Preparing the sled dogs

In this recording you have a typical soundscape of Sisimiut’s “dogtown” during winter. Amidst the sound of recreational snowmobilers and dogs howling and pulling at their chains, two Greenlanders are preparing traces and getting their pack of dogs ready to go dogsledding in the backcountry. 

4,500 years ago, the Inuit migrated from Canada to Greenland across the sea ice by dog sledge. Modern Greenlanders still use sled dogs for hunting and winter transportation, but the traditional ways have been quickly eroded by the introduction of snowmobiles, which are easier to handle, don’t require feeding in summer, and can go further, faster. 

Greenland has introduced several programs to ensure that dogsledding remains an important part modern culture and that traditional knowledge is maintained. Sisimiut is one of the few places where dogsledding is on the rise, and both the howling of dogs and the whine of snowmobiles is characteristic of the winter landscape. 

Recorded by Lisa Germany.

Part of the Migration Sounds project, the world’s first collection of the sounds of human migration. 

For more information and to explore the project, see https://www.citiesandmemory.com/migration