projects.
But even for those in South Greenland or the big cities who have never stood on a sled, the loss of dog culture is a loss of shared identity.
The people of the Thule culture immigrated to the whole country with both qajaq and sled dogs, and the dog has historically provided everything from transport to warm inner socks and fur edging on kamiks. As Jensen emphasizes, the sled dog is part of everyone’s history.
– The culture changes all the time. But at one point or another, their ancestors have had sled dogs… they have it in their history, at least, concludes the researcher, Manumina Lund Jensen.
