Among its engrossing displays, we discovered tupilaq – mythological Greenlandic monster figures carved from animal bones, antlers and tusks. Equally mesmerizing was an image of a six-month-old male mummy, one of eight 15th-century Inuit mummies discovered in 1972 at Qilakitsoq, a West Greenland archaeological site. We also viewed exhibits of Greenlandic history, such as a drinking horn from theThule ancestors of modern Inuit people, as well as models of traditional Greenland kayaks. Leaving the building, we were delighted to see a group of local people paddling similar narrow kayaks amid the icebergs in Disko Bay. From the deck of our ship, we observed one of the kayakers practise a Greenland roll. This lifesaving manoeuvre allows kayakers to skillfully use their small oars to resurface capsized kayaks in the freezing water. As we explored the town on foot, we were astonished to see so many sled dogs. (Ilulissat has as many sled dogs as people.) We were also surprised to see a woman wearing the Greenlandic national costume as she walked along the street. “I’mwearing it for my son’s first birthday celebration,” she explained. “We wear traditional dress at festivals, holidays, weddings and special occasions.” Another woman greeted us from her balcony as we walked to the Ilulissat Museum. A display inside allowed us to closely examine the brilliant multicoloured beads on the shoulder covering (nuilarmiut) of Greenlandic women’s traditional dress, as well as the floral embroidery on the costume’s sealskin boots. The museum is housed in the birthplace of Knud Rasmussen (1879-1933). The polar explorer and anthropologist was the first European to cross the Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by dogsled. Greenlandic culture Mummies and mythological monsters 16 | www.snowbirds.org Travel
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