Flaherty's 'Nanook' Trivia Quiz

Answer: First feature-length documentary

"Nanook of the North" is a 1922 black and white film from the silent era. It is often held out as being the first feature-length documentary, embodying many of the key elements seen in modern documentaries. Flaherty did not knowingly set out to make a documentary; indeed, the term had yet to be invented. It was coined by John Grierson, one of the fathers of documentary, after seeing Flaherty's 1926 film "Moana".

The first one million dollar film is said to have been the 1916 film "A Daughter of the Gods". "The Jazz Singer", a 1927 musical, is usually the film cited as the earliest example of a 'talkie'. I am not sure which was the first colour film featuring Inuit however it was not "Nanook" since this was shot in black and white.

Answer: Polar bear

Nanook (or nanuq) means 'polar bear'. In Inuit mythology, Nanook as the master of bears decides whether hunters are successful or not in hunting bears. Hunters took great care over how they treated their bear kills in order to avoid prejudicing future hunts. All the animals listed as answers were important sources of food at the time.

Inuit beliefs were more based on mythology rather than theological religion. It has been described as a form of shamanism mixed with animism. There were no ruling gods for the Inuit, and no heaven or hell. The struggle to survive in this harsh environment was reflected in the rituals and taboos followed. It was 'fear' rather than 'worship' on which the beliefs were based. Christianity has been put into the mix and is now the dominant religion.

Answer: Employed as an explorer

Flaherty started out as an iron ore prospector and explorer in the Hudson Bay area of Canada. Working for the railway baron Sir William MacKenzie, between 1910 and 1916 he spent many months living amongst the Inuit and developed an appreciation and respect for their lifestyle.

On one of his expeditions he was sponsored by Mackenzie to take a film camera to make a film with a view to defraying some of the expedition's costs. Having only two weeks of training with the camera behind him, he filmed the local Inuit during breaks in his prospecting work. He later built on this during another expedition with some walrus hunting footage. The resulting film was unfortunately lost during the editing process in a fire started by ash from Flaherty's cigarette. He was also badly burnt.

What footage survived enabled him to obtain sponsorship to return to Hudson Bay specifically to make a film about the Inuit and with the idea of focusing on one individual to provide continuity for the film.

Answer: Documenting a disappearing culture

According to websters-online-dictionary.org, salvage ethnography is a branch ethnography concerned with the practice of salvaging a record of what was left of a culture before it disappeared. Salvage ethnography is a branch of anthropology. "Nanook of the North" is also cited as an example of visual anthropology.

By the 1920s the traditional way of life for the Inuit had more or less disappeared as a result of Western influence. Firearms had replaced harpoons, boats with outboard motors were displacing kayaks, and trading posts were introducing Western foods, alcohol (with its associated problems) and supplies. Flaherty sought to capture the old ways on film and persuaded his Inuit actors to recreate this way of living for the film. He often repeated 'scenes' in order to get different camera angles and to get the authentic feel he was after. Flaherty is quoted as saying: "Sometimes you have to lie. Often one has to distort a thing to catch its true spirit."
According to websters-online-dictionary.org, salvage ethnography is a branch ethnography concerned with the practice of salvaging a record of what was left of a culture before it disappeared. Salvage ethnography is a branch of anthropology.

Answer: The whole family are in the kayak

After Nanook gets out of the kayak, another four members of his family and a dog emerge from inside the kayak. This was no doubt done for the benefit of the audience as a larger more conventional rowing boat is used to carry the family when visiting the trading post later in the film. The trading post footage includes a bit more tomfoolery with Nanook shown biting a record when a record player is produced at one point.

These scenes are perhaps examples of where Flaherty strays from what would be considered as 'documentary'. There was also an element of commercialism involved as the film making was sponsored by Révillon Frères, a French fur-trading company in the area. Their corporate sponsorship does not intrude too much into the film; however, later sponsors appear to have been more demanding - for example, Standard Oil in Flaherty's 1948 film "Louisiana Story".

Answer: Block of ice

The window was complete with a solar reflector - a block of snow placed on the igloo to direct sunlight inside. Incidentally, an igloo (or iglu) means 'house' and is not just restricted to snow houses. Snow houses tended to be used as temporary shelters. More permanent ones were made from whale bones or driftwood frames with animal skins or sods of earth. Snow might be stacked against these for insulation. These days the term 'igloo' applies equally to Inuit houses made with modern materials.

Flaherty struggled to get enough light inside the igloo in order to film. After several attempts, he went with a half-dome igloo. The scenes showing the family getting ready for sleep at night and getting up in the morning were actually done in the open air against a wall of snow blocks made to look like the insides of an igloo.

Answer: Ivory

A piece of walrus ivory was shaped to make the snow knife. Archaeological digs have uncovered snow knives made from bone and antler as well.

Before the advent of the trading post, virtually everything the Inuit had came from the animals they hunted - all of their food, fuel, clothing and tools. Metal knives arrived with the appearance of European whalers during the eighteenth century. At one point in the film, Nanook is shown fishing with an ivory lure with the fish being speared when suitably close. Cooking was achieved with moss and seal oil. The cooking pot was made of stone.

Answer: To stop the dogs eating the sealskin thongs

The sled dogs were usually hungry and sealskin was something that they would happily eat. The kayak was built with sealskin thongs and so was at risk. The harnesses holding the dogs were also typically made of sealskin or caribou skin. Sled traces might be made from the skin of the bearded seal. With the trading posts came less edible materials such as cotton webbing and, later, nylon.

The mini-igloo kept the puppy dogs warm and possibly made them less likely to be eaten.

Answer: Harpoon

Flaherty has been criticised for staging some aspects of the film. The igloo was one. Another was the walrus hunt. Flaherty insisted that they hunt with harpoons rather than rifles, which had been adopted by the Inuit by that time. There is one point during the hunt when things are getting out of hand and Nanook, struggling with the walrus, asks Flaherty to use his rifle. Flaherty reportedly pretended not to hear and carried on filming.

Answer: He died of starvation

Allakariallak, the Inuit who played Nanook, was a renowned hunter in the district and this was the main reason Flaherty chose him for the role. Flaherty's story was that two years after the film was made, Allakariallak went on a deer hunt, got lost in a storm and died of starvation.

Other sources indicate that he died at home, probably of tuberculosis. The Flaherty version reinforced the idea of the harshness of the existence led by these people and seems to have been an embellishment on his part to promote the film rather than an error.