Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis), though of varying importance to First Nations across the Northwest Coast of North America, was a particularly important resource for the Haida, Tlingit, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Makah living on the exposed outer coast of the region. The dietary importance and scale of halibut use, however, are difficult to determine due to seemingly inconsistent ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and archaeological accounts. Among the Haida and Makah, ethnographic descriptions highlight the importance of both halibut and salmon; early historic accounts mention halibut repeatedly, but only rarely mention salmon; while archaeological data point to a high abundance of salmon, and reveal only low, though persistent, quantities of halibut. Drawing on examples from Haida and Makah territories, this paper examines these various lines of evidence and explores possible biases that account for the differences in the importance and relative abundance of salmon and halibut that they reflect. We aim to compare these variable sources of data to gain greater insight into the nature of halibut use throughout the Late Holocene on the Northwest Coast.
{"title":"Halibut Use on the Northwest Coast of North America: Reconciling Ethnographic, Ethnohistoric, and Archaeological Data","authors":"T. Orchard, R. Wigen","doi":"10.3368/aa.53.1.37","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/aa.53.1.37","url":null,"abstract":"Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis), though of varying importance to First Nations across the Northwest Coast of North America, was a particularly important resource for the Haida, Tlingit, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Makah living on the exposed outer coast of the region. The dietary importance and scale of halibut use, however, are difficult to determine due to seemingly inconsistent ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and archaeological accounts. Among the Haida and Makah, ethnographic descriptions highlight the importance of both halibut and salmon; early historic accounts mention halibut repeatedly, but only rarely mention salmon; while archaeological data point to a high abundance of salmon, and reveal only low, though persistent, quantities of halibut. Drawing on examples from Haida and Makah territories, this paper examines these various lines of evidence and explores possible biases that account for the differences in the importance and relative abundance of salmon and halibut that they reflect. We aim to compare these variable sources of data to gain greater insight into the nature of halibut use throughout the Late Holocene on the Northwest Coast.","PeriodicalId":45997,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Anthropology","volume":"53 1","pages":"37 - 57"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3368/aa.53.1.37","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69573979","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The oil industry is making its first entrance offshore in Baffin Bay in a time where Inuit residents on the northwest coast of Greenland are struggling to uphold a traditional way of living. The operating oil companies are encouraged by the Government of Greenland to promote a high degree of local content in projects to secure benefits to residents in affected areas. However, a prerequisite to a high degree of local content is local interest to engage in these activities. This article presents findings from recent interviews on these topics with residents (Upernavimiut) in the Upernavik district. It is found that securing a high degree of local content in oil projects in the area requires both strategic investments and legislative adjustment and that a general vision for the area from the central administration could serve as a useful point of departure for social impact assessments by the operating companies.
{"title":"Identifying Challenges and Opportunities for Residents in Upernavik as Oil Companies are Making a First Entrance into Baffin Bay","authors":"A. M. Hansen, Pelle Tejsner","doi":"10.3368/aa.53.1.84","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/aa.53.1.84","url":null,"abstract":"The oil industry is making its first entrance offshore in Baffin Bay in a time where Inuit residents on the northwest coast of Greenland are struggling to uphold a traditional way of living. The operating oil companies are encouraged by the Government of Greenland to promote a high degree of local content in projects to secure benefits to residents in affected areas. However, a prerequisite to a high degree of local content is local interest to engage in these activities. This article presents findings from recent interviews on these topics with residents (Upernavimiut) in the Upernavik district. It is found that securing a high degree of local content in oil projects in the area requires both strategic investments and legislative adjustment and that a general vision for the area from the central administration could serve as a useful point of departure for social impact assessments by the operating companies.","PeriodicalId":45997,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Anthropology","volume":"5 1","pages":"84 - 94"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3368/aa.53.1.84","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69574065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this paper, we present results from a project to reanalyze the Morris Bay Kayak, which was discovered by Lauge Koch in Washington Land, northwest Greenland in 1921. This reanalysis is significant because the role of kayak hunting in Inughuit origins, development, and cultural transitions is poorly understood. Indeed, the subject is complicated by the apparent loss of the technology sometime before the 19th century. We reconstruct the Morris Bay Kayak’s frame, examine its life history, compare the structural fragments and associated tools to regional assemblages, and model the skills through which it would have been used. This analysis follows a recent report (Walls et al. 2015) where we presented new radiocarbon dates from the Morris Bay Kayak and proposed that it represents a tradition of kayaking that was practiced until shortly before the colonial period. Here, we expand on this position, and consider what the suite of skills, practices, and pattern of life that the Morris Bay Kayak represents demonstrates about the long-term relationship between Inuit communities and the unique ecology of the Pikialarsorsuaq region.
