Yellowknives Dene and Gwich’in Stellar Wayfinding in Large-Scale Subarctic Landscapes
Indigenous systems of stellar wayfinding are rarely described or robustly attested outside of maritime contexts, with few examples reported among peoples of the high Arctic and some desert regions. However, like other large-scale environments that exhibit a low legibility of landmarks, the barrenlan...
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ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/75292 2023-05-15T14:19:02+02:00 Yellowknives Dene and Gwich’in Stellar Wayfinding in Large-Scale Subarctic Landscapes Cannon, Chris M. Herbert, Paul Sangris, Fred 2022-06-11 application/pdf https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/75292 eng eng The Arctic Institute of North America https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/75292/55890 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/75292 Copyright (c) 2022 ARCTIC http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY ARCTIC; Vol. 75 No. 2 (2022): JUNE 149-290; 180-197 1923-1245 0004-0843 stellar wayfinding Indigenous navigation Yellowknives Dene Gwich’in landscape legibility Northern Dene astronomy Yukon Flats barrenlands dead reckoning Big Dipper repérage grâce aux étoiles navigation autochtone Dénés Yellowknives lisibilité du paysage astronomie des Dénés du Nord landes navigation à l’estime Grande Casserole info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 2022 ftunivcalgaryojs 2022-06-19T17:29:43Z Indigenous systems of stellar wayfinding are rarely described or robustly attested outside of maritime contexts, with few examples reported among peoples of the high Arctic and some desert regions. However, like other large-scale environments that exhibit a low legibility of landmarks, the barrenlands of the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Flats of Alaska generally lack views of prominent or distinguishing topography for using classic route-based navigation. When travelling off trails and waterways in these respective inland subarctic environments, the Yellowknives Dene and the Alaskan Gwich’in utilize drastically different stellar wayfinding approaches from one another while essentially sharing the same view of the sky. However, in both systems the use of celestial schemata is suspended in favor of route-based navigation when the traveller intersects a familiar geographical feature or trail near their target destination, suggesting strong preference for orienting by landmarks when available. A comparison of both wayfinding systems suggests that large-scale environments that lack a readily discernible ground pattern may be more conducive to the development and implementation of a celestial wayfinding schema when combined with other influential factors such as culture, individual experience, and travel behavior. These are likely the first stellar wayfinding systems described in detail for any inland subarctic culture. Les systèmes autochtones de repérage grâce aux étoiles sont rarement décrits ou font rarement l’objet d’une attestation valable en dehors des contextes maritimes. Il existe quelques exemples de ces systèmes chez les peuples de l’Extrême-Arctique et certains autres exemples émanant des régions désertiques. Cependant, à l’instar d’autres environnements spacieux où la lisibilité des points de repère est faible, les landes des Territoires du Nord-Ouest et les Yukon Flats de l’Alaska sont généralement dépourvus d’éléments topographiques proéminents ou particuliers permettant d’utiliser la ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Arctique* Gwich’in Northwest Territories Subarctic Territoires du Nord-Ouest Alaska Yukon University of Calgary Journal Hosting Arctic Northwest Territories Traveller ENVELOPE(-48.533,-48.533,61.133,61.133) Yukon |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Calgary Journal Hosting |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcalgaryojs |
language |
English |
topic |
stellar wayfinding Indigenous navigation Yellowknives Dene Gwich’in landscape legibility Northern Dene astronomy Yukon Flats barrenlands dead reckoning Big Dipper repérage grâce aux étoiles navigation autochtone Dénés Yellowknives lisibilité du paysage astronomie des Dénés du Nord landes navigation à l’estime Grande Casserole |
spellingShingle |
stellar wayfinding Indigenous navigation Yellowknives Dene Gwich’in landscape legibility Northern Dene astronomy Yukon Flats barrenlands dead reckoning Big Dipper repérage grâce aux étoiles navigation autochtone Dénés Yellowknives lisibilité du paysage astronomie des Dénés du Nord landes navigation à l’estime Grande Casserole Cannon, Chris M. Herbert, Paul Sangris, Fred Yellowknives Dene and Gwich’in Stellar Wayfinding in Large-Scale Subarctic Landscapes |
topic_facet |
stellar wayfinding Indigenous navigation Yellowknives Dene Gwich’in landscape legibility Northern Dene astronomy Yukon Flats barrenlands dead reckoning Big Dipper repérage grâce aux étoiles navigation autochtone Dénés Yellowknives lisibilité du paysage astronomie des Dénés du Nord landes navigation à l’estime Grande Casserole |
description |
Indigenous systems of stellar wayfinding are rarely described or robustly attested outside of maritime contexts, with few examples reported among peoples of the high Arctic and some desert regions. However, like other large-scale environments that exhibit a low legibility of landmarks, the barrenlands of the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Flats of Alaska generally lack views of prominent or distinguishing topography for using classic route-based navigation. When travelling off trails and waterways in these respective inland subarctic environments, the Yellowknives Dene and the Alaskan Gwich’in utilize drastically different stellar wayfinding approaches from one another while essentially sharing the same view of the sky. However, in both systems the use of celestial schemata is suspended in favor of route-based navigation when the traveller intersects a familiar geographical feature or trail near their target destination, suggesting strong preference for orienting by landmarks when available. A comparison of both wayfinding systems suggests that large-scale environments that lack a readily discernible ground pattern may be more conducive to the development and implementation of a celestial wayfinding schema when combined with other influential factors such as culture, individual experience, and travel behavior. These are likely the first stellar wayfinding systems described in detail for any inland subarctic culture. Les systèmes autochtones de repérage grâce aux étoiles sont rarement décrits ou font rarement l’objet d’une attestation valable en dehors des contextes maritimes. Il existe quelques exemples de ces systèmes chez les peuples de l’Extrême-Arctique et certains autres exemples émanant des régions désertiques. Cependant, à l’instar d’autres environnements spacieux où la lisibilité des points de repère est faible, les landes des Territoires du Nord-Ouest et les Yukon Flats de l’Alaska sont généralement dépourvus d’éléments topographiques proéminents ou particuliers permettant d’utiliser la ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cannon, Chris M. Herbert, Paul Sangris, Fred |
author_facet |
Cannon, Chris M. Herbert, Paul Sangris, Fred |
author_sort |
Cannon, Chris M. |
title |
Yellowknives Dene and Gwich’in Stellar Wayfinding in Large-Scale Subarctic Landscapes |
title_short |
Yellowknives Dene and Gwich’in Stellar Wayfinding in Large-Scale Subarctic Landscapes |
title_full |
Yellowknives Dene and Gwich’in Stellar Wayfinding in Large-Scale Subarctic Landscapes |
title_fullStr |
Yellowknives Dene and Gwich’in Stellar Wayfinding in Large-Scale Subarctic Landscapes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Yellowknives Dene and Gwich’in Stellar Wayfinding in Large-Scale Subarctic Landscapes |
title_sort |
yellowknives dene and gwich’in stellar wayfinding in large-scale subarctic landscapes |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/75292 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-48.533,-48.533,61.133,61.133) |
geographic |
Arctic Northwest Territories Traveller Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Northwest Territories Traveller Yukon |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Arctique* Gwich’in Northwest Territories Subarctic Territoires du Nord-Ouest Alaska Yukon |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Arctique* Gwich’in Northwest Territories Subarctic Territoires du Nord-Ouest Alaska Yukon |
op_source |
ARCTIC; Vol. 75 No. 2 (2022): JUNE 149-290; 180-197 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_relation |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/75292/55890 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/75292 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2022 ARCTIC http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
_version_ |
1766290566591545344 |