DOCSLIB.ORG

Routes of Sustenance: Infrastructure and Food Security Strategies in Chukotka

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Routes of Sustenance: Infrastructure and Food Security Strategies in Chukotka Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 2020 13(5): 772–782 DOI: 10.17516/1997-1370-0606 УДК 394 Routes of Sustenance: Infrastructure and Food Security Strategies in Chukotka Vladimir N. Davydov* and Elena A. Davydova Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) RAS St. Petersburg, Russian Federation Received 10.03.2020, received in revised form 30.04.2020, accepted 12.05.2020 Abstract. The problem of food supply is especially poignant in the remote and hard to reach Arctic settlements. Therefore, local people have to develop their own food distribution strategies. They actively employ the alternative ways of food acquisition and accumulation to maintain a sense of their food security via the use of local infrastructure, networks of relatives and friends and technologies for self-production, processing and storage of products. The article describes the recent trends in food circulation in the Iul’tinskii district of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The authors consider the existing model of food redistribution between the tundra camps, reindeer herding and coastal villages, as well as the district center. They analyze the impact that one of the largest Soviet projects in Chukotka – the Iul’tinskaia road had on food security practices of the local people. The emergence of new infrastructure has affected both their mobility and perception of food. The article demonstrates how a whole set of various state projects and commercial initiatives frame local nutritional needs, but at the same time can either hinder or contribute to their satisfaction. The relations between the infrastructural projects and the basic needs have both intersection points and “gaps” which require active regulation both by the members of the local community and the state. In this context, local people can be seen as the active agents who creatively use the existing in the region infrastructure in order to maintain their food security. Keywords: Arctic, Chukotka, infrastructure, food security, autonomy, resources, supply, anthropology of food, mobility, reindeer herding. The present research has been supported by the grant of the Russian Science Foundation (No. 19-78-10002), project “Food in the Russian Arctic: resources, technologies and innovations”. Research area: ethnography, ethnology and anthropology. © Siberian Federal University. All rights reserved * Corresponding author E-mail address: [email protected] ORCID: 0000-0003-2738-4609 (Davydov); 0000-0002-9299-7551 (Davydova) – 772 – Vladimir N. Davydov and Elena A. Davydova. Routes of Sustenance: Infrastructure and Food Security Strategies… Citation: Davydov, V.N., Davydova, E.A. (2020). Routes of sustenance: infrastructure and food security strategies in Chukotka. J. Sib. Fed. Univ. Humanit. Soc. Sci., 13(5), 772-782. DOI: 10.17516/1997- 1370-0606. Introduction but also changes the perception of food by The socio-economic problems of the Rus- local inhabitants. sian northern regions are in the focus of the attention of both scientists and politicians. Re- Anthropology of food: cently the issues related to infrastructure, work- supply in the Far North places, and climate change have increasingly Anthropology of food has a long history; become the objects of study for sociologists, a huge amount of literature has been written historians, ethnographers, anthropologists and on food and nutrition in different parts of the other specialists. However, food supply – one world (Mintz, Bois, 2002: 99-119). However, of the basic domains of human life in the Arc- food practices rarely became the main focus of tic and the important criterion of local people’s research until the 1970s (De Garine, 2004: 16). wellbeing in the remote regions, still remains Modern investigations cover a wide range of the unresearched area. issues connected with the relationship between During a six-month field research, which people and food in global context: identity, took place in the Iul’tinskii district of the Chu- memory, power, colonialism, ritual, exchange, kotka Autonomous Okrug from 2017 to 2019, feelings, etc. (Holtzman, 2006: 361-378, Sutton, we found out that the most pressing problem 2010: 209-223, Yamin-Pasternak et al., 2014: for local people was food supply of the native 619-646, 2017: 117-136). It should be noted that settlements and reindeer herders’ camps in the scientists have been interested in this field since tundra. The existing range of products defi- the formation of the anthropology/ethnography nitely does not satisfy all the nutritional needs as a discipline. The