Throughout his life, Greenland's most famous ethnographer and explorer, Knud Rasmussen, praised Greenland's original Inuit residents for their strength, daring, and intelligence. In fact, Rasmussen won international fame by copying the Inuit peoples' ingenious hunting and survival skills on his many trips mapping and exploring the arctic north. In his 1908 book on the people and cultures of the arctic called "The People of the Polar North," Rasmussen wrote, "On this mighty stretch of coast of more than 10,000 kilometers, where they bridged points as far apart as the East [sic] of Greenland and Alaska, the Aleutic Isles and Siberia, they have understood, as no other hunting people, the art of self-preservation, and in the midst of a merciless fight for existence they have created a culture which compels the greatest admiration of all white men."

Contemporary Greenlandic society evolved after more than two centuries of Danish colonialism and more than 4,500 years of Inuit colonization of the ice-bound island. Despite a very strong European influence, mostly from Denmark, Greenlanders share a common cultural affinity with the Inuit residents in Alaska, Siberia, and Canada who Rasmussen knew so well. Modern-day Greenlanders are extremely proud of that legacy. (See the Greenland map, courtesy of the University of Texas library system.) About 80 percent of the island's 60,000 residents are ethnic Inuit or mixed European and Inuit; the rest are of European extraction.

For more than 4,500 years, the intrepid Inuit people of the arctic settled and hunted in Greenland, one of the world's harshest environments. Descendants of Siberians who crossed the Bering Straight into North America, the Inuits (sometimes called Eskimos, or eaters of raw meat), made their way during warming stages from Ellesmere Island onto Greenland. They survived by hunting seals, caribou, walrus, whales, arctic hares and foxes, polar bears, musk ox, and other animals. They traveled by kayak, seal-skin boats, dog sledges, and walking. Their resilience and brilliance command respect from anyone who's visited these northern climes and tasted the region's fury.

Anthropologists have broken down the successive migrations of Inuit peoples. The culture of Independence I (3,500-5,000 years ago) was followed by Independence II (2,600 to 3,400 years ago). Next came the Dorset culture, which may have descended from of these inhabitants or newer migrants. This culture began developing ivory and bone tools and burning blubber for heat and light. The Thule culture began in the 10th century A.D. when new Inuit migrants moved from Canada to Greenland and colonized all of Greenland in about 150 years, absorbing all other cultures. Many archaeologists believe the modern-day Greenlanders, known as the Inussuk culture, are descendants of the Thule peoples.

The trademark tools of arctic subsistence hunting define Inuit culture. Items like seal-skin kayaks (or qajaqs), umiaks (seal-skin boats), seal-skin and polar-bear-skin clothing, bone and ivory tools and weapons, sledges for snow travel (pulled by the infamous Greenlandic sledge dog), and others are world-renown and associated with Greenland's Inuit. Visitors can see traditional items on display at the national museum in Nuuk or at the Knud Rasmussen Folk High School in Sisimiut. Both facilities are superb.

Because Greenland's modern economy is driven mostly by fish exports and fishing, many Greenlanders work in marine- and fishing-related trades. The docks of large west coast cities like Nuuk and Sisimiut and busy with boat traffic and repair, plus the movement of fish commodities for export. That is modern-day Greenland, perhaps more than a lone hunter on his dog sledge. Greenlanders also are thoroughly modern, and contemporary culture revolves around computers, televisions, bars, slot machines, movies, and other things Western.

Please jump to my other Greenlandic culture page for more pictures of native Inuit culture on Kalaallit Nunaat.

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Fancy Dress, West Greenland

Traditional women's clothes of west Greenland are on display in the museum of Narsaq, Greenland.

Traditional Greenlandic Costumes

Traditional Greenlandic clothes from all corners of the island are displayed at the national museum in Nuuk.

Greenland Hoop Dreams

Though soccer is Greenland's No. 1 sport, young Greenlanders also love basketball.

Knud Rasmussen Folk High School

Knud Rasmussen Folk High School, in Sisimiut, teaches traditional Greenlandic crafts and culture to young men and women.

Greenland's Colonial Legacy

A statue of 18th-century Danish minister and colonialist Hans Egede stands watch over Greenland's capital, Nuuk.

Old Town, Sisimiut

Sisimiut's "old town" area displays whale bones, with Bojsen-Møller church ( built 1926) standing in the background.

Nuuk's Docks

About 95 percent of Greenland's export economy is fisheries based.

Greenland Sledge Dogs

The world-famous Greenland sledge dogs sleep outdoors in rain, blizzard, or shine.

Greenland Doghouse

In Sisimiut, sledge dogs are nearly as numerous as human residents.