Excerpt from Many Norths: Spatial Practice in a Polar Territory

Abstract

For the Inuit living in the Canadian Arctic, daily life has been, for millennia, finely tuned to seasonal weather patterns, species migration routes and a keen knowledge of the land and environment. Today, with changing climatic conditions, geopolitical negotiations and the opening up of resource economies, the Canadian North is a dramatically changing ecosystem — environmentally, culturally and economically. This harsh and fragile environment has required calibrated and innovative spatial practices by its inhabitants, who have continued to adapt over centuries, enabling traditional and contemporary ways of life to co-habit. Some of the practices documented in Many Norths: Spatial Practice in a Polar Territory leave permanent physical imprints on the land, others are impermanent; some are indigenous, while others are more recent and engineered; and all are subject to, or product of, seasonal and global forces of transformation. Together, these practices give a sense of the unique innovations, deeply embedded in the local ecosystem, that Northerners have developed to enable life in the region; to provide shelter, facilitate mobility, and harvest resources.

Keywords

Many Norths: Spatial Practice in a Polar Territory / Canadian Arctic / Spatial Practice / Environment

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press