classical works, based on of local people. Therefore, they use the alter- the field data gathered in Chukotka, had the native and often invisible, from the point of character of detailed ethnographic descriptions view of an external observer, ways of acquir- and researched food patterns of particular lo- ing and accumulating food resources. This ar- cal groups (Bogoraz, 1991: 126-142, Vdovin, ticle aims to analyze the contemporary trends 1965). in circulation of products in the Iul’tinskii dis- It should be emphasized that in the 19th trict in Chukotka. and the first half of the 20th century anthro- We will be focused on one of the largest pologists studied local food systems and in- Soviet projects in the region – the Iul’tinskaia vestigated how autonomous economic systems road. This is a 207 km long highway con- functioned. Gradually the interest of anthropol- necting the seaport of Egvekinot on the coast ogists shifted to the research of food practices of the Bering Sea with the continental part in larger and more complex societies (Chatwin, of the Iul’tinskii district of the Chukotka Au- 1997, Goody, 1998, Lentz, 1999, Lockwood, tonomous Okrug. The prisoners of Chukot- Lockwood, 2000, Mayer, 1996, Matossian, stroilag had being built the road from 1946 to 1989). Since the second half of the 20th cen- 1951. It was the easternmost road of the So- tury the researchers incorporated the topic of viet Union and people used it year-round to food to build various theories (Levi-Strauss, reach local tin-tungsten deposits and main- 1969, Douglas 1966, 1972, Mintz, 1985, 1996). tain the work of the Iul’tin mining and pro- The turning point was the work of J. Goody cessing plant. Nowadays local people employ (1982), revealing the connection between food this road to conduct everyday tasks and sus- systems and socio-economic structures. Since tain a regular food supply. The road serves that time the anthropological study of food has both as a “transport artery” and a resource been developed sufficiently to become a tool for acquiring material objects and building for studying various theoretical and method- materials. It does not only facilitate mobility ological issues. However, despite the important – 773 – Vladimir N. Davydov and Elena A. Davydova. Routes of Sustenance: Infrastructure and Food Security Strategies… contribution to anthropological theories, the storage and accumulation do they employ? To researchers did not pay significant attention to find the answers we will analyze various as- food supply in the northern regions. pects of food supply practices in the native vil- The problem of sustainable food supply lage of Amguema. First, we will identify local is especially poignant in many Arctic settle- food distribution networks that exist both with- ments. Products are frequently overdue, have in a particular community and beyond. In this low quality and cost too much. Associated with context it is important to pay attention to the the Arctic regions, “remoteness” is a relative materiality of food and track “cultural biogra- and external category and it often serves as an phy” (Kopytoff, 1986) of products within their object of manipulations. The Iul’tinskaia road movements and to the knowledge of the local in Chukotka provides the access to Amguema community about its specific characteristics. native village and functions as a main direction Second, we will describe the impact of larger of food transportation. It makes the village ac- structures on food practices in the local com- cessible, but at the same time it does not mean munities: state, private trading companies, the that Amguema benefits from distance reduc- global market economy. In particular, we will tion to district center in the context of food identify the role of the infrastructure in trans- supply. This closeness creates the possibility to portation and distribution of products. Third, deliver overdue products to the rural stores. we will observe how it affects the technologies The processes and institutions of the glob- of food preservation and cooking. Finally, we al economic system, including the offshore will pay attention to the process of how the in- economy have a serious impact on the life of frastructure changes food aesthetics and local local communities (Urry, 2014). Mechanisms people’s sensory perception of products (Yam- of informal economy regulate food supply in in-Pasternak et al., 2014). Chukotka. Thus, the idiom of “remoteness” creates a scarcity in supply that gives the possi- Food routes: two-way traffic bility to sell the low quality and overdue prod- Local people are the active agents of food ucts. At the same time the products produced transportation. Their movements often imply locally are often absent in the local shops. For the mobility of food between different loca- instance, local fish and venison can be rarely tions. This mobility, as a rule, has a systematic bought in the stores