{"title":"The Morris Bay Kayak: Analysis and Implications for Inughuit Subsistence in the Pikialarsorsuaq Region","authors":"Matthew Walls, P. Knudsen, Frederik Larsen","doi":"10.3368/aa.53.1.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/aa.53.1.1","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we present results from a project to reanalyze the Morris Bay Kayak, which was discovered by Lauge Koch in Washington Land, northwest Greenland in 1921. This reanalysis is significant because the role of kayak hunting in Inughuit origins, development, and cultural transitions is poorly understood. Indeed, the subject is complicated by the apparent loss of the technology sometime before the 19th century. We reconstruct the Morris Bay Kayak’s frame, examine its life history, compare the structural fragments and associated tools to regional assemblages, and model the skills through which it would have been used. This analysis follows a recent report (Walls et al. 2015) where we presented new radiocarbon dates from the Morris Bay Kayak and proposed that it represents a tradition of kayaking that was practiced until shortly before the colonial period. Here, we expand on this position, and consider what the suite of skills, practices, and pattern of life that the Morris Bay Kayak represents demonstrates about the long-term relationship between Inuit communities and the unique ecology of the Pikialarsorsuaq region.","PeriodicalId":45997,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Anthropology","volume":"53 1","pages":"1 - 21"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3368/aa.53.1.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69573899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
It has been generally accepted that cultivation in northernmost Sweden was intrinsically associated with the migration of Nordic farmers into the area and that indigenous Sámi societies followed purely hunter-gatherer or pastoralist subsistence strategies. In this paper, it is argued that the discursive connotations of cultivation have promoted a dichotomy between Sámi and Swedish idioms that are still being reproduced among scholars, as well the general public. Recent palynological findings in pollen records challenge prevailing views on the time, course, and cultural context of the introduction of (cereal) cultivation and call for a redefinition of traditional Sámi subsistence, as well as for a decolonization of the cultivation concept.
{"title":"Early Cereal Cultivation at Sámi Settlements: Challenging the Hunter–Herder Paradigm?","authors":"I. Bergman, G. Hörnberg","doi":"10.3368/aa.52.2.57","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/aa.52.2.57","url":null,"abstract":"It has been generally accepted that cultivation in northernmost Sweden was intrinsically associated with the migration of Nordic farmers into the area and that indigenous Sámi societies followed purely hunter-gatherer or pastoralist subsistence strategies. In this paper, it is argued that the discursive connotations of cultivation have promoted a dichotomy between Sámi and Swedish idioms that are still being reproduced among scholars, as well the general public. Recent palynological findings in pollen records challenge prevailing views on the time, course, and cultural context of the introduction of (cereal) cultivation and call for a redefinition of traditional Sámi subsistence, as well as for a decolonization of the cultivation concept.","PeriodicalId":45997,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Anthropology","volume":"52 1","pages":"57 - 66"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2015-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3368/aa.52.2.57","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69574175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Public apologies, compensations, and repatriation policies have been forms of reconciliation processes by authorities in Nordic countries to recognize and take responsibility of possible injustices in Sámi histories. Support for reconciliation politics has not been unanimous, however. Some Finnish historians have been ready to reject totally the subjugation or colonialism towards the Sámi in the history of Finnish Lapland. The article analyzes the contexts for the reasoning and studies the special nature of Sámi-Finnish relations. More profound interpretations are encouraged to be done, examining colonial processes and structures to clarify what kind of social, linguistic, and cultural effects the asymmetrical power relations have had.
{"title":"Sámi Histories, Colonialism, and Finland","authors":"Veli-Pekka Lehtola","doi":"10.3368/aa.52.2.22","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/aa.52.2.22","url":null,"abstract":"Public apologies, compensations, and repatriation policies have been forms of reconciliation processes by authorities in Nordic countries to recognize and take responsibility of possible injustices in Sámi histories. Support for reconciliation politics has not been unanimous, however. Some Finnish historians have been ready to reject totally the subjugation or colonialism towards the Sámi in the history of Finnish Lapland. The article analyzes the contexts for the reasoning and studies the special nature of Sámi-Finnish relations. More profound interpretations are encouraged to be done, examining colonial processes and structures to clarify what kind of social, linguistic, and cultural effects the asymmetrical power relations have had.","PeriodicalId":45997,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Anthropology","volume":"52 1","pages":"22 - 36"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2015-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3368/aa.52.2.22","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69574105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Western resource management is often contentious in northern indigenous communities, as it is can be poorly matched with local resource-use traditions. Expert seal and walrus hunters in the Bering Strait region of Alaska requested that Kawerak, Inc., a local tribal consortium, document seal and walrus hunting through the lens of the locally preferred framework of respect. We conducted semistructured interviews and focus groups with 84 expert elders and hunters regarding seal and walrus hunting and use. Local respectful hunting and use practices focused on appropriate relationships between humans and between humans and animals; traditional values; knowledge of seals, walruses, and environmental conditions; hunting and processing skills; and avoiding pollution. Experts explained this system was best transmitted through hands-on activities that build youth skills, values, and relationships with elders and adults. The respect framework and positive system of transmission through education differs markedly from Western resource management frameworks based on regulation and enforcement.
