| Newsletter - Spring 2001 |
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International Arctic Social Sciences Association Editorial: Powers and Limits of Tradition in Arctic Societies * * * *
EDITORIAL Powers and Limits of Tradition in Arctic Societies In A Brave New World, the well-known science-fiction novel written in the 1930's, Aldous Huxley cynically describes a "perfect" world (i.e. the City), where human beings behave in absolute predictable ways, as a result of their conditioning from the very first day of their conception. These "engineered" humans do not find any pleasure in loving another person, in walking in a forest, or in seeking the truth. Rather, they derive satisfaction from maintaining their rank in an immobile social order.
In the middle of the story, a "Savage" is invited to come to the "perfect" world, thereby leaving behind the isolated reservation where he grew up. The Savage brings with him the values he inherited from his life on the reservation, including values derived from face-to-face relationships, where love, sharing, and truth are meaningful realities. In the City, however, such values have long been eradicated, replaced by total conformism and a blind acceptance of rules and hierarchy. The Savage, unable to conform to such a world, refuses to change and becomes an object of curiosity and disgust. He finally escapes, finding refuge in nature, where he eventually commits suicide, incapable of living in such a perfect Cartesian world.
The social forces of modernity have created an unprecedented explosion of means and goods by which societies are improving their material living conditions. Modernity has affected the world of representation as well, i.e. the resources people use to make sense of their worlds. Normally social and cultural change occurs gradually through slow and stable processes of interaction and adaptation. However, the peoples of the Circumpolar Arctic have been propelled into a world in which the ways of insuring material survival and the resources they use to create symbolic meaning are very far from what they were several decades ago. They are in the mist of an accelerated process of adaptation in which they are seizing what they want from material world and attributing to this world new and different collective meanings. Peoples of the Circumpolar Arctic know, more or less explicitly, that some of their traditional values are crucial for their survival, both physical and mental, individual and collective, even if some of these values, like sharing and compassion, seem less valued in an era of globalization. And they know that some of their traditional values are not as essential as they once were, and that they are no longer sufficient enough to make sense of complicated contemporary realities. In other words, they know that their traditions are simultaneously powerful and limited.
The challenge is to find a balance, and to make this balance acceptable and meaningful both for themselves and for others who work with and for them. While some individuals are succeeding, living happy and meaningful lives, others seem less so, lost in the blizzard of modernity. The high rates of suicide in the Arctic point to the fact that for some this sense of being lost is inescapable - a sentiment shared by the hero of A Brave New World. The Fourth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS IV) represents an opportunity to address the central issue of finding a balance. Our science community has this responsibility, since we are not living in a science fiction novel, but in a real Brave New World.
Gérard Duhaime, IASSA Chair * * * * Fourth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, May 16 to 20, 2001, Quebec City So far 300 people have registered to ICASS IV. There will be 32 sessions, 4 roundtables and 7 plenary sessions with a total of 210 papers presented. Please check our web site for updated information on the congress. A preliminary program is included in this package.
Work Group on Identity in the Arctic A session on "Identity and Socioeconomic Transitions" took place during the Arctic Research Consortium of the US [ARCUS] Workshop on Social Sciences in Seattle (USA), 18-20 January, 2001. The participants to that session have decided to create a work group on identity issues in the Arctic. Here are the main conclusions from their session.
1. Working definition of identity
2. State of the art
Elements of change that can be identified as important are the imposition of a formal education system (from which elders often feel dissociated) and the degree to which traditional values are practiced (traditional values may sometimes be practiced without people being aware of it).
3. Research efforts linked to identity
NSF (and funding agencies in other countries) should be encouraged to carry on with the trend of working with communities rather than impose research from outside. Part of research money could be distributed directly to communities, which could, then, hire their own experts. Research issues should be brought to communities.
4. Impediments It should also be understood that people may have several identities and, often, have difficulties expressing these identities. As a consequence, researchers should not generalize their findings without being sure that they have dealt with all - or at least most - facets of a person's identity.
If interested to be part of that work group, please send your comments to Louis-Jacques Dorais (email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). * * * *
CALL FOR PAPERS
AMAP Conference and Workshop: Impacts of POPs and Mercury on Arctic Environments and Humans, 21-24 January 2002, Tromsø, Norway The organisers would like to invite scientists who are engaged in research related to effects of POPs and mercury on arctic wildlife and humans. The meeting will be held in Troms? the exciting capital of Northern Norway at the time when the sun returns from its 2 month winter vacation in the south. All information about the conference and workshop can be found at the following web address:
Bering Sea Summit 2002 Purpose
Who Should Participate
Why
Outcome
How To Get Involved
For More Information Please contact: Suzanne Marcy
Encyclopedia of the Arctic In spring 2003 Fitzroy Dearborn will publish the Encyclopedia of the Arctic. As editor of this book I am approaching you in the hope that you may be interested in contributing articles to it. Below, you will find details of the project and information on how to contact me.
Aims and description
List of Entries If you prefer, it can be sent to you as an attached file (in Word 97), or sent by post. In the actual book entries will be presented in a simple A-Z sequence, with cross-references (both within the text and at the end of each entry) where useful. The entry list has been drawn up by the editor with advice from the project's Board of Advisers, whose names appear on the web site. Within each broad subject area, the longer survey articles will provide points of entry into the subject, which will then, through cross-referencing, lead the reader on to entries on more specific topics within that area. Cross-referencing in the text will also allow "sideways" points of entry from other articles.
Format and approach of entries
Procedure for contributors
Please post/fax/email your replies to: The Encyclopedia of the Arctic Fax: +44 (0)20 7636 6982
Terms for contributors
Every contributor's name will appear at the end of his/her essay(s). Contributors will be listed in the front of the book, and credits, with details of academic affiliations, will appear at the back.
Finally, may I add a few words about the publishers and myself. Fitzroy Dearborn, which has offices in Chicago and London, was founded in 1994 to commission and produce high-quality reference books. Previous Fitzroy Dearborn publications, a number of which have gained awards, include the Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature (edited by Verity Smith, 1997), Dictionary of Women Artists (edited by Delia Gaze, 1997), Encyclopedia of the Essay (edited by Tracy Chevalier, 1998), the Reference Guide to Russian Literature (edited by Neil Cornwell, 1998), the Encyclopedia of Paleontology (edited by Ronald Singer, 1999), and the Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition (edited by Graham Speake, 2000). Full information on these and other titles can be found on FDP's website at http://www.fitzroydearborn.com.
If you experience any difficulty reaching the project web site and it would be helpful to have Word files of the list and the sample essays emailed to you as attachments (total size of the two files: 123 kb) please let me know. http://www.fitzroydearborn.com/london/arctic.htm.
