Abstract
This chapter attempts to place Inuit sea ice knowledge in a broader context, first in connection to the knowledge of other environmental features and second within the practices of Inuit spatial orienteering and travel. The premise of this chapter is that any attempt to understand aspects of Inuit environmental knowledge without taking into account the context of mobility is limiting, as travel was an integral part of Inuit life before their establishment in permanent settlements. Inuit identities and environmental knowledge were historically connected not only to specific places (like a camp or the floe edge) but also, and significantly, to life on the move. The land, the sea, the floe edge, the shores, the sky, and the winds are all inseparable parts of the environment in which Inuit live. This chapter describes the two distinctive environments in which Inuit life takes place, namely the land and the sea, as well as the highly significant environment constituted by the shores, and how they all fit into a broader spatial framework constituted by the winds. The research for this chapter was undertaken in Igloolik, Nunavut.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alianakuluk, L. 2001. Interview for Igloolik Oral History Project. Igloolik: Archives of the Inullariit Society, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut (IE-481).
Amarualik, H. 1994. Interview for Igloolik Oral History Project. Igloolik: Archives of the Inullariit Society, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut (IE-314).
Aporta, C. 2002. Life on the ice: Understanding the codes of a changing environment. Polar Record 38(207): 341–354.
Aporta, C. 2004. Routes, trails and tracks: Trail-breaking among the Inuit of Igloolik. Études Inuit Studies 28(2): 9–38.
Aporta, C. 2009. The trail as home: Inuit and their pan-Arctic network of routes. Human Ecology 37(2): 131–146.
Aporta, C. and Higgs, E. 2005. Satellite culture: Global positioning systems, Inuit wayfinding, and the need for a new account of technology. Current Anthropology 46(5): 729–754.
Aqiaruq, Z.U. 1993a. Interview for Igloolik Oral History Project. Igloolik: Archives of the Inullariit Society, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut (IE-272).
Aqiaruq, Z.U. 1993b. Interview for Igloolik Oral History Project. Igloolik: Archives of the Inullariit Society, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut (IE-269).
Basso, K.H. 1988. Speaking with names: Language and landscape among the Western Apache. Cultural Anthropology 3(2): 99–133.
Boas, F. 1888. The Central Eskimo. Toronto: Coles Publishing Company, 1974.
Bravo, M.T. 1996. The Accuracy of Ethnoscience: A Study of Inuit Cartography and Cross-Cultural Commensurability. Manchester University Monographs in Social Anthropology 2. Manchester.
Cablitz, G.H. 2002. The acquisition of an absolute system: Learning to talk about space in Marquesan (Oceanic, French Polynesia). In Meetings of the Child Language Research Forum, April 2002, Stanford, California.
Carpenter, E. 1973. Eskimo Realities. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Casey, E.S. 1996. How to get from space to place in a fairly short stretch of time: Phenomenological prolegomena. In Senses of place. S. Feld, and K.H. Basso (eds.), Santa Fe: School of American Research Press.
Crowe, K.J. 1969. A Cultural Geography of Northern Foxe Basin. Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, Series 69–2.
Cruickshank, J. 2005. Do Glaciers Listen? Local Knowledge, Colonial Encounters, and Social Imagination. Vancouver and Toronto: UBC Press.
Fortescue, M. 1988. Eskimo Orientation Systems. Meddelelser om Grønland, Man and Society, No. 11, Copenhagen.
Ikummaq, T. 2000. Interview for Igloolik Oral History Project. Igloolik: Archives of the Inullariit Society, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut (IE-466).
Imaruittuq, E. 1990. Interview for Igloolik Oral History Project. Igloolik: Archives of the Inullariit Society, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut (IE-101).
Ingold, T. 2000. The Perception of the Environment: Essays in Livelihood, Dwelling, and Skill. London: Routledge.
Kappianaq, G. 1990. Interview for Igloolik Oral History Project. Igloolik: Archives of the Inullariit Society, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut (IE-069).
Kitchin, R. and Blades, M. 2002. The Cognition of Geographic Space. London: I. B. Tauris.
