This paper focuses on reindeer stories, as told by reindeer herders who live in northern Finland and train and work with reindeer, both in the context of tourism and competitive racing in Lapland. The stories-ranging from anecdotes and short sequences of events to whole life stories and collected as part of broader participant research focusing on human-reindeer relationships in current reindeer herding in Finland-are used to examine cultural conceptions and meanings integral to human-reindeer relationships. The stories show that considerable emphasis is put on the character, personhood, and agency of the reindeer in contemporary reindeer-herding culture. Valued characteristics in reindeer in the stories told by herders are intelligence, independence, empathy, ability to collaborate, stamina, and psychological strength. Moreover, the stories show that emotions are an important component of the relationships between trainers and working reindeer, the affection between reindeer and their trainers, which is palpable in the way the narratives unfold.
This paper, which is intentionally short, explores the intersections of Inuit oral traditions, worldview, and architectural remains to provide a more holistic understanding of Greenlandic prehistory. While archaeological research in the Eastern Arctic has traditionally prioritized environmental adaptation and technological development, this study highlights the symbolic and ritual dimensions embedded within Inuit architecture and spatial organization. Focusing on two case studies-the presence of polar bear hair in entrance tunnels and the ritual significance of beaches-the study demonstrates how oral traditions transmit knowledge of past practices that leave tangible traces in the archaeological record. Findings suggest that polar bear remains at house entrances were not merely stored materials but held protective and symbolic roles. Similarly, beaches, often considered only as functional harbors, were also perceived as spiritual entities capable of safeguarding settlements. These insights challenge conventional archaeological approaches by underscoring the importance of intangible cultural elements in shaping material remains. By integrating oral traditions with material evidence, the study reveals that Inuit cosmology was not just an abstract system of beliefs but an active force shaping architectural choices, landscape use, and settlement patterns. The findings challenge conventional archaeological approaches that focus solely on material remains, demonstrating that understanding Inuit cosmology is crucial for interpreting the full significance of Inuit cultural landscapes.
Halibut has historically held notable cultural and symbolic significance for northern coastal communities. Its prominence is also evident in Norwegian prehistoric rock art, indicating a longstanding special relationship between humans and halibut. This study provides an inat 15 sites along the coastline, with most depictions dating from 6800 to 3000 BP. By comparing these depictions with ethnographic data from Norway and North America, this analysis offers valuable insights into early halibut fishing. The study suggests that prehistoric halibut fishing was a prestigious, male-dominated activity intertwined with rituals, taboos, and beliefs concerning luck, fertility, and respect for the halibut. Furthermore, the connection between halibut and cervids in rock art points to a refined observation and profound understanding of species-specific rock art and prehistoric human-animal and human-environmental relationships in the north.
This paper explores how disorientation and displacement in the shamanic topography of the Evenki lead to the establishment of novel relationships between humans and nonhuman beings. Examining human experiences of disorientation demonstrates how these spatial disruptions can convey geographical and sociocultural information about nonhuman ontologies and topographies. Ethnographic research with the Evenki in Siberia reveals that disorientation, although generally considered unfavorable, can enhance human abilities by extending and deepening connections with nonhuman worlds. This material is further compared with North American Pacific Coast Indigenous traditions of similar phenomena. By analyzing diverse scenarios of traveling to nonhuman worlds, we investigate two strategies of navigation: changing bodily appearance and changing self, which correspond to covering and metamorphosis in Amerindian perspectivism. However, we argue that, unlike Amazonian perspectives, where bodily transformations often confer extraordinary abilities or skills upon individuals, in Siberian and North American contexts, such transformations are less about acquiring new abilities and more about establishing communicative relationships through the strategic use of coverings.
This article interrogates the contested landscapes of Gilbbesj & aacute;vri, S & aacute;pmi, integrating participatory research with an innovative walking methodology. Using an improvised walk around Lake C & aacute;hk & aacute;lj & aacute;vri as both a research tool and critical framework, the study explores the interplay of land use, heritage, and identity in northern Fennoscandia. It examines how state-led conservation policies, tourism development, and shifting border dynamics intersect with traditional S & aacute;mi reindeer-herding practices and Indigenous knowledge of the land. By juxtaposing infrastructures with erased and marginalized heritage, the article highlights how landscape is an active force in shaping social relations and community resistance. Moreover, the embodied act of walking challenges dominant cartographic and managerial representations, underscoring the need for decolonial approaches that honor local memory and relational experiences. Our findings highlight how landscapes are not static backdrops but fluid, contested spaces where visible and invisible forces connect and divide communities. This reconceptualization offers implications for rethinking environmental governance and advancing Indigenous land rights in the Arctic.
By analyzing the history, future visions, and current social life of a former mining road, this article explores the transformations of the road's dominant orientations, varying from an extractive one to one that sustains life by supporting food-related practices. The overarching research question is, when and why did such shifts occur? I build on the concepts of food sovereignty and alimentary infrastructure, as well as the literature on roads, to show that infrastructure projects can be a double-edged sword, one facet of which is industrial and colonial, and the other is alimentary and sustaining. I argue that food sovereignty practices thrive at the disjuncture of infrastructure ruination and renovation, and the road, designed for purposes beyond food and eating, always had the potential to play a nourishing role. However, the extent to which the road has contributed to food sovereignty varies throughout its history, depending on available technologies, state projects, and the material transformations of surrounding built and natural environments.