Yours sincerely, Mark Nuttall
Fourth International Seminar on Ethnosocial Processes in Siberia, September 13-15, 2001, Ulan-Ude, Russia The Siberian Section of the Russian Academy of Sciences, invites papers for the international seminar on ethnosocial processes in Siberia. The topic for discussion this year is the 'Eurasian Aspect of Siberian Ethnosocial Processes'. Among the titles of sessions are the following themes: - Ethnic identity under the forces of globalisation The registration cost of the conference will be $200USD which will include the translation of texts into Russian and room and board during the conference. As with past seminars, the papers will be published in Russian in an edited volume. Papers should be received no later than June 30, 2001. They should be 10-12 pages in length composed on Microsoft Word. Please include with your paper your full title, affiliation, address (including e-mail) and passport data (for an official invitation). Inquires should be sent to: Olga Buraevaia
CONFERENCES
Arctic Science Summit Week, April 22 - 27 2001, Iqaluit, Canada Arctic Science Summit Week will run from Sunday, 22 April through Friday, 27 April 2001 in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada (the capital of Canada's newest territory). Details about this year's Arctic Science Summit Week are now becoming available. For information about lodging, for the week's calendar, and to register. Please go to: The week includes a variety of sessions tentatively involving groups such as ARC, AOSB, ACUNS/ARCUS, IASC, Nordic Polar Group, European Polar Board, the U.S. Polar Research Board-Arctic Subgroup, and others. Beyond business meetings, there will be two science days:
First, Sunday, 22 April 2001 will be a "project day" that is designed so people working on circum-arctic projects can report in a general forum open to all groups (rather than reporting the same information multiple times to individual groups as was the case with ACIA last year). This day will be moderated in part by the AOSB and in part by the Canadian Polar Commission and Natural Resources Canada.
The second science day will be Tuesday, 24 April 2001 with the theme, "Science and Technology for Sustainable Development." This will include two sessions on marine and terrestrial resources, and will have an international focus. Check the web site or with individual organizations
Beringia Days 2001, 18-19 October 2001, Anchorage, Alaska Please mark your calendars for Beringia Days 2001! This two-day conference, sponsored by the National Park Service and co-sponsored by the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. All sessions will be held at the Museum.
Beringia Days brings together researchers, community and Native leaders, and others - from the United States and Russia - to celebrate the unique cultural and natural heritage shared by the two countries in the Central Beringia region. A wide range of topics, from scientific research to cultural exchanges, will be presented. This year, we are pleased that the American Folklore Society will also be hosting its annual national meeting "Partners in Knowledge" in Anchorage from 17-21 October. They expect at least several hundred people in attendance at their meeting, and are planning to schedule a Beringia-related session at their conference either before or after Beringia Days. In a cooperative fashion, we will focus a part of Beringia Days on topics that will be of interest to American Folklore Society participants. For further information, please watch our Beringia web site:http://www.nps.gov/akso/beringia
80th annual meeting of the Canadian Historical Association May 25-27, 2001 Laval University, Quebec City, Canada For information, please contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
7th Circumpolar Universities Co-operation Conference, When Distance is a Challenge, August 19-21, 2001, Tromsø Norway email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Indigenous Knowledge Conference, May 28-30, 2001, Saskatoon, Canada This conference will take place at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada. The sessions that will take place are listed below: - Incorporation and Utilization of Indigenous Knowledge / Intellectual Property by Education Institutions: Issues, and Concerns - The Impact of Environmental Degradation, Biotechnology, Patents, and Other Issues on Indigenous Knowledge - Protection and Preservation of Indigenous Knowledge and Languages - Culture As Practice Registration Fee: $250 (GST Included)
International Symposium on Actual Problems of Ecological Physiology and Human Health in the Arctic, 20-22 June 2001, Syktyvkar, Russia Organized by the Institute of Physiology, Ural Division, Russian Academy of Sciences. Syktyvkar is a capital of the Komi Republic. It is the largest province in the European part of Russia stretching from 58'NC to 69'NC.
National Organizing Committee
Purpose and Objectives The symposium will include lectures, oral presentations and posters. The working languages are Russian and English.
The Main Topics:
The abstracts will be published before the official opening of the symposium. For more information, please contact: Organizing Committee of Symposium Tel: +7-8212-42-14-74,
Languages of the Arctic at the 37th meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, April 19-21, 2001, Chicago, USA The April 20th Parasession will be on "Languages of the Arctic," and is designed to be a forum for current issues in linguistics of the Arctic region. The organizers welcome papers from all areas of linguistics, including descriptive, theoretical, and sociolinguistic work on languages of this region.
Invited Speakers for this Parasession will be Shanley Allen (Boston U), Michael Fortescue (U of Copenhagen) and Jerrold M. Sadock (U Of Chicago). For more information, please contact Sylvain Neuvel ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).
4th Mummy Congress, Nuuk, Greenland, September 4-10, 2001 For information, please contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
9th North-American Caribou Workshop, April 23 to 27, 2001, Kuujjuaq, Qu?c, Canada Web site : http://www.cccpp-hftcc.com/nacw
4th Congress of Russian Ethnographers and Anthropologists, Nalchik, Republic of Kabardino-Balkariya, Russia, September, 2001 We are planning to discuss ethnological and anthropological approaches on a problem of time and how time changes approaches of researchers for the same most problem.
Besides we will discuss other important problems, which is connected with formation and development of peoples and cultures, linguistic, ethnocultural and ethnopolitical situations and processes, in particular the Caucasus region; scientific development's questions, ethnographical museology and others. Results of last researches in area of physical anthropology, gender studies, ethnogenetical studies, folk and State law, ethnoarchaeological and ethnodemographical investigations will be presented. For more information: Russian Ethnographical and Anthropological Association phone: + 7 095 938 0712 * * * *
GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
Arctic Visiting Speakers' Series ARCUS is pleased to announce the continuation of the Arctic Visiting Speakers' Series, funded by the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs.
This program provides support for organizations to engage in and foster arctic science education on the local level. The program is intended to: - Increase communication and collaboration among the dispersed arctic research community, Organizations that are interested in hosting a visiting speaker in 2001 should submit an application by 30 April, 30 July, or 30 October 2001. Individuals interested in becoming part of the Arctic Visiting Speakers Bureau may submit an application at any time. All forms and applications are available on the ARCUS web site at: http://www.arcus.org/ Further information about the program can be found at our web site or by ARCUS would like to thank the National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs for making these educational endeavors possible. We also want to thank speakers and host institutions for their productive participation in 2000, the first year of the series.
Fulbright Scholar Program The Fulbright Scholar Program is offering lecturing and research awards in some 140 countries for the 2002-2003 academic year. Opportunities are available not only for college and university faculty and administrators, but also for professionals from business and government, as well as artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers, independent scholars and many others.
Traditional Fulbright awards are available from two months to an academic year or longer. A new short-term grants program -the Fulbright Senior Specialists Program- offers two-to-six-week grants in a variety of disciplines and fields. While foreign language skills are needed in some countries, most Fulbright lecturing assignments are in English. Some 80 percent of the awards are for lecturing.
