Arctic Dreams Comments
By Rachel Fleming (04/18/14 19:10:17)
-The author wanders around making mental notes of the nature that surrounds him. I can picture the landscape in my head fairly clearly, especially since I make similar observations when I’m out exploring nature…noting the kinds of birds present and what they appear to be doing…focusing on sounds, smells…admiring the presence of nature all around and connections between species.

-I do not think that the observation of wolf “remembering” where it hid its food was accurate. The wolf probably did not rely on visual cues from its landscape. It likely smelled where it was hidden or remembered a smell nearby.

-Liked the question asked by the Eskimo about being able to “see into tomorrow.” The attempted translations of this comment were clever.

-"For hunting peoples, for example, says Levi-Strauss, an animal is held in high totemic regard not merely because it is food and therefore good to eat but because it is "good to think." The animal is "good to imagine." – I like this idea. Amazing how there are ideas in other cultures and languages that we have no words for in English.

-Interesting how accurately the eskimo drew a map of the area! Also interesting is how they could not imagine being detached from the natural landscape

-“The aspiration of aboriginal people throughout the world has been to achieve a congruent relationship with the land, to fit well in it.” This is definitely an idea that would have sounded shocking to the first white American settlers, who believed wild land to be mysterious, evil, and in need of human taming.


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