Native Studies Reaction 4
The Long Exile, Chapter 6
This is as close to a depiction of seal head stew as I could get. In chapter 6 we learned a bit about the Innuit diet.Pemmican: a mixture of fat and protein.
Bully beef: a cured and pickled corned beef and a fun legacy cartoon advertisement.
I would try the pemmican, not the bully beef though. Being Irish, I've always dreaded the traditional corned beef and cabbage dish at the parents place.
And:
Dipsomaniac: a term used to describe a medical condition in which a person has an unquenchable thirst for alcohol.This may describe the story of the St. Roch. A ship that was floated near the polar north none. On September 11th the sea became so cold that the men were forced to chip ice off the ship's propeller. Charges filled with gunpowder were used to break up ice that easily could have sunk the boat.
Meanwhile Innuit life was becoming unsustainable, the fur trade was collapsing. It was decided that government aid given to Innuit was to be delivered in a relocation north in what were supposedly more fertile lands. The first ever Eskimo conference was held in Ottawa which broke in a plea to the government for aid.
I find it interesting how happy the Innuit portrayed were described to be. Despite the dismal living conditions, the ruthless weather. It's remarkable how seasonal depression hits hard in the midwest, but why not these people who live so much further north. I was thinking it may have something to do with the fact that they work outdoors.
Chapter 7
This chapter contained possibly the most remarkably twisted piece of information thus far. The story of Minik I found to be amazingly savage.
A boy lifted from Greenland with 5 of his people. Four died almost immediately from disease leaving Minik and another man later to be returned to Greenland. The experimentation planned to take place was canceled and Minik was adopted. He was indoctrinated by his Christian family who raised him for many years. One day inside a glass case, Minik found a skeleton. He found out it was none other than the skeletal remains of his father who had been captured along with him. A skeleton Minik had been told was laid to rest properly.Suddenly Christianity fell apart in the eyes and heart of Minik. They had kidnapped him, killed his father, and lied about his remains.
Meanwhile the other survivor of the European disease was shipped back to Greenland to tell the tale of England. Like Gulliver this man was considered a lunatic. People simply didn't believe his stories of trains, cars, and buildings. Ultimately, he was exiled from his community. The taint of Europe was absolute.
Native Studies: Reaction 3
I wrote down many of the Inuit language translations from chapter 4 of The Long Exile. All I've ever heard up until this course on the Inuit language is that they have numerous words for snow. I think many people would say just that if asked. This section I think, was aimed at helping us build a social constructionist idea as to who who these people generally are. What kind of people would choose to live outdoors in the arctic? I think some of the language introduced begins to explain a remarkable psychology that values stability. True tollerance is practiced, children are allowed to exercise their out their convoluted feelings which may be invoked as tantrums. This behavior is something the typical Inuit outgrows. As a person gains ihuma they outgrow nutaraqpaluktuq and work to establish a harmonious balance. Happiness or quiva attracts others, it's true in American culture as well. An American dropped into The Long Exile would be an interesting experiment. American culture however is possibly the polar opposite as the most successful people, often are not happy. American culture's material base is classist in it's nature. Finer clothes are sought to signify higher class. Wealth is sought as proof of success.
The Inuit run a communal society. Decisions are made, as a group and individually for the benefit of the group. Meanwhile they host a infant mortality rate equivalent to the infant mortality rate of medieval times. The life expectancy is 27. Some of the most important words are immaga which means perhaps and ayunqnaq meaning, it can't be helped. Passivity, tranquility, and above all happiness. Who could look at such relevant values and think "this is all wrong". Well, Christian missionaries did. I found it interesting how Christian teachings impacted the Inuit. When Charlie Oujerack became deluded, thinking he was Jesus Christ incarnate he posed more of an internal threat to the Inuit community than those traditionally deluded. These traditionally deluded peoples became shaman, the spiritually powerful sect of Inuit society.
The mourning customs of the Inuit are characteristically interesting and practical. Josephie's mother, Maggie Nuarluktuk. Following her unexplained death, her body was buried beneath "the rocks", her family said a prayer, burned Maggies clothing, and "returned to their lives". Of course they would have to. The harsh arctic climate doesn't allow time for mourning. This idea was detailed later on, focusing on a man that fell sick. His sickness while not infecting the rest of his family directly, caused them to suffer his fate as well. One man's sickness killed his family. This is the sort of life-or-death necessity that focuses the mind on things immediately relevant. This focus on raw survivalism in a frozen hellscape I think, puts other, more trivial matters in perspective in Inuit culture.
Karl Pilkington, immaga ayunqnaq.
Native Studies: Reaction 2
I've been watching An Idiot Abroad, Ricky Gervais' travel program starring a man who's mind has absolutely captivated me, Mr. Karl Pilkington. I cut a bit from an episode where he was sent whale watching and happened to make a stop in an Inuit village in Alaska. Top notch stuff, I laughed and I learned what a honey bucket is:
I had actually read ahead a bit and had reported on chapter 2 and much of chapter 3 out of The Long Exile. The tail end of the chapter had some particularly interesting bits of information. Missionaries, arriving to save the souls of the heathen savage in duality with whalers killed off the majority of the Inuit population.
Christian dogma would seize upon the Inuit banning shamans and banning drum circles. Fear of so permeated Inuit culture that traditional beliefs became a relic of the the past. The material possessions brought by missionaries enticed the Inuit, maybe they could embrace this new way of life.. Missionaries introduced Mother Hubbard dresses to the Inuit, replacing their traditional undergarment, caribou skin trousers.
Missionaries did impact Inuit culture in what I would consider to be somewhat positive ways. They effectively ended the practice of infanticide, instead babies were brought up by the mission and brought along as servants. The distasteful practice of euthanasia performed by such means as sending an elder out on a kayak with no paddle, also the snow brick tomb method we discussed in class.
I also read The Copper Eskimo, and I'm quite glad I did a remarkably fascinating read. Maybe the most shocking passage for me in this piece was on the courting process of newlyweds. Marriage-by-capture is how it was described, a simulated abduction in which the bride also participates, pretending to resist. It's like a simulated rape fantasy the whole family participates in. I record this out of fascination, this passage so moved me I felt compelled to share it with the nearest person. The legacy behind this custom would be an interesting research topic. The Copper Eskimo were partook in kinky sexual practices by todays standards as wife-lending operates in such stark contrast from the modern monogamy formula.
The hysterical superstition of the Copper Eskimo is so pervasive that following the death of a person the area is abandoned. The dead is soon thought to become a manevolent ghost that will hang around for five days before departing to the spirit world.
Shaman are healers, helpers, guides. They are the closest example of a dedicated professional in the community, though it is necessary for them to hunt and fish. Illness is produced by supernatural forces. Some believe an illness is indicative of bodily possession and the theft of the soul.