Krupnik, I. 2002. Watching ice and weather our way: Some lessons from Yupik observations of sea ice and weather on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. In The Earth Is Faster Now: Indigenous Observations of Arctic Environmental Change. I. Krupnik and D. Jolly (eds.), Fairbanks: ARCUS, pp. 156 –197.
Kupaaq, M. 1987. Interview for Igloolik Oral History Project. Igloolik: Archives of the Inullariit Society, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut (IE-017).
Kupaaq, M. 1990. Interview for Igloolik Oral History Project. Igloolik: Archives of the Inullariit Society, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut (IE-098).
Kupaaq, M. 1993. Interview for Igloolik Oral History Project. Igloolik: Archives of the Inullariit Society, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut (IE-272).
Laidler, G.J., Dialla, A., and Joamie, E. 2008. Human geographies of sea ice: Freeze/thaw processes around Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada. Polar Record 44(231): 335–361.
Laidler, G.J. and Elee, P. 2008. Human geographies of sea ice: Freeze/thaw processes around Cape Dorset, Nunavut, Canada. Polar Record 44(228): 51–76.
Laidler, G.J. and Ikummaq, T. 2008. Human geographies of sea ice: Freeze/thaw processes around Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada. Polar Record. 44(229): 127–153.
Lewis, D. 1994. We, the Navigators: The Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1972.
MacDonald, J. 1998. The Arctic Sky: Inuit Astronomy, Star Lore, and Legend. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum and Nunavut Research Institute.
Mary-Rousselière, G. 1984. Iglulik. In Handbook of North American Indians. D. Damas (ed.), Washington: Smithsonian Institution, vol. 5, pp. 431–447.
Maxwell, M.S. 1984. Pre-Dorset and Dorset prehistory of Canada. In Handbook of North American Indians. D. Damas (ed.), Washington: Smithsonian Institution, vol. 5, pp. 369–376.
Parry, W.E. 1824. Journal of a Second Voyage for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage From the Atlantic to the Pacific. London: J. Murray, 1969.
Piugattuk, N. 1989. Interview for Igloolik Oral History Project. Igloolik: Archives of the Inullariit Society, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut (IE-031).
Qunnun, A. 2002. Interview for Igloolik Oral History Project. Igloolik: Archives of the Inullariit Society, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut (IE-505).
Rasing, W.C.E. 1994. Too Many People: Order and Nonconformity in Iglulingmiut Social Process. Nijmegen: Rish & Samenleving.
Rasmussen, K. 1929. Intellectual Culture of the Iglulik Eskimos. Report of the Fifth Thule Expedition. vol. 7 (1). Gyldendalske Boghandel, Copenhagen, 1976.
Siakuluk, N. 1996. Interview for Igloolik Oral History Project. Igloolik: Archives of the Inullariit Society, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik Research Centre, Igloolik, Nunavut (IE-384).
Spink, J. and Moodie, D.W. 1972. Eskimo Maps From the Canadian Eastern Arctic. Cartographica, Monograph No. 5, Toronto: B.V. Gutsell.
Acknowledgments
This chapter could not have been written without the support and help of Igloolik hunters, elders, and friends. Beyond the experts cited in the reference list, Louis Tapardjuk, Maurice Arnatsiaq, and Theo Ikummaq were key in helping with trips, translations, and interpretations. John MacDonald provided feedback and insight on the early stages of this research. Funding for this research was provided by an IPY Canada research grant and by earlier SSHRC and Wenner-Gren grants. I would also like to thank Igor Krupnik, Gita Laidler, Chase Morrison, and Tim De Leo Browne for their comments and edits on earlier drafts. All mistakes and inaccuracies are my sole responsibility.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Aporta, C. (2010). The Sea, the Land, the Coast, and the Winds: Understanding Inuit Sea Ice Use in Context. In: Krupnik, I., Aporta, C., Gearheard, S., Laidler, G., Kielsen Holm, L. (eds) SIKU: Knowing Our Ice. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8587-0_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8587-0_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-8586-3
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-8587-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)