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Kayak and Canoe Design Bulletin Board
Re: Food for thought
Posted By: Ian Johnston In Response To: Re: Inuit rules for kayak design. (Ross Miller)
Date: Thursday, 21 October 1999, at 3:37 a.m.
> As for "simple," I was referring to the lives of all people
> considered by "advanced" types to be primitive, not just arctic
> people. I did not mean it in the sense of "easy," but I do think
> that their lives are in many ways less complex than ours, not necessarily
> a bad thing. Specific tasks vary in their complexity - I, too, have more
> respect for the skills it takes to live a subsistence existence with one's
> own boat and harpoon than for those of a stockbroker - but if you make
> like an anthropologist and count up all those tasks and rituals,
> implements and artifacts, you'll find that we moderns have a whole lot
> more, for what they're worth.In anthropology there is a theory supported by evidence which states that major advances in early societies and culture came about only when a people learned how to store food for a extended period of time. This allowed them to collect and store food in a time of abundance to tide them over in lean times.
Once food storage was mastered these people could turn their energy to more leisurely pursuits, such as carving, painting and even writting. In fact during lean times these would be the preferred activities, instead of wasting energy chasing food that was not available.
The Inuit did not have a food storage problem so should have had a relatively large amount of free time to pursue kayak designs and innovations. If the food supply was high for much of the year, as it would be with those living near the ocean, this free time would increase again.
So, to carry this to its natural conclusion, were the kayaks of the near ocean Inuit of a more sophisticated or advanced design than inland Inuit who would have had to forage more of the time?
Once again, probably impossible to prove because the inland Inuit would not need the use of a kayak nearly as much as a near ocean Inuit, so any design advances could be caused by the natural experience that would result from building more boats.
Food for thought though,
Ian
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