380 / REVIEWS this filler is understandable. It is harder for the reader to fathom behavior and natural history of muskoxen and the High why the geomorphological general map - clear and informative environment in which theylive. The text contains many narrations inits own right - hasbecome the victim of overprinting. of field observations thatdescribe the behaviorof this unique animal “Dominating relief altitude” has been tacked on using a colorscale, in detail and relate the perceptions and experiencesobservers. of the although thereare plentyof colors on the mapotherwise. It gradually becomes obvious that this map, too, wouldhave had “white space” Forshort periods the herdgrazed calmly, then suddenly a few muskoxen began moving; walking slowlyat first, then breakinginto had the additional material not been superimposed: there are so a run. Othersjoined them until the whole groupwas galloping down few clear-cut relief categories in the legend that they wouldhave not the middleof the valley. In the orange and blue lightof the sunless been sufficient to cover allrelief the types of the country. The addi- morning, the steam from those working lungs and thefine particles tional colors provided by the “dominant relief amplitude” fill in of snow dustedup from over a hundredhooves formed a wispy trail the blanks, asit were. The result is unfortunate for thegeneral reader, of fog above and behindthe dark mass of the pounding herd. More for the colors of one scale arereadily not distinguishable from those impressive, however, wasthe sound. The crackle of hooves breaking of the other. Readinginvolves turning giant pages and looking for through the wind-crust reachedus on our hilltop over two kilometres information in the labyrinthine explanations. away. The clear, almost windless,air created the oddillusion of dis- The beginning of the foliogives instructions in pedantic detail embodied sounds close at hand while their source, the muskoxen, galloped soundlessly across the distant snow [p. 731. to the reader on how class widthshave been indicated. This gives an impressionof attention to detail andreliability. In reality, however, The book is arranged into an introduction,seven chapters, and most of the maps, in particular many of the smaller ones, are the a shortepilogue. The introduction states theobjectives ofthe study, result of very broad generalizations. which were to record and describe the behavior patterns of the The impression created in the beginning in “Instructions to the muskoxen, and briefly summarizes study methods and other reader” is shattered and the harsh reality of the work becomes research. Chapter 1 presents clear descriptions of physical charac- apparent. For instance, the hiker who would use the maps in planning teristics,taxonomy, ancestry, andthe present distribution of his trip might run into considerable surprises in the field. Oneof muskoxen, aswell as thephysical characteristics of Polar BearPass. the worst obstacles for hikers in northern Finland is hummocky Different seasons in the annualcycle of muskoxen in moraine. This chaotic, truly important feature of the tzrrain has Pass are described in the second chapter. The birth of calves, been neglected on one of the main maps, where in addition to maternal behavior, calf development, and play behavior incalves bedrock-determined reliefs, eskers, for instance, are indicated. The andyearlings are detailed in the discussion of spring.The “biogenetic relief,” however, stands thehiker in better stead. If he descriptions of aggressive and courtship behavior presented in the realizes that this formation means peatlands, then hewill at least discussion of summer are some of the highlights of the book. bring along suitable footwear. Shedding, cooling mechanisms and play are also included in the The qualityof reproduction and printingis wholly adequate. Color discussion of summer, but food habits are discussed.not The sections photographs are clear. The covers are stylish. Thanks are also due on fall and winter are primarily limited to descriptions of the area to those whohave drawn up the diagrams. Some of the cartogramsand other animalspecies, with some discussion about movements, are elegant. A considerable amountof scientific expertise has been winter feeding and winter mortalities. During the one winter that used in producing maps and diagrams, supplementarytext, and pho- observers remainedin Polar BearPass, no muskoxen were seen from tographs. Should it seem that the expertise has been buried under late Novemberuntil early February. But the accountof the scientists’ a pile of chaff, as it were, this is understandable when one looks activities during their long, dark arctic winter is interesting. at the dateof publication. The entire assemblagewas (and will be) Chapter 3 discusses muskoxsocial behavior. Sectionson the herd, published in the period just before computer data banks became herd size, and herd dynamics containseveral interesting observations. common. The work has been produced in decades when electronicDescriptions of social organization and social dominance, including data storage methods were already becoming familiar, and books the relationship between leadership and dominance, the open social