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EduTech Research Project Presents John Tyman's INUIT ~ People of the Arctic Unit 1: POLAR ENVIRONMENTS Back to Main Navigation Page |
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The Land: Past, Present and Future |
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But the tins remain, and some of the plastics too. . |
In addition plywood shacks have recently been built at popular camp sites (to replace tents) so that visual pollution is also an issue now.. |
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And the most recent curse in this regard has been the introduction of disposable nappies. These have been pushed in TV advertisments as something no loving mother could ever do without, and as a result a whole new type of pollution has sprung into existence. |
Formerly the only evidence of a child's toilet stop would have been a brown stain in the the snow and, perhaps, a handful of dried moss: now camp sites are littered with dirty nappies which will remain for ever unless something is done about them.. . |
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Meanwhile in town "No Smoking" regulations in government offices are reflected (as in Australia) by piles of cigarette butts in adjacent lane ways. . |
And the continuation of traditional forms of land use has also been undermined by clashes of values. The "Save the Seal" movement, which ostensibly aimed to protect baby harp seals (killed by white commercial fishermen in Southern Canada) managed to stop all seal skin sales to Europe and America.. |
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Previously the Inuit had been able, by selling the skins of some of the animals they killed for food, to pay for petrol and the new machines which had become a key feature of their lifestyle. With the total collapse of the market for seal skins many men gave up hunting entirely. Those that continue to do so usually depend on welfare. |
And the skins of the smaller number of animals now killed for food are taken to the dump with the rest of the garbage -- since store-bought fabrics have replaced animal skins for summer clothing. . |
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That the Inuit have lived here for thousands of years is obvious from the things they left behind. . |
Where they used tents the only thing that remained when they moved on was the ring of stones used to hold the tent in place.. |
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At other times and in other places they used underground shelters, with a roof supported by rafters of whale bone. All that remains today is a hole in the ground and a pile of rocks. |
In contrast homes today are often surrounded by trash. This is most obvious in spring when the snow melts and exposes everything -- and the town council has to organize a clean-up campaign.. |
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Similarly, at traditional fishing places used for centuries everything left behind was once biodegradeable. |
Today, though, the shoreline in town is littered with old machines.. . |
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The family in the distance are fishing through the ice in spring, much as their ancestors did before them. The photo was taken from a pre-historic campsite on an old beach ridge marking an ancient shoreline. People here have lived in harmony with their surroundings for thousands of years. The question is, of course, for how much longer will they be able to do so? |
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Text, photos and recordings by
John Tyman
Intended for Educational Use Only.
Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
University, 2008.
Contact Dr.
John Tyman for more information regarding licensing.
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