00:00In Greenland, dogsledding is more than a sport.
00:04In Sissimiut, it's a way of life.
00:06And for Nukarok Olsen, it runs in the family.
00:09I am Nukarok Olsen.
00:11I live in Sissimiut here in Greenland.
00:13In the wintertime, I go out dogsledding.
00:17And he's got a big dream.
00:20If I can, I want to someday win the national dog sled race.
00:36Greenland, an astonishing landscape shaped by ice, wind and long winters.
00:42For generations, dogs made it possible to travel, hunt and survive.
00:48As a child, Nukarok was sent to Denmark to school.
00:51When he returned, he wanted to reconnect with his land and with dogs.
00:56When I was around six years old, my dad got rid of the dogs.
01:00And later on, when I was around 14 years old, I got two dogs.
01:05And from then, they are now 23.
01:07First, when I got dogs, I didn't think of using them to race.
01:12I mostly drove for fun and sometimes with tourists.
01:16But when I tried racing, it was so fun that I wanted to do it more
01:21and try to do my best with my dogs.
01:24Nukarok's father, Ove Olsen, was the first native doctor in Greenland.
01:28He later served as mayor of Sissimiut and as minister of health and environment.
01:33Dogsledding has always been a part of his life.
01:36Nukarok was a newborn baby when we took him out on dogsledding.
01:41So he has done it since he was a baby.
01:44And I think that is therefore he loves it.
02:05Dog sledding has always been central to Greenland's identity.
02:20When you are a dog sled driver, you live together with your country.
02:25You live by your culture.
02:27For me, it has been an enrichment of my life that I could go inland with my dogs.
02:34That is some of our freedom to be citizens in this country.
02:40It is very important for Sissimiut to have dog sled because it is a part of our culture.
02:47And we have done it for many, many years here.
02:50And we now use it for tourists and dog sled races and also hunting.
02:55So we can't really get rid of the dogs.
02:59Sissimiut is Greenland's second largest city with a population of 5,000.
03:03On its outskirts lies Dogtown, home to 1,500 Greenlandic sled dogs.
03:13Only dogs live here.
03:15Sled dogs cared for by their owners in Sissimiut.
03:18They have always been essential to life in the Arctic.
03:23The Greenlandic dogs, they were around our house when we were a child.
03:28They were not tied up in a chain.
03:31They, together with us, created the life.
03:35I remember when I was 14 years old, I came to Nuuk to study.
03:40There are no dogs in Nuuk.
03:43It was a feeling of to come to a place without life.
03:47Dogs meant life for me.
03:50I was dog sledging every day in the wintertime.
03:54Greenland has changed, but Nukarug wants to preserve the traditions of his country.
03:59My way of living is, I go out hunting and fishing, and that's what I make on living.
04:06And I also do dog sled tours for tourists.
04:10I hunt a lot of caribus when they are in season, and I seal the meat, and the rest of
04:17it I feed to the dogs.
04:18And I also go out hunting on the sea, and catch seals, whales.
04:24When I have hunted caribus, I use the skin on the sluts.
04:29It's very comfortable when I am out dog sledding for hours, and it keeps me warm.
04:35Orwe recognizes his own path in his son.
04:38I think he has the same attitude as I have, and his interest of the animal and the nature is
04:45so deep.
04:46He wants to live here.
04:47Right now I don't study, and I live off hunting, but somewhere in the future I want to study.
04:54I want to live here in Greenland and enjoy the nature, because I think it's beautiful, and it's peaceful, and
05:02there's nothing better than it.
05:06Dog sledding demands patience, discipline, and leadership.
05:14For being a good dog sledder, you need to be the master of the dogs, and if not, they don't
05:20listen to you.
05:21If you're gonna race, you need to have dogs that don't get tired easily, and are strong and fast.
05:28Me and my dogs are very connected, because we are out alone long periods of times, and we get to
05:35know each other very well.
05:37They sometimes can tell if I'm going to do something, and they do it before I say it.
05:43You communicate with dogs. Dogs is an animal which is very near to you.
