Abstracts
Abstract
A recurring theme within the complex cosmopolitics of pre-Christian Inuit is the transformation of persons—typically, but not exclusively, shamans (both human and nonhuman animal) and spirit beings—from one physical form, or “species,” to another. The motif is common in contemporary Inuit visual art and recent historic oral tradition, and less frequent (or less apparent) in precontact material culture. In this paper, I examine how interspecies relationships among Inuit may have been influenced by an ancient cosmology rooted in multinaturalism, which can be informed upon in an heuristic sense by Amerindian perspectivism, as described and developed by Eduardo Viveiros de Castro (1998, 2004). Within this framework, I suggest a multinatural worldview is reflected in rare depictions of interspecies transformation on two precontact Inuit artifacts recovered from the large winter village site Pingiqqalik (NgHd-1), located near Igloolik, Nunavut.
Keywords:
- Inuit,
- human–animal relationships,
- archaeology,
- perspectivism,
- shamanism
Résumé
Un thème récurrent dans la cosmopolitique complexe des Inuit préchrétiens est la transformation des personnes - généralement, mais pas exclusivement, des chamanes (animaux humains et non-humains) et des êtres spirituels – d’une forme physique, ou « espèce », à une autre. Le motif est courant dans les arts visuels inuit contemporains et dans la tradition orale historique récente, et moins fréquent (ou moins apparent) dans la culture matérielle pré-contact. Dans cet article, j’examine comment les relations interespèces entre Inuit ont pu être influencées par une ancienne cosmologie enracinée dans le multinaturalisme, et informées de manière heuristique par le perspectivisme amérindien, décrit et développé par Eduardo Viveiros de Castro (1998, 2004). Dans ce cadre, je suggère que la vision multinaturelle du monde soit reflétée dans de rares représentations de la transformation interespèces de deux artefacts précontacts inuit récupérés sur le site du grand village d’hiver Pingiqqalik (NgHd-1), situé près d’Igloolik, au Nunavut.
Mots-clés:
- Inuit,
- relations homme-animal,
- archéologie,
- perspectivisme,
- chamanisme
Appendices
References
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