My Eskimo Friends

Memoir

By: Robert Joseph Flaherty

Date: 1922

Source: Flaherty, Robert J. My Eskimo Friends. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1924, 133–136.

Scene from Nanook of the North

Film still

By: Robert Joseph Flaherty

Date: 1922

Source: The Kobal Collection. Reproduced by permission.

About the Author: Robert Joseph Flaherty (1884–1951), was an explorer, prospector, mapmaker, and pioneering documentary filmmaker. His acclaimed Nanook of the North (1922) and subsequent film work earned him the title of "the father of the documentary." Born in Iron Mountain, Michigan, Flaherty grew up in isolated mining towns and camps, learning to hunt and track from Native American friends. He met his future wife, Frances Hubbard, while attending Michigan College of Mines. She...