Re: Names for Ice and Snow

Adrian Tanner (atanner@MORGAN.UCS.MUN.CA)
Wed, 10 Jul 1996 09:48:05 -0230

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>On Fri, 5 Jul 1996, Adrian Tanner wrote:
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>> Jean. part of this person's reply deals with an issue I raised several weeks
>> ago on why Indians and Inuit are classified separately. Feel free to reply
>> to him directly if you are so inclined. Adrian
>>
>> >Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 10:54:48 -0400 (EDT)
>> >From: JAMES PAUL ITO-ADLER <ITOADLER@servms.fiu.edu>
>> >To: atanner@MORGAN.UCS.MUN.CA
>> >Subject: Re: Names for Ice and Snow
>> >
>> >Dear Adrian,
>> > I would like to use this reply to hold a place in line on this
>> >issue. I am going to travel for a few weeks beginning next week, but I have
>> >been meaning to contact you again in reference to the debate about Indian
>> >and Eskimo. I don't know if you get Parade magazine in your Sunday papers
>> >but there was a celebrity profile about the young Ekimo/Cree woman who was
>> >involved in the Disney Pocahantas film and she was trying to explain
>> >Inuit/Inupiat/Inupiaq/Eskimo/ etc to the interviewer. (Only semi
>> >successfully in my opinion since in my limited understanding Inupiat is the
>> >plural of Inupiaq at least as it was used in Barrow in the 1980s).
>THAT'S CORRECT - ALSO IN THE 90S. INUPIAQ/T IS THE WORD ALASKAN INUIT
>USE FOR THEMSELVES IN THE ALASKAN DIALECT OF INUKTITUT. IT MEANS 'REAL
>PERSON/ REAL PEOPLE'. 'INUIT' MEANS 'PEOPLE' - IN ALL DIALECTS OF
>INUKTITUT, I THINK, INCLUDING ALASKAN. BUT ONLY CANADIAN INUIT HAVE
>ADOPTED THE WORD AS A 'NAME' FOR THEMSELVES. GREENLANDERS CALL THEMSELVES
>'KALALLIIT'. 'ESKIMO' IS NOT AN INUKTITUT WORD, & THAT'S WHY IT'S BEEN
>DROPPED FROM RESPECTFUL SPEECH.
>> > I also would have pointed out that the Eskimo/Indian ethnic boundary
>> >is more than linguistic. VERY TRUE. INUIT ARE THOUGHT TO HAVE
>ARRIVED ON THE AMERICAN CONTINENT LONG AFTER INDIANS.MORE OR LESS AN ICE AGE
>LATER, I BELIEVE. and I remember hearing Eskimos telling "ethnic"
>> >jokes about the Athabaskans ("half-a-gas-cans"). YES INDEED; THERE'S
>NEVER BEEN MUCH LOVE BETWEEN INDIANS & INUIT. MUCH MORE FEAR THAN LOVE. It
>has never seemed
>> >appropriate to me to make any of this public, but I do believe that Geoffrey
>> >Pullam (and to a certain extent) Laura Martin overreacted in their attempts
>> >to demolish the myth of Eskimo snow. Points I would make:
>> > 1. Contra Pullum, it is remarkable that the Eskimo have such
>> >detailed knowledge of natural conditions and every "scientist" that has come
>> >in sustained contact with them has been in awe of the precision and accuracy
>> >of their knowledge. QUITE SO. (Cf Richard Nelson's study of hunting).
>Also I know a
>> >marine biologist/anatomist (not an anthro at all!) who went to study beluga
>> >whales in Canada (I believe -- actually he was a colleague of my
>> >father-in-law's) and he was amazed at their knowledge of subtle anatomical
>> >features, ME TOO, I WAS AMAZED AT THAT. HUNTERS KNOW A GOOD BIT ABOUT
>PHYSIOLOGY TOO. not to mention
>the more obvious behavioral stuff a hunter would be > >expected to know.
>> > 2. With some exceptions, my experience on the North Slope and
>> >reading leads me to believe that the Eskimo are much much more interested
>> >in ice than in snow. This also seems to be the case in the Danish novel on
>> >Smillas sense of ... INUIT WHO USE ICE (LIKE WHALERS ON THE NORTH
>SLOPE & GREENLANDERS WHO TRAVEL MOSTLY ON THE ICE) KNOW A LOT ABOUT ICE.
>INUIT WHO USE SNOW (LIKE CANADIAN BUILDERS OF SNOWHOUSES & OVERLAND
>TRAVELLERS) KNOW A LOT ABOUT SNOW. AND HAVE A FAIR NUMBER OF WORDS FOR
>DIFFERENT TEXTURES & CONSISTENCIES, WHICH CAN BE USED FOR DIFFERENT
>PURPOSES. JUST LIKE ENGLISH-SPEAKING SKIERS WITH THEIR POWDER SNOW, CORN
>SNOW, ETC. ETC.
>> > 3. The many lives of the myth probably have more to do with our
>> >own stereotypes of snow as "meaningless" and "featureless" (i.e. bad TV
>> >reception which is unintelligible is "snow" or in U.S. slang to do a snow
>> >job or to snow someone is to deceive someone or to be so good at obfuscation
>> >that they don't get the true meaning, or to be snowed under is to be
>> >besieged with so much incoming stuff that no rational pragmatic response can
>> >be made. THERE'S AN INTERESTING INSIGHT IN THIS. Thus the eskimo's
>sense of snow is more impressive TO US, YOU MEAN? than the amazon
>> >indians words for parrots or the philipinos shades of green leafy plants,
>> >etc.
>> > 4. Finally, although there are stereotypes of native americans,
>> >including eskimos in mainstream US culture, I do not believe the
>> >Pullum/Martin line that this is racism in action. WE don't play cowboys and
>> >eskimos, and the general portrayal of eskimos is of the WOW how do they do
>> >it variety. ALSO A GOOD POINT. BUT YOU MIGHT READ HUGH BRODY, THE
>PEOPLE'S LAND FOR BOTH SIDES OF THE PICTURE (OF OUR VIEW OF INUIT).
>> > 5. The linguistics per se are more complex in terms of what is a
>> >word, infixes, agglutinaing semantics etxc. but the Eskimo knowledge is
>> >impressive however they do it. Also has anyone read the Peter Freuchen
>> >books for refernces, I rember one time he quotes a Danish proverb to the
>> >effect that the beloved child has many names... MARK NUTTALL'S ARCTIC
>HOMELAND HAS AN INTERESTING DISCUSSION OF INUIT NAMING PRACTICES. > >
>JEAN BRIGGS (ALL CAPS ARE HERS).> > Anyway that is my ranting and raving
>for the moment. Take care, > > Jim Ito-Adler
>> > co-author (with Fred Seagayuk Bigjim) of the
>> > best-seller (in Alaska at least) Letters to Howard.
>> >
>> >
>>
>> Adrian Tanner
>> Memorial University of Newfoundland
>>
>>
>

Adrian Tanner
Memorial University of Newfoundland