Greenlander guide Ludovig’s home town of Uummannaq. Houses sprinkled across a rocky island. In Jan-Feb the sea ice in these parts will be very thick, and you won’t see the sun for 2.5 months.

Uummannaq.
[image by Nathan Gallagher © copyright Nathan Gallagher]

Spring is 10-15 degrees below zero. The first thing people talk about, if you ask what they miss when they’re away in Denmark to study or work, is driving a dog sled and sleeping on the sea ice.

Mostly a fishing and hunting economy, but jobs scarce. Greenland is heavily dependent on Danish subsidy and social problems are rife. The afternoon spent in a children’s home that roots its therapy in confidence building. Achieved through plenty of music and art, but also the less familiar technique of taking kids out on 2-3 month long hunting and sledding trips on the ice…

The toughest Duke of Edinburgh award really does look like a walk in the park by comparison. The carers want to instil a sense of adaptability, cooperation and self-confidence amongst children that have often had a very tough start in life. These are precisely the qualities that our global community will need in coping with the effects of climate change. If we do half as well as the youngsters we came across then we’re in with a good chance.

The home is an extraordinary institution. There are both local staff and Danish and Faroese. They are proud of the transformative effect of their work, but also evidently delighted to live in such a wonderful place.

A few local treats on offer including seal liver, meat and blubber, narwhal and a dried halibut delicacy. Rene at the children’s home makes clear, while stroking a heartbreakingly sweet little puppy, that the dogs that most households keep (chained outside for 8 months of the year) are just sled engines. And if a part is broken and unfixable on the engine (illness or injury) it is simply shot. The wild meats and the way he and his colleagues talk about the dogs and the hunting leave us with a few things to talk about as the rib boats shuttle us back to the mother ship.

There are declining populations of all the main animal species and it seems to be a struggle to balance hunting, so central to many Greenlanders identity and everyday lives, and to ensure that species aren’t threatened. Matthew – the sealing and whaling issues are probably even sharper in Canada: any thoughts? [Matthew's response]

The dogs can’t survive the summers south of the arctic, and the purity of their breed is carefully protected. Climate change will mean that  dogs and sledding will die away at ever-higher latitudes. Am considering whether the frequent definition of the arctic as the area north of the tree line might be re-labelled as the dog line.

Another gig by the musicians, comedian and poet aboard in the local hotel. Hermaphrodite polar bear gag didn’t seem to fully translate into Greenlandic, but was a fine evening out. Topped off with a northern lights display.

About the author

Joe Smith is a lecturer in the environment at the Open University and chair of Interdependence Day. He has written books on climate change and sustainability, the media and global issues, and the green movement.

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