Satellite Culture

Abstract

Inuit hunters of the Igloolik region orient themselves on the land by understanding wind behaviour, snowdrift patterns, animal behaviour, tidal cycles, currents, and astronomical phenomena. Inuit wayfinding methods are burdensome to learn, requiring years of quiet tutoring and experience, but are perfectly reliable. Concern arose in the mid1990s that younger, less experienced hunters were beginning to rely too heavily on mechanized conveyances and electronic navigational aids. The use of global positioning system (GPS) units, particularly, has been steadily growing in Igloolik. This paper discusses the changes wrought by GPS use against the backdrop of interacting social and technological change. It argues that an understanding of these changes requires a model of technology that depends on the patterns created by devices rather than the devices (or systems of devices) themselves. A paradigmatic theory of technology based on the work of the philosopher Albert Borgmann is presented, and a distinction is made between technology that is physically and socially engaging and technology that reduces engagement with experience of the land, people, and local knowledge. It is suggested that there is a risk of turning landscapes into constructed entities or commodities, which is what happens figuratively when we are too attentive to the map and not the territory.

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