The Steel Dog in the Canadian Arctic: A Historical Case Study of Technological Change
During the "Snowmobile Revolution" of the late 1960s, the snowmobile largely supplanted the dog team as the main form of transport in the Canadian Arctic. This essay draws from historical and ethnograpphic sources to investigate practical advantages and disadvantages to adoption of the new...
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University of Arizona, Department of Anthropology
2005
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ftunivarizona:oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/110031 2024-09-09T19:20:45+00:00 The Steel Dog in the Canadian Arctic: A Historical Case Study of Technological Change Pavri, Eric Hoshang University of Arizona 2005 http://hdl.handle.net/10150/110031 en_US eng University of Arizona, Department of Anthropology Arizona Anthropologist 16:73-103. © 2005 Arizona Anthropologist 1062-1601 http://hdl.handle.net/10150/110031 Arizona Anthropologist Article 2005 ftunivarizona 2024-06-25T03:37:05Z During the "Snowmobile Revolution" of the late 1960s, the snowmobile largely supplanted the dog team as the main form of transport in the Canadian Arctic. This essay draws from historical and ethnograpphic sources to investigate practical advantages and disadvantages to adoption of the new technology, and then considers whether this episode of rapid technological change resulted in "cultural loss" in Arctic communities. While it is clear that widespread adoption of the snowmobile technological complex (machines, fuel, tools, skills, knowledge) caused significant changes in life in the Far North, it also appears that the meanings and values associated with traditional subsistence hunting were generally not lost, and in some cases were reinforced during this period of technological transition. Finally, drawing on various academic traditions such as the Social Construction of Technology school, ecological models of convergent cycles, postmodern critiques of modernization and development, and the appropriate technology movement, the essay then questions simplistic notions of cultural loss by considering the common evolution of culture and technology. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic The University of Arizona: UA Campus Repository Arctic |
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The University of Arizona: UA Campus Repository |
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English |
description |
During the "Snowmobile Revolution" of the late 1960s, the snowmobile largely supplanted the dog team as the main form of transport in the Canadian Arctic. This essay draws from historical and ethnograpphic sources to investigate practical advantages and disadvantages to adoption of the new technology, and then considers whether this episode of rapid technological change resulted in "cultural loss" in Arctic communities. While it is clear that widespread adoption of the snowmobile technological complex (machines, fuel, tools, skills, knowledge) caused significant changes in life in the Far North, it also appears that the meanings and values associated with traditional subsistence hunting were generally not lost, and in some cases were reinforced during this period of technological transition. Finally, drawing on various academic traditions such as the Social Construction of Technology school, ecological models of convergent cycles, postmodern critiques of modernization and development, and the appropriate technology movement, the essay then questions simplistic notions of cultural loss by considering the common evolution of culture and technology. |
author2 |
University of Arizona |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pavri, Eric Hoshang |
spellingShingle |
Pavri, Eric Hoshang The Steel Dog in the Canadian Arctic: A Historical Case Study of Technological Change |
author_facet |
Pavri, Eric Hoshang |
author_sort |
Pavri, Eric Hoshang |
title |
The Steel Dog in the Canadian Arctic: A Historical Case Study of Technological Change |
title_short |
The Steel Dog in the Canadian Arctic: A Historical Case Study of Technological Change |
title_full |
The Steel Dog in the Canadian Arctic: A Historical Case Study of Technological Change |
title_fullStr |
The Steel Dog in the Canadian Arctic: A Historical Case Study of Technological Change |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Steel Dog in the Canadian Arctic: A Historical Case Study of Technological Change |
title_sort |
steel dog in the canadian arctic: a historical case study of technological change |
publisher |
University of Arizona, Department of Anthropology |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10150/110031 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_relation |
Arizona Anthropologist 16:73-103. © 2005 Arizona Anthropologist 1062-1601 http://hdl.handle.net/10150/110031 Arizona Anthropologist |
_version_ |
1809760933462933504 |