Sven Zellner – Hunting in Greenland

“Greenland is the largest island in the world. Around 80 percent of the land surface is covered by a thick layer of ice. Villages are very isolated and can only be reached by air or by boat – few people live here. I've heard many stories about old traditions, social problems and an extremely high suicide rate. Most Greenlanders, however, lead a modern life, and I wonder how things are in a country where the infrastructure is subject to such difficult geographic and climatological conditions. At the same time, because of modernization, the life of the people of Greenland has changed rapidly, and more recently there has been a big boom in raw materials. That's what my new project Greenland’s Future Generation is about. That's why I'm in Greenland.

Because of its isolation, provisions are very expensive in Greenland. That's the reason why many families go hunting during their spare time. So I went hunting with Karl-Jørgen, a Greenlander from Sisimiut, and his family. On the way to Itilleq Fjord we saw seals and porpoises from the boat, but the water was too choppy to get close enough. We set up camp in Eqalungaarsuit – with a traditional tent made of turf. From there we headed out the next day to hunt reindeer, and to fish salmon and cod in the fjord. Meat and fish is then preserved by drying. The days were very warm, which means the reindeer head east towards Iceland. That meant longer distances for us. After our first tour of about ten hours through rain and storm, we returned empty-handed and completely exhausted. We had already given up when the antlers of a reindeer were spotted behind the slope of a crag. We crouched down and hurried along a steep cliff face, to approach downwind from the bull. Karl-Jørgen shot the reindeer in the neck from a distance of about 20 metres, then he drew closer and shot him again. It took about an hour to cut the animal up. We were lucky that we didn't have to carry the meat very far. The path back down was steep and slippery and the meat was damned heavy. I carried the back leg and even that was tough. Normally, Karl-Jørgen carries the whole animal on his own, and that's about 100 kilos.”