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Caribou Crossings and Cultural Meanings: Placing Traditional Knowledge and Archaeology in Context in an Inuit Landscape

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Abstract

Meaning is conveyed by context. Northern landscapes associated with oral traditions provide rich contexts for understanding archaeological features and their spatial and temporal distribution. At the same time, traditional knowledge, including place names, is supported by the persistence of an integral archaeological landscape. The lower Kazan River, Nunavut Territory, Canada, preserves a record of land use for a hunting-trapping society in archaeological remains and traditional knowledge. The record shows that traditions of knowledge are manifest in the archaeological landscape. These traditions include commemoration of people and events in monuments, enduring practices (land skills) that are associated with a “traditional” time, and principles of spatial differentiation and orientation based on relations between people and caribou.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consultant, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Andrew M. Stewart

  2. Kitikmeot Heritage Society, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut Territory, Canada

    Darren Keith

  3. Inland Inuit Consulting, Baker Lake, Nunavut Territory, Canada

    Joan Scottie

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  1. Andrew M. Stewart
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Stewart, A.M., Keith, D. & Scottie, J. Caribou Crossings and Cultural Meanings: Placing Traditional Knowledge and Archaeology in Context in an Inuit Landscape. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 11, 183–211 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JARM.0000038066.09898.cd

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