Arctic Social Science

Politics and culture among the Russian Sami Leadership representation and legitimacy

by Indra Overland

The Evolution of Federal Indigenous Policy in the Post-Soviet North

by Indra Overland

3 Indigenous issues

by Indra Overland

Patterns in Time and the Tempo of Change: A North Atlantic Perspective on the Evolution of Complex Societies.

by Kevin P. Smith

In Continuity or Change: The Role of Analytical Scale in European Archaeology, edited by James Matthieu and Rachel Scott, pp. 83-99.  British Archaeological Reports, International Series 1261, 2004.

Between 1175 and 1250 AD, medieval Icelanders transformed their society from a network of decentralized simple... more Between 1175 and 1250 AD, medieval Icelanders transformed their society from a network of decentralized simple chiefdoms into a unified proto-state. Uniquely, a vast corpus of vernacular writing - much written by the chieftains themselves - describes actors' ideologies, histories, motivations and understandings of the processes involved. Archaeological data provide alternative perspectives, highlighting processes that extended over temporal scales beyond actors' abilities to observe or manage. How robust can our explanatory frameworks be if the changes we seek to explain occur too rapidly to be monitored by most archaeological methods? Do archaeological perspectives provide valuable or illusory insights on the processes involved?

Economic Insecurity as Opportunity: Job Training and the Canadian Diamond Industry

by Lindsay A Bell

In "Humanizing security in the arctic", Canadian Circumpolar Press

Abstract: In 2007, Canada became the third largest producer of diamonds by value in the world. The majority of these... more Abstract: In 2007, Canada became the third largest producer of diamonds by value in the world. The majority of these gems are harvested from the three full scale mines located in the Northwest Territories. Large-scale resource projects, like diamond mines, are said to benefi t local populations through education and employment opportunities. This chapter provides an ethnographic account of students in a mine training program in Hay River, Northwest Territories which reveals that training for globalized resource industries is unable to provide economic security to those who seek it. It argues that in order to be profi table, natural resource projects require a stratifi ed labour force and therefore mobilize and reproduce existing insecurities (e.g., unsettled land claims, low rates of local literacy, job losses in other parts of the country or the world).

Polar Partners or Poles Apart? On the discourses of two US think tanks on Russia's presence in the ‘High North’

by Leonhardt van Efferink

Commentary, The Geographical Journal, published online on 30/08/2011

The discourses of two US think tanks show how representations of the Artic could make the difference between either an... more The discourses of two US think tanks show how representations of the Artic could make the difference between either an inclusionary or exclusionary Arctic regime. The Brookings Institution stresses that Russia's foreign policy focuses on international law and diplomacy; and recommends multilateral initiatives to address regional tensions. However, the Heritage Foundation emphasises Russia's willingness to use military force and strong language when dealing with Arctic matters, recommends ‘a strong response’ to Russia's policies and stresses the importance of ‘Western’ alliances. The comparison of discourses on the Arctic of two US think tanks lends support to the idea that geographers should play a prominent role in the debate on a regional governance framework. A constructive way to do so is by highlighting and explaining the region's complexity and uncertainty, in order to limit the (re)construction of degeographicalised representations of the Arctic in policy circles.

Collecting for a College Museum: Exchange Practices and the Life History of a 19th Century Arctic Collection

by Amy Margaris

Amy V. Margaris and Linda T. Grimm, 2011. Museum Anthropology Vol. 34(2): 109-127.
For a copy of this publication, please contact the first author at amy.margaris@oberlin.edu.

Abstract

The central role of exchange in museum collecting merits
greater scholarly attention. We... more Abstract

The central role of exchange in museum collecting merits
greater scholarly attention. We present an anthropological
framework for analyzing exchange practices that illuminates
the complex and shifting meanings collections
accrue through their life histories. We illustrate this by
examining the series of late 19th-century exchanges that
produced a small, but historically important, ethnological
collection at the Oberlin College Museum from the North
American Arctic. The analysis sheds new light on the
uneasy development of ethnology from its natural history
roots, and on the role of small colleges in furthering the
modern sciences curriculum. Examining collection life histories
by way of exchange practices also highlights new
interpretive challenges that accompany old collections.

[museum collecting, Arctic, Smithsonian, history of anthropology, digital media]

Utilizing Indigenous Knowledge in Environmental Research and Assessment

by Mike Ferguson

Ferguson, M.A.D. 2001. Utilizing Indigenous Knowledge in Environmental Research and Assessment. Terra Borealis No. 2. Institute for Environmental Monitoring and Research, Labrador, Newfoundland, Canada

Ritual and Resource Variability: Mechanisms for the Transmission and Storage of Information Regarding Low-Frequency Resource Cycles in Hunter-Gatherer Societies

by Kevin P. Smith

(1988) Published in "Diet and Subsistence: Current Archaeological Perspectives; Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Chacmool Conference", edited by Brenda V. Kennedy and Genevieve M. LeMoine, pp. 86-107. Calgary, Alberta: Archaeological Association of the University of Calgary.

