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Greenland People 2

Exterior detail of a small house in Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland.

Exterior detail of a small house in Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland.

Siorapaluk is a very small Inuit settlement, and is the northernmost indigenous community in the world. The residents still live a traditional subsistence lifestyle based on hunting marine mammals (using boats in the ice-free season and dogsleds when there is sufficient sea ice). In 2009 when this photograph was taken, there were about 70 people living there; but by the winter of 2011, the population had decreased to 20. Due to climate change, hunting has become increasingly difficult, and feeding a family and a team of sled dogs in the traditional manner has become too problematic to be reliable.

Idle sledges, no snow or sea ice, and a Greenland sled dog with no work to do. Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland. A subsistence hunt of Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) by inidgenous Inuit hunters in Northwest Greenland. A subsistence hunt of Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) by inidgenous Inuit hunters in Northwest Greenland. A subsistence hunt of Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) by inidgenous Inuit hunters in Northwest Greenland. A female Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus), killed by indigenous Inuit hunters during a subsistence hunt in a very remote region of Northwest Greenland, is towed behind their small boat. After killing two Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) for food, indigenous Inuit hunters prepare to butcher the carcasses on a small floe of sea ice in remote Northwest Greenland. After killing two Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) for food, indigenous Inuit hunters begin butchering the carcasses on a small floe of sea ice in remote Northwest Greenland. After killing two Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) for food, indigenous Inuit hunters butcher the carcasses on a small floe of sea ice in remote Northwest Greenland. Following a subsistence hunt for walrus, seals, and musk ox, an indigenous Inuit hunter brings his share of the meat ashore in Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland. No snow or sea ice, and a Greenland sled dog with no work to do in Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland. Walrus and seal meat from subsistence hunting being stored in the cold air on elevated wooden platforms to prevent scavenging by animals. Restless sled dogs wait for sea ice to form in Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland. A Greenland sled dog and her young puppies eat walrus meat from a subsistence hunt in Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland. A Greenland sled dog puppy eating walrus meat in Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland. An Inuit sledge (dogsled), used for hunting with dog teams on the sea ice, lies idle near the shoreline of the unfrozen sea in Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland. Greenland Sled Dog, Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland. Exterior detail of a small house in Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland. Children in the Siorapaluk elementary school, Northwest Greenland. Children displaying their drawings of marine mammals in the Siorapaluk elementary school, Northwest Greenland. Children in the Siorapaluk elementary school, Northwest Greenland. The cemetery in Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland. An Inuit sledge (dogsled), used for hunting with dog teams on the sea ice, lies idle near the shoreline of the unfrozen sea in Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland. No snow or sea ice, and a Greenland sled dog with no work to do in Siorapaluk, Northwest Greenland. A dead sled dog in Qaanaaq, Northwest Greenland. Traditional Inuit drum dance, Baffin Bay, Northwest Greenland. Traditional Inuit drum dance, Baffin Bay, Northwest Greenland. Traditional Inuit drum dance, Baffin Bay, Northwest Greenland.