January 23rd, 2020

​KNUD RASMUSSEN
 
In less than two years from now, in 2021, it will be one-hundred years 
ago since Knud Rasmussen set out on his Fifth Thule Expedition, which 
focussed primarily on Arctic Canada. Perhaps you have read about it in 
his book DEN STORE SLÆDEREJSE, which was a bestseller in Denmark, and 
which has been re-issued in various editions over the years, due to 
popular demand. The book (which would be translated The Great Sled 
Journey), is actually a short popular version of his official 
scientific Fifth Thule Report.
 
Between September 1921 and December 1924 the Fifth Thule Expedition 
explored vast areas of Arctic Canada, laying the foundation for many 
later explorations. The Expedition included Greenlanders as well as 
Peter Freuchen, next in command, and Therkel Mathiassen, an 
archaeologist and anthropologist. Mathiassen carried out excavations 
near Repulse Bay which eventually established that the roots of 
contemporary Inuit culture lay in an earlier NeoEskimo culture which 
he called Thule.
 
By sled Knud Rasmussen and a smaller team traveled by dog team across 
Northern Canada, following the shore of the Arctic Ocean to Alaska, en 
route collecting geographic and ethnographic information as well as 
artifacts. The findings of the Fifth Thule Expedition were compiled 
into the ten-volume series Report of the Fifth Thule Expedition, which 
still today is considered a treasure and an indispensable source for 
Arctic studies. The ethnographic reports are highly valued as they 
describe the culture, customs, habits and beliefs of the Inuit of the 
North. Knud Rasmussen, born in Greenland, spoke Greenlandic and was 
therefore able to communicate with the Inuit of Arctic Canada in their 
own language, as the languages of the Inuit up north are in many ways 
similar to Greenlandic.
 
In the time to come the Danish Federation will strive to disseminate 
information about Knud Rasmussen and his Fifth Thule Expedition to 
members of the Danish community and above all to the public at large. 
During the anniversary of the Expedition we must do our best to 
commemorate and celebrate this historic and ground-breaking 
exploration, bringing awareness of it to the general public. The 
contribution that the Danes and Greenlanders on this Expedition made 
to the history and knowledge of Arctic Canada is truly remarkable, and 
should be better known.
 
Rolf Buschardt Christensen
President, Federation of Danish Associations in Canada
613-747-9764
robuch@ca.inter.net

Knud Rasmussen
Greenlander Polar Explorer

Born:
June 7, 1879
Ilulissat, Greenland

Died:
December 21, 1933 (aged 54)
Gentofte, Denmark

more information: www.britannica.com/biography/Knud-Rasmussen