An Arctic Soliloquy on Inuit Placenames and Cross-Cultural Fieldwork

Abstract

In this article, I summarize the achievements, inadequacies, and breakdowns that occurred during an intensive five-week placename survey of Inuit toponyms in the Keewatin District, Northwest Territories, Canada. This is a firsthand, first-person account by the field leader, using personal journal entries as the substance for an Arctic soliloquy in two acts. The play begins with a prologue setting the spatial and logistical context, moves quickly into the halcyon days of the survey's first act, and then plunges into the frustrations and mixed emotions of the second act before arriving at the denouement in an epilogue. The logistical and emotional complexities of fieldwork are laid bare in this story of how (not) to structure a cross-cultural placename survey. Personal and professional foibles of both author and cast are punctuated with more than a little financial suspense—all of which is suffused with the energy of Inuit elders calmly pursuing perpetuation of their toponymic system under challenging conditions.