The Traditional Sources of Lana Hansen’s Greenlandic Environmental Commitment

• Main Author: Chartier, Daniel
• Other Authors: Universite du Quebec a Montreal
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: Inuit; Greenland; Literature; Climate; Climate Change; Lana Hansen; Traditional Inuit Figures; Sila; Sedna; Nuna; [SHS.LITT]Humanities and Social Sciences/Literature; [SHS.SCIPO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Political science; [SHS.SOCIO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Sociology; [SHS.MUSEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Cultural heritage and museology; [SHS.HIST]Humanities and Social Sciences/History; [SHS.GEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Geography; [SHS.GENRE]Humanities and Social Sciences/Gender studies; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; greenlandic; groenlandaise; inuit
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03692456; https://hal.science/hal-03692456/document; https://hal.science/hal-03692456/file/222059971.pdf

International audience Indigenous cultures have an integrated relationship with nature, and do not view it in opposition to culture, nor do they consider humans as separate from the environment. For example, the concepts of nuna and sila and the figure of Sedna, at the basis of the traditional Inuit thought, decenter the role of humans in the living world. In 2009, Greenlandic author Lana Hansen published a »tale about climate change«, Sila. She calls for a holistic view, using concepts that encompass humans, animals, languages, spirits, memories, plants, and resources. This article aims to review the context of publication of Hansen's tale from a point of view of Greenlandic and Inuit literature and to examine the traditional sources that it brings into play. Les cultures autochtones ont une relation intégrée avec la nature, et ne la voient pas en opposition à la culture, ni ne considèrent les humains comme séparés de l'environnement. Par exemple, les concepts de nuna et de sila et la figure de Sedna, à la base de la pensée inuit traditionnelle, décentrent le rôle de l'humain dans le monde vivant. En 2009, l'auteure groenlandaise Lana Hansen a publié un « conte sur le changement climatique », Sila . Elle appelle à une vision holistique, utilisant des concepts qui englobent les humains, les animaux, les langues, les esprits, les souvenirs, les plantes et les ressources. Cet article vise à revoir le contexte de publication du conte de Hansen du point de vue de la littérature groenlandaise et inuit et à examiner les sources traditionnelles qu'il met en jeu.