Connecting with the land

 

Connecting with the land, providing contacts will work out well, the author will embark upon the biggest endeavour of his life: to travel the most authentic way, the way Inupiaq Eskimo's have done for thousands of years.
By dogsled! (this is not common in this remote part of the arctic: most, if not all, Inupiat use the snow scooter, or snowgo as it's commonly called). The trip will be done with an experienced long distance dog musher from Point Hope to Kivalina and, if possible, to Cape Krusenstern (and back).

During the last week of October and the beginning of November we will face arctic circumstances, going through wind and snow, gales and storms, over ice and over mountains. It's paramount: for the author this is the only way to experience first-hand daily life of Inupiaq Eskimos. They are by far and wide the best guards to watch how humans can adapt to climate change.
Hunter-gatherers have done this over and over again.

How deep is the impact of climate change upon their behaviour? Can myths and legends and their intimate knowledge of the land play a role in the process of adaptation? And how far the impact of old and new technology stretches?
In the end, reducing climate change is all about in which ways we (re)connect with the land, the environment in which we were born, grew up (and will die eventually). Without ties to our lands we cannot exist.