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Fabilius

The natives of Thule

I`ve been thinking. Before the inuits settled Greenland other tribes had tried and failed. But what if they would have succeeded adapting the same way inuits did.

Old historybooks tend to date the settlement of Iceland to late 700s, by now it`s widely considered it probably happened a little bit earlier. One theory is that the first settlers only stayed there over the summer to hunt walrus and seals, and then sell the products in Scandinavia or Britain.

Now, you can actually see Greenland from the northwestern part of Iceland and I think vice versa. So it wouldn`t actually be a stretch for inuits to sail into one of the western fjords. They`d have the same animals to hunt, but a slightly more lush environments. Some forests and so on. Assuming they could settle in the fifth century or earlier and then come into contact with viking in 7th or 8th century what would happen?

I`m assuming the vikings might raid, but probably rather trade. They`ll have rather cheap skins, walrus teeth and so on, even dried fish in exchange for various things: weapons, alcohol, cloth, you know the usual stuff. They might not settle, or only settle some parts.

How would the culture and society develop from that point on?
 
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Fabilius

carlton_bach said:
I don't think the Inuit have been on Greenland that long.
Click to expand...

Not the inuit. The dorset culture is more along what I´m thinking of. The POD would be them reaching Greenland earlier... by five hundred years or so. The question is, whether it´s doable.

I´m well aware that the norse actually came to Greenland before or at the same time as the inuit to greenland.
 

Fabilius

Ataneq´s tale

1.

Ataneq had no idea where he was but he knew that he was lucky to have survived. His anoraq had protected him well and his kajak was solid as ever, but this had been quite a storm.

He had gone out on to the sea in order to fish. It had been a clear, bright autumnday. He had of course noticed some clouds in the distance but he had always been near the coast, and the wind hadn´t felt particularily strong.

Ataneq was first amazed and then frightened as he pattled up the fjord. On the both sides there were high mountains with green grasses and various plants. It was still day but the mountaintops easily covered the sun so Ataneq was in a constant shadow. He could see neither humans, nor any animals apart from two ravens hovering in the hills.

When he was too exhausted to continue any further he made a stop in a rocky cove, dragged his kajak on shore and fell a sleep in the deep grass.

2.

It was a girl that woke him up. She poked him with a stick and smiled. Behind her there was an older man and an older woman. They stared at him more distrustingly than the little girl.

He was surprised and almost reached for his stone blade but hesitated. His father had always reminded him that when meeting strangers it was important not to make threatening moves. He looked at the family and tried to calm himself. He was a stranger in their territory, and they´d surely tell him how to get back if they could.

"You are from the other side" the man grunted.
"The other side?" Ataneq asked. His head hurt in the bright sun and despite having slept there a whole night his muscles still ached. "Other side of what?"
The man didn´t answer but instead pointed towards the sea. Ataneq looked.

He could see a small grey stripe in the distance beyond the blue waves.

And then he gasped.

Of course! Of course! Every single day when he had gone out hunting with his father and brother, every single time he had wondered how the grey stripe on the other side looked.

"It is too far" his father used to say. "And who knows what is on the other side." He said it as if it was a bad thing, but to the young Ataneq it sounded more tantalysing than anything.
He had asked old Ana whether she knew what was on the other side. She had given her old, crooked smile he used to love so much and say:
"Dogmen, ghosts and crazy old Tullik.

Ataneq stood up and faced the family. The man held a spear for hunting. It had a sharpened bone, sharp enough to kill a man or a seal. He and his wife wore brown and wrinkled walrus-skinjackets, but their daughter, maybe 10 or 11 winters old wore a grey sealskin anoraq.

They are no dogmen, and by the sound of their breathing no ghosts. But could it be.

"Are you by any chance old Tullik and his wife Shila?" Ataneq asked.

Their faces revealed great surprise. They seemed to be saying: "how did you know?"
When the silence had continued for quite a while Ataneq smiled and said:

"Old Baba sends her greetings to her sister Shila and her husband Tullik, I am her grandson Ataneq."

250px-Vestfir%C3%B0ir_in_Iceland.svg.png


Our starting point. (These fjords are quite a maze to me. Only been there twice).
 
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Dave Howery

Now, you can actually see Greenland from the northwestern part of Iceland and I think vice versa. So it wouldn`t actually be a stretch for inuits to sail into one of the western fjords. They`d have the same animals to hunt, but a slightly more lush environments. Some forests and so on
Click to expand...

are there any big animals native to Iceland, other than sea mammals? I'd thought the place was empty of such, until brought there by the Norse. And... forests? Does Iceland actually have/had stands of timber? I thought I'd read somewhere that it had only scattered small trees that get hammered by the wind...
 

