Mapping old trails, it turns out, changes the whole story – as outsiders had imagined it, anyway.

The extent of the web of routes and the depth of those combined stories present a very different view of traditional Inuit culture, Taylor said.

“It should change the idea of the Inuit of an isolated group of people living in small hamlets by the side of the frozen sea into a thriving community which has moved and evolved and interacted over the course of time. It’s confirming what the Inuit have been telling us for generations and we haven’t really listened.”The trails were used for trading, following game, and just keeping in touch, Taylor said.

            “You name it, they’re exchanging it — material goods, stories, myths.”