Arctic Crossing by Jonathan Waterman

"Arctic Crossing, a journey through the northwest passage and inuit culture" is the kind of adventure story I like; enough danger that you can shiver deliciously in the comfort of your couch, but also thougthful, observant and philosphical. Jonathan Waterman travelled throught the northwest passage over several summers by kayak, on skis, with a dogsled and on foot. He was alone in the wilderness for as much as weeks at a stretch. Waterman hoped that by travelling at slow-pace, experiencing the arctic at a ground-eye level, he could also imbibe something of the spirit of traditional inuit culture.

It's a fascinating journey. The author describes encounters with wildlife and wild environment; moments in history preserved in the cold dry tundra; as well as encounters with modern inuit culture, both in village life and (even more) remote hunting camps.

As a fit athlete and experienced wilderness adventurer, Waterman is able to consider such a harrowing venture. What is interesting is that for him, this is ultimately a spriritual quest, and as a writer he is able to describe his doubts, his bliss, his fear and his insight. I mean, where else are you going to hear what it's like to capsize in waters that will freeze you immobile within minutes? Who else is going to tell you what it's like to be haunted by a bear? In this world of extremes - extreme light, extreme solitude, extreme risk and extreme communion with all things, much happens that is fantastic and mystic, and this, he learns, is well understood by the people who've lived here for millenia.

"Inside somewhere, like a light tripping a fuse, is the illumination that continuing alone would eventually have me speaking inuktitut and seeing the world as if I were a shaman in flight. I would feel such a connection to the Earth and Its Great Weather that I would stop trying to verbalize it in favor of simply feeling it inside as I do now. It is a wonderful state, being so outwardly possesed, feeling so connected to the land and the sea and the anomals.

For the first time I understand the specific sorrow of Inuit: their intuitiveness is lost on the modern world."

At the same time, Waterman also presents the grim side of isolation and poverty in modern arctic living:

"They don't answer so I give them a hint that I graduated twenty-five years ago. After several minutes they still apear to be stumped. Thinking that they are merely shy, I jest: 'Okay, I'll tell you. I'm twenty-one.'

Only the girl doesn't believe me. I quickly realize, with a flush of guilt, how easily these guiless people are taken advantage of. As they walk off, the ten-year-old yells back to me, 'Want me to be your slave, Jon?'

Given the closed-door abuses of these villages, the terror of darkened rooms and abusive guardians, I can only wonder where the boy gets his sense of humor."

All up, "Arctic Crossing" is an amazing book - readable, and well worth reading.

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