Application deadlines for 2002-2003 awards are: - May 1, 2001 for Fulbright Distinguished Chair awards in Europe, Canada and Russia - August 1, 2001 for Fulbright traditional lecturing and research grants worldwide - November 1, 2001 for spring/summer seminars in Germany, Korea and Japan for international educators and academic administrators and for the summer German Studies Seminar - Fulbright Senior Specialists Program - rolling deadline
For information, contact:
Information and an online application are also available on the Web at http://www.cies.org/ The Fulbright Scholar Program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Scholarships for Native Peoples from the U.S. and Canada The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) is pleased to announce the SAA Arthur C. Parker Scholarship and National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholarships for Archaeological Training for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians for the year 2001. Together, these scholarship programs will provide four awards of $3000 US each to support training in archaeological methods, including fieldwork, analytical techniques, and curation.
These scholarships are intended for current students--high school seniors, college undergraduates, and graduate students--and personnel of Tribal or other Native cultural preservation programs. Native Americans and Pacific Islanders from the U.S., including U.S. Trust Territories, and Indigenous peoples from Canada are eligible for these scholarships.
Application or nomination materials for these scholarships must be postmarked no later than February 15, 2002. To learn more about the application or nomination procedures, please contact: Society for American Archaeology telephone (202) 789-8200, Fax (202) 789-0284
William E. Taylor Award The Canadian Museum of Civilization has established an award in memory of former director and arctic scholar William E. Taylor. The award is worth $5000 and is presented each year to recognize research or scholarly excellence in the fields of Arctic Archaeology, Arctic Anthropology, or Arctic History, including Native Studies. The purpose of the award is to encourage young or new scholars. It is therefore not open to professional archaeologists or anthropologists, university professors or lecturers, museum curators, or other established professionals. Attendance at a university is not a requirement, nor is possession of any particular academic degree. Native applicants are encouraged to apply. Applicants should be Canadian citizens or residents of Canada. The deadline is December 31, 2001. Please send your applications with a c.v. and an outline of proposed or current research, either by email or by post, to: Dr. David Morrison email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Women's International Science Collaboration (WISC) Program 2001-2002 The Grant Application Form and the Proposed Budget Form for the Women's International Science Collaboration (WISC) Program 2001-2002 can be downloaded from the AAAS web site at: If you are unable to download these forms, please contact: Karen Grill Tel: 202/326-7027 Deadlines March 15, 2001 (notification by May 1)
Jacobs Research Funds Grants are awarded for research in social and cultural anthropology or linguistics among living American native peoples. The primary focus is on the Pacific Northwest, but other are in Canada, Mexico, and the continental United States, including Alaska, are considered. Field studies that address cultural expressive systems, such as music, language, dance, mythology, world view, plastic and graphic arts, intellectual life, religion, including ones that propose comparative psychological analysis, are appropriate. Deadline: February 15, 2002. Web site:
* * * * JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS
Nunatsiaq News Reporter Canada's coldest, boldest newspaper needs a new reporter. The Nunatsiaq News is the paper-of-record for Nunavut: the new Inuit- majority territory in the Eastern Arctic. Based in the territorial capital of Iqaluit, we publish weekly in both English and Inuktitut for 40 communities in a region nearly the size of Western Europe. We want an experienced reporter/photographer who pulls no punches yet retains a sense of wonder - someone who can thrive in an exotic and sometimes dysfunctional land and dependably produce insightful, compelling news articles, feature stories and photos. Please fax or e-mail a resume, cover letter and five samples of your work to Aaron Spitzer
Department of Psychology, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Three anticipated positions at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in the Department of Psychology:
Director, Indians into Psychology (INPSYCH) Program. We are seeking a tenure-track Assistant Professor to Full Professor to lead the development of a program to increase the numbers of Alaska Natives entering and graduating from undergraduate and graduate programs in psychology. The person will join a faculty with a history of commitment to indigenous students and participatory research with American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
Duties will be to (1) develop and lead the INPSYCH Program, including recruitment and retention of Alaska Native students, grant writing, and serving as liaison with schools, UAF College of Rural Alaska campuses, Alaska Native communities, tribal entities, and corporations; (2) teach one course per semester; (3) develop a program of research in collaboration with Alaska Native communities.
Doctoral degree in Psychology or related field with significant experience with Alaska Native, American Indian, or Canadian First Nations cultures is required. ABDs will be considered. Preference will be given to individuals with facility in an Alaska Native, American Indian, or First Nations language and previous successful teaching, research, or community development experience with Native/First Nations
Two term-funded positions at the Assistant Professor level. Positions will be filled and renewable annually contingent upon funding. Typical duties include teaching five to six courses per academic year, research, and service.
Send a UAF Employment Application - at least page one, completed in full and signed and dated; an application can be downloaded from http://www.uaf.edu/uafhr/jobs/index.html - a letter of application outlining background and interests; a vita; and three letters of recommendation, including phone numbers and email addresses of recommenders, to: Search Committee
Screening will begin on 2 April 2001, and will continue until the positions are filled. Additional information can be found through our web site at The University of Alaska Fairbanks is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and Educational Institution.
UArctic Mobile Faculty Roster Are you a northern scholar interested in teaching a course at another circumpolar institution, or does your institution need additional faculty to teach northern courses?
The University of the Arctic (UArctic) is currently inviting northern scholars to register in the UArctic Mobile Faculty Roster - a catalogue of scholars who would like to be considered for short- or long-term teaching residencies on UArctic campuses throughout the circumpolar world.
Join the UArctic Mobile Faculty Roster by registering at http://www.urova.fi/home/uarctic/cmp/roster.html
The information you submit will be published in online and print versions of the Roster to be released in June of 2001. The Mobile Faculty Roster will be used by UArctic Member institutions to implement faculty mobility programs developed under the umbrella Circumpolar Mobility Program (CMP).
Your participation in any UArctic exchange program is subject to your prior approval and will be negotiated only at the time an institution expresses interest in your Roster profile. You may remove yourself from the online Roster at any time, and from the print version annually.
Sharing knowledge and resources between institutions across the circumpolar world is a fundamental goal of the University of the Arctic. By offering to share your expertise on UArctic campuses, participating scholars improve the depth of faculty from which UArctic Member institutions may draw, enrich northern programming on campuses around the world, and gain first-hand experience of other northern regions.
A complete list of UArctic Member institutions, and additional information about the University of the Arctic initiative is available on the UArctic web site at http://www.urova.fi/home/uarctic/index.html
If you require additional information or would like to speak to a University of the Arctic representative, please contact us. We encourage you to consider participating in this practical tool and become a part of education built In the North, For the North, By the North. Sincerely, Outi Snellman * * * *
NEW PUBLICATIONS
Chelkantsy v issledovaniyakh i materialakh XX veka, edited by D.A. Funk. Moscow, 2000. 154 pages: ill., map. Altaistic Research, Vol. 3. In Russian. 300 copies. ISBN 5-201-14630-9. The collection of materials and articles (ed. D. Funk) brought forward provides an insight into the history and culture of the Chelkans. This is the third book in the ethnologic series ? it follows the 1994 and 1996 collections which were titled "Problems of Ethnic History and Culture of the Turkic-Mongol Peoples of South Siberia and Adjacent Territories". Starting with this book, the whole series gets a shorter title; "Altaistic Research."
