History

We have always found the life of the indigenous Greenlanders – the Inuit, i.e. the natives of Alaska, Greenland and Canada particularly interesting.

Inuit means “people” and they are essentially descendants of the nomadic tribe of Thule, who first appeared in Alaska in 1000 AD and according to anthropologists migrated to western Greenland three centuries later.

Long before kayaks entered our lives, we wondered how these people managed to survive for thousands of years in the most challenging environment in the world. What was it that protected these tribes from the polar temperatures, what did they eat, how did they move?

Through our involvement in kayaking, we found the appropriate answers to our questions. In order to survive, the Inuit had to use all their ingenuity. They made clothes from seal skin and learned to transport and hunt in wooden sleds, while until then, to meet their nutritional needs they “fished” seals and fish by opening a hole in the ice.

However, their need for transportation as well as for extra food did not leave much room for manoeuvre. Their gaze turned to the frozen sea.

Wood washed up from the ocean seal skin, were used to build their first boats, the qajaq, known to us as kayaks. Kayaks have evolved over the years according to the needs of each tribe, some narrow ones for harpoon hunting and some long and wide suitable for transport. Exploiting their new means the Inuit began whaling; using the bones to build the skeleton of the kayak. But what if a big wave or a whale with the harpoon on its back capsized this small boat? Although seal skins provided  good insulation from the cold, how long would it take until Greenlander succumbs to hypothermia? In these icy waters, the chance drop to much. To a minimum.

Thus, over the years of evolution, the Inuit managed to give these small boats an incredible -even for our days- property, the recovery after capsizing. That is, they developed both the boat and the technique, to empower the boat to capsize and recover in a few seconds. They developed Roll, this special technique that as already mentioned offers our boats unlimited potential. Of course, rolling was not (nor is) easy and learning it took time and effort, but for the Inuit it was a matter of survival. The development of the boat and the early initiation in kayak training, would not be enough for the Greenlanders to perfect this special technique, they also needed the Greenland Paddle!

Our love and admiration for Greenland paddles was evident from the first day we tried them, and we invite you to discover this magical world from the bottom to the surface, a magical journey based on the Greenlandic tradition.