The call of the north

Photo courtesy Douglas & McIntyre

Thanks to Ottawa-born author, Stephen R. Bown, the English-speaking world now knows a lot more about the Danish explorer, author and ethnographer, Knud Rasmussen.

Born in Greenland in 1879, Rasmussen developed a life-long love of the outdoors. He learned to hunt and lead a dog sled team at a young age.

Moving to Copenhagen as a teenager for schooling, he quickly discovered a dislike for academic life and eventually drifted into the arts. He dabbled in acting, then opera – and when those ventures failed – found himself in journalism.

When the call of the wild was too strong for him to ignore, he ended up back in the north.

A series of sledge trips across Greenland cemented Rasmussen's reputation as an astute explorer. His ability to speak the language and his appreciation of local culture, earned him the respect among the Inuit community.

For Rasmussen, being first to reach a specific geographical point on the map wasn't the goal. He wanted to learn the stories, the songs and the poetry of the people he met in the far north.

"Rasmussen was unique among this polar pantheon; his goals were cultural as well as geographical and he was the first to reveal to outsiders the lives and customs of the little-understood people who dwelt on the edge of the habitable world," writes author Stephen R. Bown. "His career was based on this distinction and his reputation grew over the years as his many publications demonstrated the breadth of his knowledge."

Rasmussen is perhaps best known for his 29,000 kilometre (18,000 mile) journey across the Northwest Passage by dog sled.

This journey, called the Fifth Thule Expedition, collected 15,000 – 20,000 ethnological and archaeological treasures, which Rasmussen donated to the Danish National Museum.

Rasmussen died in Copenhagen in 1933, from a rare form of botulism, complicated by influenza and pneumonia at the age of 54.

This book – White Eskimo – is a great adventure and will interest anyone who is curious about the north, its people and those who have ventured there.