Volume 67, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 57-70
a
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Biology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, United States
b Department of Linguistics, University of Chicago, 1130 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, United States
b Department of Linguistics, University of Chicago, 1130 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, United States
Abstract
The native language
of west Greenland, Kalaallisut, is robust, with over 50 000 speakers
among approximately 56 000 inhabitants. However, many people in Nuuk,
the capital and largest city, believe traditional knowledge of plant
uses has been lost as a result of extensive Danish contact. Our findings
indicate that in southern Greenland local knowledge of plant uses is
greater than believed. Interviews conducted with people in two southern
communities, Nanortalik and Qassiarsuk, showed that people acquire
knowledge about plants through a vast number of resources, not only Inuit
knowledge from elders, but also published European sources and
experimentation, raising questions about the extent to which such
knowledge can be labeled traditional or ancestral. We documented more
than 50 taxa and 205 plant uses in seven broad categories: medicine,
beverages, food, herbs and spices, fuel, ritual, and material culture,
the last category consisting primarily of decorative uses. Although
medicinal uses account for the largest amount (~27%), the combination of
the food, beverage, and herbs and spices/condiment categories make up
nearly half of all uses. Some plants, in particular mushrooms and
seaweed, were identified as edible but are not consumed. All consultants
are fluent speakers of Kalaallisut, and identified the majority of
plants. However, only 12 species were identified by everyone consulted,
and some plants were identified by their Danish name. Some plant names
and uses have remained consistent along the migration route of Inuit ancestors across the Arctic, while others have been lost or changed over time. © The Arctic Institute of North America.
Author keywords
Arctic; Ethnobotany; Greenland; Inuit; Language; Linguistics; Local knowledge; Plants