Fabilius

Dave Howery said:
are there any big animals native to Iceland, other than sea mammals? I'd thought the place was empty of such, until brought there by the Norse. And... forests? Does Iceland actually have/had stands of timber? I thought I'd read somewhere that it had only scattered small trees that get hammered by the wind...
Click to expand...

When the norse came it had some fragile birch tree forests. They used it up quickly and it never recovered because they brought sheeps along with themselves.

No big game I´m afraid. Walrusses and seals as well as whales as in Greenland. You can gather a lot of eggs and berries certain times of the year, fishing is quite good...

At this time there´s loads of great Auk however. It´s not going to be much different from Greenland apart from the fact they can use fire to cook, build huts out of birch and enjoy better weather.
 

Fabilius

3.

Tullik the wifestealer started the fire and looked amused when Ataneq stared at him. He was not used to seing such a lively fire. Sometimes he had seen his sisters and mother burn some grass to thaw frozen meat but apart from that nothing like this. The fire was like a living creature, reaching out with his warm hands, trying to stroke you.

But despite the smile he seemed to be uneasy with Ataneq´s presence here.

"Are there other people on this island?" Ataneq asked.
"Not that we know off" Tullik answered.
"How long have you been"
"Longer than you have lived"

Shila handed Ataneq some of their meat and he felt grateful for it. He had not eaten for more than a day. The birdflesh felt just right under his tongue.

"Is my sister Sitiyok well?"
"Who? ... Oh, you mean old Ana" Ataneq answered.
"She is well. But getting old"
"So are we" said Shila and looked at Tullik.
"Do you have other children?" asked Ataneq and looked over to Miksa. She sat silently by her father´s side.
Shila shook her head. It seemed to worry her, and rightly so, there was no way a couple their age would be able to keep up hunting in five or more winters, and without a son to provide for them.

"So will you go back?" Tullik asked.
"Will I? Of course."

Tullik nodded but Shila shook her head.

"Go back? It is to soon for that. He needs to rest more before he can brave the ocean... that is if he thinks it is worth it"

"Worth it?" Ataneq said.

"It´s quite a trip" Tullik said. "You came here by accident, like most of the trees that wash up on these shores. The ocean currents are quite strong. But once you´re out on the great sea on a small kajak there is no telling where you will end"

"No telling" Shila repeated. "We barely made it here ourselves and we know others have perished. Just last year found a poor hunter in the same area you were, he had drowned and seagulls eaten his eyes"

"It is a strong current here" Tullik said.

And after there was silence.
 
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Fabilius

4.

Ataneq would have surely braved the waters if winter hadn´t been approaching. The next days it rained heavily and autumn winds howled through the fjords. He aided the family in all their chores and received a fair share of food.

Tullik hardly ever spoke to him and when he did it was in an unfriendly manner. But Ataneq became slowly impressed by the old man and the way his family lived.

First of all, instead of a narrow skinhut they lived under a cave, with the entrance covered by trees that Tullik himself had chopped down. It would be strong enough to keep out a bear Ataneq figured, and the skins that were tied to them made sure that the cave was nice and warm.

Just like an igloo, the floors in the cave were covered by skin making it very nice and warm. Ataneq was certain he´d miss sleeping there.

In addition Tullik had a massive amount of food. Enough to feed three or four families. Most of it was fish that his wife had dried, meat wouldn´t last as long unfrozen but Shila told him that all around they had buried seals and even some whalemeat. (Of course Tullik on his own would never be able to catch any of the whales that swam along the coast, but a few months ago one had stranded on his own).｛1｝

Winter came without Ataneq ever getting decent enough weather to return. He´d do it in spring he told himself, and in the meantime enjoyed the hospitality of Shila and Miksa.


｛1｝Two notes: Icelanders and Greenlanders didn´t have a lot of salt, but they did preserve food by burying it in the ground. Also, westfjords used to be a whalehunters paradise, in the 19th century French, Dutch, and British sailors often hunted there as well as Icelanders.
 

Fabilius

A concise history of Thule:

Thule is the first part of the new world discovered by Europeans. ｛１｝ But it was the last part of it that was settled by natives. In the early fifth century small bands of the Sadlermiut culture were making their way across the western fjords of north Thule. These fjords were at the time abundant with whales, fish and also various birdlife that provided eggs. (The Sadlermiut soon learnt how to harvest the eggs by tying a rope around the middle of the hunter and lower him slowly down the high cliffs).

The Sadlermiut had been crossing boundless arctic wastes at an incredible speed. A technological revolution in the form of bow, arrows and better kajakbuilding methods attributed to their interaction with the Inuit culture caused a population boom and a fast expansion. By the third century they had reached New Norway｛2｝ and settled it at an incredible speed.