This was my first published paper, first conference presentation (1986), and derived from the final paper for my first-year, first term core course (1981) in archaeological theory (human prehistory to the origins of agriculture) under Robert Whallon at the University of Michigan. The original paper was 130 pages long, cut down to 30 minutes for the conference presentation, and to 21 pages published, with the loss of a lot of descriptive data and with a few typos inherent to production during those last years of typewriter-based papers, before word processors and desk-top publishing made things so much easier.

The core question here was whether small-scale, non-sedentary hunting and gathering societies had abilities to encode information on severe, recurring resource crises happening on temporal scales less frequent than the memories of the society's living members and on potentially successful or adaptive responses to such crises. While I still like the theoretical framework set up in this paper and remain intrigued by the correlations found in ethnographic and ethnohistoric data, I also remain troubled by the question of how useful information seemingly encoded in ritual practices would have been generated and inserted into those practices in the first place.

Chacmool was a great opportunity to test out presentation skills and make some first-time errors and a welcome opportunity to publish, but was also a venue destined to ensure that ideas and papers would be lost for all intents and purposes. Perhaps better that this was lost? Or perhaps useful that it can be redistributed now that this Chacmool publication is long-since out of print.

The ideas within this paper meshed with work done concurrently but independently by Leah Minc on the role of folklore in carrying information about somewhat more frequent resource crises among the Inupiat of North Alaska. The convergences in our thinking led to our paper "The Spirit of Survival" in Cambridge University Press's book "Bad Year Economics", also uploaded here.

Collection and analysis of traditional ecological knowledge about a population of Arctic tundra caribou

by Mike Ferguson

Ferguson and Messier. 1997. Collection and analysis of traditional ecological knowledge about a population of Arctic tundra caribou. Arctic 50: 17-28.

Keywords: Inuit knowledge, Inuit qaujimajatuqangit, methodology, wildlife population fluctuations and ecology, caribou, Rangifer tarandus, Baffin Island, Nunavut, savoir inuit, méthodologie, fluctuations dans la population et écologie de la faune sauvage, île de Baffin

Aboriginal peoples want their ecological knowledge used in the management of wildlife populations. To accomplish this,... more Aboriginal peoples want their ecological knowledge used in the management of wildlife populations. To accomplish this, management agencies will need regional summaries of aboriginal knowledge about long-term changes in the distribution and abundance of wildlife populations and ecological factors that influence those changes. Between 1983 and 1994, we developed a method for collecting Inuit knowledge about historical changes in a caribou (Rangifer tarandus) population on southern Baffin Island from c. 1900 to 1994. Advice from Inuit allowed us to collect and interpret their oral knowledge in culturally appropriate ways. Local Hunters and Trappers Associations (HTAs) and other Inuit identified potential informants to maximize the spatial and temporal scope of the study. In the final interview protocol, each informant (i) established his biographical map and time line, (ii) described changes in caribou distribution and density during his life, and (iii) discussed ecological factors that may have caused changes in caribou populations. Personal and parental observations of caribou distribution and abundance were reliable and precise. Inuit who had hunted caribou during periods of scarcity provided more extensive information than those hunters who had hunted mainly ringed seals (Phoca hispida); nevertheless, seal hunters provided information about coastal areas where caribou densities were insufficient for the needs of caribou hunters. The wording of our questions influenced the reliability of informants’ answers; leading questions were especially problematic. We used only information that we considered reliable after analyzing the wording of both questions and answers from translated transcripts. This analysis may have excluded some reliable information because informants tended to understate certainty in their recollections. We tried to retain the accuracy and precision inherent in Inuit oral traditions; comparisons of information from several informants and comparisons with published and archival historical reports indicate that we retained these qualities of Inuit knowledge.

