Blog

The Lands of the Bear and Those who have Shared Them: Ch 1 of Go Greenland

Published
September 30, 2021
Listen to the podcastDonate for more content

THE word Arctic comes from ancient Greek. It means the lands and seas ‘of the bear’, meaning that they lie under the northern polar constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear.

But the Arctic is full of living bears, too: of polar bears, and grizzly-type bears. So perhaps when we speak of the part of the world that belongs to the bear, that has a double significance.

Such were the lands of the bear which, due to extreme weather, dangerous animals and harsh landscapes, remain comparatively unpopulated to this day. Indigenous people make up much of the numbers in those areas where anyone lives at all.

I saw the impact of global warming for myself, most notably in Greenland. The fragile environment has become less dependable and that has meant a significant loss of traditions and ways of life.

The Inuit are the indigenous people of Greenland and of much of far-north Canada and Alaska as well. All Inuit people speak the same language, but in a continuum of dialects that stretches from Alaska to Greenland. The Greenlandic or Kalaallit Inuit have four main dialects, defined by the cardinal locations of north, south, east and west.

Large amounts of meat are consumed in the Arctic north, as edible plants do not grow easily there. The Inuit have some biological adaptations which means that eating large amounts of meat is not as unhealthy for them as it would be for most people.

Go Greenland is available on this website, a-maverick.com.


Giveaways

Subscribe to our mailing list to receive free giveaways!

Thanks for subscribing. You can expect to receive more information about Mary Jane, her top travel tips, free downloads of Mary Jane's award-winning books, and more, straight to your inbox!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form. Try again or contact us if you're still having trouble.

Donate, share and subscribe

Like this post? Donate to us, or share this post to Facebook or Twitter, and subscribe to new posts with RSS.

Recent Blog Posts

March 22, 2024

Guatemala City: Gateway to Beauty

Continue reading
March 15, 2024

New York, New York: Why I love coming back to America's most thrilling city

Continue reading
March 8, 2024

The Catlins, Part 2: Continuing eastward, from Waikawa to Pūrākaunui Bay

Continue reading