The second population boom came when they reached Thule. According to legend five families crossed the sea under the leadership of Ataneq. It is probably a legend since the name Ataneq literally means a leader but recent genetic research has shown that the natives of Thule may in fact all be descendants from the same five families in the fifth century. Of course genetic research in Thule is a mess. The 7th century saw the arrival of Irish missionaries and their families settling the southern part of the island. The 9th century brought the vikings and in the 10th and 11th century a second immigration wave from the new world brought more Sadlermiut and Inuits as well. Throw into the mix 14th century german and english sailors as well as 18th century frenchmen and the reader should be able to understand the problems facing genetic researchists trying to make the genetic map of your average Thulite.


OOC:
｛1｝Iceland in TTL known as Thule will be counted as part of America because of the native tribes already living there. In geological terms of course it belongs to both the north american plate and the Eurasian one.

｛2｝Greenland.

Some side notes:

I figured out what my POD would be. OTL Dorset people didn´t have the bow and arrow technology and so mainly hunted seals through holes in ice. There is not much known about them. I will use standard inuit names for people and places therefore, but the POD is that the Dorset culture adapts bow and arrow, and other stone age technologies earlier and therefore manages to spread faster. A small population boom so to speak.
 

Fabilius

5.

It was on the third true spring day that Adlartok saw a mysterious boat approach from the other side of the ocean. He at first imagined it was a whale and since he was alone on his kajak he decided to keep a respectful distance.

But as it drew closer he realized it was another hunter paddling across the sea.

"Is he mad?" Adlartok wondered. "To go out onto midsea like that? What for?" Losing sight of the coast didn´t seem a risk worth taking to Adlartok.

He tried to keep his position and focused on the man as he approached. Then the man started waving. Hesitatingly Adlartok waved back.

"Let´s see what he wants" he thought to himself. It was not odd for travelling tribes to pass through his territory. In fact he very often traded with travellers, exchanging things both sides needed.

The man approached, sliding above the waves. It was a strong and cunning paddler Adlartok had to admit.

"Adlartok is that you?" the man shouted.

Now he really got worried. Who was that man?

"Is it a ghost that knows my name?"

"It is neither a ghost nor a dogman. I am your brother Ataneq!"

Adlartok could barely believe but then he recognized the grey patterns on the white anoraq. His brother´s anoraq.

"Is this a cruel joke? My brother has not returned whole winter. How could he still be alive"

Ataneq smiled his brave smile.

"I´ve been in lands green, so rich with birds and fish that the foxes grow too fat to crawl into their holes"

"I can see it is you, but I cannot believe"

"It is me brother. Now, take me home, I have a story that will keep you awake for days."


6.

Ataneq was well received by his family but of course saddened to hear that his dear Ana had died in the winter.
"she kept talking of you" his mother assured him but that left him feeling no better.
The story he told them made their jaws drop. That the wifestealer lived on the other side of the ocean, all alone in a land of boundless wealth.

"It would be rightly named Greenland" Ataneq assured them. "If we were to go we would not be in need of anything"

His mother, always a careful woman was unsure.

"What of women my son. You need a bride. We cannot go there just me, you, your brother with his wife and children"

Ataneq agreed.

"We need more people, and I´m going to convince more to come along"

He didn´t speak more of brides with his mother. In fact he had not yet told them that he had already promised Shila he´d take her daughter for his wife when she´d come of age. He had not returned to find a woman for himself. He had come to find wifes and husbands for his sons and daughters in the new land.
 
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Fabilius

Thulean wild dogs

Descended from dogs brought by the original settlers on Thule they are formerly domesticated dogs that have become wild again. Over the years they changed quite a bit from the original sleighing dogs that the 5th century settlers brought.

Before sheeps and reindeer were brought to Thule no large mammals existed for wolflike predators to hunt, and in order to adapt the dogs had to settle for less. They are in many ways not unsimilar to foxes although they are occasionally seen together in packs. That is a more recent trend after reindeers and wild sheep managed to gain foothold in Thule. Like foxes the Thulean dogs are small, nimb, hide easily and hunt smaller birds. (Though not fish like foxes are able to).

The golden age of these dogs was probably in the 9th century when their stock peaked, but settlers from Norway who brought domesticated animals saw them as threats to their livestock and started hunting them. Even though the stock has recovered since 1979 when it was believed there only were 300 left on the whole island it remains a species on the brink of extinction.

Trivia: In 2005 the Thulean parliament voted on whether the Thule dog should become a national symbol or not. They voted instead to stick with the Auk.
 

Fabilius

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A Thule dog

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The tall cliffs of western Thule provided the early settlers with precious proteins in the form of eggs.
 
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