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Introduction
Yann Lemoine,
Arctic guide.
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The kayak
allows one to visit areas where it alone can go, without
harming the environment. Born of the genius of the Inuit
people, it was formerly a tool for survival, and has become
the emblem of the spirit of the people – hunters and nomads.
It carries the spirituality, the knowledge and the wisdom of
the ancients. For all these reasons, it is today a tool of
cultural re-evaluation, to guide this people through their
evolution.
A journey
by kayak round the coast of Greenland is much more than a
tourist trip or a sporting achievement. It’s a voyage of
initiation to visit a nature and a culture which are in
danger of disappearing, both being threatened by human greed
and avarice.
A nature
condemned by man’s over-activity, and his need to always
consume more. An icefield more and more fragile, becoming
smaller and smaller. Ice floes which will no longer exist
tomorrow. The reduction of the icefield already sounds the
death knell for its fragile ecosystems. Their disappearance
will set off chain reactions with unimaginable consequences
for the planet which we leave for our children.
A culture
where we have destroyed the very nomadic spirit which gave
them life. They were respectful of bountiful mother nature,
but we have destabilised them, although they were the
guarantors of an equilibrium.
What can be
their future in this unstable world? Our choices profoundly
affect their land. In changing the environment of the
Greenlanders, we affect their culture and their way of
thinking. As in other places, we condemn this people to
sink into alcoholism and inactivity, with all the degrading
consequences which that brings.
In preparing
to exploit the arctic lands, we increase the possibilities
of destroying these fragile areas along with the people who
live there. Their recent increasing autonomy may seem like
good news, but is it really all that good?
In
travelling these lands by kayak, Nathalie and Alain will
immerse themselves in the spirit which inhabits them. They
will open the doors for themselves to a culture rich in
imagination.
They will be able to collect images and words as witness to
a noble people who are obliged to struggle with the
consequences of our actions, and return to them the right to
be heard.
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