Land of ice and beauty

We were a select gathering for our February meeting (six of us, to be precise), as rail strikes meant that many people could not get into town. One of those people was our scheduled speaker, Ridade Starsies. The previous month had seen Tony Reid deal with another rail strike problem by live-streaming his talk from his home, which we then projected on to a screen at the pub—a technological first for us—but Ridade decided she would rather deliver her talk in person at a later date, so we have rescheduled for July. Instead, Dr Tim Eyre gamely stepped into the breech and gave an address on Greenland, a country he visited in 2013. The population of just 56,000 are mostly Inuit Greenlanders, but they are not indigenous. In fact Vikings colonised the place earlier and the Inuit didn't arrive till around 1300, but they were so well adapted to the icy conditions that they outlasted the norsemen, who eventually all left or died out.

Most of the inhabitants live in the south-west part of the island and travel between towns is principally by boat or plane, as there are few roads. Dog sleds are also common, which the Inuit use for hunting. In fact hunting is so ingrained in their culture that even people in prison are allowed out to hunt. Greenlandic crafts show influences from other cultures they have come into contact with, but their national costume is unique in that the women wear shorts—a bit like furry hot pants, combined with long boots. Male formal dress is a white anorak, often worn with a bow tie. Although Greenland looks pretty harsh in the photos, Tim was clearly taken with the rugged beauty of the snow, ice and mountains, and recalled how he once sat in the same spot for five hours, just watching the light change on the landscape. Many thanks to him for stepping in a short notice and sharing his experiences.