05:49It is easier to have communication with a dog often instead of a person.
05:58And you know you are always popular with the dogs.
06:04In winter, Dog Town becomes Nukarag's second home.
06:09It's always good to come here, because they always recognize me when I arrive.
06:13They are always happy to see me.
06:16I feed the dogs every day, and in the wintertime I want to go dog sledding almost every day to
06:24train them.
06:24And in the summertime, they are in an island near Sisimut, where they run freely.
06:31And sometimes when we cut whales, they eat the skeleton, because there are still some meat on it, and they
06:37get really fat and healthy.
06:39I want to keep my dogs healthy, because when they are healthy, they can perform at their best.
06:45Feeding 23 dogs is a daily and expensive responsibility.
06:50Nukarag combines his life as a hunter with his role as a dog sledder.
06:54I mostly feed them seal meat, and whale meat, and a lot of cod and halibut.
07:00Sometimes I go out hunting, and when I catch seals, my dogs eat the meat.
07:06And some of them go to the family.
07:10It's expensive to feed the dogs, but it helps when I catch meat by myself.
07:18This is seal plopper. I catch myself, and I feed them, because the dog food isn't enough without seal plopper.
07:33Those are Greenlandic dogs.
07:35From here to up north in Greenland, they are not allowed to have other dog feeds to keep the race
07:42clean.
07:43For more than a century, Greenland has protected its sled dogs from interbreeding.
07:49Above the Arctic Circle, only Greenlandic dogs are allowed.
07:52Greenlandic sled dog is developed through evolution, through many, many thousands of years.
07:59So it is adapted to live in very cold climate.
08:03It has the same heating systems like a polar bear.
08:08Orwe believes a true musher must learn by doing.
08:11Now he is proud to see that Nuka Rock didn't disappoint him.
08:15From the start, good advices. That was the only thing I could give him.
08:19I cannot help him with his dogs. He must do it by himself.
08:23So today he produces everything he needs by himself.
08:27I build my sled by myself. This one is around 50 or 60 kilos each for training.
08:34And the race sled is only 10 kilograms. So they build more muscle mass.
08:39And when they use the little one, they are much faster.
08:43One day before the national dog sled race, every detail matters.
08:47Today is the day before the race. This is some caribou meat that I'm going to feed the dogs after
08:54the race.
08:55This year, it's here in my hometown, Shishimi. It's the third time I participate.
09:01I'm very excited and a little bit nervous also.
09:07The racing sled must be ready for the big day.
09:13We made the sled for the race. It's much lighter than the other ones we use.
09:26Now I'm going to wax the skis off the sled so it goes smoother on the snow.
09:41The national dog sled race has developed to a very important part of our cultural life.
09:47as a preservatory event.
09:50It gives me hope that the next generation also will have to keep our culture alive.
09:57That is the meaning of the dog sled race. To keep that alive.
10:02To reach the national race, mushes must first qualify in their regions.
10:07In the start of the competition, we are in a big line.
10:11And when they pull the flag down, we cut the rope attached to the dogs.
10:15And we all start on the same exact time.
10:18And we need to be careful not to crash into each other.
10:21If you do that, the dogs can get filtered in each other.
10:25And you need to spend time getting them apart again.
10:28To win a dog sled race, it's a very big honor.
10:31But it also tells that the man or the woman are special persons.
10:36It means that he must be a good leader.
10:40Today is the national dog sled race.
10:4240 kilometers, 27 mushes, and only pure Greenlandic dogs.
11:10I am really proud of being in the competition. And so are my family.
11:15My dad has gone dog sledding since he was a child.
11:19And now I am also a dog sled musher.
11:21And I compete.
11:23And it's very nice that he can watch me on the races and support me.
11:28And off they go.
11:47Nuka Rock finishes in 15th place.
11:50For him, dog sledding is not only about winning.
11:54It's about carrying a culture forward.
12:03It was fun.
12:07A little hard.
12:07I am very proud that he is doing some constructive things.
12:13And he is keeping the culture of Greenland alive.
12:16When you see him doing these things, that imposes some hope to people.
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