Les peuples autochtones veulent voir leurs connaissances sur l’environnement utilisées dans la gestion de la faune sauvage. Pour ce faire, il va falloir que les organismes chargés de la gestion possèdent des résumés à l’échelle régionale du savoir autochtone sur les changements à long terme dans la distribution et l’abondance des populations fauniques et des facteurs écologiques influençant ces changements. Entre 1983 et 1994, on a mis au point une méthode de collecte du savoir inuit sur les changements survenus d’environ 1900 à 1994, changements qui ont affecté une population de caribous (Rangifer tarandus) dans la partie méridionale de l’île de Baffin. Des conseils donnés par les Inuit nous ont permis de recueillir et d’interpréter leur savoir oral selon des modalités pertinentes au plan culturel. Les Associations des chasseurs et des trappeurs (ACT) locales et d’autres Inuit ont indiqué des répondants potentiels, de façon à maximiser l’envergure spatiale et temporelle de l’étude. Lors du dernier protocole d’interview, chaque répondant a 1) établi sa carte biographique et sa ligne de temps, 2) décrit les changements dans la distribution et la densité du caribou au cours de sa vie, 3) discuté des facteurs écologiques qui auraient pu causer des changements dans les populations de caribous. Les observations sur la distribution et l’abondance du caribou émises par les répondants eux-mêmes ou leurs parents étaient à la fois fiables et précises. Les Inuit qui avaient chassé le caribou en des temps de pénurie offraient plus d’information que les chasseurs qui avaient surtout chassé le phoque annelé (Phoca hispida); les chasseurs de phoque n’en donnaient pas moins des renseignements sur des régions côtières où la densité du caribou ne pouvait satisfaire les besoins des chasseurs de cet animal. La formulation de nos questions a influencé la fiabilité des réponses des personnes interrogées; les questions suggestives en particulier posaient des problèmes. Après avoir analysé la formulation des questions ainsi que des réponses, à partir d’une traduction des transcriptions, on a seulement retenu l’information jugée fiable. Cette analyse peut avoir exclu des renseignements fiables car les répondants avaient tendance à sous-estimer l’exactitude de leurs souvenirs. On a essayé de préserver l’exactitude et la précision inhérentes à la tradition orale inuit; des comparaisons d’informations venant de plusieurs répondants ainsi que des comparaisons avec des rapports publiés ou archivés indiquent que ces qualités du savoir inuit ont ont été préservées dans l’étude.

La souveraineté et la sécurité canadiennes et le projet d'acquisition de sous-marins nucléaires

by Adam Lajeunesse

Forgotten Frontier: A Brief History of Canada’s Northern Policy

by Adam Lajeunesse

“Forgotten Frontier: A Brief History of Canada’s Northern Policy.” Nord-Nord-Ouest, Chronique 6. (April, 2011).

Le Reseau d'Alerte Avancé et la Bataille de la Perception au Canada

by Adam Lajeunesse

“Le Réseau d'Alerte Avancé et la Bataille de la Perception au Canada. Revue Militaire Canadienne.” (Été, 2008), pp. 51-59.

Claiming the Frozen Seas: The Evolution of Canadian Policy in Arctic Waters

by Adam Lajeunesse

“Claiming the Frozen Seas: The Evolution of Canadian Policy in the Arctic Waters.” in Canada and Arctic Sovereignty... more “Claiming the Frozen Seas: The Evolution of Canadian Policy in the Arctic Waters.” in Canada and Arctic Sovereignty and Security: Historical Perspectives, ed. P. Whitney Lackenbauer (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, April, 2010), pp. 233-259.

The Northwest Passage in Canadian Policy-An Approach for the 21st Century

by Adam Lajeunesse

“The Northwest Passage in Canadian Policy: An Approach for the 21st Century.” International Journal 63:4 (Fall, 2008), pp. 1037-1052.

The true North as long as it's free: The Canadian policy deficit, 1945--1985

by Adam Lajeunesse

Masters thesis, 2007.

Lock, Stock, and Icebergs?: Defining Canadian Sovereignty from Mackenzie King to Stephen Harper

by Adam Lajeunesse

“Lock, Stock and Icebergs: Defining Canadian Sovereignty from Mackenzie King to Stephen Harper,” The Calgary Papers in Military and Strategic Studies: Occasional Paper, no. 1. The Centre for Military and Strategic Studies and the Arctic Institute of North America (March, 2008).

A survey of the politics surounding Canadian sovereignty from 1945 to the present. A survey of the politics surounding Canadian sovereignty from 1945 to the present.

The Distant Early Warning Line and the Canadian Battle for Public Perception.[online] Canadian Military Journa. 2008, Vol. 8, No. 2

by Adam Lajeunesse

This article argues that the question of the public perception of Canadian sovereignty was the driving political... more This article argues that the question of the public perception of Canadian sovereignty was the driving political motivation behind Canadian policy during the construction of the DEW Line.

Sovereignty, Security and the Canadian Nuclear Submarine Program

by Adam Lajeunesse

“Sovereignty, Security and the Canadian Nuclear Submarine Program.” The Canadian Military Journal 8:4 (Winter, 2008), pp. 74-82.

A look at the 1985 Canadian Submarine acquisition program and the influence of Arctic sovereignty. A look at the 1985 Canadian Submarine acquisition program and the influence of Arctic sovereignty.

The true North as long as it's free: The Canadian policy deficit, 1945--1985

by Adam Lajeunesse

Masters thesis, 2007.