Latest revision as of 09:50, 20 July 2025

Being present in the community has taken many shapes for me over the course of my multiple field visits. In Gjoa Haven such presence has often taken shape around activities that are part of Inuit day to day life.

In the first week, when BearWatch researchers were present in Gjoa Haven in larger numbers, we for example helped George Konana take out his nets.

Pulling in the nets (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)

Pulling in the nets, close-up (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)

George Konana, cleaning some freshly caught Arctic Char (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)

Stranding the Car[edit]

Most possibilities to get involved with chores around town and meeting people involved an old truck, the elements, and project-related logistics that had me drive across town for multiple purposes.

These activities created both possibilities and limitations in terms of community interaction patterns.

For example, the collective efforts required to pull the truck out of the ocean, when it stranded on the beach and got flooded by the rising tide of the ocean, is part of what co-PI van Coeverden-de Groot terms his “vulnerability narrative”. A performance of intra-dependency he understands his relationship with the community at large to be comprised of.

Truck stranded in the ocean (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)

Preparing and Packing for an ATV Ride[edit]

The environmental conditions in Inuit Nunangat seem a fitting context for such a "vulnerability" narrative.

Take, for example, the actions involved with going on a camping trip:

Any visiting researcher who has tried to prepare, pack or pull a qamutik (sled) across the land outside of Arctic Summer for the first time, like I did in the fall of 2021, has likely encountered the particular teachings of patience and modesty.

Fumbling around with thick mitts, pens and paper in the cold, while sled runners need to be replaced, knots need to be tied, and qamutiks need to be repaired, quickly eliminates the feasibility of (ethnographic) documenting. What remains, is attentive presence, and hands-on assistance where possible.

Preparing the qamutik (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)

One of many moments that the qamutik needed to be repacked on the way (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)

Camping at the Weir[edit]

After 4 hours of travelling by ATV, some of it in the dark, we arrive at the fishing Weir.

After setting up the tents we watch George and his family spearfish for a while.

Jimmy Konana spearfishing (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)

Me standing outside of my tent (photograph by Malcolm May, 2021)

Tents at Weir (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)

George Konana instructing his grandkids how to spearfish (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)

Being in the presence of someone like George, makes it very clear that it takes the experience of multiple generations to live with the land.

Just tagging along with someone like George for a couple of days allows you to learnt more than could ever be included in a knowledge-land-scape like this, or be transfered through writing or pictures.

The knowledge that is entangled within the tradition of spearfishing for example extends beyond its technique or it practices. It's entangled within a lived moment of human, fish and traditional technology meeting each other that cannot be sustained outside of that moment.

