Eskimoleben

"Eskimoleben" by Fridtjof Nansen is an ethnographic account written in the late 19th century. It portrays the sea-centered life, material culture, social customs, beliefs, and hardships of Greenland’s Eskimos, blending first-hand observation with earlier research. The tone is admiring yet critical of the damage wrought by European contact, and it dwells on the ingenuity of tools, travel, housing, and dress as much as on the people’s character. The opening of the work begins with a preface: the author recounts a winter among Greenlanders, admits the limits of a single season, and vows to tell uncomfortable truths—both praising their resilience and lamenting the harm of “civilization,” illustrated by a tender story of a hunter who dies of joy at sunrise. The first chapter situates Greenland in Norse history, evokes its stark beauty, and casts the Eskimo as a people of the sea; it weighs theories of origins and migration routes, recalls contact and conflict with the old Norse settlers, and notes their current distribution on both coasts. He then sketches appearance and dress—broad faces, medium stature, strong upper bodies; practical fur outfits for men and women, the baby-carrying amaut, bright beadwork, an East-coast habit of indoor near-nudity, status-coded hair knots, and hygiene customs reported by missionaries. Next comes the kayak and gear: an evolution from river canoes to decked, skin-covered boats; ingenious harpoons with detachable tips and floats, throwing boards, lances and bird darts, and the careful stowage of lines and weapons. He explains kayak construction, watertight clothing (akuilisak and tuilik), the celebrated roll taught from childhood, real risks at sea, and then counters charges of cowardice with vivid storm scenes and a pre‑dawn routine of weather-watching, coffee, and setting out.

Summary written by Project Gutenberg, by machine.