A Village At The End Of The World, Which Is Filled With Darkness And Loneliness

Loneliness rules supreme in Greenland’s Niaqornat, a sequestered community tucked away at the edge of the earth. The village lacks even basic utilities like sewage, and those who commute to work depend on government-contractually hired helicopter service. Periodically delivering necessities, a supply ship emphasizes the village’s isolation.

Niaqornat’s documentary exposes the harsh reality of life in this far-off community. The only teenage person living in the village listens to Greenlandic stories, turns to Google Earth for comfort, and muses over suicide. He spends hours carving tupilaqs, traditional wooden monsters used by shamans. The 59 Inuit people, who go by Eskimos, have a distinct rhythm of life: months of total darkness followed by an unrelenting day.

Although their way of life seems straightforward, modernism’s intrusion brings certain difficulties. The whole area is shadowed by socio-economic problems including high unemployment and a concerning suicide rate among young people. Far from a far-off threat, climate change is a harsh reality Niaqornat’s people live with. Their way of life directly depends on the melting ice cover, which emphasizes the urgency of the crisis.

Sarah Gavron and David Katznelson’s documentary film deftly captures the conflict between modernism and legacy as well as the continuous fight against climate change in this delicate ecosystem. Niaqornat suffered greatly when a fish factory, pillar of the village’s economy, closed. The survival of such far-off villages depends on government subsidies, but as populations drop these resources run out and a self-perpetuating cycle results.

Another setback Niaqornat experienced in 2009 came from a European law prohibiting the sale of seal goods, so affecting the local business. The documentary also clarifies the delicate topic of inbreeding inside the small community, one which is sometimes brought up by outsiders. Given just two main families and a small number of unrelated people, locating a mate sometimes means traveling outside the boundaries of the village.

Greenland’s geography and special history add still another level of difficulty. Though physically in North America, the Arctic island is historically and politically connected to Europe. It claims the biggest national park in the world and a mostly ice-covered terrain. Most residents live in the milder southwestern fjords, where most Greenlanders combine Scandinavian and Inuit background.

With about 50,000 speakers, Greenlandic is the mother tongue of Eskimo-Aleutian language family. Spoken by few Danish non-Inuit immigrants, Danish is also an official language. From Norwegian rule to Danish control, Greenland’s political path has seen it evolve leading to a 2008 referendum giving the local government more authority.

Niaqornat’s narrative is one of resiliency against hardship. Among the difficulties the people face, their relentless spirit and connection to the land give some hope. Their experience reminds us of the interdependence of human societies and the environment and acts as a microcosm of the more general problems remote communities all around face.