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...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Arizona Anthropologist
2014
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/arizanthro/article/view/17948 |
id |
ftunivarizonaojs:oai:journals.uair.arizona.edu:article/17948 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivarizonaojs:oai:journals.uair.arizona.edu:article/17948 2023-05-15T14:49:35+02:00 The Steel Dog in the Canadian Arctic: A Historical Case Study of Technological Change Pavri, Eric Hoshang 2014-09-08 application/pdf https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/arizanthro/article/view/17948 eng eng Arizona Anthropologist https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/arizanthro/article/view/17948/17681 https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/arizanthro/article/view/17948 Arizona Anthropologist; Vol 16; 73-104 1062-1601 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article 2014 ftunivarizonaojs 2020-11-14T17:53:01Z 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 Journals at the University of Arizona Arctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Journals at the University of Arizona |
op_collection_id |
ftunivarizonaojs |
language |
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. |
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 |
Arizona Anthropologist |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/arizanthro/article/view/17948 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Arizona Anthropologist; Vol 16; 73-104 1062-1601 |
op_relation |
https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/arizanthro/article/view/17948/17681 https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/arizanthro/article/view/17948 |
_version_ |
1766320659772735488 |