and atlaseswere trying to defend their position existence. and Paper structure of muskox herds, and the unique defence formation, are data packages began swell,to becoming voluminous monsters. They excellent. Muskox locomotion and movement rates are detailed. were piling up on shelves and tables, large and heavy. They are Population changes observed during this long-term study are authoritative looking, at least for the time being, rather like the covered in Chapter4. A regional perspectiveof muskox numbers, giant reptiles beforethe evolutionof smaller, more intelligentgroups distribution, and movements is lacking in this book, because of of organisms. the focuson one geographicarea. Although information on numbers If you have enough shelf space, you can do worse than to fill of muskoxen on Bathurst Island is presented from a variety of it up with this bundle of data. Among the chaff the cartographer sources, a discussionof these results wouldhave been helpful. The has put together much of worth. documentation of variability in productivity and mortality, including the reproductive failures in1968-70 and winter mortalities during Jouko Piirola severe conditions in 1973-74, are valuable contributions to under- University of Lapland standing the dynamics of this species. PO. Box 122 Chapter 5 depictsthe relationships of muskoxen with other 96101 Rovaniemi, Finland inhabitants of Polar BearPass. The descriptions of interactions with (English translation by Richard Foley) wolves, including wolves killing muskoxen, are detailed and fas- cinating. The scavenging roleof arctic foxes and polar bears, lack of competition with other herbivores (caribou and arctic hares), THE MUSKOXEN OF POLAR BEARPASS. By DAVID R. GRAY. and parasitism are discussed briefly. Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry& Whiteside and National Museum Muskoxen and manis the subject ofChapter 6. The chapterbegins of Natural Sciences, National Museums of , 1987. 192 with a discussion on disturbance byaircraft, snowmobile, and p., 26 figs., 24 colourplates, 6 black-and-whitephotos, 4 humans on foot, which might be more appropriately located at the appendices, index, glossary, bib. Hardbound. Cdn$50.00. end of the chapter in the discussion of the modern era. Archaeo- logical evidence and early historical reports are interesting contri- The Muskoxen of Polar Bear Pass summarizes the results of a butions, asis the discussion onrecent activities in the area. Defining decade of study of this arcticmammal on Bathurst Island in northernthe dates of each historic period would add to the clarityof this Canada. Written in a non-technical format, the book depicts the section. REVIEWS / 381

The final chapter attempts to summarizehow muskox behavior parative, mais ici,le texte est parseme dereflexions, de comparaisons patterns are adaptations to arctic conditions and contribute to thetres generales et de references aux grands auteurs comme Kant ou evolutionary success of thespecies. It also discusses the advantages Merleau-Ponty. Ce bricolage savant, en s’ktirant, devient parfois of long-term studies and future implications for the muskoxen in presque hors-propos en ce qu’il nous eloigne de l’objet principal Polar Bear Pass. The epilogue is an appeal for maintaining the d’etudequi estla penseedes Inuit. En cela, l’auteur depasse existenceof places like Polar Bear Pass, which was designated largement la demarche qu’elle declare avoir suivie: l’examen du Canada’s first arctic National Wildlife Area in 1986. lexjque a la faqon du depeqage d’un animal (p. 167). The appendices present additional details on specific subjects: A la page56, l’auteur affirme un peu trop categoriquement que births,deaths, calving dates and carcasses found, capture and la femme passait la majeure partie de son existence a l’interieur marking techniques, scientific and Inuit Eskimo names, and arctic de l’habitation. Therrien insiste egalement sur le fait qu’il fallait photography. The book contains a short listof abbreviations used ttre un excellent chasseur pour reunir les peaux necessaires pour in thetext and a useful index. The bibliography includes literature la couverture des kayaks (p. 67). Or on sait qu’une petite partie cited in the text as well as a reading list and sources for films and seulement des prises d’un bon chasseur servaita recouvrir lacarcase exhibits about muskoxen. du kayak, soit environ 9 peaux de phoque annele ou 4 a 5 peaux Line drawings used in figures and as illustrations throughout thede phoque barbu (Arima,1975:127 et Saladin d’Anglure,1967536). text are excellent, explaining technicalpoints in an easy to understand L‘exemplenord-siberien des dyades (( droit/soleil~et format. Black-and-white photographs illustrate points in thetext. (( gauche/ombre N evoque par Therrien(p. 74) semble ttre exactement Color photographs of muskoxen, other mammals, and scenery in l’inverse de la conception inuit correspondante l’onque trouve dans the center of the book are interesting, but many are not ofexcep- 1’Arctique central et oriental canadien (voir parexemple Boas, tional quality. The large number of color plates (24) contributes 1964:190). Afin de ne pas confondre le lecteur non initie, pourquoi to the relatively high cost