The Chelkans (native name - Shalgan) are a tiny Turkic ethnic community, who were labeled 'an ethnographic group of Northern Altaians' (in line with the Tubalar and Kumandins) during Soviet period. At present they reside in Turochakskiy aimak in the Altai Republic (settlements are Turochak, Suronash, Kurmach-Baigol, Chuyka, Biyka, Mayskiy, Talon etc.). Many Chelkans live in the town of Tashtagol and Kyzyl-Shorskiy sel'soviet (village council), in Gornaya Shoriya (Tashtagol region, south of Kemerovo district). The Chelkans residing in Altai are listed as "Altai", while Chelkans in Gornaya Shoriya - as "Shors". Presently, the total Chelkan population is estimated at 700-800 persons.
The first article - a review by A. Karpukhin - vividly depicts major achievements and vast lacunas in the history of ethnological research of the Chelkans.
Besides the historiographic section, the book includes three other distinct sections. The section on "Ethnic history and ethnic demography" presents three articles. The first is a masterpiece of Russian ethnography - "Notes on the origin of the Chelkan-Lebedins" by L.P. Potapov (a world-renowned scholar of Altai) published in Novosibirsk in 1974. It is followed by two editorials which aim to analyze fresh, newly-retrieved data on the Chelkan population, settlement and a number of ethnodemographic aspects. One focuses on the population statistics for the Kondomo-Shelkalsk' volost' (region) in the 19th century, the other - on current data for a Chelkan settlement of Suronash as of 1990. Another section is devoted to the Chelkan spiritual culture. The first Russian translation of an article by K. Hilden dating back to 1916 (published in Helsinki in Swedish) is included. It provides unique data on shamanism collected by Hilden through interviews with Chelkan shamans in person. A truly informative and interesting article by G. Sychenko, based on interviews with one of the last Chelkan (the author tends to call them "Chalkan") she-shamans taken in 1985 and 1992 also tackles the shaman question. "The Chelkan art of sculpture" by S.V. Ivanov is an excerpt from his monograph on Altai, Siberian Tartar and Khakass sculpture published in Leningrad in 1979. An editorial on Chelkan traditional anthroponimical model comes last in that section. The volume is the first in the series to feature a section "Readers' Letters". A Teleut lady, L. Ryumina, writes of her working experience in the Chelkan settlement of Kurmach-Baigol in 1948-1949. Can be ordered from the editor: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Etnografiia narodov Zapadnoj Sibiri, edited by D.A. Funk and A.P. Zen'ko. Moscow, 2000. 326 pages. Siberian Ethnographic Collection, Vol. 10. In Russian. 300 copies. ISBN 5-201-14631-7. Can be ordered from the editors: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Ethnological Studies of Shamanism and Other Indigenous Spiritual Beliefs and Practices, Volumes 3 to 6, published in 1999-2000 (in 6 books, in Russian and English). Can be ordered from the editors, Valentina Kharitonova and Dmitrij Funk: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Fifty Years of Arctic Research. Anthropological Studies from Greenland to Siberia. National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, 1997. 344 pages. To purchase this book in the United States at the price of $29.95 (plus postage), please contact: David Brown Book Co. email:
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The Flying Tiger: Women Shamans and Storytellers of the Amur, by Kira Van Deusen, McGill-Queen's Native and Northern Series, 2001. The inner world of Siberian shamans is revealed through traditional stories. Storytelling bridges culture, history, and spirituality. In The Flying Tiger, Kira Van Den takes us into the world of the female shamans of the Amur, presenting over fifty traditional stories she recorded in the 1990s from the people of the taiga forest in the Russian Far East. More than a collection of tales, the reader learns about the lives of the story-tellers and their history, their spiritual traditions, adaptation to the environment, relationships with animals, and sense of humour.
Outsiders to the culture have long focused on the physical artifacts of shamanism like the costume and drum and on ritual healing practices, but far less is known about the images shamans and storytellers use to entertain, heal, and educate. Van Deusen describes the lives of the people of the Amur during a period of dramatic transition, as they attempt to find some way to relate ancient traditions to an uncertain future. She emphasizes the contributions of women "often overlooked in the literature on shamanism" in traditional and contemporary society, and their concerns with ecology and the education of children. Their magnificent embroidery, illustrated by the author's photographs, echoes these women's stories. The Flying Tiger will appeal to anyone interested in shamanism, storytelling and folklo Rusia, indigenous people, women's studies, and spirituality.
"Van Deusen masterfully weaves a series of stories from her own fieldwork on the folklore of the Russian Far East to emphasize the many ways in which the pathways of other minds and cultures creates, as shamans themselves do, bridges to other worlds. This is a beautifully written and impressive book." Bruce Grant, Department of Anthropology, Swarthmore College Kira Van Deusen is a storyteller/folklorist specializing in oral traditions of the peoples of Siberia. S has done extensive research not only in Amur River region where these tales come from, but also in Chukotka and Central Asia. She lives in Vancouver, B.C. McGill-Queen's Native and Northern Series, 2001. 280pp, Illustrations, maps, Paper ISBN 0-7735-2156-9, Cloth ISBN 0-7735-2155-0 To order, please contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Iñupiaq Phrase & Conversation Lessons by Lawrence Kaplan & Lorena Williams. Alaska Native Language Center, 2001. Students, visitors, or anyone interested in gaining an introductory knowledge of the Kotzebue dialect of Iñupiaq Eskimo will find a valuable resource in Iñupiaq Phrases and Conversations. On two sixty-minute audio tapes, Iñupiaq speakers clearly pronounce familiar words and typical conversations that are part of everyday life in Northwestern Alaska. An accompanying guidebook allows the reader to follow the spoken Iñupiaq with the English translation, and sufficient time is allowed to repeat the words or phrases.
Iñupiaq is a chain of dialects that stretches from Unalakleet on Norton Sound across Alaska's North Slope and eastward to include Canadian Inuktitut and Greenlandic. While speakers of neighboring dialects are able to understand one another with little difficulty, intelligibility decreases with distance. The Kotzebue dialect of Iñupiaqis readily understood in nearby Kobuk River villages and in Selawik and Buckland, and although the North Slope dialect is somewhat more different, the phrases on this tape are understood there also. However Seward Peninsula Iñupiaq, spoken in Nome and surrounding areas, has much greater differences, and these phrases will be less intelligible there. Speakers in Canada and Greenland are able to communicate with a person from Kotzebue only with some difficulty.
The tapes and guidebook are divided into twenty-nine sections which include common expressions and requests, introductions between people, and dialogues on place names, the weather, foods, household items, and going camping and hunting. It is presented as a companion to Yup'ik Phrase and Conversation Lessons, also published by the Alaska Native Language Center.
