In Give Me Winter, Give Me Dogs, Arctic historian Kenn Harper takes readers alongside Knud Rasmussen’s spearheading Fifth Thule Expedition. From 1921 to 1924, Rasmussen trekked across Canada’s Arctic to study Inuit there and record their stories, and perhaps most importantly to him, to immerse himself in their culture and to know them. With the support of his colleagues and Inuit guides, Rasmussen recorded the cultural practices of various Inuit groups, from taboos and shamanism to the introduction of Christianity; traditional stories and practices, and adventures and misadventures that only an Arctic landscape can provide.
Including historic photographs and illustrative maps, this book is a great resource for anyone interested in a momentous journey into Inuit culture.
PART ONE – BEGINNINGS
Knud Rasmussen and the Inuit
Thule
An Inauspicious Start
Inughuit on the Expedition
PART TWO – DANISH ISLAND
Akilinirmiut: Meeting New People
Tagurnaaq and Palluq
The Caribou Inuit and the Origins of Inuit Culture
Igjugaarjuk the Shaman
Umik’s New Religion
The Shaman Aua
The Wisdom of a Shaman
“To Think I Had Been So Happy”: Urulu’s Story
Mathiassen’s Brush with Death
Jacob Olsen: “No Taboo Performances are Necessary”
The Misadventures of Peter Freuchen
Mathiassen and the Thule Culture
The Departure of Freuchen and the Inughuit
PART THREE – ACROSS ARCTIC AMERICA
Urpingalik: Poet of the Nattilingmiut
Igsivalitaq the Outlaw
Summer at Malirualik
The Deep Footprints of Tired Men
Among the Inuinnait
The Hanging of Alikammiq and Tatamirana
Among the Mackenzie Inuit
Alaskan Interlude
Siberia: The Promised Land
Najagnir: “I Have Searched in the Darkness”
The Inughuit: “We Do Not Even Have a Memorial
of Them”
“His Importance Cannot be Weighed in Words Alone”
PHOTOGRAPHS
MAPS
GLOSSARY OF INUKTITUT WORDS
REFERENCES
Height:241
Width:171
Spine:20
Weight:554.00