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Article courtesy of Project Thin Ice
Project Thin Ice 2005 is a Greenpeace Inc. production. © Greenpeace, Inc.

Hunter in North Greenland: We are Very Worried

The inhabitants and hunters in one of Greenland's northernmost settlements are experiencing many consequences of climate change and rising ocean temperatures. These create big problems for their everyday life, vocation and livelihood, according to Themothæus Petersen, big-game hunter and chairman of the local council.

Themothæus Petersen (left), big-game hunter and chairman of the local council, has witnessed many signs that the climate is changing. This is a threat to the North Greenlandic hunters' vocation, and to the possibility of making a living in the settlements. In the photo, he is discussing the problems with Jens Peter Lange (right), Chairman of Uppik, Greenland's Nature and Environment Organization. Photo: Tine Pars

"If the climate does not stop changing, we will lose our culture."

The words are spoken softly and very seriously by Themothæus Petersen. He is a big-game hunter and the chairman of the local council in Kullorsuaq, the northernmost settlement in the municipality of Upernavik in North Greenland. Kullorsuaq is a small community of 400 inhabitants, situated on a tiny island off the West Coast of Greenland at 74 degrees North. The inhabitants make a living by hunting and fishing, and have been doing so for many generations. There are no other possibilities. The first time I call Themothæus Petersen, he is not at home. His wife tells me that he is out hunting. The next time I call, I get a hold of him. He tells me that he had gone hunting at the ice edge, but had been forced to turn around because of bad weather. In the background I can hear the dogs howling and the children screaming. Thinking back on previous visits to North Greenland, I can picture the scenario in my mind's eye: We're in the beginning of June which means that it is light outside day and night; the children are out playing until late at night; the dogs are howling around the clock. A special atmosphere prevails in North Greenland during the summer when the midnight sun glows.

The inhabitants of Kullorsuaq are still dependent on hunting and fishing to the extent that they - like in a traditional hunting culture - catch and hunt whatever is available in a given season.

This presupposes extensive knowledge of the catch, the nature and the climate, as well as a variety of equipment. Themothæus Petersen owns a dog sledge, a dinghy and a small cutter that he uses when fishing Greenland halibut in the summer. To do so, he has to sail a great distance from Kullorsuaq.

The inhabitants in the Kollorsuaq settlement in North Greenland have been used to thick ice, on which dog sledges could be used eight to nine months a year. Now the ice solidifies a month later and breaks a month earlier, and is much thinner than it used to be. This is problematic for both hunting and transportation conditions. The photo was taken in the dsitrict of Upernavik in March 2003.

Themothæus Petersen has witnessed many signs that the climate is changing. First and foremost is the fact that the ice cover period has been shortened by two months. Previously, the ice was thick for eight to nine months a year, i.e. from about October until somewhere around July. This is no longer the case.

"In the past years, the ice has not solidified until the middle of December, breaking again at the end of May. This means that our hunting and fishing season has been shortened considerably, to the extent that we don't have enough time to catch and hunt our usual amount," he explains, adding that the ice also is considerably thinner than before. Petersen stresses that the problem cannot be solved by merely replacing the dog sledge with a dinghy when the ice disappears. Besides being draught animals, the dogs also function as the hunter's eyes and ears and senses when it comes to dangers such as openings in the ice and thin ice. Furthermore, they help the hunters to find their way. This is why the hunters are able to use dog sledges during the dark season from October until mid-January, while using dinghies during the dark season does not work.

For centuries, the dog sledge has been not only a work tool for the hunters, but also a safe and vital form of transport between the settlements for the most of the year. To the people of North and East Greenland, the ice is their "highway." The thin and lacking ice shortens the period during which dog sledges can be used by several months, which makes accessing the main town of Upernavik more difficult. This in turn hinders access to the rest of the municipality, and causes supply problems to the settlement.

"We can't just take the car, train, or bus, like you can. We are totally dependent on the dog sledges here," Petersen points out, and adds that the inhabitants in the settlement cannot just move to the towns, as there are neither jobs nor housing to be found.

The weather has also changed a lot, recounts Petersen.

"The weather has become much worse, with increasing wind, snow and rain. This winter it rained in February. We've never seen that before." This also causes problems with regards to fishing and hunting.

"In November, the waters are usually calm. Now the weather is much worse, which makes it much more difficult to go hunting or fishing," explains the big-game hunter.

Petersen tells us that the animals have changed their behavior markedly.

"We used to drive for four to five days before we saw polar bear tracks. Now all we need to do is drive 30 kilometers, and there they are."

But, while the polar bears have drawn closer to the settlement, the narwhals have drawn further away: "Earlier, narwhals could be found close to the settlement in September-October. Now they swim 30-50 km out."

The inhabitants and hunters in the settlement talk a lot about these climatic and glacial changes, recounts the chairman of the local council. They have heard that climatologists are predicting that there will be no solid ice in the Arctic during the summer in 50-100 years. "We are very concerned. It would be strange if our children were not to experience our hunting culture," he says.

Petersen wishes that he could tell the industrialized nations the extent to which climatic change is adversely affecting the settlements' possibility of survival and Greenlandic hunting culture: "I would like to be at a climate summit to explain how we live here, and to what extent we are dependent on the ice," says the big-game hunter, while the dogs continue to howl in the background.