Photo op/driftwood question

[JohnHuth]

I'm putting together material for a book on primitive navigation. It's slow going, but getting there.

I have a request and a question for anyone knowledgeable out there - mainly Greenland fans:

1. ) Request - I want to get a photograph of a person's extended finger or fingers at the end of the arm, taken from a kayak, with some object in the background - e.g. a lighthouse. This is to illustrate how to estimate ranges using angular measurements. I could do this in my own Tempest, but the foreground would look a bit too...blah. I was wondering if anyone has a more funky looking Greenland style kayak, or even a wood strip kayak that they'd be willing to take a photo for this. If it gets published, you get credit, of course.

2.) Question: Along the lines of Greenlanders - I'm also working on a section on ocean currents. One of the things that got the explorer Nansen to do his arctic drift was the discovery of pieces of a shipwreck that happened off the coast of Siberia and drifted to Greenland. I had spoken with someone - perhaps an NSPN'er even some time ago. He/she - I forget who - said that many Greenland kayaks had their frames made of driftwood, but since wood was not available in Greenland, the Inuit believed that it grew under the surface of the water - not knowing any better. Does this ring a bell to anyone? If so, do you have a source handy that could be cited?

Thanks!

JH

[EEL]

that many Greenland kayaks had their frames made of driftwood, but since wood was not available in Greenland, the Inuit believed that it grew under the surface of the water - not knowing any better. Does this ring a bell to anyone? If so, do you have a source handy that could be cited?

John:

Don't know about beliefs of Inuit regarding where wood grew. Driftwood part is basically correct. This is discussed on page 18-19 of H.C. Peterson's book "Skinboats of Greenland" 1986. ISBN 87 85180 084 In some protected locations, trees grew in Greenland and thus native wood was available in small amounts in some locations. From the colonial times, wood was more easily available and some items such as mast rings were adapted to be cockpit coamings.

The Inuit had many words for wood just as they had many words for snow since as a material critical to their lives, they had a very good understanding of the different types of wood and its properties.

BTW, I heard of some research findings regarding the impact of using GPS and WEB maps. It seems people who use these extensively have relatively undeveloped area of the brain which provides us with a "mental maps" and the ability to ascertain how to locate places spatially and to go from one place to another. Basically, such people lose the ability to navigate about in their surroundings. Apparently the same areas in taxi drivers are very highty developed.

Ed lawson

"

[spuglisi]

John:

Don't know about beliefs of Inuit regarding where wood grew. Driftwood part is basically correct. This is discussed on page 18-19 of H.C. Peterson's book "Skinboats of Greenland" 1986. ISBN 87 85180 084 In some protected locations, trees grew in Greenland and thus native wood was available in small amounts in some locations. From the colonial times, wood was more easily available and some items such as mast rings were adapted to be cockpit coamings.

The Inuit had many words for wood just as they had many words for snow since as a material critical to their lives, they had a very good understanding of the different types of wood and its properties.

BTW, I heard of some research findings regarding the impact of using GPS and WEB maps. It seems people who use these extensively have relatively undeveloped area of the brain which provides us with a "mental maps" and the ability to ascertain how to locate places spatially and to go from one place to another. Basically, such people lose the ability to navigate about in their surroundings. Apparently the same areas in taxi drivers are very highty developed.

Ed lawson

Ed,

That last part makes perfect sense. It's something I've begun to suspect when trying to explain to my teenage daughter and her friends how to get somewhere. They want to punch everything into a GPS and they seem to have very little sense of the proximity of one place to another.

"

[JohnHuth]

Ed -

Do you know where the research about the underdeveloped brain and GPS can be found?

John

[Guest Nancy]

I had spoken with someone - perhaps an NSPN'er even some time ago. He/she - I forget who - said that many Greenland kayaks had their frames made of driftwood, but since wood was not available in Greenland, the Inuit believed that it grew under the surface of the water - not knowing any better. Does this ring a bell to anyone? If so, do you have a source handy that could be cited?

I cannot answer your question, but you may have better luck posting this on the qajaqusa.org forum. There are plenty of people (serious scholars of arctic history and culture) on that forum who can answer this.

-Nancy

[EEL]

Do you know where the research about the underdeveloped brain and GPS can be found?

It was on NPR a couple of weeks ago so you find references on their website. That is all I know.

NPR also did a broadcast bout how the Australian aborigines describe things using the object's orientation with NSEW also. Somethingwith which you are already familiar.

Ed Lawson