Ordering Information: Cost is $26 US per copy including booklet and two cassette tapes. You may order directly from ANLC. The Alaska Native Language Center accepts orders by telephone, fax, email, or in person. Commercial orders are accepted. Please contact the Center for commercial discount and shipping information. Visa and Mastercard accepted. Phone: (907) 474-7874
The Koyukon Athabaskan Dictionary, by Jules Jetté and Eliza Jones, Alaska Native Language Center, 2001. The Koyukon Athabaskan Dictionary - a collaborative work by the Jesuit missionary/linguist Jules Jetté who began collecting words and cultural information on the Yukon River beginning in 1898, and scholar and native speaker Eliza Jones, who has refined and enhanced the original material over the past 25 years.
Jetté died in 1927, leaving an unpublished manuscript hand-written and hand-bound in seven volumes. In 1974, Jones began working with the Jetté's manuscript, transcribing it into a modern practical writing system and adding sample sentences as well as cultural and grammatical comments. The main entries include more than 8,800 vocabulary items covering all aspects of Koyukon life. Dictionary entries are illustrated by more than 17,500 example sentences, 3,200 descriptive comments by Jetté and Jones, and 90 of Jetté's drawings, diagrams, and photos. Three indexes help guide the dictionary user to the exact page on which to find particular items. Introductory sections explain the sound system, writing system, the relationship between Koyukon and other Athabaskan languages, and the differences between the three Koyukon dialects. A five-page guide to the dictionary is designed to help the reader understand and use all parts of the book. Ten appendices cover topics such as the Koyukon verb complex, verb paradigms, kinship terms, loan words from other languages, and flora and fauna terms. Thus the dictionary incorporates Jetté carefully recorded vocabulary and detailed accounts of traditional Koyukon customs with a modern practical writing system and an explanation of the language by modern linguists. It is the most comprehensive dictionary to date of any Alaskan Athabaskan language. Ordering Information: Cost is $66 US per copy with a $6 US shipping and handling fee. The Alaska Native Language Center accepts orders by telephone, fax, email, or in person. Commercial orders are accepted. Please contact the Center for commercial discount and shipping information. Visa and Mastercard accepted. Phone: (907) 474-7874
Miller G.F. Istoriia Sibiri. Second, completed edition. Vol. 1. Prepared by S.I. Vajnstein and Ye.P. Batianova. Moscow: Vostochnaja literatura, 1999. 630 pages: ill., map. In Russian. 1000 copies. ISBN 5-02-018100-5. ISBN 5-02-017892-6. Orders can be send directly to the publishers "Vostochnaja literatura", 21 Tsvetnoi boulevard, K-51 , 103051 Moscow, Russia.
Narody Rossijskogo Severa i Sibiri, edited by Z.P. Sokolova and D.A. Funk. Moscow, 1999. 318 pages. Siberian Ethnographic Collection, Vol. 9. In Russian. ISBN 5-201-13732-6 This collection presents articles devoted to the problems of development associated with the material and spiritual culture, folk medicine and contemporary family life among the peoples of the Russian North and Siberia, as well as the modern ethno-cultural development, the history of scholarship about those peoples and the problem of ethno-territorial divisions within Siberia. This publication may be of interest to historians, ethnographers, archaeologists, as well as students and specialists in the humanities. The articles are from Ye.P. Batianova, T.V. Loukyanchenko, N.A. Meschtib, A.A. Sirina, D.A. Funk, Z.P. Sokolova and others. It was published in the memory of an outstanding researcher of Siberian peoples Vladillen A. Tugoloukov (1924-1986).
Pushing the Margins: Native and Northern Research. Native Studies Press. 2000. 432 pp. Price. CAN$ 25.00. Includes over 40 refereed articles celebrating Aboriginal scholarship. For more information about the book, please contact: Native Studies Press
A People's Dream: Aboriginal Self-Government in Canada, by Dan Russell. UBC Press, 2000. 243 pages In this provocative and passionate book, Aboriginal lawyer Dan Russell argues that Aboriginal self-government is an attainable objective best achieved through a constitutional amendment, not through treaties, as has been the preoccupation of provincial and federal governments since 1982. He claims that reliance on treaties as an instrument of self-government is misguided and doomed to failure. He supports this claim by examining the notion of "tribal sovereignty" practiced in the United States and describing how tribal communities there exercise self-governing authority.
Russell goes on to discuss the obstacles to self-government in Canada. What should be the relationship of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to Aboriginal governance structures? How can Aboriginal women's rights be incorporated within future forms of Aboriginal government? How can collective rights mesh with individual rights guaranteed by the Charter? And how can the recommen-dations in the final report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples ever be reconciled to hopes for self-government? A People's Dream offers an original perspective on one of the foremost issues facing Canadians today. Thought-provoking and at times controversial, it will be of interest to policy makers, lawyers, students of Native studies, and anyone interested in issues of Aboriginal self-government.
The Small Indigenous Nations of Northern Russia: A Guide for Researches. Edited by Dmitriy A. Funk and Lennard Sillanp? Abo Akademi University: Social Science Research Unit, Publication No. 29. 1999. XII+184 pages (English part) and IX+173 pages (Russian part). ISSN 0785-6822. ISBN 952-12-0351-X. The objective of this guide is to provide a comprehensive perspective of the materials available on the eastward expansion and colonization that took place under the Imperial Russian Empire, the administration of minorities during the period of the Soviet Union, and recent efforts by these small indigenous northern minorities to reassert their ethnic identity on their own terms. This guide lists the reports of early explorers, trade merchants, missionaries and administrators, as well as numerous academic studies by prominent ethnographers, anthropologists, linguists, folklorists, and historians.
Special consideration has been given to studies and political developments that have been initiated by representatives of the various ethnic minorities themselves. This guide focuses on the relationship of these indigenous groups with the lands they have historically occupied since time immemorial and their continued ability to derive a traditional form of livelihood from their use of these lands. Can be obtained from: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tundra Passages: History and Gender in the Russian Far East, by Petra Rethmann, University Park, PA.: The Pennsylvania State University Press. 2001. paperback ISBN 0-271-02058-X Koriak have been described as a nomadic people, migrating with the reindeer through rugged terrain. Their autonomy and mobility are salient cultural features that ethnographers and state administrators have found equally fascinating and menacing.
Tundra Passages describes how this indigenous people in the Russian Far East have experienced, interpreted, and struggled with the changing conditions of life on the periphery of post-Soviet Russia. Rethmann portrays the lives of Koriak women in the locales of Tymlat and Ossora in northern Kamchatka, within a wider framework of sexuality, state power, and marginalization, which she sees as central to the Koriak experience of everyday life. Using gender as a lens through which to examine wider issues of history, disempowerment, and marginalization, she explores the interpretations and strategies employed by Koriak women and men to ameliorate the austere effects of political and socioeconomic disorder. Rethmann's innovative work combines historical and ethnographic descriptions of Koriak life, narration, and practices of gender and history.
