On 17 February in 2019, a special lecture was given by Toku Oshima at Mombetsu Citizens’ Hall as a part of The 34th Okhotsk Sea & Polar Oceans 2019 Symposium events. T. Oshima is a full-time hunter in Qaanaaq, northwestern Greenland. She supports our glacier and ocean research activities in Qaanaaq during summer. She drives her boat for our ocean measurements in ice-covered fjords, as well as she plays a central role in a workshop with local residents. In her special lecture in Mombetsu, she introduced traditional hunting and crafts cultures in Greenland, and presented her activities to maintain the traditions. She stressed that traditional Greenlandic culture will be forgotten unless young people are educated and encouraged. Thus, she volunteers for teaching the traditional Greenlandic culture to the next generation. ‘’Today, parents do not have enough time to teach how to make traditional clothes to their child. This is the reason why I am teaching’’ she said. Her strong message impressed more than 150 people in the hall.
Naoya Kanna (Hokkaido University, a member of theme 2)
Photograph of special lecture by Toku Ohshima.
Photograph of Ice Breaker Ship “Garinko Go”. Toku is the left and her husband, Kim is the right.
