Week one: Done!
It's been a busy week. Come to think of it, most weeks this summer have been pretty busy. I think I've caught that from my dad--I don't sit still and not do things well. :)
Anyway, we've been working in the archive cataloging maps and popping in and out of the CLIP conference (Climate, Language and the Indigenous Perspective). The archive map files are a mess, and it soon became obvious that the contributors to the archive (mostly linguists from UAF) are pack rats. We started to see three, four, or even five copies of the same Forest Service map and zillions of photocopies of others. I think the best map was the one from 1967 detailing the counties and cities that officials from Poland, Czechoslovak, and a few other countries couldn't visit. They included random places like Iosco Co, and Marquette Co.
The conference has been really neat too. I've never had the chance to meet many Elders before. Today, during the Elder's Panel on climate change, I really liked what one in particular had to say. He said that a lot of the problem with Western thinking is that we value our academic knowledge above Nature and above Humans. This is probably nothing new to a lot of you who are in academia, but the context he put it in was fascinating. He talked about the caribou herds and how they, like the deer herds back home, are severely overpopulated. Again like the deer, it's the government policy that keeps the herds inflated so that the hunters can shoot the caribou. "Western Thought is killing the caribou" he said. Our manipulation of the system is "challenging the Creator". I found this slightly reminiscent of the "we shouldn't play God" argument, but it didn't come across as nearly as judgmental. He was encouraging thought behind our actions. "It's not the knowing, it's remembering the question that counts".
I noticed that he used the word 'take' when he referred to native hunts and 'kill' when he talked about Western hunters. It makes sense. We tend to be hunting for the sport of it; the meat is of secondary importance, if really used at all. When they kill an animal, it's so they can feed and cloth their families.
I'm not going to be totally down on Western culture--I definitely like things like cake, domestic cats, and trombones, but I think there's a lot to be learned from listening to other peoples' perspectives.
In other news, it looks like this will be a two-fall year for me. In the three days I've been here, I've seen the trees go from completely green to becoming tinged with yellow. Apparently fall comes a bit earlier here. :)
Okay...It looks like some severe rain is coming this way. I should get back to my dorm.
Anyway, we've been working in the archive cataloging maps and popping in and out of the CLIP conference (Climate, Language and the Indigenous Perspective). The archive map files are a mess, and it soon became obvious that the contributors to the archive (mostly linguists from UAF) are pack rats. We started to see three, four, or even five copies of the same Forest Service map and zillions of photocopies of others. I think the best map was the one from 1967 detailing the counties and cities that officials from Poland, Czechoslovak, and a few other countries couldn't visit. They included random places like Iosco Co, and Marquette Co.
The conference has been really neat too. I've never had the chance to meet many Elders before. Today, during the Elder's Panel on climate change, I really liked what one in particular had to say. He said that a lot of the problem with Western thinking is that we value our academic knowledge above Nature and above Humans. This is probably nothing new to a lot of you who are in academia, but the context he put it in was fascinating. He talked about the caribou herds and how they, like the deer herds back home, are severely overpopulated. Again like the deer, it's the government policy that keeps the herds inflated so that the hunters can shoot the caribou. "Western Thought is killing the caribou" he said. Our manipulation of the system is "challenging the Creator". I found this slightly reminiscent of the "we shouldn't play God" argument, but it didn't come across as nearly as judgmental. He was encouraging thought behind our actions. "It's not the knowing, it's remembering the question that counts".
I noticed that he used the word 'take' when he referred to native hunts and 'kill' when he talked about Western hunters. It makes sense. We tend to be hunting for the sport of it; the meat is of secondary importance, if really used at all. When they kill an animal, it's so they can feed and cloth their families.
I'm not going to be totally down on Western culture--I definitely like things like cake, domestic cats, and trombones, but I think there's a lot to be learned from listening to other peoples' perspectives.
In other news, it looks like this will be a two-fall year for me. In the three days I've been here, I've seen the trees go from completely green to becoming tinged with yellow. Apparently fall comes a bit earlier here. :)
Okay...It looks like some severe rain is coming this way. I should get back to my dorm.