Vista: The Land

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-Being present in the community has taken many shapes for me over the course of my multiple field visits. In Gjoa Haven such presence has often taken shape around activities that are part of Inuit day to day life. In the first week, when BearWatch researchers were present in Gjoa Haven in larger numbers, we for example helped George Konana take out his nets.
+[[File:Invitation background.jpg|thumb]]
-[[File:DSC00145.jpg|thumb]]
+Being present in the community has taken many shapes for me over the course of my multiple field visits. In Gjoa Haven such presence has often taken shape around activities that are part of Inuit day to day life.
-[[File:DSC00146.jpg|thumb]]
-[[File:DSC00310.jpg|thumb]]
+In the first week, when BearWatch researchers were present in Gjoa Haven in larger numbers, we for example helped George Konana take out his nets.
+[[File:Pulling in the nets.jpg|thumb|Pulling in the nets (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)]]
+[[File:Pulling in the nets, close-up.jpg|thumb|Pulling in the nets, close-up (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)]]
+[[File:George Konana, cleaning some freshly caught Arctic Char.jpg|thumb|George Konana, cleaning some freshly caught Arctic Char (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)]]
 =Stranding the Car=
-Most possibilities to get involved with chores around town and meeting people involved the intra-dynamics between an old truck, the elements and project-related logistics that had me drive across town for multiple purposes. My first introduction to how the material agencies of such intra-active elements created both possibilities and limitations in terms of community interaction patterns, was when the truck got stranded on the beach and flooded by the rising tide of the ocean. The collective efforts required to pull the truck out of the ocean is what co-Pi de Groot terms his “vulnerability narrative”: a performative display of the intra-dependent relationship he understands his relationship with the community at large to be comprised of.
+Most possibilities to get involved with chores around town and meeting people involved an old truck, the elements, and project-related logistics that had me drive across town for multiple purposes.
-[[File:DSC00312.jpg|thumb]]
+These activities created both possibilities and limitations in terms of community interaction patterns.
+For example, the collective efforts required to pull the truck out of the ocean, when it stranded on the beach and got flooded by the rising tide of the ocean, is part of what co-PI van Coeverden-de Groot terms his “vulnerability narrative”. A performance of intra-dependency he understands his relationship with the community at large to be comprised of.
+[[File:Truck stranded in the ocean (photograph by de Wildt, 2021).jpg|thumb|Truck stranded in the ocean (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)]]
 =Preparing and Packing for an ATV Ride=
-The environmental conditions in Inuit Nunangat seem initially a fitting context to easily debunk anthropocentric ontologies. For example, any visiting researcher who has tried to prepare, pack or pull a qamutiq (sled) across the land outside of Arctic Summer for the first time, like I did in 2021, has likely encountered the limits of human agency as well as the particular teachings of humility. Fumbling around with thick mitts, pens and paper, while knots need to be tied, and qamutiks need to be repaired, for example quickly eliminates the feasibility of (ethnographic) documenting on-the-spot. What remains, however, is attentive presence.
+The environmental conditions in Inuit Nunangat seem a fitting context for such a "vulnerability" narrative.
-[[File:Preparing the Qamutiq.jpg|thumb]]
+Take, for example, the actions involved with going on a camping trip:
-[[File:Repacking the Qamutiq on the way.jpg|thumb]]
+Any visiting researcher who has tried to prepare, pack or pull a qamutik (sled) across the land outside of Arctic Summer for the first time, like I did in the fall of 2021, has likely encountered the particular teachings of patience and modesty.
+Fumbling around with thick mitts, pens and paper in the cold, while sled runners need to be replaced, knots need to be tied, and qamutiks need to be repaired, quickly eliminates the feasibility of (ethnographic) documenting. What remains, is attentive presence, and hands-on assistance where possible.
+[[File:Preparing the Qamutiq (sm).jpg|thumb|Preparing the qamutik (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)]]
+[[File:Repacking the Qamutiq on the way.jpg|thumb|One of many moments that the qamutik needed to be repacked on the way (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)]]
 =Camping at the Weir=
-After 4 hours of travelling by ATV, some of it in the dark, we arrive at the fishing Weir. After setting up the tents we watch George and his family spearfishing for a while.
+After 4 hours of travelling by ATV, some of it in the dark, we arrive at the fishing Weir.
+After setting up the tents we watch George and his family spearfish for a while.
-[[File:DSC00404.jpg|thumb]]
+[[File:Jimmy.jpg|thumb|Jimmy Konana spearfishing (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)]]
+[[File:Me.jpg|thumb|Me standing outside of my tent (photograph by Malcolm May, 2021)]]
+[[File:Tents.jpg|thumb|Tents at Weir (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)]]
+[[File:George and fam.jpg|thumb|George Konana instructing his grandkids how to spearfish (photograph by de Wildt, 2021)]]
+<div class="next_choice">Being in the presence of someone like George, makes it very clear that it takes the experience of multiple generations to live with the land.
+Just tagging along with someone like George for a couple of days allows you to learnt more than could ever be included in a knowledge-land-scape like this, or be transfered through writing or pictures.
-The land itself invites one to move away from anthropocentric tellings - towards narrations of becoming knowledgeable in company with the seasons, snow, ice, wind, rocks, and caribou. Such stories leave room for us as researchers, but are importantly not about us. Donna Haraway calls such stories “netbag stories” (2016, p.38). She argues, inspired by Ursula le Guin (1986), that the kind of stories we need telling in these times are not those of the Antropos. Not those of the capitalized Human in History and all the weaponized tools such a Human might carry, but those of the netbag, the basket, or any other concave shape. Such a netbag, or even a pair of cupped hands enables carrying things along, and receiving and giving away. Such exchange suggests ongoing stories of becoming with-; a collective making and unmaking of the world with ‘companion species’ as ‘kin’ (Haraway, 2003 ; 2016). These stories acknowledge messy, earthbound, multispecies entanglements, rather than man-making tales of the single hero.
+The knowledge that is entangled within the tradition of spearfishing for example extends beyond its technique or it practices. It's entangled within a lived moment of human, fish and traditional technology meeting each other that cannot be sustained outside of that moment.
+</div>
-<span class="pop-up vista link" data-page-title="The Land" data-section-id="0" data-encounter-type="Vista">[[The Land|Vista:The Land]]</div>
+<span class="pop-up vista link" data-page-title="The Land" data-section-id="0" data-encounter-type="Vista">[[The Land|Vista: The Land]]</div>