Frostbites 凍傷
“The days of this hunting-based community are numbered, with hunters dwindling as the ice grows ever thinner and recedes. What’s more, the sled dogs are being supplanted by snowmobiles and other vehicles. Ten years ago, there were 30,000 dogs. Now there are only about 12,000. Young Greenlanders have no ambition to become hunters, although there remain a few who choose this path. But it’s brutal life. At -49 °C with wind chill, the cold in the sea ice sinks its teeth into everything — except the dogs. They never seem to feel the cold. But one must be extremely careful. Frostbite will set in quickly if your face left bare. You have to look away from the wind, keep your face covered. In the strongest winds, it can be hard to catch your breath.
On one expedition my fingers and toes got so cold that my right thumb pale white, frozen within ten mininuts and numb…”
冰層愈來愈薄，在格陵蘭從事冰上狩獵的人數，變得愈來愈少。拉雪橇的犬隻，在10年前有30,000隻，現在只剩下12,000隻，被雪上摩托車和其他交通工具所取代。
年輕人愈來愈不愛從事狩獵的工作。狩獵在戶外必須忍受低至負49 °C的超低氣溫及冷風，必須小心包好臉部，免得凍傷。而面對強風，也往往會讓人喘不過氣來。
有一次跟著獵人外出的時候，我(指該書的攝影師)的手指和腳趾覺得冷到骨頭𥚃了，拇指在10分鐘內就迅速凍住而沒有了知覺…….
A story about Takku Takkuk 忠犬
Tallannquaq “fell into a crack in the sea ice…(and) he couldn’t manage to get out of the water…But in no time at all Takku Takkuk sensed his master was in danger and pulled him out of the water back onto ice…Tallannquaq pitched a tent on the sea ice to rekindle his body and dry his clothes. The cold is quick to lay its claim to anything it finds, and the frostbite on Tallannquaq’s right hand was so severe that it later had to be removed. He had to learn to harpoon a whale with his left hand.”*
獵人Tallannquaq掉入海上的冰隙裏面，無法自己爬出來，幸好他的忠犬Takku Takkuk及時察覺，把他拉了出來……Tallannquaq旋即在冰層上架起帳篷來弄乾衣服，但是他右手的凍傷太嚴重了，後來不得不截肢。為了生活，Tallannquaq只能學著怎麼用左手去叉鯨魚呢！
Hjelmer’s bear hunting 獵熊
Hjelmer risked his own life on thin ice and had killed a bear. The photographer took all pictures and thought Hjelmer might want him to get rid of some of them that not everyone should see.
“But Hjelmer says, ‘I want you to show everyone how my life is. It’s not always easy. It’s often a struggle to stay alive. There are so many who have been killed while trying to provide for their families. Life here is extraordinary. But it can also be perilous.Those who throw stones on us hunters should take a good look at themselves first. We can’t simply run out to store and buy whatever we want. We have to provide for our families. This has been the legacy of the Greenlandic hunter for 4000 years. And this way of life is dying out. Our world is melting.”
