Exploiting resources in the Arctic Exhibition

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Recommended: Impact of European settlers on indigenous people

Throughout this exhibition the term exploiting will refer to benefiting from. Also, this exhibition will explore some of the ways, that people have been exploiting Arctic resources, for the last 4500 years. It will begin by explaining the location of the Arctic, and what indigenous people did to survive. Followed by, why Europeans went there, and what Arctic states are doing at present.

The Arctic is an area above the imaginary line of the Arctic Circle, which is latitude 66.6° north (Smith, 2009). This is a hostile and unforgiving place, with freezing temperatures and 24 hours of darkness in winter (Smith, 2009). Nevertheless, one particular place of interest is Devon Island, which has many seasonal hunting grounds such as Cape Liddon – see exhibit one. Although Devon Island is uninhabited today, past settlers survived harsh conditions by exploiting coastal and inland resources for thousands of years. Interestingly, between 1982 and 1987, archaeologists found 163 sites on the island (Helmer, 1991). These sites contained thousands of animal bones, various stone and bone tools dating back 4500 years (Helmer, 1991). Coincidently, the multipurpose ulu knife – see exhibit two – originates from the similar time period, which is traditionally used for processing animals for food and clothes (Crowell & Prusinski, n.d.). Also, it is believed that indigenous people created carvings such as small face masks, for interacting with spirits (Zságer, 2010). Funnily enough, a modern day mask – see in exhibit three – looks similar to a 3500 year old ivory face mask found on Devon Island (CMCC, 2013). Nonetheless, today some people call this traditional ecological knowledge, which refers to knowledge, beliefs and practices, in sustainable use of ...

... middle of paper ...

...e Palaeo-Eskimo Prehistory of the North Devon Lowlands'. Arctic, vol. 44(no. 4), pp. 301-317 [Online]. Available at: http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic44-4-301.pdf [Accessed 10 December 2013].

Jackson, D. D., 1993. 'Hot on the cold trail left by Sir Martin Frobisher'. vol. 23(no. 10), pp. 119 [Online]. Available at UK & Ireland Reference Centre, EBSCOhost [Accessed 6 December 2013].

Kurtz, M., 2009. Arctic approach: U116, Block 2, Part 4. Milton Keynes: The Open University.

Smith, J., 2009. Arctic approach: U116, Block 2, Part 1. Milton Keynes: The Open University.

Zságer, L., 2010. 'Miniature Carvings in the Canadian Dorset Culture: the Paleo-Eskimo Belief System'. Perspectivas Colombo-Canadienses, Volume vol. 3, pp. 108-121 [Online]. Available at: http://revistas.urosario.edu.co/index.php/perspectiva/issue/view/206/showToc [Accessed 17 December 2013]

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