Kenn Harper brings explorer’s journey to life in latest book

When author Kenn Harper wanted to commemorate the centennial of the Fifth Thule Expedition, he did so in the best way he knew — by writing a book.

In Give Me Winter, Give Me Dogs: Knud Rasmussen and the Fifth Thule Expedition, Harper chronicles Danish-Greenlandic explorer Knud Rasmussen’s journey across the Arctic from 1921 to 1924 documenting Inuit culture and groups.

“It dawned on me as 2021 approached that this would be the centennial of the Fifth Thule Expedition and we would have three years to celebrate because the expedition lasted three years,” Harper said in an interview.

He said Rasmussen spoke Greenlandic and grew up dogsledding, which gave him an advantage for his journey to northern Canada and for connecting with Inuit there.

His seven research trips were named after the Thule district in northern Greenland, where he was based, but only the Fifth Expedition took him through northern Canada.

Accompanied by a team of four Danes; one Kalaaleq, which is a Greenlandic Inuit group; and six Inuit, Rasmussen travelled through an area near current-day Naujaat, Igloolik, the interior of the Kivalliq region, through the Kitikmeot region and on to the Mackenzie Delta.

Harper said the Fifth Thule Expedition was different than others at the time, and in his view it’s the most important expedition ever to travel to northern Canada.

“It was not to explore for new lands, to claim sovereignty over any lands and plant a flag, to search for mineral wealth and claim that, to convert the people through Christianity, to trade for furs — it was not any of those things,” said Harper.

“It was to meet new people that had been at that time largely untouched by missionaries, traders, and this expedition happened sort of at the 11th hour before a horde of outside influences arrives in the formerly isolated parts of the Arctic.”

Harper’s sources include Rasmussen’s diaries and day books, which Harper already owns in his home library, and sources in Denmark.

“It’s subjective, but [it’s] based on what I know about northern Canada and what Canadians should know about this major expedition that did so much work in documenting Inuit culture, beliefs, and heritage,” said Harper.

The title of the book comes from Rasmussen’s diary and the way his love of Inuit travel methods inspired him to make the expedition on dogsled.

Published by Inhabit Media, the official release date is Nov. 19 and it’s available for advance order online at Amazon and Indigo.

Harper said he hopes the 300-page book will eventually be available at Arctic Ventures in Iqaluit as well.

Harper is a longtime contributor to Nunatsiaq News through his Taissumani history column and is the author of Minik: The New York Eskimo and Thou Shalt Do No Murder, among other books.