From the Editor
Passage - Siu-Ling Han
Passage - Benson E. Ginsburg
Building & Testing Astrup's Dog Sled
The Arctic Nomads Project
Zacharias Kunuk’s Latest Film
The Chinook Project’s 2016 Wellness Clinics in Canada’s North
Canadian Inuit Dogs I have owned, raised and trained: a photo essay; Part 4
Book Review: Padlei Diary
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Editor: Sue Hamilton
Webmaster: Mark Hamilton
The Fan Hitch, Journal
of the Inuit Sled Dog, is published four
times a year. It is available at no cost
online at: https://thefanhitch.org.
The Fan Hitch welcomes your letters, stories, comments and suggestions. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit submissions used for publication.
Contents of The Fan Hitch are protected by international copyright laws. No photo, drawing or text may be reproduced in any form without written consent. Webmasters please note: written consent is necessary before linking this site to yours! Please forward requests to Sue Hamilton, 55 Town Line Rd., Harwinton, Connecticut 06791, USA or mail@thefanhitch.org.
This site is dedicated to the Inuit Dog as well as related Inuit culture and traditions. It is also home to The Fan Hitch, Journal of the Inuit Sled Dog.
The Fan Hitch welcomes your letters, stories, comments and suggestions. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit submissions used for publication.
Contents of The Fan Hitch are protected by international copyright laws. No photo, drawing or text may be reproduced in any form without written consent. Webmasters please note: written consent is necessary before linking this site to yours! Please forward requests to Sue Hamilton, 55 Town Line Rd., Harwinton, Connecticut 06791, USA or mail@thefanhitch.org.
This site is dedicated to the Inuit Dog as well as related Inuit culture and traditions. It is also home to The Fan Hitch, Journal of the Inuit Sled Dog.
From the Editor....
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Let no one weep for me, or celebrate my funeral with mourning; for I still live, as I pass to and fro, through the mouths of men.
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In the eighteen years I have been writing editorials for The Fan Hitch, they have rarely come easily. September’s one was no exception. In fact, this one has proved to be an exceptionally grim task.
For sure, this issue brings you loads of positive news: the Chinook Project’s successful season of northern veterinary clinics, Bill Carpenter’s part 4 series of historical Inuit Dog photos, an exciting new film offering from Zacharias Kunuk, Jonas Warme Moe’s triumphant conclusion of his Eivind & Kolotengva Project when he and fellow Norwegian Gisle Uren did a test run with Moe’s recreation of Eivind Astrup’s sledge being pulled by Uren’s Greenland Dogs wearing historically reproduced harnesses, and news of the Arctic Nomads project including a December symposium devoted to the history, use and future of the Inuit Sled Dog – how exciting is THAT!
Now here's the inescapable “but”……...there is profoundly sad news as well.
 photo: Archie Lieberman, 1963 |
 photo: Debbie Lynn McAllister |
If we are to realize any comfort in this great sorrow, we could be mindful that both of these souls were-glasses-half-full kind of individuals, and they would have appreciated that this position be embraced by us. Both had requested that in place of funerals, celebrations of their lives be held instead. Their families and friends have so honored these wishes.
Having had to prepare two eulogies in under two weeks, it has been difficult to be anything but melancholy. But I will be mindful of their preference and remain grateful to them for their optimism, wisdom, friendship, their many teachable moments and especially their approach to life…and to death.
Wishing you smooth ice and narrow leads,
Sue