|
BT - Official satellite telecom supplier to Clipper Ventures
General Notes of Interest
10 July 1998
by Colin de Mowbray
The two Clipper yachts remain in Reykjavik. The crews have spent the days cleaning up and the highlight was a crew diner ashore last night (Fish and Chips?). Today there is an expedition by land to an active volcano about 60 miles to the north. Obviously the crew are still trying to warm themselves up from their days in the ice.
One general point today. On the 'Services ' button on the Clipper Ventures Home page you will find that we have entered a useful yachting Links page. David runs the web and we are always keen to have reciprocal links so if you are involved with a web site please contact him at dcullen@clipper-ventures.com
While I await reports of their activities ashore in Reykjavik I thought it might be a good opportunity to publish some background on the Inuits which you will remember the crews met in Augpilotagoq in southern Greenland. There will be a quiz on this at a later stage!
Colin
Inuit .
InuIt People inhabiting the Arctic coasts of North America, the E islands of the Canadian Arctic, and the ice-free coasts of Greenland. The total number of Inuit (1993 est) is 125,000. There are 3 languages, all of the same family: Yupik, spoken in Siberia and SW Alaska; Aleut, spoken in SW Alaska; and Inupiaq spoken from N Alaska to Greenland. The traditional way of life was as semi-nomadic hunters of marine animals. The Inuit object to the name Eskimos (`eaters of raw meat') given them by the Algonquin Indians.
In 1989 the Canadian government agreed to transfer to the 17,000 Inuit of the E Arctic an area in Northwest Territories about half the size of France ( see Nunavut ), including rights to hunt and fish; their right to levy royalties from the exploitation of mineral resources was restricted to a limited area. A cash payment was also agreed in compensation for the Inuit's renunciation of other areas where they formerly lived. Creation of the homeland was approved in a regional plebiscite 1992. A final land claims agreement, signed May 1993 on Baffin Island (proposed capital of Nunavut), gave the Inuit outright ownership of 353,610 sq km/136,493 sq mi of the land, and mineral rights to 36,257 sq km/13,995 sq mi.
An Inuit Circumpolar Conference was formed 1977 to promote Inuit interests throughout the Arctic. It was granted nongovernmental-organization status at the United Nations 1983.
Traditionally, they construct their homes from stones, peat, bones, driftwood, and skins - snow igloos are used only for temporary camps in winter travel - and get their food by hunting seals, whales, caribou, and other animals (often using their skin-covered canoes, kayaks). In practice this picture has become increasingly modified as patterns of western social organization have increasingly impinged on the Arctic, and many Inuit have abandoned their traditional way of life. In 1975 the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic (about 14,500) demanded the creation of an autonomous state, Nunavut (Our Land), to comprise part of the mainland of the Northwest Territories and many Arctic islands, including Baffin Island. The area claimed (2,400,000 sq km/930,000 sq mi) is rich in minerals, including iron, gold, lead, zinc and copper, and the sea has oil and natural gas. The federal government approved the claim in principle in 1985. The conditions of their life make rather for individualism than distinctive tribal organization. Inuit belief postulates survival after death, has a rich mythology and a shaman ( angakok ) tradition; but Christianity has been adopted by many. There is no indiginous or unified writing system.
BT - Official satellite telecom supplier to Clipper Ventures
The log entries are produced from messages sent by both Clipper yachts via their InmarsatC using BT satellite services. They are compiled either by Colin de Mowbray or David Cullen and the intention is to have them published by 1000BST daily
If you know of people without access to the Web who would like to follow the Clipper please note that both voice-back and fax-back is available on 01234 711550
Comments, feedback and other articles are welcome and should be addressed to either: cdemowbray@clipper-ventures.com or dcullen@clipper-ventures.com
Should you wish to communicate with either of the Clippers please refer to the article 'Satcoms made easy' (Yes, it's a lie) is a news items dated 11 June 98 on the Clipper Ventures' Home page
BT - Official satellite telecom supplier to Clipper Ventures
| 
