Harvey said: "The only Greenland paddles I've seen with asymmetric faces are a few Polar Greenland paddles from 1890s-1910. They are perfectly flat on one face with a high-arch cross-section. These perhaps should not be considered as what we call "Greenland Paddles" because they are recent imports to Greenland and bear no resemblance to what any modern GP enthusiast would consider to be a 'Greenland paddle.' " --------------------------- Modern paddlers have been trained over the past 25 years to refrain from any interest in Polar Arctic Inuit boats or paddles. This is the result of such Inuit being contaminated by polar explorer Robert Peary (explorations 1891~1906). Paddles "IMPORTED" from where by who? thereby making them "not real Greenland Paddles!" Chuck Sutherland *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Dear Chuck, > Modern paddlers have been trained over the past 25 > years to refrain > from any interest in Polar Arctic Inuit boats or > paddles. Trained by who? Maybe trained by ommission-- if so, it ain't limited to Polar Greenland paddles. Howard Chapelle sang the praise of PG kayaks in his 1964 "Bark Canoes and Skinboats of North America" (p. 206). > This is the > result of such Inuit being contaminated by polar > explorer Robert > Peary (explorations 1891~1906). I strongly doubt that. What's your source or evidence for this? > Paddles "IMPORTED" from where by who? You want names and places? ;-) Imported by Qillaq and the other immigrants from Baffin Island who moved to Polar Greenland in the 1860s. This is a very well documented fact. Knud Rasmussen interviewed survivors of this migration and they said they "taught them (the native Polar Greenlanders) to build kayaks and to hunt and catch from kayaks" (Rasmussen, 1908: "People of the Polar North: A Record" (p.32)) I'm happy to supply other references to this historical fact. These imported paddles bear more similarity of course to North BaffinLand paddles than Greenland Paddles from the southern realms (non-Polar). > thereby making > them > "not real Greenland Paddles!" I didn't say they weren't "real Greenland Paddles." They are however quite different from what modern recreationalists would consider a Greenland paddle. Surely you have noted that the paddles of the Polar Greenlanders are different than the paddles GP enthusiasts are using? The Polar Greenlanders don't even use the "Baffin" type anymore. All the best, Harvey P.S. Polar Greenland paddle at number 10; other Greenland paddles to the right. At this link: http://www.traditionalkayaks.com/Kayakreplicas/Paddles.html *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:48 PDT