{"title":"A Bering Strait Indigenous Framework for Resource Management: Respectful Seal and Walrus Hunting","authors":"Lily Gadamus, J. Raymond-Yakoubian","doi":"10.3368/aa.52.2.87","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/aa.52.2.87","url":null,"abstract":"Western resource management is often contentious in northern indigenous communities, as it is can be poorly matched with local resource-use traditions. Expert seal and walrus hunters in the Bering Strait region of Alaska requested that Kawerak, Inc., a local tribal consortium, document seal and walrus hunting through the lens of the locally preferred framework of respect. We conducted semistructured interviews and focus groups with 84 expert elders and hunters regarding seal and walrus hunting and use. Local respectful hunting and use practices focused on appropriate relationships between humans and between humans and animals; traditional values; knowledge of seals, walruses, and environmental conditions; hunting and processing skills; and avoiding pollution. Experts explained this system was best transmitted through hands-on activities that build youth skills, values, and relationships with elders and adults. The respect framework and positive system of transmission through education differs markedly from Western resource management frameworks based on regulation and enforcement.","PeriodicalId":45997,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Anthropology","volume":"52 1","pages":"101 - 87"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2015-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3368/aa.52.2.87","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69574349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emerging Sámi archaeologies have overlooked the colonial processes of the Early Modern period. Although Sámi agency is emphasized, symmetry, and reciprocity are set as the default mode of Sámi social relations with Others, inhibiting study of asymmetrical colonial processes. Early Modern Sámi agency was constrained by asymmetries in the articulation between state institutions and Sámi practical-production activity. Practice theory grounds a discussion of how the Swedish state enrolled the Sámi in its sovereignty project using restrained forms of coercion that produced semiconsensual hegemonic relations. Taxation data for two inland Sámi districts in present-day north Norway suggest potential constraints experienced by Sámi households in meeting state demands. Hegemony was established when the intrinsic values of Sámi practical-production activity became entangled with the extrinsic rewards and constraints of state extraction strategies and commercial activities. Archaeology can provide insight into the material outcomes of colonialism that are inaccessible to historians.
{"title":"Framing Sámi Entanglement in Early Modern Colonial Processes: Ethnohistorical and Archaeological Perspectives from Interior North Norway","authors":"B. Hood","doi":"10.3368/aa.52.2.37","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/aa.52.2.37","url":null,"abstract":"Emerging Sámi archaeologies have overlooked the colonial processes of the Early Modern period. Although Sámi agency is emphasized, symmetry, and reciprocity are set as the default mode of Sámi social relations with Others, inhibiting study of asymmetrical colonial processes. Early Modern Sámi agency was constrained by asymmetries in the articulation between state institutions and Sámi practical-production activity. Practice theory grounds a discussion of how the Swedish state enrolled the Sámi in its sovereignty project using restrained forms of coercion that produced semiconsensual hegemonic relations. Taxation data for two inland Sámi districts in present-day north Norway suggest potential constraints experienced by Sámi households in meeting state demands. Hegemony was established when the intrinsic values of Sámi practical-production activity became entangled with the extrinsic rewards and constraints of state extraction strategies and commercial activities. Archaeology can provide insight into the material outcomes of colonialism that are inaccessible to historians.","PeriodicalId":45997,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Anthropology","volume":"52 1","pages":"37 - 56"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2015-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3368/aa.52.2.37","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69574117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
While researchers within Sámi archaeology have dealt with issues closely related to postcolonial theory and critique since the 1970s onwards, this has rarely been done with explicit mention or coherent use of this theoretical complex. This somewhat paradoxical situation was addressed in a session at the 14th conference of the Nordic Theoretical Archaeology Group at Stockholm University in April 2014, an initiative that eventually resulted in the present collection of articles. In this introduction we briefly present the historiographical and discursive background for the debates that are outlined in the following contributions.