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Title Post-Soviet Period Changes in Resource Utilization and Their
    Post-Soviet Period Changes in Resource Utilization Title and Their Impact on Population Dynamics: Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Author(s) Litvinenko, Tamara Vitalyevna; Kumo, Kazuhiro Citation Issue Date 2017-08 Type Technical Report Text Version publisher URL http://hdl.handle.net/10086/28761 Right Hitotsubashi University Repository Center for Economic Institutions Working Paper Series No. 2017-3 “Post-Soviet Period Changes in Resource Utilization and Their Impact on Population Dynamics: Chukotka Autonomous Okrug” Tamara Vitalyevna Litvinenko and Kazuhiro Kumo August 2017 Center for Economic Institutions Working Paper Series Institute of Economic Research Hitotsubashi University 2-1 Naka, Kunitachi, Tokyo, 186-8603 JAPAN http://cei.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/English/index.html Tel:+81-42-580-8405/Fax:+81-42-580-8333 Post-Soviet Period Changes in Resource Utilization and Their Impact on Population Dynamics: Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Tamara Vitalyevna Litvinenko Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences Kazuhiro Kumo Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Japan Abstract This study examines changes that have occurred in the resource utilization sector and the impact of these changes on population dynamics in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug during the post-Soviet period. This paper sheds light on the sorts of population-dynamics-related differences that have emerged in the region and how these differences relate to the use of natural resources and the ethnic composition of the population. Through this study, it was shown that changes have tended to be small in local areas where indigenous peoples who have engaged in traditional natural resource use for a large proportion of the population, while changes have been relatively large in areas where the proportion of non-indigenous people is high and the mining industry has developed.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Transition in the North, Vol. 1, No. 4, May 1993
    \ / ' . I, , Social Transition.in thb North ' \ / 1 \i 1 I '\ \ I /? ,- - \ I 1 . Volume 1, Number 4 \ I 1 1 I Ethnographic l$ummary: The Chuko tka Region J I / 1 , , ~lexdderI. Pika, Lydia P. Terentyeva and Dmitry D. ~dgo~avlensly Ethnographic Summary: The Chukotka Region Alexander I. Pika, Lydia P. Terentyeva and Dmitry D. Bogoyavlensky May, 1993 National Economic Forecasting Institute Russian Academy of Sciences Demography & Human Ecology Center Ethnic Demography Laboratory This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DPP-9213l37. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recammendations expressed in this material are those of the author@) and do not ncccssarily reflect the vim of the National Science Foundation. THE CHUKOTKA REGION Table of Contents Page: I . Geography. History and Ethnography of Southeastern Chukotka ............... 1 I.A. Natural and Geographic Conditions ............................. 1 I.A.1.Climate ............................................ 1 I.A.2. Vegetation .........................................3 I.A.3.Fauna ............................................. 3 I1. Ethnohistorical Overview of the Region ................................ 4 IIA Chukchi-Russian Relations in the 17th Century .................... 9 1I.B. The Whaling Period and Increased American Influence in Chukotka ... 13 II.C. Soviets and Socialism in Chukotka ............................ 21 I11 . Traditional Culture and Social Organization of the Chukchis and Eskimos ..... 29 1II.A. Dwelling ..............................................
    [Show full text]
  • Traditional Knowledge of the Native People of Chukotka About Walrus
    TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF CHUKOTKA Chukotka Association of Traditional Marine Mammal Hunters 689000 Russia, Chukotskiy Autonomous District, 20, suite14 Polyarnaya Street [email protected] Eskimo Walrus Commission P.O. Box 948, Nome, Alaska, USA 99762 [email protected] TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF CHUKOTKA ABOUT WALRUS FINAL REPORT Prepared for Kawerak Inc. by: Eduard ZDOR, project science supervisor, CHAZTO executive secretary Liliya ZDOR, project researcher in the Chukotskiy region Lyudmila AINANA, project researcher in the Providenskiy region Anadyr April 2010 [Translated from the Russian by O.V. Romanenko, Anchorage, Alaska, February 2011] 2 WALRUS AND ITS HABITAT TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF CHUKOTKA Table of contents Table of contents ............................................................................................................................ 3 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 4 MATERIALS AND METHODS. .................................................................................................. 6 1. Data gathering organization .................................................................................................... 6 Fig. 1. Organizational sturcture of the project «Gathering traditional knowledge of the Chukotka Native people about the walrus » .................................................................................................. 6
