Arctic Domus – Humans & Animals Across the North
, is a research program that explores humans and animals across the North. Arctic Domus is a five-year European Research Council
Advanced Grant that is at its mid-term point.
Arctic Domus is co-ordinating field research in archaeology, anthropology, environmental history, and social studies of science to
elaborate a new model of emplaced human-animal relations evoking recent theoretical concerns of the definition of the person, the
attribution of agency, and the importance of ‘built environments’. The project works inductively from empirical observations in
multiple field sites across the circumpolar Arctic—from the Russian Federation, to Fennoscandia, to Canada. Through the study of how
hunters, herders, fisherman and ‘fish-farmers’ work together primarily, but not exclusively, with three key species—reindeer (caribou),
dogs, and salmon—the team is developing a complex and nuanced account of these socio-ecological relationships.
The circumpolar Arctic has become the focus of powerful debates over the balance between the protection of cultural heritage and the
development of natural resources to fuel industrial economies. The sets of human-non-human relationships chosen for study cover the full
range of theoretical and political discourse within the sciences today—from primary encounters in domination to contemporary
bio-technical innovations in farming.
Arctic Domus seeks to move beyond existential models of domination between people and animals by examining complex social settings where
multiple species interact with landscapes to produce ecological strategies. The team also revisits definitions of wild and tame,
examining what links these behaviors together. Domestication, they argue, was never a sudden event but a process of shifting proximity
between people and animals. Ultimately, the project develops a renewed model of human-animal relationships that foregrounds local
knowledge, ways of knowing, and articulations woven into homes and homelands.
Arctic Domus has a team working in the Peel River watershed. Recent court cases over mineral resource development in this area have
prompted support for enhanced
Gwich’in
involvement through the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute, the Vuntut Gwich’in Heritage Department, the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Heritage
Department, and Na Cho Nyak Dun. NGOs involved include CPAWS Yukon and the Yukon Conservation Society.
In Russia, Arctic Domus partners with the Veps community (Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast, Vologda Oblast), which faces issues in
mining, fishing, forestry, agriculture, and urban growth. The main NGO partner is the “Society of Vepsian Culture,” led by Zinaida
Strogal’shchikoba.
The project also partners with the Central Alaskan Yupik, the most numerous of Alaskan indigenous peoples. The Yupik have traditionally
moved between camps—fishing in summer, hunting and trapping in winter—and continue these practices. Researchers explore hunting and
fishing livelihoods and community salmon management knowledge.
