.
|
EduTech Research Project Presents John Tyman's INUIT ~ People of the Arctic Unit 1: POLAR ENVIRONMENTS Back to Main Navigation Page |
|
|
 |
 |
|
The food resources of the Arctic were able to sustain a subsistence hunting economy for thousands of years. The people, seemingly, with a nomadic lifestyle and appropriate technologies lived in harmony with their environment (however harsh it might seem to us today) and they had little impact on the land. |
In the last hundred years or so, though, with the introduction of very different technologies and different values a range of problems have become apparent within what is clearly a delicately balanced ecosystem.. . |
 |
 |
|
The problem permafrost presents to house construction can be overcome at a price by raising houses on stumps (as illustrated in the Clothing and Shelter section) and if people could not be buried in the ground they could at least be covered with rocks to keep animals away. But the other issues await solutions still. |
When hunters relied on dog teams for transportation they could not only be self-sufficient (see Transport section) but also left few marks upon the land. With the change to more powerful snowmobiles, however, hunters are tempted to haul sleds overland even after the snow has melted (instead of carrying their gear themselves or using dogs as pack animals).. |
 |
 |
|
The plant cover crushed by the heavy vehicle soon blows away exposing the soil to run-off. Also since the soil is usually dark at the surface it absorbs more of the sun's heat, the subsoil melts, and deep ruts can develop. . |
Next there is the problem of waste disposal. Because of the low temperatures and limited precipitation the rate of decay here is exceedingly slow. And with the switch to permanent settlements in place of temporary camp sites, and the consumption of store-bought items enveloped in packaging that will never decay, the build-up of garbage is tremendous.. |
 |
 |
|
In some cases the local authorities insist that residents burn their garbage outside, so the council only has to collect ashes etc. The resulting smoke and acrid fumes clearly impair the quality of life here. |
In other communities the council truck picks up everything, including unsaleable animal skins.. . |
 |
 |
|
These are then burrnt at the dump outside of town, where the gulls scavenge. This reduces the smoke problem close to home but disfigures the landscape nonetheless. |
And several streams close to town are clearly polluted.. . |
 |
 |
|
Fresh water can be pumped from lakes further away, and distributed by truck. . |
But there's also waste water to worry about. Few communities in the Arctic feel they can justify the cost of a processing plant, so the water pumped from domestic tanks (see the Housing section) is simply hauled out of town and dumped into a lake.. |
 |
 |
|
Waste iron is a problem also, as it rusts only slowly. Fuel is brought in using steel drums but in the absence of appropriate legislation no one is prepared to pay the price of shipping them out again. So old fuel drums litter every air strip and boat harbour in the Arctic. |
And at council dumps tin cans and scrap metal remain in near mint condition, immune to burning and too far from a smelter to justify the costs of recycling.. . |
 |
 |
|
At hunting camps in the old days almost everything was biodegradeable: when the people moved on there was little that remained as evidence of their occupancy. Today almost all such sites are strewn with garbage. |
In this case the family try to burn most of it -- using seal oil, ironically, to help incinerate more stubborn items.. .. |
|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Text, photos and recordings
by John Tyman
Intended for Educational Use
Only.
Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum,
Oxford University, 2010.
Contact Dr.
John Tyman for more information regarding licensing.
Photo processing, Web page layout,
and formatting by
William
Hillman | www.hillmanweb.com
Assistant Professor ~ Faculty
of Education ~ Brandon University ~ Brandon, Manitoba ~ Canada