    [Show full text]
  • Post-Soviet Period Changes in Resource Utilization And
    Tamara Litvinenko1*, Kazuhiro Kumo2 1Institute of Geography RAS 2Hitotsubashi University, Institute of Economic Research *Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected] POST-SOVIET PERIOD CHANGES IN ustainability S RESOURCE UTILIZATION AND THEIR 66 IMPACT ON POPULATION DYNAMICS IN CHUKOTKA AUTONOMOUS OKRUG (RUSSIA) Abstract. This study examines changes that have occurred in the resource utilization sector and the impact of these changes on population dynamics in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (Russia) during the post-Soviet period. This paper discuss topics of population-dynamics-related differences that have emerged in the region and impacts of these differences on the use of natural resources and the ethnic composition of the population. Through this study, it was shown that changes have tended to be small in local areas where indigenous peoples who have engaged in traditional natural resource use for a large proportion of the population, while changes have been relatively large in areas where the proportion of non-indigenous people is high and the mining industry has developed. Key WORDS: Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, indigenous people, non-indigenous people, population dynamics, natural resource utilization, human settlements, intra-regional differences, non-renewable mineral resources, renewable natural resources. Citation: Tamara Litvinenko, Kazuhiro Kumo(2017) Post-soviet period changes in resource utilization and their impact on population dynamics in Chukotka autonomous okrug (Russia). Geography, Environment, Sustainability (GES Journal), Vol.11, No 3, p. 66-86 DOI-10.24057/2071-9388-2017-11-3-66-86 Introduction traditional ways has maintained local stability (Mulvihill and Jacobs 1991; Duerden 1992; The demographic economic systems in the Khaknazarov 2013). Nevertheless, it is not yet North are extremely unstable.
    [Show full text]
  • Intorduction: On... Gender Shift
    Introduction: On the Definition, Theory, and Practice of Gender Shift in the North of Russia Olga Povoroznyuk, Joachim Otto Habeck, and Virginie Vaté Abstract The authors of the paper write about the history of this special issue, explain why they have chosen the Russian North as their focus and render their understanding of changing gender relations through the definition of gender shift. Further, they describe multiple interrelated processes of gender shift, or gender shifts, unfolding in demographic, socio-economic, symbolic and cultural, administrative and political spheres. This description is illustrated with references to the diverse contributions to this issue, which represent a wide range of topics and approaches and provide rich empirical material originating from northern indigenous and multiethnic, nomadic, rural and urban communities. Discussions on and interpretations of gender shift are followed by anthropological case studies presented by the three authors on the basis of their research conducted in Zabaikal‟skii Territory, Komi Republic, and Chukotka. Keywords: Gender Shift, Russian North, Demography, Socio-Economic Aspects, Gendered Spaces, Sexuality, Social Institutions, Political Power, Family Split, Social Engineering, Religious Practices In May 2008 the editors of this volume organized in Cesvaine, a small town in Latvia, a workshop entitled “Gender Shift in Northern Communities of Russia,” supported by the Wenner- Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research and the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. Out of the papers presented during this workshop and the intensive discussions that followed each of the presentations grew this special issue. Setting the frame for the articles to come, we would like to explain why we decided to invite a number of specialists to reflect on gender relations in this part of the world (the Russian North1), how we define this notion of “gender shift,” and how each of us individually relates to this notion in our respective research.
