This edited volume presents case studies of the transfer of Indigenous knowledge in Canada; specifically, Nunavut and Labrador, Greenland, and Norway (Sámi). By focusing on the transfer of knowledge in Arctic regions, the editors and chapter authors avoid the vexing and controversial issue of comparing Indigenous or traditional knowledge to Western scientific knowledge, which almost always privileges Western or settler science over Indigenous knowledge. They also avoid the ethical and legal problems of attempts to integrate or incorporate Indigenous knowledge into research policy and management. We come across perhaps the first “trap” of the title, although it is not identified as such, in the Introduction by the editors: “We can all too easily fall into scholarship on traditional knowledge employing ‘simplistic dichotomies regarding our ways of thinking (i.e., that of Western scientific investigation) vs. their way of thinking (i.e., that of Indigenous elders or authorities of other kinds . . . Such dichotomies actually work to exclude Indigenous thought and make it exotic, even while showcasing it as insightful or intriguing.” The editors’ approach to avoiding this trap is twofold, first to avoid the use of these dichotomies entirely by focusing on different methods of knowledge transfer by Indigenous families and elders as well as by colonial educational authorities, and second by presenting the authentic views and voices of Indigenous people in the case-study regions. These approaches are demonstrated by the chapter authors and represent a unique and valuable contribution to the literature on Indigenous knowledge and knowledge transfer in the Arctic.
The editors summarize their intentions for the book as follows: “By studying this transfer (of knowledge in Arctic Indigenous society) we can gain a better understanding of the dynamics of a society and its interaction with other cultures, notably the dominant culture’s efforts to assimilate the Indigenous people.” With this statement the editors reveal their normative stance and the chapters admirably document the struggles of Indigenous people to resist assimilation and to preserve their heritage, identity, and culture as well as some of the innovative ways they are employing to do that.
In the Introduction, the editors provide brief but insightful histories of the case-study regions in Greenland, Canada (Nunavut and Labrador), and Norway. While their brevity may perhaps not be satisfying for historians of these areas, the historical summaries are informative and valuable for general readers in setting the context of the chapters that follow.
In chapter 1, “The Transformation and Transfer of Inuit Knowledge,” William Rasing presents different meanings of traditional knowledge and traces the dramatic changes in Inuit knowledge that occurred in Nunavut, Canada, as a result of the “transformation of the Inuit way of life from semi-nomadic subsistence hunters to mixed-economy residents of settlements” in the second half of the twentieth century. He documents the ecological content of traditional knowledge and the evolving, adaptive nature of Inuit knowledge, as well as ways in which knowledge is transmitted through watching and imitation, trial and error, stories, and skill development. Rasing describes the impact of residential schools and the government day schools that replaced them: “In a moral sense education was detrimental, bringing about as it did a sharp cleavage between those born and raised in the hunting camps and those born and raised in the settlements.” The concept of Inuit qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) replaced the concept of traditional ecological knowledge in Nunavut and was incorporated into the first elected Nunavut government in 1999. Rasing explores the meanings given to the concept and its practical applications in criminal justice, wildlife management, and education, particularly in the Nunavut government establishment of Piqqusilirivvik, a learning facility in Kangiqlugaapik (Clyde River) as a “place to practice Inuit skill and knowledge” or “a place that entails things important to us.”