{"title":"Sámi Archaeology and Postcolonial Theory—An Introduction","authors":"Marte Spangen, Anna-Kaisa Salmi, T. Äikäs","doi":"10.3368/aa.52.2.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/aa.52.2.1","url":null,"abstract":"While researchers within Sámi archaeology have dealt with issues closely related to postcolonial theory and critique since the 1970s onwards, this has rarely been done with explicit mention or coherent use of this theoretical complex. This somewhat paradoxical situation was addressed in a session at the 14th conference of the Nordic Theoretical Archaeology Group at Stockholm University in April 2014, an initiative that eventually resulted in the present collection of articles. In this introduction we briefly present the historiographical and discursive background for the debates that are outlined in the following contributions.","PeriodicalId":45997,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Anthropology","volume":"52 1","pages":"1 - 5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2015-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3368/aa.52.2.1","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69574092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In recent years, there has been a large-scale boom in mining in the present-day Swedish part of Sápmi, leading to protests from Sámi activists as well as environmentalist groups. To the protesters, issues of Swedish colonialism and Sámi indigeneity are central, and history becomes important. Taking its starting point in the mining conflicts, this article discusses Sámi archaeology and claims for Sámi indigenous land and cultural rights. We argue that it is important to further explore the colonial history in Sápmi, and its meaning and consequences today. Archaeology can contribute with new perspectives on colonial histories and relations, and connections between past and present in Sápmi. At the same time, many issues concerning the ethics and politics of archaeology need to be discussed. Furthermore, in discussions on Sámi archaeology and heritage management in Sápmi, it is important to consider experiences from the international fields of postcolonial studies and indigenous archaeology.
{"title":"Mining Sápmi: Colonial Histories, Sámi Archaeology, and the Exploitation of Natural Resources in Northern Sweden","authors":"Carl-Gösta Ojala, J. Nordin","doi":"10.3368/aa.52.2.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/aa.52.2.6","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, there has been a large-scale boom in mining in the present-day Swedish part of Sápmi, leading to protests from Sámi activists as well as environmentalist groups. To the protesters, issues of Swedish colonialism and Sámi indigeneity are central, and history becomes important. Taking its starting point in the mining conflicts, this article discusses Sámi archaeology and claims for Sámi indigenous land and cultural rights. We argue that it is important to further explore the colonial history in Sápmi, and its meaning and consequences today. Archaeology can contribute with new perspectives on colonial histories and relations, and connections between past and present in Sápmi. At the same time, many issues concerning the ethics and politics of archaeology need to be discussed. Furthermore, in discussions on Sámi archaeology and heritage management in Sápmi, it is important to consider experiences from the international fields of postcolonial studies and indigenous archaeology.","PeriodicalId":45997,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Anthropology","volume":"52 1","pages":"21 - 6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2015-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3368/aa.52.2.6","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69574216","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stone circles and various other features belonging to the different branches of the Sámi cultures in both northern Norway and Sweden have long since been known and discussed by scholars. That similar archaeological features are to be found in the county of Västernorrland, an area customarily considered to lie outside that which is traditionally associated with the Sámi in Sweden, is compelling and requires a reassessment of previous held notions concerning the historical record. It is here suggested that these features are relics of a vanished Sámi culture that once existed in this county. It is further suggested that the stone circles are the material remains of their religious practices that were performed in order to help maintain social solidarity in the face of both ideological and economic suppression by the Royal Kingdom and later by the nation-state.
{"title":"Surreptitious Sámi—Suppressive Swedes: Maintaining Sámi Identities through the Use of Religion and Stone Circles","authors":"David Loeffler","doi":"10.3368/aa.52.2.67","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3368/aa.52.2.67","url":null,"abstract":"Stone circles and various other features belonging to the different branches of the Sámi cultures in both northern Norway and Sweden have long since been known and discussed by scholars. That similar archaeological features are to be found in the county of Västernorrland, an area customarily considered to lie outside that which is traditionally associated with the Sámi in Sweden, is compelling and requires a reassessment of previous held notions concerning the historical record. It is here suggested that these features are relics of a vanished Sámi culture that once existed in this county. It is further suggested that the stone circles are the material remains of their religious practices that were performed in order to help maintain social solidarity in the face of both ideological and economic suppression by the Royal Kingdom and later by the nation-state.","PeriodicalId":45997,"journal":{"name":"Arctic Anthropology","volume":"52 1","pages":"67 - 80"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2015-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3368/aa.52.2.67","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69574227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}