    [Show full text]
  • Wetlands in Russia
    WETLANDS IN RUSSIA Volume 4 Wetlands in Northeastern Russia Compiled by A.V.Andreev Moscow 2004 © Wetlands International, 2004 All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism, or review (as permitted under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988) no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright holder. The production of this publication has been generously supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, The Netherlands Citation: Andreev, A.V. 2004. Wetlands in Russia, Volume 4: Wetlands in Northeastern Russia. Wetlands International–Russia Programme.198 pp. ISBN 90-5882-024-6 Editorial Board: V.O.Avdanin, V.G.Vinogradov, V.Yu. Iliashenko, I.E.Kamennova, V.G.Krivenko, V.A.Orlov, V.S.Ostapenko, V.E.Flint Translation: Yu.V.Morozov Editing of English text: D. Engelbrecht Layout: M.A.Kiryushkin Cover photograph: A.V.Andreev Designed and produced by KMK Scientific Press Available from: Wetlands International-Russia Programme Nikoloyamskaya Ulitsa, 19, stroeniye 3 Moscow 109240, Russia Fax: + 7 095 7270938; E-mail: [email protected] The presentation of material in this publication and the geographical designations employed do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Wetlands International, concerning the legal status of any territory or area,
    [Show full text]
  • Walrus TEK 2009 Final Report Zdor ENG Final
    TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF CHUKOTKA Chukotka Association of Traditional Marine Mammal Hunters 689000 Russia, Chukotskiy Autonomous District, 20, suite14 Polyarnaya Street [email protected] Eskimo Walrus Commission P.O. Box 948, Nome, Alaska, USA 99762 [email protected] TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF CHUKOTKA ABOUT WALRUS FINAL REPORT Prepared for Kawerak Inc. By: Eduard ZDOR, project science supervisor, CHAZTO executive secretary Liliya ZDOR, project researcher in the Chukotskiy region Lyudmila AINANA, project researcher in the Providenskiy region Anadyr April 2010 [Translated from the Russian by O.V. Romanenko, Anchorage, Alaska, February 2011] WALRUS AND ITS HABITAT TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATIVE PEOPLE OF CHUKOTKA Table of contents INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1 MATERIALS AND METHODS. .................................................................................................. 3 1. Data gathering organization .................................................................................................... 3 Fig. 1. Organizational sturcture of the project «Gathering traditional knowledge of the Chukotka Native people about the walrus » .................................................................................................. 3 Fig. 2. Village locations and respondents interviewed under the project «Gathering of traditional knowledge about walrus of the Native peoples of Chukotka»
    [Show full text]
  • Chronology of the Key Historical Events on the Eastern Seas of the Russian Arctic (The Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea, the Chukchi Sea)
    Chronology of the Key Historical Events on the Eastern Seas of the Russian Arctic (the Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea, the Chukchi Sea) Seventeenth century 1629 At the Yenisei Voivodes’ House “The Inventory of the Lena, the Great River” was compiled and it reads that “the Lena River flows into the sea with its mouth.” 1633 The armed forces of Yenisei Cossacks, headed by Postnik, Ivanov, Gubar, and M. Stadukhin, arrived at the lower reaches of the Lena River. The Tobolsk Cossack, Ivan Rebrov, was the first to reach the mouth of Lena, departing from Yakutsk. He discovered the Olenekskiy Zaliv. 1638 The first Russian march toward the Pacific Ocean from the upper reaches of the Aldan River with the departure from the Butalskiy stockade fort was headed by Ivan Yuriev Moskvitin, a Cossack from Tomsk. Ivan Rebrov discovered the Yana Bay. He Departed from the Yana River, reached the Indigirka River by sea, and built two stockade forts there. 1641 The Cossack foreman, Mikhail Stadukhin, was sent to the Kolyma River. 1642 The Krasnoyarsk Cossack, Ivan Erastov, went down the Indigirka River up to its mouth and by sea reached the mouth of the Alazeya River, being the first one at this river and the first one to deliver the information about the Chukchi. 1643 Cossacks F. Chukichev, T. Alekseev, I. Erastov, and others accomplished the sea crossing from the mouth of the Alazeya River to the Lena. M. Stadukhin and D. Yarila (Zyryan) arrived at the Kolyma River and founded the Nizhnekolymskiy stockade fort on its bank.
    [Show full text]
  • Chronicle of Trans – Arctic Passage
    UDK 656.614.33(985)(045) Chronicle of Trans – Arctic passage © Vladimir P. Sokolov, the sea captain, the captain-inspector of administration of seaport «Arkhangelsk». Education - the navigator and the journalist, has ended faculty of journalism of the Leningrad University. Worked on sea courts. More than thirty years co-operate with newspapers of Arkhangelsk. Its articles were published in central press. A member of the Union of journalists of the Russian Federation, the winner of the award of the Arkhangelsk regional journalistic organization. Mobile phone +7-906-28288-96. Abstract Notes of sea captain Vladimir Sokolova we begin a heading «Arctic regions today». For the first time in history existence of Northern sea way during navigation by one icebreaking vessel «Michael Somov» are provided all polar stations. The author reflects on problems of development of Northern sea way. Key words: «Michael Somov», development, northern sea way, supply of polar stations. I must say that for "Mikhail Somov" I'm not a stranger at all. Ten years ago, it took the post of chief mate, was in the Barents and Kara seas, and participated in the landings on the island weather station. The same type of "Somov" diesel-electric ice-class specially built for navigation in ice. And there were a to the Arctic in the 70-80s at least a dozen "Amguema", "Navarino", "Vankarem", "Paul Ponomarev," "Captain Myshevsky ..." On one of them - "Gizhiga" - as a young man I began my work the Navigation. Over time, the entire series has been written down by age, or, as sailors say, "on the needles." Today on the Northern Sea Route of them had only one - the famous "Mikhail Somov".
