This book describes life in a small hunting community in Northwest Greenland. It is based on fieldwork carried out by the author from 1966 to 1968 and documents in detail the traditional material culture, ways of hunting and fishing, daily life and festive occasions of an Inuit society not yet influenced by European culture.

The historical background of the settlement from the establishment in 1923 is outlined, and some indication of what has happened to the small society after the study period is given. Daily life in the settlement itself and out on the hunting grounds is followed day by day through a whole year and all processes are documented in the many original photographs.

The book demonstrates a surprising stability in the life of the hunting families, not due to conservatism but because experience has shown them that this way of living is the most suited to the given conditions. At the time of the field study, new tools and a number of other items had been introduced, but these were only adopted when more efficient than those already in use. In a large number of cases they are used in conjunction with the traditional tools.

Keld Hansen was from 1964-76 associated with the Ethnographic Collection at the national Museum in Copenhagen, interrupted by fieldwork in Upernavik from 1966-69. He served as a curator at the Greenland National Museum from 1984-88, and as a curator at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde from 1988-2003. He is the editor of the journal Grønland since 1974.




Danish
I denne bog belyser Keld Hansen livet i et lille fangersamfund i Nordvestgrønland. Forfatteren bygger sin fremstilling på noter fra et feltophold i bygden fra 1966 til 1968 og fortæller detaljeret om den traditionelle materielle kultur, fiskeriet, fangstmetoderne, dagliglivet og festlighederne i et samfund, der endnu er relativt upåvirket af europæisk levevis.

Forfatteren tegner bygdens historie fra grundlæggelsen i 1923 med særligt fokus på udviklingen fra den centrale periode i slutningen af 1960’erne frem til i dag. Det daglige liv i bygden og ude på fangstpladserne beskrives dag for dag gennem et helt år, hvilket underbygges gennem et righoldigt antal fotografier og tegninger.

Bogen viser, at fangersamfundets kultur var overraskende stabil, ikke fordi folk var konservative, men fordi de gamle redskaber og sædvaner var bedre egnede under de givne betingelser end nye redskaber. Dog blev nye redskaber taget i brug, hvis man syntes de var bedre, og sommetider blev nye og traditionelle genstande brugt side om side.

Keld Hansen var i perioden 1964-76 tilknyttet Nationalmuseets etnografiske samling, afbrudt af feltstudier i Upernavik i 1966-69. Han var kurator på Grønlands Nationalmuseum fra 1984-88 og på Vikingeskibsmuseet i Roskilde fra 1988 til 2003. Keld Hansen har været redaktør af tidsskriftet Grønland siden 1974.