On Thu, 6 Aug 1998, Chuck Holst wrote: > > The main reason Greenland kayaks, paddles and paddling styles are so > popular is the unbroken kayaking tradition in Greenland. In most other > parts of the Arctic, traditional kayaking skills were either suppressed > or fell into disuse, and much information was lost. In Greenland, > especially in the Angmagssalik district, kayaks and kayaking > accessories continued to be made and used in the traditional style well > into the twentieth century, long enough to be documented in detail by > European explorers and ethnologists. And when interest in traditional > kayaking skills revived in Greenland in the 1970s and 80s, some of the > old-timers were still around to teach them. I have been told by George Gronseth that the reason Greenland kayaking has survived mostly undiminished while Aleutian kayaking is almost completely lost lies in the way in which kayaking skills were passed on through generations. Most Greenland hunters built their own personal boats, and therefore a very large percentage of the population knew how to build and paddle kayaks. The Aleutians had a much more specialized society in general and usually only had a handful of boatbuilders per village. When westerners brought their diseases and wiped out 75% or more of the population, there were still some hardy Greenlanders who knew how to build and paddle kayaks. The Aleutian boatbuilders were probably wiped out to the last man. Kevin Whilden *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Aug 06 1998 - 22:29:54 PDT
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