1 Inupiaq Classification of Plants & AnimalsAn example of Cognitive Anthropology By Kerry Feldman and Ernie Norton

2 Universal Life Forms? Cecil Brown says yes…how about the Inupiaq worldview?Universal Life Forms are supposedly based only on perception (form – shape, how they look) – not on how they are used These supposedly Universal Life forms that all people classify appear in an order (if you have the word for grass and tree, next comes bush) Urban people have more generic terms than hunters/gatherers (e.g., I want some MEAT; I want to buy VEGETABLES etc). Meat and vegetables are general types of Life Forms, not Life Forms per se such as “Birds”)

3 Claimed Universal Life Forms: Plants1. Tree 2. Grass 3. Bush (seems between Tree and Grass in form) 3. Vine (might be named as equally as Bush in a language) 4. Herbaceous Plant THE WORDS FOR THESE REFER TO THE SAME THINGS IN ALL LANGUAGES (where they can be found)

4 Claimed Life Forms of Animals based on study of 144 languages (looking at dictionaries)No life form of animals named From one to three of the following: 1. Fish 2. Bird 3. Snake IF MORE THAN 3 LIFE FORMS, THEN EITHER ONE OR BOTH OF… 4. Worm/Bug (“WUG”) 5. Mammal

5 CAVEATS (warnings…from me…)Linguists must engage in participant observation to understand another culture’s language and words English-XXX Dictionaries might just have English word GLOSSES (closest equivalent) of another language’s words Even Native speakers of a language can unconsciously try to find the nearest ENGLISH EQUIVALENT of a Native language term…thus…DISTORTING THE WORD’S MEANING (as with “Napaaqtuq’” for Inupiaq, according to Ernie Norton)

6 Inupiaq Animal Life FormsBirds “tiŋmiaq” – THINGS THAT FLY – tiŋmi = to fly Fish “iqaluk” No word for snake Ernie knew no classification for “bug” Ernie knew no classification for “mammal”…but …there was an OLD WORD for…NIQSAQ..hmmmm…a Linguist who heard our lecture put it in a dictionary and called it “sea mammal”!

7 “NIQSAQ” means…. (1) Hunting for something living all or part of its life in the sea, THEY CAN SWIM – a (2) relatively large animal (not a fish) (3)They breathe air Hunted in a (4) traditional manner (now includes using a rifle) Requires (5) bravery (risking one’s life) If successful, the hunter could (6) dance about the success later (DANCING???) Includes 6 large animals: polar bear, beluga, agvik (BOWHEAD whale), bearded seal, spotted seal, walrus. ( IS THE POLAR BEAR VIEWED BY WESTERNERS AS A “SEA MAMMAL”?) NOT INCLUDED: “KILLER WHALE: (aaġlu) or “Grey Whale” (aŋvik)…WHY??? Lots of swimming killer whale and Grey Whale around Kotzebue…why aren’t they good for Niqsaqing…?

8 “Niqsaq” explained Niqi = a meal, or now, = “to get game”Niqsaq in the old language meant going after a meal, in the water…but with the 6 qualities described in the prior slide… If you catch a beluga (sisuaq) in a net, it’s not a Niqsaq animal – didn’t use a traditional method! Etc. Killer Whale is viewed as a hunter – like the Inupiaq (mean as hell) Grey Whale blubber tastes bad…it’s a “phony whale” --- Inupiaq does not have a genus called “Whale”! All “whales” are viewed as separate genera to them…VERY FEW GENUS WORDS IN INUPIAQ…WHICH IS true for most hunters/gatherers…who see little similarity based on form alone for animals (or plants)

9 Plant Life Forms Napaatuq = spruce tree (green year round!) BUT LINGUISTS LISTED IT AS MEANING “TREE” Ivik = Grass Uqpik = Bush (linguists say it means “willow”) All other “trees” are “uqpikpak” = big bushes…”uqpik” = bush…”-pak” = big

10 INUPIAQ LIFE FORMS Two animal life forms: bird and fish …BROWN’S THEORY SEEMS CORRECT IN THAT HE SAID IF A LANGUAGE HAD LIFE FORMS NAMED THEY WOULD INCLUDE BIRD AND FISH But…Niqsaq does not mean “sea mammal” – no “mammals” in northern Eskimo worldview PLANT LIFE FORMS…. INUPIAQ HAS “TREE, GRASS, BUSH”…BROWN IS CORRECT…except for the darn “TREE”…”napaaqtuq” refers only to needle trees, and the classification is not based on the form of the plant only…all other tall, woody things are “big bushes” in traditional Inupiaq.

11 Conclusions Ethnoscience allows us to understand how other peoples view the world The Linnaean Classification system is how Europeans view the world, based on morphology Other cultures, including Inupiaq, have different ways of viewing the world and perceiving similarities When we understand a bit about how a culture classifies phenomena, we understand better what is in their minds