In Greenlandic, the word 'maligiaq' means "medium-sized wave."
A seventeen-year old Greenlander with that name has made some very large waves in the kayaking world in the past two years.

By John Heath

Maligiaq Johnsen Padilla (pronounced muh-LIG-ee-ahk YOON-sen pa-DEE-uh) came to the U.S. for a year in September of 1998 to visit his father, Augusto "Geno" Padilla, in Colorado, and to improve his English.

Maligiaq was only 13 during the 1995 National Kayaking Championship meet, yet he won every event in his age group. In 1998, he became the Champion Kayaker of Greenland. At the age of 16, he had defeated all kayakers, even the best of the 20- to 34-year age group—the age group that usually produces the national champion—becoming the youngest Greenland kayaking champion ever.

Maligiaq’s heritage is deeply rooted in kayaking. His mother’s ancestors were from Vester Eyland, a small island near the mouth of Disko Bay that is noted for kayakers of exceptional skill. Living on a small island forces subsistence hunters to go out almost every day in all kinds of weather, or they face starvation. Kayak hunters either become skillful or die trying. Yet, no matter how skillful a kayaking seal catcher becomes, hunting large sea mammals from a kayak is a dangerous occupation. Maligiaq’s great-grandfather lost his life in 1929 when a seal he had harpooned dragged him and his kayak so forcefully that his back was broken.

Maligiaq’s grandfather, Peter Johnsen, now 73, is a retired seal catcher. When Maligiaq was a small boy, he was riding in a rowboat with his grandfather when his grandfather’s gun accidentally discharged. With his hand badly injured, Peter was unable to row the boat. Even though he was only four years old, Maligiaq managed to row the boat to shore. Maligiaq’s father says that ever since that incident, Maligiaq and Peter Johnsen have been "as close as two coats of paint." Over the years, Peter taught Maligiaq several special kayaking skills that he has added to those he learned in the Greenland National Kayak Association’s training program.

When Maligiaq came to the States, he brought a sealskin-covered kayak with him. Unfortunately, it was damaged in shipment. One gunwale was badly cracked about a meter back from the bow, which caused the bow to hook to one side. Although Maligiaq performed in the damaged kayak at the 1998 Delmarva Paddler’s Retreat in Maryland and the Southwest Canoe Rendezvous in Huntsville, Texas, it tended to go in a circle when he paddled it upside-down.

To prevent further damage to the kayak, Maligiaq decided to build and use another kayak during his stay. He built the new kayak in my garage in Houston. Several of his American friends donated the materials he needed and his new kayak quickly took shape. As he worked on the kayak, he listened to Danish rock music on his CD player.

In the two months my wife Jessie and I had Maligiaq as our house guest, members of the Houston Canoe Club took him kayaking, parents wanted him to meet their teenage sons and daughters, and he went cycling with Olympic hopefuls at a local velodrome. The Honorary Vice Consul of Denmark took him jogging in a Houston park to explain to him in Danish the dangers and problems of exercising in the heat and humidity of the Houston area. Early in his stay it was not always possible to tell if he understood what we were saying to him in English.

During Maligiaq’s stay, I donated a rare 1904 Point Hope kayak that had been hanging in my workshop since 1958 to the Inupiat Heritage Center in Barrow, Alaska. When I mentioned Maligiaq’s visit, the center made arrangements for him to travel to Barrow to demonstrate Greenlandic rope gymnastics and kayak rolling at a large native celebration.

Maligiaq arrived in Barrow in February. Since the sea was frozen, Maligiaq borrowed a plastic kayak and demonstrated rolling in an indoor pool. His biggest thrill while in Barrow was to find native food that was like that at home. He had been away from Greenland for four months, and he missed Greenlandic food. In the lower 48 states, he ate a lot of beef jerky, but it tasted quite different from dried seal meat. He brought a large supply of dried seal meat with him back to Colorado.

In the spring of 1999, Maligiaq traveled to Texas. Mark and Jennifer White, of Austin, wanted him to help them build Greenland kayak replicas at their home. Maligiaq covered his own kayak framework at their home, to show them the procedure. Instead of sealskin, he covered his kayak with nylon fabric and a white Hypalon coating. He had to substitute cowhide for the bearded sealskin deck-strap line normally used; we found some narrow horse reins at a Houston saddle store that worked quite well. He completed his new kayak just in time for the 1999 symposium season.