Curated Objects in Relational Networks of the Western Arctic

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Magic, Spirits, Shamanism, and Trance" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Nineteenth-century Inuit and Yupiit living on the coasts and islands of the North Pacific inhabited a landscape populated by spirits, animal persons, and object-beings. Human observance of rules and rituals was necessary, but not sufficient, to regulate this fluid, animated ecosystem. Magical practices, deeply embedded in relational ontologies, enabled humans to navigate this complex more-than-human world, materializing and reproducing social networks that made life possible. This paper investigates the material evidence of magical practices in northern Alaska and the islands of the Bering Sea, exploring how humans employed curated objects such as beads, special stones, and animal parts to communicate, protect, and facilitate exchange—actions necessary to daily survival. Ethnographic data from the nineteenth-century contact period informs interpretation of earlier Thule-era material culture recovered archaeologically.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Magic, Spirits, Shamanism, and Trance   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38948.0