Mobility as an Aspect of Stress in an Arctic Community 1

• Published in: American Anthropologist
• Main Author: SAVISHINSKY, JOEL S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1971
• Subjects: Arctic; Northwest Territories
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/aa.1971.73.3.02a00060; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1525%2Faa.1971.73.3.02a00060; https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/aa.1971.73.3.02a00060

Environmental sources of stress, in terms of scarce fur and food resources, the need for adequate shelter, and the physical hardships involved in obtaining these necessities, persist as features of life in some contemporary sub‐arctic communities. In a small, isolated village of Hare Indians in the boreal forest of Canada's Northwest Territories, a variety of social sources of stress has also been found to affect the people. These include acculturative influences, a local feud, prolonged periods of bush isolation and population concentration, and expectations and obligations for generosity and reciprocity. Given the people's strong emphasis upon emotional restraint, aggression as a means of relieving stress is almost entirely restricted to periods of heavy drinking. Population mobility is a major factor in the control and release of stress. The annual cycle consists of several phases of band dispersal and ingathering; each phase has its characteristic tensions. Successive periods of population redistribution relieve many stresses which have been generated in previous phases. Each new phase, in its turn, creates other stresses which find release in the next part of the cycle. Mobility is also high within each cycle phase, and movements are connected with tensions of isolation, boredom, interpersonal friction, and drinking. High mobility thus serves both to generate and relieve stress within a social and ecological framework.