Feeding the Greenlandic sled dogs

Cities and Memory - remixing the world

This recording was made in June 2024 in Sisimiut’s “dogtown,” a designated area on the outskirts of town where most sled dogs are kept. It captures the chaotic energy of 18 dogs at feeding time—their excited barks and yelps, the thud of a plastic food bucket, and the musher’s occasional voice as he moves steadily through his long routine.
These are working dogs, not pets. When not in use, they’re chained, and during the summer months, they don’t work at all. As a result, they become especially animated when their owner arrives. Over the course of the recording, that initial frenzy gradually shifts into calm as each dog settles down to eat.
Threaded throughout the soundscape are the delicate, high-pitched trills of Snow Buntings, ever-present in Greenland’s summer. As the dogs quiet down, the birdsong rises to the forefront, revealing the deep, enveloping stillness that defines life in remote Arctic communities.
This is more than just a recording of animals being fed—it’s a window into an enduring tradition. For thousands of years, the Inuit have depended on dogs for hunting, fishing, and transport. Today, Greenland is the last place where this practice continues in its traditional form. What you’re hearing is the sound of that heritage—noisy, raw, and deeply rooted in a way of life shaped by cooperation and survival in one of the world’s harshest environments.
Recorded by Lisa Germany.