Chapter 2, “Language and Literacy Exchange between the Moravians and the Inuit,” by Thea Olsthoorn, combines two of the case-study areas, Greenland and Labrador. In a reversal of the other cases, she documents the ways in which “early (18th century) missionaries in Greenland learned the Inuit language from the Native population (as a precondition for Christianizing the Inuit) and passed this knowledge on to their Moravian colleagues and successors who took it from Greenland to Labrador.” She presents the fascinating history of Hans Egede, who arrived in Greenland in 1721. He is still celebrated in Greenland for bringing education, literacy, and written language. Olsthoorn also documents the experiences of Moravian lay missionaries and their interactions with Greenland and Labrador Indigenous populations. She particularly focuses on the role of children in the transfer of knowledge both to the missionaries and from the missionaries to the families of the children. “Inuit children served as intermediaries between the missionaries and the adult Native population because of their sincerity, receptivity, good memory and patience. They passed their language knowledge on to the missionaries and transferred reading capacity together with Christian principles to their elders.” But there was a downside: “The missionaries’ instructional methods and the introduction of formal schooling collided with Inuit tradition.” One legacy of the Moravian missions was their meticulously detailed records, which have become a rich source of information for scholars of Indigenous peoples in Greenland and Labrador.
My only quibble with the book is that I would have appreciated the editors’ and the chapter authors’ perspectives on the “traps and trends” of the title. I assume that “traditions” refers to traditional knowledge, the transfer of which is the subject of the book, and as indicated earlier I enjoyed identifying several possible “traps.” The nearest we come is in chapter 3, “Traditions, Traps and Tricks,” in which Laugrand and Oosten investigate IQ, the concept of Inuit qaujimajatuqangit (I spent an afternoon with a very patient Inuit elder, trying to understand and to learn to pronounce this word). In this chapter the authors elucidate the concept of IQ as both a political statement and tool and as an illustration of an Indigenization process. They describe the challenges of transferring IQ in a modern educational setting, the Piqqusilirivvik Cultural School Project in Nunavut. “A major challenge is not only to provide for IQ but also to provide the elders themselves with a central place in the transfer of Inuit knowledge from older to younger generations.” The authors clarify the word “tradition”: “A key to traditional knowledge has always been that it is dynamic and adaptable.” This has led to some criticisms of the words “traditional knowledge,” implying static historical rather than present and evolving knowledge. “Traditions refers to the process of transfer itself, handing over or handing down with the connotations of exchanging or trading.” They do not define traps or tricks or give examples of them. While they identify many of the conundrums and challenges associated with IQ and its transfer in both the educational and home settings, the authors of this chapter refer only in passing to the existence of “traps” as being expected in the Piqqulirivvik school, as it attempts to respond to those challenges. Similarly, they do not define what they mean by either “traps” or “tricks,” leaving it to our imagination. Perhaps if professor Oosten had lived we might have had a summary or concluding chapter that clarified the traditions, traps, and trends of the title.
Chapter 4 continues the focus on the Inuit of Nunavut, Canada, and the fundamental changes wrought by settlement in “Finding New Places to Transfer Inuit Knowledge in Nunavut” by Kim Van Dam, author of A Place Called Nunavut: Multiple Identities for a new region (2008). “The transition from a semi-nomadic life on the land to a settled life in the settlement has also had important implications for the transfer of Inuit knowledge. (Inuit quajimjatuqngit or IQ).” This chapter explores, through a case study and interviews with young people in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, the “transfer of Inuit knowledge to young Inuit and the impact of their settled lifestyle on this process” in both the home and the classroom. Van Dam concludes that “the land continues to be important in the lives of young Inuit for being out on the land represents the ‘true Inuit ways of life.’” She also argues, however, that “today the settlement is as important a place for the transfer of (traditional) knowledge as the land itself.” “It well may be that the future of Inuit knowledge transfer lies not only in the hands of knowledgeable elders, but also in the meaningful integration and adaptation of this knowledge into new technologies.”
In chapter 5, “Living Objects: The Transfer of Knowledge through East Greenlandic Material Culture,” the focus shifts back to Greenland and the transfer of knowledge through museum collections in the Netherlands dating from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The author, Cunera Buijs, reports the results of a cooperative project with the Tunumiit, now known as the Iivit, of East Greenland. The author acknowledges that this transfer of knowledge in a museum context is not representative of Greenland in general, but it does “provide a specific insight into the process of knowledge transfer.” In 2010 five Iivit “consultants” visited the National Museum in Leiden to view material objects and photographs, including the photograph of the East Greenlandic mask on the cover of this volume. In the 1930s and 1960s, community meetings were held in the village of Diilerilaaq (where most of the objects were collected) to view and discuss the objects. Buijs suggests that museums evoke “new ways of transferring knowledge” and concludes: “Looking at historical objects and photographs in museum collections with representatives of Indigenous people provides opportunities for the transfer of cultural knowledge across generations, inspiring the telling of stories.”