The endorsement by Julie Cruikshank reads: "Petra Rethmann's evocative Tundra Passages breaks completely new ground in ethnography from the Russian Far East. Drawing on conversations and experiences shared with Koriak women living on Kamchatka's northeastern shore, she conveys the human dignity and creative energy that persist in the midst of social suffering following the breakdown of the Soviet empire. Rethmann demonstrates how historical conditions and regional inequalities affect the lives of women who struggle to create a better world for themselves and their families. This is ethnography at its very best." For more information visit the Penn State Press web site at: http://www.psupress.org/
Zhilishe narodov Sibiri (opyt tipologii), by Zoya P. Sokolova. Moscow, 1998. 288 pages. In Russian. 1000 copies. ISBN 5-86709-056-6. The book focuses on the typology of the dwellings of native Siberian peoples. It includes the historiography of the issue as well as brief description of all (39) the peoples of Siberia. The new (in comparison with the approach offered in the "Istoriko-etnograficheskij atlas Sibiri", Moscow-Leningrad, 1961) system of classification, based on concrete criteria has been used. Referring to 6 criteria, all the dwellings of Native Siberians peoples discribed by the authors are divided to the classes, subclasses, groups, divisions, types and variants. At the end, the issues of dwelling types genesis is examined. Orders can be sent to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
* * * * WEB SITES OF INTEREST
Acta Borealia The latest issue of Acta Borealia is out. See more at:
Alaska Anthropological Association http://www.alaska.net/~oha/aaa/
Annuraaq - Arctic Clothing from Igloolik For those of you who would like to see some of the objects that are currently on display in the exhibition Annuraaq - Arctic Clothing from Igloolik, Ethnography Showcase, check: http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/goto?id=ENC7425&tour=int. The exhibition is on display in Room 36 at The British Museum in London, UK, until May 27 2001.
Arctic The web site of the journal Arctic is on:
Arctic Council Site providing information related not only to the Arctic Council activities but variety of things concerning the Arctic. The program for the Finnish Chair of the Arctic Council 2000 - 2002 is available on the above mentioned internet address in English, Russian, Finnish, Swedish and Sami. http://www.arctic-council.org/
rctic imagery from Meteorological Service Arctic imagery from the Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada, gets from acquisition and processing stations at Resolute Bay and Edmonton are now animated and posted at: http://www.cmc.ec.gc.ca/cmc/htmls/satellite.html
ASTIS database The ASTIS (the Arctic Science and Technology Information System) database, containing 46,000 records describing publications and research projects about northern Canada is now available at http://www.aina.ucalgary.ca/astis. ASTIS is maintained by the Arctic Institute of North America at the University of Calgary and is made available on the web for free with support from the Canadian Polar Commission. ASTIS includes all subjects, and covers all of Canada north of the southern limit of discontinuous permafrost as well as adjacent marine areas. The publications cited in the database include both gray and peer-reviewed literature published from 1978 to the present. The 10,800 research project descriptions in ASTIS cover the period from 1974 to the present and are based on information supplied by the organizations that licence field research in northern Canada.
Bibliography on Greenlandic and Inuit culture Bibliography (of 3000 titles) on Greenlandic and Inuit culture is now available at the following web site: http://www.ampinternational.gl/. It may be copied and communicated freely for non-commercial purposes. An annotated bibliography can be ordered via the same web site. For more information, please contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Bibliographies on Nunavut Three on-line bibliographies maintained by Jack Hicks on Nunavut focusing on the negotiation and implementation of the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement and the design and implementation of the Government of Nunavut, although a few other references have also been included (http://www.nunanet.com/~jhicks/nunabib.html), on Greenland (http://www.nunanet.com/~jhicks/greenbib.html), and of theses on political, social and economic issues in the Arctic (http://www.nunanet.com/~jhicks/arctictheses.html).
Canadian Circumpolar Institute The web site of the Canadian Circumpolar Institute is: http://www.ualberta.ca/~ccinst/polar.html. The CCI Newsletter "Polar Access" is available on: http://www.ualberta.ca/~ccinst/polar/cci-base.htm
Cool Connections To know all about the Bititsh Museum's Department of Ethnography's "Cool Connections" with Igloolik, have a look at http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/igloolik/
Danish Polar Center Please find updated information on the contents of the Danish Polar Center's on-line database "Polarbasen" on:
Directory of Polar and Cold Regions Organizations The most comprehensive list of organizations concerned with the polar and cold regions has been updated and hot links added. So if you want to find the webpage, address, telephone or fax number of any Arctic or Antarctic body, do try it. http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/lib/organ/keyindex.htm
Études/Inuit/Studies The journal ?udes/Inuit/Studies web site is on: http://www.fss.ulaval.ca/etudes-inuit-studies Vol. 24(2), the latest issue of Etudes/Inuit/Studies is out. Its theme is "Rites of passage / Rites de passage." You can consult its table of contents and abstracts on their web site.
First Nations Development Institute Indigenous issues such as maintaining a land base, managing natural resources, preserving spirituality, strengthening culture, and fostering development are global. Taking many of the lessons learned in Indian Country from our mother organization - First Nations Development Institute - First Peoples Worldwide advocates for the rights of indigenous people around the world; for we are all related.
Human-Reindeer/Caribou Systems In February of 1999, eighty scientists, indigenous leaders, NGO representatives, and resource managers gathered in Rovaniemi, Finland for an interdisciplinary workshop on the Human Role of Reindeer/ Caribou Systems. There are several products from that workshop now available for your review. They include a web-based Human-Reindeer/Caribou Systems resource located at: http://www.rangifer.net/
IASSA IASSA's web site since February 2000. Information about the association and about the Fourth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS IV) can be found on that site: http://www.fss.ulaval.ca/iassa
Index to the Arctic Blue Books: British Parliamentary Papers on Exploration in the Canadian North 1818-1878, by Andrew Taylor with editing and annotations by the Arctic/Subarctic Research Project, University of Manitoba, 1998. The Arctic Blue Books (more comprehensively described as the British Parliamentary Papers on Exploration in the Canadian North) have long been the basic source of officially recorded information concerning nineteenth century exploration of the Canadian Arctic. Scattered through the 50,000 reports in parliamentary proceedings, these 47 papers (from 2-956 pages each) have never been fully utilized by students and scholars even though these papers are available in microprint and microfiche in university and public libraries throughout Canada and in world centers. Lacking tables of contents in most cases, and unindexed, the wealth of information they contain is extremely difficult to search with thoroughness. They have remained in the same hopelessly disarranged condition in which they were bequeathed to us a century ago. Based on the scientific reports of explorations during the "Age of Darwin", The Arctic Blue Books are of great importance to our baseline knowledge of the Canadian North.