In northern and western Greenland, human-qimmeq (Greenlandic sled dog, Canis lupus familiaris) relationships are evolving rapidly amid profound environmental and social change. Although the number of sled-dog teams is declining, qimmit continue to play a vital role in Inuit and Kalaallit life-not only as working animals but as active participants in practices of knowledge sharing, care, and identity formation. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with hunters [piniartut], mushers, and cultural knowledge bearers, this article explores the contemporary roles of qimmit within Greenlandic society. It examines how these relationships support intergenerational transmission of cultural knowledge and belonging, while also negotiating tensions between lived practices and formal heritage frameworks. Situating qimmit within critical discussions of living heritage and human-animal relations, the article argues that qimmit are not merely cultural symbols, but relational beings embedded in adaptive, negotiated, and resilient practices central to Inuit and Kalaallit life.
Mining has historically driven the colonial transformations of the Yukon. This paper introduces the concept of a resource imaginary, referring to the predominant perception of the Yukon in terms of mineral resource extraction. This perception deeply influences land use, labor dynamics, and the sociocultural fabric of Yukon society. The persistence of this resource imaginary presents ongoing challenges for First Nation cosmologies. Narratives are instrumental in shaping these imaginaries. Through narrative reinhabitation-which incorporates linguistic, legislative, and temporal dimensions-Yukon First Nations seek to challenge the resource imaginary, promote Indigenous cosmologies, and encourage a harmonious coexistence of multiple "worlds." Based on extensive, multi-year research with mining and First Nations stakeholders, this paper explores the interplay between the extractive industry and narrative reinhabitation, with a specific focus on the First Nation of Nacho Ny & auml;k Dun. It addresses an underexplored intersection by examining the Yukon's evolving recognition as home once again while demonstrating that central Yukon First Nations neither uniformly support nor oppose resource extraction; rather, they situate themselves within a framework of place-based histories that integrate both Indigenous and mining legacies.
In this article, I ask what it means for Greenland's telecommunication infrastructure to be the result of a rapid modernization process. Drawing on concepts from science and technology studies and the temporal turn in anthropology, I highlight the production of "infrastructural time" (Appel 2018) to underscore the relationship between spatial and temporal dimensions when Greenland's infrastructure is imagined, built and practiced in a (post)colonial context. Through archival research, ethnographic interviews, and fieldwork, I show how the construction of a comprehensive telecommunication infrastructure in Greenland after World War II produced competing temporalities characterized by haste and pause, which linger on and intersect with Greenland's existing infrastructures. When examining these temporalities in Greenland's modernization process, it seems that coloniality is not allied with a particular tempo but that both haste and pause can be part of the colonial project to keep the center in control.
This article is an ethnographic field report on the study of uses of underground food storage facilities ("meat caches") relating to sociocultural and climatic changes in arctic and subarctic communities in western Alaska. In the summers of 2022 and 2023, the authors (a Japanese female anthropologist and an American male anthropologist) conducted fieldwork in the partner communities, recognizing that our roles in participant observation were somewhat different because of our differing identities. This paper introduces how our ethnic backgrounds and genders have affected our experiences of participant observation and how ethnographers can learn about community and family food traditions from community perspectives based on diverse identities (gender, age, language) in relation to those of research partners.
The article describes the coastal S & aacute;mi population with a focus on Hamar & oslash;y municipality, northern Norway. Based on written sources from the 15th to 16th centuries, an agricultural economy is described, including both grain cultivation and livestock farming. Through minor excavations of settlement mounds and pollen analyses, it is argued that this economy, as described in written sources, has roots back to the Middle Ages. Livestock farming was introduced in the early part of the Middle Ages, but hunting, trapping, and fishing remained important. From around AD 1350, it is likely that grain cultivation was established. In the second part of the article, it is discussed whether a change in the economy led to other changes in the culture. By analyzing cultural heritage sites in the same area from the Middle Ages to more recent times, the discussion revolves around whether the changes led to changes in ritual practices.
Trapping of ptarmigan by snare in winter is an ancient tradition in Fennoscandia, and in the 19th century, ptarmigan had become an important source of income. Changes in external factors after the 1950s have, however, altered the socioeconomic context, leading to a radical decrease in the number of professional trappers. Based on field data from two periods 60 years apart, this article provides a diachronic analysis of the change in ptarmigan trapping and the main factors behind its decline as a meaningful economic activity. The results show that whereas the practice of setting snares still relies on traditional knowledge, external developments, such as a transition to motorized transport and market failures, were-along with broader socioeconomic and demographic changes-the key factors behind the decline. Changes in the harvest base due to climate change or other causes mentioned in the interviews appear to have been less important factors.
This article addresses tourism in the S & aacute;mi areas of Norway and how 23 S & aacute;mi and non-S & aacute;mi tourism providers deal with issues of cultural sensitivity. The article is based on a study that asked how sensitive issues had occurred in S & aacute;mi tourism operations and how they had dealt with them. Both S & aacute;mi and non-S & aacute;mi tourism experience providers met a series of dilemmas. During interviews and conversations, terms such as recognition and respect appeared, which are also central to theoretical discussions on cultural sensitivity in the field. The article has a particular focus on how tourism providers deal with ethnocentrism and stereotyping and how these aspects are touched upon in production and discourses related to traditional costumes, handicrafts, and souvenir trade. Further, as reindeer are central in S & aacute;mi tourism, human-animal relations are discussed as a sensitive aspect of S & aacute;mi tourism. Additional issues are discussed, such as tourism development and the split between different S & aacute;mi groups, the tension between cultural policing and innovation, and challenges related to border management. In conclusion, the concept of cultural sensitivity is discussed in light of the aspects that emerged in conversation with the tourism providers, pointing at ways to widen the concept to include analysis of sensitive aspects of tourism provided by S & aacute;mi themselves.