Barbara Helen Miller shifts the focus again to the Sámi people of northern Norway in chapter 6, “Transfer of Healing Knowledge: A Case Study of Coastal Sámi.” Miller reports on the “transfer between an elderly Coastal Sámi woman and her middle-aged son in the municipality of Poranger.” Her goal is to enable understanding of Sámi healing knowledge, not a worldview “that supports our modern medical model whereby a distinction is required between so called ‘magical’ and ‘rational’ understandings of illnesses and their remedies.” She asserts that Sámi traditional healing does not make “categorical distinctions between physical and spiritual illnesses” and considers also “the treatment of communities.” She details the process of giving and receiving the transfer of knowledge, and concludes that “the transfer of healing knowledge from Nanna to Sigvald” as recorded in her interviews with Nanna and elaborated upon by Sigvald “is a spiritual heritage and as such is religious knowledge.”
“Two Traditional Sámi Love Songs and the Transfer of Knowledge,” by Nellejet Zorgdrager (chapter 7) focuses on two well-known Sámi love songs published in Latin in 1673 and thereafter translated often, becoming the inspiration for poets who spread knowledge of Sámi culture to Europe and North America through their poetry. Zorgdrager documents the transfer of knowledge of Sámi culture to England and Europe through the songs and the ways in which the songs, including Kleist’s “Songs of a Laplander,” contributed to changing attitudes about Sámi people. “Even after 300 years the summer and winter songs disclose new details. Where in earlier centuries the songs were principally of interest to poets, in the modern era, it is Finno-Ugrian scholars who are impressed by the texts of the songs, which are of great value for the history of Sámi literature in Europe as well as in Sámiland.”
Chapter 8, the final chapter, also by Nellejet Zorgdrager, “Sámi Storytelling and the Transfer of Knowledge: The Kautokeino Rebellion and Its Aftermath,” documents the Kautokeino rebellion of 1852 and the changing attitudes to the rebellion, those involved, and their families across the subsequent 150 years as a result of a film, novels, articles, and other stories framing perceptions of the rebellion. Zorgdrager present the “view from the inside” in Sámi oral accounts of the rebellion as opposed to the “view from the outside,” which shaped attitudes to the rebellion up to 1997 when the heads of the two executed Sámi men were buried along with colonial attitudes to the rebellion. “The accounts presented in this chapter show the importance of oral traditions and storytelling for the transfer of mythological knowledge.”
As indicated by these chapter summaries, Traditions, Traps and Trends: Transfer of Knowledge in Arctic Regions provides an inspiring and informative description of the diversity of ways in which traditional knowledge is transferred between generations and to outsiders in the Arctic regions of Canada, Norway, and Greenland. It is engaging and accessible but also makes a unique and significant contribution to the scholarly literature about Arctic peoples and the enduring transfer of their knowledge.
The book contains some wonderful black-and-white photographs of elders as they attempt to preserve and transfer Indigenous knowledge and the values that inform it to the younger generation, as well as photos of some of the museum artifacts discussed in chapter 5 and stills from the film of the Kautokeino rebellion.
Traditions, Traps and Trends is a fitting legacy for professor Jarich Oosten, co-founder of the Research Group Circumpolar Cultures, who died on May 16, 2015, when the book was nearing publication. It will provide fascinating and inspiring reading for students of the Arctic and of Indigenous knowledge. It will also appeal to a general audience especially those fascinated by the mystique of the Arctic.