Social flexibility and integration in a Canadian Inuit settlement : Lake Harbour, M.W.T.
The flexibility of Inuit social organization may be defined as a lack of societal preference among several different courses of action. Although the concept of flexibility has wide application to Inuit social organization this does not suggest that there is a complete lack of structure and order. So...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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University of British Columbia
2011
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0101683 https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0101683 |
| Summary: | The flexibility of Inuit social organization may be defined as a lack of societal preference among several different courses of action. Although the concept of flexibility has wide application to Inuit social organization this does not suggest that there is a complete lack of structure and order. Some of the parameters of flexibility are described through behaviour which is either disapproved or required. Two theses are advanced. One is that flexibility allows creative action which is potentially adaptive and/or integrative. This point is developed by showing a variety of ways in which different Inuit men in Lake Harbour effectively utilize combinations of hunting, trapping, carving and wage-labour, each in a manner unique to himself. The other thesis is that Inuit society is integrated wholly through mutually consensual dyadic relationships. There are two ways in which the importance of these relationships are shown in Inuit life. One is lack of imposed authority; the other is the rich variety of ritual and ... |
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