Kari Herbert: The Explorer's Daughter, Greenland

Biography of Kari Herbert

• Born in 1970, Kari Herbert is the daughter of Sir Wally Herbert, a polar explorer.
• She spent her early years in North Greenland and spoke the local language.
• Herbert is a travel writer for various magazines.
• In 2005, she published her most famous book, "The Explorer's Daughter."
• She has created TV programs about exploration and conservation.
• Herbert is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Background of Greenland

• Greenland is a large island located near the North Pole
• It was initially colonized by Vikings
• The majority of the population has been Inughuit (native people of the North Pole) since the 13th century.
• Greenland is mainly self-governing but remains part of the Danish realm
• The Danish monarch is the head of state.

Summary of the Extract

• The events occur in 2002 during a narwhal hunt near Thule in Northern Greenland.
• The narrator observes the hunt from the shore.
• Two large groups of narwhal are spotted in the fjord.
• Indigenous people (Inughuit) approach the whales.
• Herbert provides context about the importance of narwhal to the Inughuit way of life.
• The hunting is for survival, not sport.
• The narrator has sympathy for the narwhal.

Analysis of the Extract

• The passage opens with a specific timeframe: two hours after the hunters returned and ate.
• Narwhal are sighted "very close."
• The narrator is among the observers on shore to see whales with the naked eye.
• There's magical imagery as the narwhal send up "plumes of spray," creating a "spectral play of colour;" the alliteration and rhymes intensify the experience.
• "Spectral" makes the narwhals' arrival seem supernatural, hinting at a matter of life and death.
• There are two large "pods" of whales circling methodically in the fjord.
• The slow movement builds suspense.
• The narrator runs up the hill, describing the scene as a "glittering kingdom."
• The word "kingdom" suggests majesty, applicable to both the whales and the brave hunters.
• The narrator is deeply moved.
• Distant hunters are small, "dotted all around the fjord."
• Compound adjectives intensify visual images; the evening light is "butter-gold" - links man and whale.
• Alliteration highlights "soft billows of smoke" from the hunters' pipes.
• The metaphor of smoke like sails accentuates the maritime theme.
• The hunters appear close enough to touch the narwhal, but distances are deceptive in the Arctic.
• The narrator questions if the narwhal are real or "mischievous tricks of the shifting light."
• The personified light makes the scene appear magical, portraying nature as alive.

Contrasting Tone

• Lines 1-12 are descriptive and personal
• Lines 13-32 are factual, providing context to the struggle between man and whale.
• The factual paragraphs are mostly in the present tense, unlike the narrative past tense.
• Narwhal rarely leave "High Arctic waters," moving to warmer waters near the Arctic Circle in winter.
• The word "dead" reminds the reader of the life-and-death battle between the Inughuit and narwhal.
• In summer, the narwhal go back to the Inglefield Fjord; the hunt unfolds here.
• The narwhal is an "essential contributor" to the hunters' survival.
• The "mattak" (blubber) contains minerals, nutrients, and vitamin C.
• Vitamin C protects the Inughuit from scurvy because fruits/vegetables do not grow in North Greenland.
• Whale blubber was the "only source of light and heat" for centuries.
• The whales’ "dark rich meat" is a "valuable" part of the daily diet for both men and dogs
• A single narwhal can feed a team of dogs for an entire month.

Natural History

• A narwhal has a "single ivory tusk" that can grow up to six feet.
• The tusk is used for "harpoon tips and handles for other hunting implements,"
• Ivory was too brittle and "not hugely satisfactory as a weapon."
• The tusk could be used to carve a "tupilak" (figure with magical properties).
• It was also used for the central beam of Inughuit dwellings.
• The narwhal is essential to Inughuit life, including their tools, food, housing, and ceremonies
• The narwhal tusks are not strong enough to break through ice.
• Nor can they be used to "catch or attack prey."
• Tusks are used to "disturb the top of the sea bed" to catch Arctic halibut.
• Narwhal have a "particular predilection" (strong liking) for the fish.
• "Often the ends of their tusks are worn down or even broken from such usage."
• Women are "clustered" on the knoll, watching with binoculars.
• They are "pointing," "focusing," and "occasionally spinning."
• Each "wife knew her husband instinctively" and watches intently; assonance stresses the scene.
• The narwhal is part of the "staple diet," and the blubber/meat is sold to other hunters for income.
• The sentence, "Every hunter was on the water" highlights the scene on the fjord.
• Similes create a sense of vastness, "like watching a vast, waterborne game, with the hunters spread out like a net around the sound."
• The word "game" is misplaced
• The narwhal are "intelligent creatures" with keen senses
• They communicate underwater and can hear hunters paddling.
• Hunters must sit "so very still" in the water.

The Hunt

• One hunter is "almost on top of a pair of narwhal."
• The whales are "huge."
• The hunter gently picks up his harpoon and aims; respect for the whale.
• A long dash slows the reader down, time pauses.
• The narrator's "heart leapt for both hunter and narwhal."
• The narrator "urged the man on" because he is "so brave.”
• The hunter is alone, "miles from land in a flimsy kayak" and could drown while hunting with only a harpoon and bladder.
• The narrator knows it is a "foolhardy exercise" and respects the hunter's bravery.
• "At the same time," her "heart" is with the narwhal.
• She wants the whale "to dive, to leave, to survive."
• The rhyme of "dive" and "survive" and "v" alliteration emphasize emotions.
• "Survive" is the core of the passage; man and whale are in a battle for survival.
• Verbs in the infinitive form freeze the battle in time.
• The battle between hunter and hunted is eternal.
• The narrator observed from a distance.
• Simple past tense signifies completed action.
• The "dilemma" stayed with her in Greenland.
• "I understand the harshness of life in the Arctic and the needs of the hunters and their families to hunt."
• Animals hunted are those "we demand to be protected because of their beauty."
• She understands both sides of the argument
• "And I know that one cannot afford to be sentimental in the Arctic" means they cannot survive without hunting.
• "How can you possibly eat seal?" is a rhetorical question she is asked.
• The rest of the paragraph justifies the Inughuit choices by analyzing economic circumstances.
• "True" is a concession to the argument that hunting is cruel.
• They have been "bombarded" with images of violent seal-hunting.
• The Inughuit do not "kill for sport" or club seals to death.
• They "use every part" of the animals and hunt most of their food.
• Imported goods are scarce.
• There is only an annual supply ship to Qaanaaq.
• A small plane from West Greenland comes twice a week.
• "Hunting is still an absolute necessity in Thule."