Mental maps, practical mastery and environmental experience: an analysis of the wayfinding culture of Evenki reindeer herders and hunters
Abstract The present work explores the link between navigational processes and the experience of place by considering the case of Evenki reindeer herders and hunters. Our analysis shows how the idiosyncratic wayfinding methods of the Evenki result in a unique experience of place – a case that elucid...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0373463324000018 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0373463324000018 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0373463324000018 2024-09-15T18:05:19+00:00 Mental maps, practical mastery and environmental experience: an analysis of the wayfinding culture of Evenki reindeer herders and hunters Fernández Velasco, Pablo Gleizer, Anna British Academy Irish Research Council 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0373463324000018 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0373463324000018 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Navigation volume 76, issue 4-5, page 590-601 ISSN 0373-4633 1469-7785 journal-article 2023 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0373463324000018 2024-08-07T04:03:38Z Abstract The present work explores the link between navigational processes and the experience of place by considering the case of Evenki reindeer herders and hunters. Our analysis shows how the idiosyncratic wayfinding methods of the Evenki result in a unique experience of place – a case that elucidates the important question of the impact of navigational processes on environmental experience, and that advances the debate between mental map theory and practical mastery theory in anthropology. We defend that their wayfinding methods – involving a particular gait, path networks, and vast hydrological and toponymical knowledge – allow the Evenki to navigate without a need for integrating egocentric and allocentric frames of reference. As a result, the Evenki experience themselves as free individuals moving through an environment that is alive and rife with possibility. This analysis reveals the ways in which wayfinding processes relying predominantly on route knowledge – as opposed to survey knowledge – affect environmental experience. Alternative methods of wayfinding can be seen as a form of resistance to the uniformisation of landscapes, and as a way of embracing the heterogeneity of space. Article in Journal/Newspaper Evenki Cambridge University Press Journal of Navigation 1 12 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract The present work explores the link between navigational processes and the experience of place by considering the case of Evenki reindeer herders and hunters. Our analysis shows how the idiosyncratic wayfinding methods of the Evenki result in a unique experience of place – a case that elucidates the important question of the impact of navigational processes on environmental experience, and that advances the debate between mental map theory and practical mastery theory in anthropology. We defend that their wayfinding methods – involving a particular gait, path networks, and vast hydrological and toponymical knowledge – allow the Evenki to navigate without a need for integrating egocentric and allocentric frames of reference. As a result, the Evenki experience themselves as free individuals moving through an environment that is alive and rife with possibility. This analysis reveals the ways in which wayfinding processes relying predominantly on route knowledge – as opposed to survey knowledge – affect environmental experience. Alternative methods of wayfinding can be seen as a form of resistance to the uniformisation of landscapes, and as a way of embracing the heterogeneity of space. |
author2 |
British Academy Irish Research Council |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fernández Velasco, Pablo Gleizer, Anna |
spellingShingle |
Fernández Velasco, Pablo Gleizer, Anna Mental maps, practical mastery and environmental experience: an analysis of the wayfinding culture of Evenki reindeer herders and hunters |
author_facet |
Fernández Velasco, Pablo Gleizer, Anna |
author_sort |
Fernández Velasco, Pablo |
title |
Mental maps, practical mastery and environmental experience: an analysis of the wayfinding culture of Evenki reindeer herders and hunters |
title_short |
Mental maps, practical mastery and environmental experience: an analysis of the wayfinding culture of Evenki reindeer herders and hunters |
title_full |
Mental maps, practical mastery and environmental experience: an analysis of the wayfinding culture of Evenki reindeer herders and hunters |
title_fullStr |
Mental maps, practical mastery and environmental experience: an analysis of the wayfinding culture of Evenki reindeer herders and hunters |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mental maps, practical mastery and environmental experience: an analysis of the wayfinding culture of Evenki reindeer herders and hunters |
title_sort |
mental maps, practical mastery and environmental experience: an analysis of the wayfinding culture of evenki reindeer herders and hunters |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0373463324000018 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0373463324000018 |
genre |
Evenki |
genre_facet |
Evenki |
op_source |
Journal of Navigation volume 76, issue 4-5, page 590-601 ISSN 0373-4633 1469-7785 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0373463324000018 |
container_title |
Journal of Navigation |
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1 |
op_container_end_page |
12 |
_version_ |
1810442886019284992 |