Manumina: From childhood sled tracks to a researcher’s fieldwork

October 6, 2025 | Written by Christine Hyldal

Fieldwork in Uummannaq. Photo: Mette Mørup Schlütter

Manumina Lund Jensen works closely with local hunters and knowledge bearers in West and North Greenland. She uses their stories as her research method.

As a young child in Sisimiut, Manumina Lund Jense already had a great passion for animals. When she was two years old, she got a rabbit named Quluk, a hamster named Kuluk, and a dog named Naalanngi. This close relationship with animals followed her both personally and professionally throughout her life.

“My mother had read Knud Rasmussen’s books when she was a child, and she had a dream of living in the Thule district. The whole family moved to Qaanaaq in 1981, and we took our dogs with us,” she explains.

The sled dogs had names

The family lived in Qaanaaq from when she was five to ten years old, and she describes the time she spent there as her formative years. It was there that they went dog sledding, caught seals and little auks, and heard stories of wolves and bears. The sled dogs had names, stories, and specific jobs. A female dog, Kiinaki, bred with a male dog and became pregnant; according to a hunter named Moses Petersen, this male dog had wolf genes – and so conversations about the relationship between dogs and wolves became a natural part of Manumina’s life.

Wolf tracks. Photo: Arrutaq Kujaukitsoq

Facts:

Manumina Luna Jensen is studying for a PhD in Arctic studies – culture, language and social studies.

Her research into the dog sledding districts, the interaction between people and animals, and hunting culture has taken her to a number of places in Greenland – including Sismiut, Siorapaluk, Savissivik, Qaanaaq, Saattut, Uummannaq, Qasigiannguit, Ilimanaq, Oqaatsut, Ilulissat, and Kangerlussuaq.

She has interviewed people with roots in towns and settlements such as Tasiilaq, Qaqortoq and many other places.

The interviews were conducted in Danish, West Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) and Inuktun, a northwest Greenlandic dialect, depending on what the participants themselves felt most comfortable speaking.

The fieldwork has provided a detailed picture of the knowledge in the Greenlandic dog sledding districts and of how the relationship between people, animals and the landscape is understood differently in individual local communities.

An Arctic wolf near Inglefield Land in North Greenland. Note the spots on its face – it has just eaten. Photo: Mark Hutchison

Stories and knowledge are research methods

It is precisely these oral traditions which are the core of her research today. In contrast to a more conventional approach, her work is based on stories and knowledge that live among people in the local community.

“The late piniartorsuaq (big hunter, ed.) Sekuvsuna Mitek (1919-2004, ed.) told me unikkaat (stories, ed.) of wolves and polar bear hunting, stories he had himself experienced or had been told. That sort of knowledge is rarely found in books and risks being lost if we don’t document it”, she says.

She emphasizes that oral stories and experiences can be just as valid sources as written documents and statistics – especially in societies where traditions are passed down from generation to generation and are not necessarily written down.

“We are in a period of what is called co-creation of knowledge – we are starting to create knowledge together across different sciences, including local knowledge. Not just as an underlying element, but as an equal part of research,” she says.

Four-legged residents in Saqqaq. Photo: Carsten Egevang

The world’s oldest dog breed

The Greenlandic sled dog has been named one of the world’s oldest dog breeds in the 2026 edition of the Guinness Book of Records.

This is shown by results from the Qimmeq Project.

The Greenlandic sled dog lived in Alaska nearly 4,000 years ago, and its roots lie in Siberia, where its ancestors adapted to the harsh Arctic climate up to 9,000 years ago.

However, the population is decreasing. Today there are approximately 15,000 Greenlandic sled dogs, which is half the population compared to a few decades ago.

Hunters in Ittoqqortoormiit. Photo: Carsten Egevang

A dog in Ilulissat. Photo: Carsten Egevang

Wolves mated with sled dogs

Like other dogs, the Greenlandic sled dog descends from wolves, but Arctic dog breeds have been crossbred with polar wolves more often than other breeds. This is shown by research from the Qimmeq Project, which studies the genetic origin, health, and cultural significance of the Greenlandic sled dog.

According to Manumina Lund Jensen’s informants, some hunters in the Avanersuaq region allowed their sled dogs to breed with wild wolves. They did this to make their dogs stronger, smarter, and faster with a well-developed sense of smell that could help them with hunting – especially polar bear hunting. However, such wolf-dogs can potentially be dangerous to anyone outside their own pack.

Although it was done deliberately, DNA research from the Qimmeq Project shows that virtually no trace of wolf blood remains in Greenlandic sled dogs today. This indicates that wolf-dog hybrids were not widespread across Greenland but only occurred in certain regions and for limited periods of time.

Manumina Lund Jensen’s research also shows that the tradition of hunting polar bears with nanorriutit (bear dogs, ed.) was once regarded as the pinnacle of achievement for a skilled and respected hunter. Today, however, climate change – particularly the melting of sea ice – is putting this tradition under pressure in Inughuit communities.

Knowledge is like a gift – something you both give and receive

For Manumina, her research is also about giving back to the local communities that have entrusted her with their knowledge.

“I hope my informants feel that I am doing something that they can recognize themselves in. It is really important to me that I do this in an ethical and respectful way,” she says.

“I could not have carried out this research without my informants. They are the ones who shared their knowledge with me, and it would never have been possible to write the articles without them. I am deeply grateful.”

Biology Culture Greenland Local community PhD Research