An Anthropological and Linguistic Investigation of Arctic Ceremonial Traditions

New Mexico State University, Las Cruces NM

Investigators

Abstract

Bears are cultural keystone species for many North American peoples. Bear ceremonialism is an important element of Algonkian cultural life, and historically has also been characteristic of Alaska Native peoples including interior Athabascan, coastal Inuit and Yupik, Haida, Tsimshian, and Tlingit peoples. This award supports the scientific investigation of how ceremonies of Athabascan communities in North America encapsulate their linguistic, environmental, and cultural knowledge. Like many Indigenous peoples of the world, Athabascans hold elaborate ceremonies that focus on the spiritual relationships between human beings and animals as a means of ensuring success in hunting and maintaining sustainable relationships with their environment. The research will explore the extent this knowledge supports the long-term sustainability of the environment and culture of these peoples. The approach uses a framework of coproduction of knowledge and cultural conservation; community members play a critical role in the collection and analysis of the data, and the presentation of the data and outcomes. The research will test predictions regarding the roles of traditional ceremonies and local knowledge and experience, and their relationship to cultural identity and community health and wellbeing. The project will employ a mixed methods research strategy collecting and assembling text and video documentation of historical ceremonial practice, and contemporary performances. The project will focus on traditional hunting ceremonies because these are most at risk within the current social and cultural system. The project will focus on analyzing the documentary record in consultation with Indigenous scholars, and key texts will be chosen for transcription in the native language and translation to western languages to create a corpus of digital data. Qualitative content analysis of these native texts, cultural domain analysis, and Indigenous commentary will be used to develop an understanding of cultural principles and practices that support community health and well-being and a sustainable relationship to the environment. The project will also analyze the ceremonies to describe how the widely reported but little understood use of satire is used to dramatize cultural values. The data management plan for the project is extensive and includes an online, open-ended, multi-media archive accessible to other scholars and the public. The data will be collected and stored using a Drupal-based platform for a Mukurtu-like Collection Management System; this is a free, mobile, and open source platform built with Indigenous communities to manage and share digital cultural heritage. The data will also be stored with the Exchange of Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA) at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The communities will also use the project to strengthen a master-apprenticeship program in ceremonial traditions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.