Rasmussen on Inuit Topography (1931)

It is astonishing how much the Netsilingmiut know about the land they live in, be it natural conditions and fauna or its early history. Though they had no previous knowledge of paper and pencil, they were remarkably quick in outlining the shape of their great country, and, having done so, could put in all the details with remarkable certainty. Obviously the distances in these hand drawings cannot always be correct; but all islands, peninsulas, bays and lakes are reproduced so accurately, that finding one's way from place to place is an easy matter even to an utter stranger to the country. This geographical knowledge is of course accompanied by a most intimate acquaintance with the animals and their habits - a knowledge on which their whole existence depends.