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Urban Legends: Do Eskimos really have 100 words for snow?

Published on November 21, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, culture traditions, indigenous people / minorities, inuit, language

i have a phoenix – Reviews by a librarian

Everyone thinks the Eskimos have 100-plus words for snow. Everyone is wrong. They don’t. In the book The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language, Pinker writes:

“Where did the myth come from? Not from anyone who has actually studied the Yupik and Inuit-Inupiaq families of polysynthetic languages spoken from Siberia to Greenland. The anthropologist Laura Martin has documented how the story grew like an urban legend, exaggerated with each retelling.”

Later, Pinker quotes linguist Geoffrey Pullum: “Horsebreeders have various names for breeds, sizes, and ages of horses; botanists have names for leaf shapes; interior designers have names for shades of mauve; printers have many different names for fonts…, naturally enough.” >> continue

i have a phoenix - Reviews by a librarian

Everyone thinks the Eskimos have 100-plus words for snow. Everyone is wrong. They don't. In the book The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language, Pinker writes:

"Where did the myth come from?…

Modern technology revives traditional languages

Published on November 14, 2004 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, culture traditions, indigenous people / minorities, inuit, language, technology

Two articles that both have been published some days ago:

ETHIOPIA: Old alphabet adapted for modern use in technology

ADDIS ABABA, 11 Nov 2004 (IRIN) – One of the world’s oldest living alphabets could make its debut soon on mobile phones, Ethiopian scientists said on Thursday. In groundbreaking research, the ancient script of Ethiopic, which dates back to the fourth century, has been adapted so it can be used for SMS text messaging.

The scientists believe it will open up the digital age to millions of people in Ethiopia who cannot speak or write English, but use their own centuries-old alphabet. >> continue

Inuit language finds home on net

(BBC News) Browser settings on normal computers have not supported the language to date, but attavik.net has changed that. It provides a content management system that allows native speakers to write, manage documents and offer online payments in the Inuit language.

It could prove a vital tool to keep the language alive in one of the most remote communities on earth. >> continue

Two articles that both have been published some days ago:

ETHIOPIA: Old alphabet adapted for modern use in technology

ADDIS ABABA, 11 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - One of the world’s oldest living alphabets could make its debut soon on mobile phones, Ethiopian…

Study examines how Inuit coped with contact

Published on July 21, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, history, indigenous people / minorities, inuit, Us and Them

CBC North News

A unique anthropology project is under way in Holman – part of a growing trend to try to understand history from an Aboriginal perspective. Anthropologist Don Johnson is studying the adaptations Copper Inuit made after Europeans arrived in the Arctic. He says in some ways his job is to re-write history – in this case, from the Copper Inuit perspective. >>continue (Link updated)

CBC North News

Riddu Riddu – Indigenous Festival (1) – The Bands

Published on July 21, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, Arctic / Northern Regions, indigenous people / minorities, inuit, music, Saami

Back from the festival, here are some links to some bands that played in Manndalen, Kåfjord community in Northern Norway

Drum Drum from Papua New Guinea

Wai, Maori-band from New Zealand

Taima, Inuit band from Canada

Johan Sara jr – Saami Band from Northern Norway

Vajas, another Saami band

Back from the festival, here are some links to some bands that played in Manndalen, Kåfjord community in Northern Norway

Drum Drum from Papua New Guinea

Wai, Maori-band from New Zealand

Taima, Inuit band from Canada

Johan Sara jr - Saami Band from Northern…

Inuit play makes fun of anthropologists

Published on July 9, 2004 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, Arctic / Northern Regions, culture traditions, indigenous people / minorities, inuit, Us and Them

Nunatsiaq News

Erin Brubacher, who, with Odile Nelson, is co-directing and acting in the play in Iqaluit this weekend, says this is a play that “fits with the community”. “The issues involved are universal: interracial marriage, the concept of cultural appropriation, political correctness…,” Taylor says. “Many Native issues are cross-cultural.”

One of the themes in the play involves a group of kids on a reserve who are visited by a group of anthropologists researching traditional legends. None of the elders will talk to the anthropologists, so instead, the kids told them the legends their grandparents had told them, in some cases making them up for 50 cents a legend.

The play not only makes fun of the anthropologists, but also the kids who made up the stories, and “how a trick can come back and trick you,” as Taylor puts it. >>continue

Nunatsiaq News

Erin Brubacher, who, with Odile Nelson, is co-directing and acting in the play in Iqaluit this weekend, says this is a play that "fits with the community". "The issues involved are universal: interracial marriage, the concept of cultural appropriation,…