Nunatsiavut, ‘our beautiful land’: Inuit landscape ethnoecology in Labrador, Canada
For Inuit in the subarctic transition zone of northeastern Canada, an intimate knowledge of the environment and local biodiversity is crucial for successful traditional activities. This study examines what kinds of landscape features and habitats Inuit of Nunatsiavut recognize and name. During inter...
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2022
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjb-2021-0112 2024-05-12T08:02:22+00:00 Nunatsiavut, ‘our beautiful land’: Inuit landscape ethnoecology in Labrador, Canada Cuerrier, Alain Clark, Courtenay Dwyer-Samuel, Frédéric Rapinski, Michel 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2021-0112 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjb-2021-0112 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjb-2021-0112 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Botany volume 100, issue 2, page 159-174 ISSN 1916-2790 1916-2804 Plant Science Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2022 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2021-0112 2024-04-18T06:54:52Z For Inuit in the subarctic transition zone of northeastern Canada, an intimate knowledge of the environment and local biodiversity is crucial for successful traditional activities. This study examines what kinds of landscape features and habitats Inuit of Nunatsiavut recognize and name. During interviews, community members (mostly Elders) were shown photographs from the region and were asked to describe and name salient types of places in Labrador Inuttitut. The most frequently reported geographical units dealt with the region’s topography (e.g., mountain, island, flat-place), hydrology (e.g., river, bay), and superficial characteristics (e.g., bedrock, permanent snow patch). Ecological considerations were also prominent, such as plant associations and animal habitats (e.g., shrubby-place, wetland, caribou-return-to-place). Areas were often characterized by a dominant species or substrate type, being named using the plural form of the species and (or)substrate (e.g., “napâttuk” meaning ‘tree’ and “napâttuit” meaning ‘forest’ or “siugak” meaning ‘sand’ and “siugalak” meaning ‘sandy-area’). Some types of places reported by Inuit were significant mainly for traditional activities (e.g., berry-patch, seal-place, dry-wood-place, danger-place), aiding navigation and resource finding. Integrating Inuit conceptions of ecosystems and their component landscape units with those of contemporary science can improve our understanding of subarctic ecology, benefit climate change adaptation strategies, and Inuit language as well as culture conservation initiatives. Article in Journal/Newspaper caribou inuit Subarctic Canadian Science Publishing Canada River Bay ENVELOPE(-55.881,-55.881,51.600,51.600) Botany |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Plant Science Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Plant Science Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Cuerrier, Alain Clark, Courtenay Dwyer-Samuel, Frédéric Rapinski, Michel Nunatsiavut, ‘our beautiful land’: Inuit landscape ethnoecology in Labrador, Canada |
topic_facet |
Plant Science Ecology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
For Inuit in the subarctic transition zone of northeastern Canada, an intimate knowledge of the environment and local biodiversity is crucial for successful traditional activities. This study examines what kinds of landscape features and habitats Inuit of Nunatsiavut recognize and name. During interviews, community members (mostly Elders) were shown photographs from the region and were asked to describe and name salient types of places in Labrador Inuttitut. The most frequently reported geographical units dealt with the region’s topography (e.g., mountain, island, flat-place), hydrology (e.g., river, bay), and superficial characteristics (e.g., bedrock, permanent snow patch). Ecological considerations were also prominent, such as plant associations and animal habitats (e.g., shrubby-place, wetland, caribou-return-to-place). Areas were often characterized by a dominant species or substrate type, being named using the plural form of the species and (or)substrate (e.g., “napâttuk” meaning ‘tree’ and “napâttuit” meaning ‘forest’ or “siugak” meaning ‘sand’ and “siugalak” meaning ‘sandy-area’). Some types of places reported by Inuit were significant mainly for traditional activities (e.g., berry-patch, seal-place, dry-wood-place, danger-place), aiding navigation and resource finding. Integrating Inuit conceptions of ecosystems and their component landscape units with those of contemporary science can improve our understanding of subarctic ecology, benefit climate change adaptation strategies, and Inuit language as well as culture conservation initiatives. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cuerrier, Alain Clark, Courtenay Dwyer-Samuel, Frédéric Rapinski, Michel |
author_facet |
Cuerrier, Alain Clark, Courtenay Dwyer-Samuel, Frédéric Rapinski, Michel |
author_sort |
Cuerrier, Alain |
title |
Nunatsiavut, ‘our beautiful land’: Inuit landscape ethnoecology in Labrador, Canada |
title_short |
Nunatsiavut, ‘our beautiful land’: Inuit landscape ethnoecology in Labrador, Canada |
title_full |
Nunatsiavut, ‘our beautiful land’: Inuit landscape ethnoecology in Labrador, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Nunatsiavut, ‘our beautiful land’: Inuit landscape ethnoecology in Labrador, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Nunatsiavut, ‘our beautiful land’: Inuit landscape ethnoecology in Labrador, Canada |
title_sort |
nunatsiavut, ‘our beautiful land’: inuit landscape ethnoecology in labrador, canada |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2021-0112 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjb-2021-0112 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjb-2021-0112 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-55.881,-55.881,51.600,51.600) |
geographic |
Canada River Bay |
geographic_facet |
Canada River Bay |
genre |
caribou inuit Subarctic |
genre_facet |
caribou inuit Subarctic |
op_source |
Botany volume 100, issue 2, page 159-174 ISSN 1916-2790 1916-2804 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2021-0112 |
container_title |
Botany |
_version_ |
1798844462927970304 |