The Blue Books cover subjects from anthropology to zoology - the social, natural, and medical sciences of the nineteenth century - which are still very important to us today as baseline data in everything from Canadian Arctic/Subarctic Ecology, Geography, History, Native Peoples, etc. Dr. Andrew Taylor has provided us with the key to this valuable resource. He produced a very comprehensive and the only index to the Blue Books. The Index is unique and is contained on approximately 44,000 hand-written file cards (3x5) with 250,000 references. It is organized by subject, name, geographical location, etc. The Index was edited, annotated, copyrighted, and digitized by October 1998. http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/bluebooks/index.html
Indigenous grassroots communities of the Russian North New information from grassroots indigenous communities of the Russian North is posted in Russian and English languages on that site: http://www.indigenous.ru/
Aboriginal Canada Portal The Aboriginal Canada Portal at is a single gateway to Aboriginal on-line resources, contacts and information, as well as Government of Canada programs and services. The Portal offers one-stop access and easy navigation to listings of Aboriginal associations, businesses, organizations, bands, communities, groups, news and people. In total, the Portal has more than 7,500 links to information for and about Aboriginal people in Canada. The Aboriginal Canada Portal will play a key role in ensuring those opportunities are more easily accessible. Ensuring that Aboriginal peoples are full participants in the digital age is crucial in strengthening economies, communities and social services, cultures and languages, and capacity for self-government. http://www.aboriginalcanada.gc.ca
Living Dictionary On-line dictionary in Inuktitut, English and French, sponsored by the Nunavut territorial government.
Northern Indicators 2000 Corporate Information Management Directorate (CIMD) announced the release of the statistical report on Canada's North entitled Northern Indicators 2000. An electronic version of this publication can be found at:
Northern Information Network The Northern Information Network (NIN) encourages information sharing about Canada's northern territories for more effective decision making in areas such as resource management and economic development. NIN supports a variety of research initiatives in and about the North, including project impact assessments, wildlife management planning, land-use planning, emergency preparedness and sustainable development strategies. By contributing information pertinent to the protection of the environment, economic development and social well-being, NIN can be regarded as a significant tool for promoting sustainable development.
Components of the site: - Directory that describes geographically referenced databases covering Canada's northern territories and adjacent areas. Forum for discussion of various issues pertaining to Northern Canada, and particularly about sustainable development. This forum is also used for consultation and public announcements.
Currently, the NIN directory contains over 500 records. For inclusion in the Northern Information Network (NIN) Directory, a data set must conform to the following criteria. The data sets must be descriptive of some part of Northern Canada or include data of direct relevance to this region. The data sets must be geo-referenced. The data sets must be in digital form. **Data sets with contaminants information do not have to be geo-referenced to be included in the NIN directory. By posting descriptions of your digital geospatial databases, you'll make your work known to people interested in the same field of work, perhaps even creating new partnerships
For more information do not hesitate to contact: NIN Administrator Tel.: (819) 997-7281
Northern Review The site of the journal The Northern Review is: http://www.yukoncollege.yk.ca/review/
Polar Database A joint library database from the Department of Eskimology, the Danish Polar Center, and the Arctic Institute. At http://pingo.kb.dk:4505/ALEPH/SESSION-459439/start/DPC01
Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON)
Siberian Khanty web site Information on Russian North, indigenous peoples, and the problems of development in the Arctic and Subarctic is on:
Yakutian cultures and society On this site, you can find information in French on the Sakha Republic, maps, pictures of landscapes and people of Yakutia, information on the different populations of the Sakha Republic. Web site prepared by Marine Le Berre and Yuri Semenov (University of Claude Bernard, Lyon, France): * * * *
FIELD SCHOOLS
Archaeological Field School at the Gerstle River Site in Alaska, May 30-July 7, 2001 The University of Alaska Fairbanks is offering an archaeological field school at the Gerstle River Site in central Alaska this summer (2001). The course information is provided below. Please contact Ben Potter ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) for more information. Course Listing ANTH-495/695
Course Description
Logistics
Field Location
The earliest cultural complexes in the Americas are found in the Tanana Basin, including the Nenana/Chindadn (11,660 BP) found at Broken Mammoth, and Denali/Beringian (11,770BP) found at Swan Point. There is a potential for discovering lower components at the Gerstle River Quarry Site. Northern Archaic populations utilized the basin from 5000 to 1000 yrs BP, and Athabaskan Tradition populations used the area until historic times. The paleoenvironmental record is especially significant at the Gerstle River Quarry Site because of its preservation of stratified sediments dating from before 12,000 to 3,000 yr BP. Such a large middle Holocene record is unusual in Interior Alaska and the presence of faunal remains in this time period is important for paleoecological research.
Site Description
How to Apply Ben A. Potter, Lecturer Phone: 907/474-6756 Email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Summer Sessions
Tuition and Fees (in US dollars) Total Charge for ANTH-495: $1,059
Archaeological Field School in Kodiak, Alaska, June 23 - August 4, 2001 The University of Washington Archaeological Field School will be conducted for a third summer in Alaska's Kodiak Archipelago, 23 June - 4 August 2001. The course earns 12 undergraduate and 5 graduate credits. Students live in a remote area of Alaska for 6 weeks, excavate a 7000-year-old stratified hunter-gatherer camp, and enjoy a beautiful wilderness adventure.
Students receive formal training in most conventional survey, excavation, field recording, and field laboratory methods (including both high and low-tech approaches to survey and mapping). Applicants should be adventurous, good-natured, and experienced in remote camping. A detailed description, photos, comments from former students, and application forms are available online at: Dr. Ben Fitzhugh Phone: 206/543-9604 or 206/543-5240
Circumpolar Arctic social sciences PhD Network, September 2-19, 2001, in NW Russia The Circumpolar Arctic social Sciences PhD-Network will be offering a course on the Consequences of Industrial Development in the Arctic, September 2-19, in NW Russia. Information about the course is available on the web-site:
The goal of the CASS PhD-Net is, among other things, to encourage interaction/interchange between faculty, students and communities around the circumpolar North. Applications are thus being solicited now from Canadian students interested in the 2001 course. Please send your application to Dr. Heather Myers (email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). European students should apply to Rasmus O. Rasmussen, (email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) ; American students should apply to Richard Caulfield (email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).
There will be 2-4 positions available for Canadian students, preferably engaged in PhD studies. Applicants should be aware that funding for the course is solicited from a variety of organizations and agencies, and is typically uncertain until shortly before the course. Applicants are thus expected to solicit funding from their university and/or supervisor to help cover their participation. Students are asked to apply with the following information: -name, contact numbers/addresses * * * *
MISCELLANEOUS
CBC series on the circumpolar Arctic looking for suggestions and ideas We are looking for suggestions for stories and issues to include in a series of three documentaries on the science, history, and peoples of the Arctic for the CBC program "The Nature of Things". Ideas and suggestions for stories, locations, and issues that should be included in the documentaries are most welcome. We are trying to create a fresh vision of the circumpolar Arctic for international audiences whose knowledge of the North is minimal, or has been shaped by old stereotypes of the region. We believe that a younger audience is ready to see the circumpolar Arctic as an integrated ecosystem, and will be interested in hearing from scientists and communities who are working to understand and protect it. Audiences who understand this will be more likely to push their governments to decrease pollution and protect the environment.