    [Show full text]
  • Information to Users
    Extent, timing, and paleogeographic significance of multiple Pleistocene glaciations in the Bering Strait region Item Type Thesis Authors Heiser, Patricia Anne Download date 06/10/2021 11:16:47 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/9480 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type o f computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely afreet reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back o f the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 I..i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.
    [Show full text]
  • Birds of Mys Shmidta, North Chukotka, Russia
    FORKTAIL 29 (2013): 25–30 Birds of Mys Shmidta, north Chukotka, Russia VLADIMIR YU. ARKHIPOV, TOM NOAH, STEFFEN KOSCHKAR & FYODOR A. KONDRASHOV A survey of avifauna was carried out in the Mys Shmidta area, north Chukotka, Russia from 8 June to 12 July 2011. A total of 90 species was recorded in the area, which together with literature data made a final list of 104 species. For several species this area is beyond the northern, north-eastern or north-western limits of their known distribution. We collected new data for 19 globally or locally threatened species. Tundra Swan Cygnus columbianus, Emperor Goose Anser canagica, American Golden Plover Pluvialis dominica, Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri, Semipalmated Sandpiper C. pusilla, Northern House Martin Delichon urbica and Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica were all confirmed to be breeding. Breeding of Brent Goose Branta bernicla nigricans, Spectacled Eider Somateria fischeri and Steller’s Eider Polysticta stelleri was judged to be ‘very likely’. There was no evidence for breeding of Ross’s Gull Rhodostethia rosea despite several records. Two Eurasian Dotterels Eudromias morinellus were recorded displaying for the first time in the area, but the status of the species is unclear. The area is important for Snowy Owl Nyctea scandiaca, and as moulting grounds for Emperor Goose. Canada Goose Branta canadensis, Baikal Teal Anas formosa, Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica, Slaty-backed Gull Larus schistisagus, Thayer’s Gull L. thayeri, Black-headed Gull L. ridibundus, White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla, Steller’s Sea Eagle H. pelagicus, Osprey Pandion haliaetus, Arctic Warbler Phylloscopus borealis and House Sparrow Passer domesticus are more likely to be rare vagrants or migrants.
    [Show full text]
  • The Following Section on Early History Was Written by Professor William (Bill) Barr, Arctic Historian, the Arctic Institute of North America, University of Calgary
    The following section on early history was written by Professor William (Bill) Barr, Arctic Historian, The Arctic Institute of North America, University of Calgary. Prof. Barr has published numerous books and articles on the history of exploration of the Arctic. In 2006, William Barr received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the recorded history of the Canadian North from the Canadian Historical Association. As well, Prof. Barr, a known admirer of Russian Arctic explorers, has been credited with making known to the wider public the exploits of Polar explorations by Russia and the Soviet Union. HISTORY OF ARCTIC SHIPPING UP UNTIL 1945 Northwest Passage The history of the search for a navigable Northwest Passage by ships of European nations is an extremely long one, starting as early as 1497. Initially the aim of the British and Dutch was to find a route to the Orient to grab their share of the lucrative trade with India, Southeast Asia and China, till then monopolized by Spain and Portugal which controlled the route via the Cape of Good Hope. In 1497 John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), sponsored by King Henry VII of England, sailed from Bristol in Mathew; he made a landfall variously identified as on the coast of Newfoundland or of Cape Breton, but came no closer to finding the Passage (Williamson 1962). Over the following decade or so, he was followed (unsuccessfully) by the Portuguese seafarers Gaspar Corte Real and his brother Miguel, and also by John Cabot’s brother Sebastian, who some theorize, penetrated Hudson Strait (Hoffman 1961). The first expeditions in search of the Northwest Passage that are definitely known to have reached the Arctic were those of the English captain, Martin Frobisher in 1576, 1577 and 1578 (Collinson 1867; Stefansson 1938).
    [Show full text]