of this book. The book’s layout, print, n’a-t-on pas simplement presenteici cette seconde conception qui and overall appearance are appealing. se rattache evidemment davantage au cadre geographique precise This book is a wealth of detail about the behavior of muskoxen dans le titre de l’ouvrage.Toujours dansle domaine de la conception and a major contribution to understanding the biology of this de l’univers, il est etonnant de constaterle contraste entrele modele species. The Muskoxen of Polar Bear Pass would be valuable to presente par Therrien (p. 106, 108) et celui de Saladin d’Anglure individuals studyinganimal behavioror ungulateecology and would (1978). Le premier, assez statique, laisse supposer quel’univers, selon be enjoyed by anyone interested in the natural history of arctic les Inuit, n’est autre que la somme de toutesles parties composantes regions. qui sont cependant subordonneesa l’ensemble. Le second fait appel a la notion de circularitt, et laisse une plus grande place a la Patricia Embry Reynolds dimension temporelle. Force est donc d’admettre qu’il est parfois Arctic National Wildlife Refuge difficile de distinguer, dans le produit de l’enqutte ethnologique, US. Fish and Wildlife Service entre le discours du chercheur et celui des Inuit. 101 12th Avenue, Box 20 Brievement, en depit de quelquesfaiblesses mentionnees ci-dessus, Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 les resultats del’analyse ethnolinguistique de Therrien sont desplus USA. interessants. L‘auteur propose une interpretation originalela departie du lexique inuit qui toucheles multiples dimensions des rapports du corps et de la culture. Je recommande donc la lecture de cette LE CORPSINUIT ( ARCTIQUE). By MICHELE monographie qui inttressera non seulement les semiologues mais THERRIEN. Paris: Selaf, 1987. 199 p., 3 maps, 10 tables, 16 illus., Cgalement tous les lecteursserieux qui veulent connaitre ou 26 photos, bib. 150FF. redtcouvrir la culture des Inuit de facon approfondie. J’aimerais remercier Catherine Rankin qui a bien voulu accepter I1 faut saluer l’ouvrage de Therrien comme une contribution de lire et de commenter la version anglaise de ce compte-rendu. importante a l’immense domaine que constituent les recherches portant sur les Inuit. L‘auteur dkoile ici une partie de la logique de lapensee inuit en examinantles rapports entrele corps et differents Michele Therrien’s bookis an important contribution to vastthe aspects de la culture: la maison,le kayak, la perception del’espace, field of Inuit studies. The author reveals one part of the logic of le Sacre, et l’identitkhumaine. Bien sQr, le corps exprime le the Inuit thought processby analyzing relations between the body mouvement, l’espace, distingue soi etles autres. I1 Cvoque le temps, and different aspects of their culture: the habitation, the kayak, les origines et les transformations de l’ttre humain. spatial perception, and spiritual and human identity. Not only does L‘approche ethnolinguistique preconisee par l’auteur permet de the body express movement and space, but itis a means by which definir ces differents rapports tels qu’ils se trouvent exprimes dans we can distinguish between self and others. It also reflects time, la langue des Inuit. Therrien fait egalement a appel une fouled’autres origins and transformations of human identity. donnees incluant les sources les plus diverses afin de mieux cerner The ethnolinguistic approach enables the author to define these ce qui distingue la notion de corps humain chez les Inuit. different relations as they are to be found in the Inuit lexicon. MalgrC l’excellente qualit6 de cette monographieainsi que l’intertt Therrien also refers to a wide range of different sources in order certain qu’elle eveille, ilme semble necessaire de mentionner quelques to distinguish the particularitiesof the human body concept among points faibles ainsi que certaines idees de l’auteur avec lesquelles the Inuit. Even though this excellent monograph is certainly very je ne me suis pas senti tout a fait a l’aise. appealing and instructive, I wish to comment on the occasional D’abord le texte comprend un certain nombre de redondances difficulties and discomfort I had with some ideas put forthby the qui auraient pu&re evitkes: l’information quise trouve danscertains author aswell as someweaknesses of this work. As an archaeologist, tableaux revient dans le texte sous une forme plus litteraire (ex., I am not going to comment on the validity of the formal analysis p. 26,29, 146, 153).L‘auteur s’en serait probablement rendu compte of the lexicon. si les tableaux avait ete mis davantage enrelief. Demtme, on trouve Even though this is a short monograph, thetext includes a few parfois de tres longues enumerations lexicales placees sans tran- redundancies that couldhave been avoided: the information in some sition dansle texte (ex.,p. 96-97, 156), rompant ainsi le fil des idees tables is also presented in the text in a more literary fashion(e.g., qui autrement se succkdent a un rythme favorable a la poursuite p. 26,29, 146, 153). This problem couldhave been avoidedif some de la lecture. L’anthropologie est une demarche avant tout com- of the tables had been further enhanced. The placingof long lexical