Hjelmer冒著生命的危險，在薄冰層上獵殺了一隻北極熊。攝影師問他是否在發表前要刪除一些不該給其他(環保人士的)人看的照片。
Hjelmer的回答是：我希望你能忠實反映我的生活。我拼了命只為了求取生存，並不容易。在這𥚃，很多人為了給家人一些溫飽而丟了性命。生活在這個環境很特別，但也充滿了致命的危機。向我們這些在極地狩獵者丟石頭的人，最好拿鏡子先照照他們自己。我們無法跑去商店就可以輕鬆買到我們所需要的所有東西。我們必須用自己的雙手去狩獵好養活家人，這個傳統在格陵蘭已經有4000年的歷史了。但這種生存方式已經岌岌可危。我們所仰賴的(極地冰層)世界，正在不斷地融化。
A village only 120 resident left 小漁村的沒落
“…Tiniteqlilaaq. A small village on Sermilik fjord, has been a popular outpost fir hunters over the years. The locals there are proud of their small community, but no one knows what the future holds. There are only 120 residents left. Some of the old hunters have sought out better hunting grounds in other villiages elsewhere in Greenland. Others have hung up their rifles, although they say the call of the hunt never stops. Life in the village goes on. On a typical day, kids play in the snow. The older people meet at community center, where that can take a shower and do their laundry. The village water tank sits just off the only road. People lug their plastic bottles to fill them up with fresh water from the tap. A hunter might pull a seal in row for dinner. An old man clears the snow away in front of a house belonging to Thomasine, an old woman who lives on the outskirts of the village…
Tiniteqlilaaq原來是一個極熱鬧的小漁村，現在只剩下120人。人口不斷流失，有些人改搬到其他地方去尋找新的獵場，有些則雖然口口聲聲說要狩獵一輩子，但其實都已經高掛槍枝，悄悄退休了。
The secrets of the Arctic and so many its phenomenal stories are bewildering, a riddle just beyond our comprehension, and that will remain that way. They’re partly encapsulated in the life of this small village, in the lives of these people who live in constant uncertainty about their future. With them I have ventured to some of the places where the very Earth is melting.”
北極圈神秘的故事很多，也往往令人難以理解。它們存在於這個小漁村的日常之中，也存在於未來前景極度不明的狩獵者的生活之中。我(指攝影師本人)曾跟著他們的腳步在極地到處走動，看到我們所在的地球，正在不斷地融化。
A good hunter in the Arctic 北極圈的好獵手
“…In the Arctic, neither nature accepts you or it doesn’t…what you say out here can come back to haunt you. We are a part of the nature, which is a powerful force. You must be humble towards Mother Nature, as she listens to what you say. You’ll never become a good hunter unless you develop a positive attitude out in nature and clear your mind of bad thoughts.”
在北極，大自然不是接納你，不然就是拒絕你……你在這裡(向大自然)說的每一句話，都會反回來死死糾纒著你。我們是大自然的一部份，那正也是力量的來源。在大自然母親的面前，我們必須謙卑再謙卑，我們說什麼，她都聽得到。只有你清除心𥚃負面的想法，培養樂觀的態度，你才可能變成狩獵的高手。
Our world is melting 融化的世界
“…A thin layer of ice sometimes forms on the sea, and then it snows again and the ice become stronger enough to walk on for two or three days. But then the ice melts from underneath because the ocean currents are so much warmer than they were twenty years ago. The dog-sledding season used to be eight moths just a few years back. Now it’s already down to five…”
首先，在海面上會形成一層薄冰，接下來下個兩三天的雪，冰層變厚，人就開始可以在上面行走。但是，現在的海流比20年前暖和，冰層從下面開始融化。冰層可以跑雪橇的時間，已經從以前每年的8個月，現在只剩下5個月了。
(在北極圈狩獵的人，出門曝露在嚴寒中，或不期然碰上強壯的北極熊，當然都是很危險的。但現在更危險的是，當狩獵告一個段落，在回程的時候，面對提早融解變薄或因此裂開的冰層，就是以前從來都不需要面對的生死博鬥了。)
“The connection between hunters and dogs in the bleakness of the unrelenting North is, in fact, the story of a profound affinity. And as the age of Greenland’s frozen wildness is eclipsed by both climate change and modernity, these hunters and their dogs have become a dying breed. But the remarkable symbiosis between these people and their most trusted companions, and the legacy of uncanny communion, is a story that transcends time.”
在悽冷無情的北極，獵人和他們的雪橇犬的連結，就是最佳拍檔的寫照。格陵蘭凍原野外的生活方式，受到全球暖化和現代化的影響，獵人和他們的雪橇犬們，成為苟延殘喘的族類。但他們之間，共生的絕對信任夥伴關係的神話故事，將永遠繼續傳唱下去。
*：Ragnar Alexlsson, Arctic Heroes, 2020, Kehrer Heidelberg
2023/8/3 Arctic Heroes Damakey
