Sunday, February 27, 2011

Nanook of the North documentary video


I am reading Sara Wheeler's The Magnetic North.  She travels around the Arctic Circle and describes the native peoples who live there.  In her chapter on Canada, she talks about the world's first documentary, Nanook of the North.  It's about a Canadian Eskimo and his life in the 1920s.

If you can access Youtube on your TV, this is a great way to spend an evening.

If you don't watch the whole thing, at least check out Nanook's spacious kayak from 5:10 to 7:08.  Other highlights include fishing without bait, killing a walrus, and building an igloo.


Sadly, Nanook died of TB two years after filming.  Plus, the filmmaker got Nyla pregnant.  He never acknowledged or saw their child.

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