Tuesday 17 March 2009

ABC Wednesday "I" for Ice When the ice melts....




To enlarge click first on "View All Images" then on " Original view"

Last year I went to Leiden to the Museum for Cultural Anthropology, to see an exhibition about the Arctic regions.The residents of the Arctic live in Alaska, Siberia, Canada, Greenland, and Lapland. The people are called the Inuits ( Greenland), the Unangan ( Alaska), the Sámi (Lapland). They used to live from fishing and hunting. Everything of the animal was used either for food but also for clothing and the oil of course among other things for lamps.
The animals in these areas are the polar bear, the snow fox, sea lions, the seal, the walrus. Their skins, and intestines were used for clothes. Their bones were important for the production of tools. Nowadays many of these people live like we do with clothes of the same material we have. I found the clothes made of intestines of animals, very strange, but interesting .
These clothes were waterproof , because the seams were sewn with a waterproof stitch. Prepared intestines of sea lions, seals, walrus, otters, or bears were sewn in horizontal strips to each other. The kamleika has its strips in a vertical direction. It was worn by men as an outer layer of clothing while kayaking. In the village also a jacket made of intestine protected the fur or bird skin clothing underneath against snow and rain. Intestine kamleikas fell out of use in the early twentieth century

The Arctic is warming up quickly, faster than other places on Earth. People who live there have been noticing the change. Because their culture is adapted to the Arctic’s cold climate, global warming is making it difficult for them to continue their traditions.



ABC is created by Denise Nesbitt.For more lovely and interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar. This week we are looking for words beginning with "I".

40 comments:

Carol Murdock said...

Wil....thanks for sharing this! I have always wanted to take an Alaskan Cruise and we are checking on iy for August 2010.
xoxo,
Carol

Miss_Yves said...

C'est très intéressant, et c'est une chance que le musée autorise les photos .
J'ai admiré les vêtements très colorés, les animaux, et la fenêtre faite d'intestins m'a étonnée .

Rune Eide said...

A post with a real Issue - an issue that has to be taken very seriously indeed. We don't quite live in the Arctic, but I have seen great change during my own lifetime.

Rune Eide said...

Meg igjen - Likte "headeren din!!

Sylvia K said...

Terrific post! And one we all need to pay attention to because it is and will affect us all! Thanks for the wise words.

Anonymous said...

Very educational- thank you for sharing:) and thanks for visiting my post! I left you a note about St. Patrick's day (on my blog).

Bling - our elf on the shelf said...

I totally agree with Rune. I`m only 31 yo, but in my lifetime the climate has changed dramaticly.

Leslie: said...

What an awesome place to visit. I really loved your outdoor photos, especially, because the snow looks almost blue! Just lovely! :D

gone to the dogs said...

So much has been lost and so much more will be lost if we don't start taking the issue of global warming seriously. this was a great post.

Janie said...

How clever those people are to use intestines to make waterproof clothing.
Very interesting post.

anthonynorth said...

So many communities are suffering from AGW and, often, western sentiment. A great shame.

A Scattering said...

This is a wonderful, educational entry. Thanks!

Renie Burghardt said...

What an interesting and thought provoking post, Wil. And the pictures are beautiful. We all need to think about the changes affecting our earth. Thank you for sharing. Have a wonderful day!

Hugs,

Renie

photowannabe said...

Thanks for the interesting and important post. Great slide show.

Anonymous said...

I love the arctic. Thank you so much for this!

Unknown said...

This is fascinating stuff! I love your new picture in the header. Brilliant!

Unknown said...

Hoi Wil, Goed om u weer te zien in het bloggen werld.

Mooi foto's van Norway. Tot ziens!

Groetjes!

Tumblewords: said...

Excellent post. We've ignored this issue far too long.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful .. aint it .. man continues to thrive and luxuriate with whatever he has can cling on to for his existence ... Great post on I :)

Cloudia said...

Excellent post, Wil!
Aloha-

Anonymous said...

Prachtige foto's, is precies soms blauwe sneeuw he.

Groetjes

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Isn't it unusual to have green ice?

Just heard over the news, we have another accident at our Fox Glacier. In January, two Aissuie brothers were killed.

I note, there is a wall in your Norway photo. Not a bad idea to prevent tourists from going too near the melting ice.

Cheers,

Ann

Bradley Hsi said...

I love your new photo for your home page. Beautiful.

Rose said...

I always learn something interesting here, Reader Wil! As more and more people become aware of the effects of global warming, I hope it will convince more of us to change our habits to protect this earth before further damage is done.

Karyn said...

Very interesting. I've always been fascinated by the clothing of the Laplanders....so bright and colorful. Thanks for sharing.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Lovely photograph for your header Reader Wil - we went on the Hurtigruten some years ago right round the top of Norway to the Russian border at Kirkenes - it was a most wonderful holiday - and we saw the midnight sun.
I have been watching Billy Connolly going through the North West Passage - that really brings home just how much the ice cap is melting.

Arkansas Patti said...

Very interesting and loved the slide. Not too sure about intestines for clothing but I am sure it is effective.
Do you think we will learn in time? I sure hope so for this beautiful blue planet we live on is too precious to throw away.
Well done post.

Anonymous said...

How fascinating! I'm not sure how I'd get on with this sort of clothing, with my many allergies, but it's wonderful how they used all of the animal and wasted nothing - and made themselves waterproof clothing too!

Constantinos said...

The photos are brilliant yet the reality is frightening: if the Arctic ice cap were to melt completely by 2090 the entire weather pattern of the Northern Hemisphere would change dramatically. So, if we assume a a growing greenhouse effect of global warming...the Arctic ice cap could have melted by 2090. And to my mind that's pretty scary.

Raph G. Neckmann said...

Beautiful photos! The global warming is cause for great concern.

The clothes sound unusual!

Brenda said...

I love your header photo. The description of the clothing reminded me of some stories I had read about in a book called Alaska. All parts of the animals were used, nothing wasted.

Anonymous said...

Hi Wil,
I said on my blog that I would leave a comment, but I forgot what I wanted to tell you (forgetful me!)-maybe something having to do with your daughter living in Autralia and celebrating St. Patrick's day. I had another comment on that blogpost that in Brisbane there ae parades, and they drink green beer on that day. Good chatting with you :

pictureeachday said...

Beautiful photos and wonderful information as always, Wil. I find indigenous peoples of the Arctic so fascinating. Your new title photo is AMAZING, by the way!

Anonymous said...

Goede morgen,
deze avond is het weer zover SWF, ben al nieuwssierig.

Groetjes

Reader Wil said...

Hi, to night I shall continue to linger a bit longer on the item of global warming. See sky watch.

Merisi said...

That slideshow is magic!

Unfortunately, Vienna seems to have its own climate: snow fell this morning and even in the afternoon, more forecast for tomorrow.

Dragonstar said...

A very thoughtful post.

Janice Thomson said...

Very interesting and thoughts to seriously ponder. Thanks for this post Wil.

LauriesAsylum said...

Hi Wil!

Great photos!

Barbara Martin said...

Very interesting and educational post on the arctic and its people, Wil.