We plan to work with film makers, communities, and scientists in Canada, Russia, and the Nordic countries to find good stories that show:
We are looking for stories that cross over cultural and national boundaries, stories that can help audiences who know little about the North to better understand what is happening today. For example: Gary Marcuse Phone: 604/251-0770
Northern Studies Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks: Evaluation and Search for Circumpolar Students The Northern Studies Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks offers interdisciplinary masters' degrees on the circumpolar north - environmental issues, indigenous peoples, place identity, and human development in remote, arctic settings. We evaluated the program through a survey of graduate. Half of the 36 graduates responded - a typical response rate. These responding graduates may well have done better than those graduates who did not respond. (The cynical could divide the following percentages in half with the view that everyone who did not respond did not have the accomplishment). Keeping in mind this nonresponse issue, nonetheless our Northern Studies graduates have shown impressive accomplishments: * almost 20% have entered doctoral programs in history, anthropology, geography and government * almost 60% have published on the circumpolar North * almost 70% have participated in community service in the North, such as lobbying Congress for protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge * almost 95% are employed in fields related to their course of study, with a third working as teachers in the public schools or universities.
Northern Studies is currently looking for new students interested in the academic achievement and scholarly reputation the program offers.
Teaching assistantships are available which provide tuition waivers and some assistance with living expenses. Please see our web page: http://www.uaf.edu/northern/ For more information, contact Judith Kleinfeld, Director, Northern Studies: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it * * * *
IASSA INFORMATION SPRING 2001
Foundation IASSA was founded in 1990 in Fairbanks, Alaska, at a meeting held in conjunction with the 7th Inuit Studies Conference. The creation of IASSA follows the suggestion, made at the Conference on Coordination of Research in the Arctic held in Leningrad in 1988, to establish an international association to represent Arctic social scientists. From its foundation in 1990 until 1992, IASSA's secretariat was housed at the Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. The following three years the secretariat was situated at the Arctic Center, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland. Then from 1995 to 1998, it was housed at the Department of Eskimology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Objectives The Arctic is defined as all Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of the world. The social sciences encompass disciplines relating to behavioral, psychological, cultural, anthropological, archaeological, linguistic, historical, social, legal, economic, environmental, and political subjects, as well as health, education, the arts and humanities, and related subjects. The objectives are: * to promote and stimulate international cooperation and to increase the participation of social scientists in national and international arctic research; * to promote communication and coordination with other research organizations; * to promote the active collection, exchange, dissemination, and archiving of scientific information in the Arctic social sciences; * to promote mutual respects, communication, and collaboration between social scientists and northern people; * to facilitate culturally, developmentally, and linguistically appropriate education in the North; * to follow the IASSA statement of ethical principles for the conduct of research in the Arctic.
Administration IASSA is governed by an elected seven-member Council and a General Assembly consisting of all members having paid their membership. The secretariat is presently based at the G?IC (Groupe d'?des inuit et circumpolaires), Laval University , Quebec City, Canada), and the secretariat is run by Murielle Nagy.
IASSA Council Members Gérard Duhaime
Noel Broadbent
Jens Dahl (ex officio, past chair)
Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley
Ludger Müller-Wille
Marit Myrvoll
Frank Sejersen
Nikolai B. Vakhtin
Membership Membership is open to anyone interested in Arctic social sciences. Membership is required to participate to the ICASS (International Congress in Arctic Social Sciences). Members receive the IASSA Newsletter 2 times a year and can subscribe to an email server-list. Membership fees are in US dollars or in Canadian dollars: 2 years: $35 US or $53 Ca.
IASSA membership can be paid by Visa or Master Card credit cards. Please send to < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >, the following information: 1) type of card (Visa or Master Card)
Otherwise, you could send us a money order in Ca. dollars or send us a cheque in US dollars. Please write your cheque or money order to IASSA, fill the membership form (see last page of the Newsletter) and send to: IASSA Secretariat Tel.: (418) 656-7596
Meetings IASSA held its First International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS I) in Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada, on October 28-31, 1992. The congress was held on the campus of Laval University immediately following the 8th Inuit Studies Conference. More than 300 people participated to ICASS I, 235 of which presented papers. Sixteen countries were represented by paper presenters. The next IASSA congress (ICASS II) was held jointly in Rovaniemi, Finland, and Kautokeino, Norway, in the summer 1995. ICASS III took place in May 1998 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Abstracts and presentations of keynote speakers from ICASS meetings can be ordered without charge from the IASSA secretariat.
THE NEXT ICASS IV WILL BE HELD MAY 16-20, 2001, AT THE HOTEL LOEWS LE CONCORDE IN QUEBEC CITY, CANADA.
Please subscribe to IASSA.Net (see below) for current updates on ICASS IV. The IASSA web site (see below) has also updates on ICASS IV. IASSA web site http://.www.fss.ulaval.ca/iassa * * * *
IASSA.NET SERVER LIST This server list is designed for use by members and others interested in the goals of the International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA). The organization was founded in 1990 to represent Arctic social scientists in international contexts and to provide a network for social scientists working and/or living in the North. Among IASSA's objectives are efforts to ensure that social sciences research is carried out in accordance with ethical principles approved by indigenous peoples and other Northern residents. IASSA also seeks to develop and enhance educational programs that will provide northern residents and those interested in the North with information necessary to improve social, economic, and political conditions in Northern communities. Information, questions, and communications on this server list will deal broadly with issues affecting Arctic social sciences and with matters of interest to IASSA members. Contributions may include announcements of meetings or conferences, news about upcoming IASSA activities, information about new publications of interest to Arctic social scientists, job announcements, or request for contacts regarding scholar investigations of particular topics. Postings should be those of interest to a wide audience, and not for a particular person (use email for this purpose). Subscribing to "IASSA.Net" To subscribe to this list, send an email message to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The body of your message should read SUBSCRIBE IASSA.NET Please include a blank line after the command. To unsubscribe, send message UNSUBSCRIBE IASSA.NET to the same address. Posting messages To post a message to IASSA.Net, send your email message to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . It will be automatically distributed to all list subscribers. Please make sure to include your name and email with each message. Otherwise, subscribers will not know who sent the message or how to respond to you personally (if they want to). Guidelines for use of "IASSA.Net" Since this server list is self-moderated, some guidelines are appropriate: 1. Topics should be related to professional interests of Arctic social scientists. Items that are strictly for personal interest should be sent through email. 2. New subscribers to IASSA.Net are encouraged to introduced themselves to other members of the list by posting (as appropriate) a short bibliography, academic affiliations, research interests, language proficiencies, telephone and fax contact numbers, etc. 3. All those posting items to the list should include a name and email address with their contributions. 4. IMPORTANT: If you use your mailer's REPLY command to respond to a message, please remember that ALL subscribers will receive your message. If you want to reply to only one person, please use their personal address. 5. Comments or suggestions about this list should be sent to list owner Richard Caulfield (Fairbanks, Alaska) at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Additional commands The following commands may be used by any subscriber by sending them as the only message to: HELP REVIEW IASSA.NET INDEX SEND (add file name here) If you have technical problems, send message to: Special thanks to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, USA, for supporting this server list. Text supplied by Richard Caulfield (revised January 1996). * * * * NEXT IASSA NEWSLETTER To submit anything to our next IASSA Newsletter, please contact Murielle Nagy, the IASSA secretary and editor of the Newsletter, at: IASSA Secretariat Tel.: (418) 656-2131, ex. 4108 |