Frobisher Bay : ambiguity and gossip in a colonial situation
This thesis reports on five months anthropological fieldwork conducted in Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island, from August till the end of September, 1971. It is divided into two parts. The first four chapters are mainly descriptive with the exception of the theoretical orientation presented in Chapter I....
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Memorial University of Newfoundland
1972
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| Online Access: | https://research.library.mun.ca/7253/ https://research.library.mun.ca/7253/1/Koster_DitteA.pdf https://research.library.mun.ca/7253/3/Koster_DitteA.pdf |
| Summary: | This thesis reports on five months anthropological fieldwork conducted in Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island, from August till the end of September, 1971. It is divided into two parts. The first four chapters are mainly descriptive with the exception of the theoretical orientation presented in Chapter I. The remaining chapters are analytical. -- Chronologically, the researcher's first impressions of Frobisher Bay, the field strategy and the theoretical perspective for the analysis of the data is presented in Chapter I. The professional, transient Euro-Canadians, and in particular the elementary school teachers, are the focus of the researcher's attention. Their view of their social reality, the ways in which they define their social and educational situation, and the manner in which they perceive the Eskimo community are presented as a case study of the broader phenomenon of civil servants in the Canadian Arctic. The data are presented within the framework of symbolic interactionist theory as developed by George Herbert Mead and other sociologists. Blumer's (1969) statement of the present position of this orientation on the study of human society and human conduct is outlined. -- In Chapters II and III the growth and development of Frobisher Bay from a small, American airbase in 1942 to the present major civilian, administrative center in the Eastern Arctic is described, as well as the history and present make-up of the Eskimo and Euro-Canadian population. This is set within the context of the historical process of culture-contact in the Baffin region from the time of the discovery of Frobisher Bay by Sir Martin Frobisher in 1576, The whaling and fur industries, the activities of the Church of England missionaries and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are described. Life styles of the present Frobisher Bay population of approximately twenty-three hundred people are compared. Data are given regarding the socio-cultural background, employment, housing, recreation, and social interaction of the two sectors of the ... |
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