The name Thule has a magic ring to it, and conjures up pictures of the true Greenland for many people.  The journals of Knud Rasmussen, Peary, Henderson, Malaurie and many other explorers have described their adventures in this far northern region, and much of what they mention can still be seen today. The hunting of seals, polar bears, birds, narwhals and walruses provides the only means of survival in a society, which consists of one town with around 600 inhabitants and five villages. The village of Siorapaluk is the northernmost community on earth, and is also well known as the fictitious birthplace of Miss Smilla in the novel and film Smilla's Sense of Snow.

Hunting trips lasting several weeks are part of daily life, but there are severe local restrictions, which control where and how the hunting is done.  Narwhals, for example, may only be hunted with harpoons. Bearskin trousers and sealskin boots or kames are still the best things to wear for long journeys by sledge. The average temperature in February and March is around -30°C. Because the continent of North America is such a short distance away, this has been the gateway to Greenland for thousands of years.