Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Arizona, 2000. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 297-324).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Arizona, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 297-324).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rhode Island, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 257-269).

By way of introduction the thesis considers Norse whaling history, in general, concepts like 'whaling tradition', 'whaling culture', and describes the approach to the divers studies of cetaceans in Norse peasant fisherman economy and culture and of Norse whaling techniques, ca 900-1900 AD. It is argued that the Icelandic littoral and inshore regime reflects the primordial Norse regime in which property zones on land are 'mirrored' in the littoral and the sea; furthermore, that the Orcadian-Shetlandic Udal ebb limit is not Norse in origin. Norse mediaeval cetology and popular views about real and fictitious whales are studied. Many whales are identified, including the now extinct North Atlantic gray whale is positively identified as previously well-known to, and hunted by, the the Icelanders. It is argued that traditional Norse whale measures in 'ells' are not exaggerated extent measures but often exact appraisement sums, using a unit called *hvalsalin ('whale ell'). Few ritual aspects are found but in West Norway peasant fisherman apparently sustained, into the 19th century, -a tradition of sacrificing whale tails to the old Norse god Njörör. Mediaeval and early modern Norwegian whale traps are discussed and land rise suggested as one reason for their disappearance. A technical and linguistic analysis demonstrates that mediaeval Norse whaling with piercing weapons, rather than being hand harpoon tow whaling, was spear whaling which continued in Norway until 1870 and in Iceland to the mid 1890s. Spear whaling explains the elaborate Icelandic system of registrating whaling shot marks and partly the wide 'driftage zone' of coastal estates there. Spearing and arrowing caused clostridium infection in the whales which usually died in a matter of days after which some were recovered. It is also argued that gaffing of larger cetaceans constitutes a separate whaling method. The Appendix contains numerous calendars and sources in the original, including transcriptions of parts of the 'Icelandic fishlore' by Jon Ölafsson frä Grunnavik, 1737, and the whole treatise by Andreas Christie, 'Account of the whaling in Sotra district', West Norway, from 1785/86, all with tentative English translations and summaries.

Coastal fishermen and whalers on the island of Qeqertarsuaq in Disko Bay, west Greenland, rely on the harvest of marine resources for the continuation of subsistence livelihoods. Over the years, however, Qeqertarsuarmiut have witnessed increasingly stringent whaling quotas and, more recently, a global crisis-narrative about climate change which ignores the reality of coastal livelihoods in the Arctic. In popular debates about whaling, aboriginal subsistence whalers (ASWs) are generally portrayed as 'uncivilised' while the climate crisis-narrative features arctic coastal dwellers as somehow more 'exposed' or 'vulnerable' to environmental fluctuations than the rest of the world. Qeqertarsuarmiut tell a different story about their relationship and ways of engaging with non-human persons (such as winds, sea ice and marine mammals) as these are encountered in the course of seasonal harvesting efforts along the coast and wider bay waters. So while ecological fluctuations have certainly been observed, interactions with a familiar coastal environment continue to foster a relationship that presupposes a sense of patience and flexibility towards shifting sea ice conditions, local weather vagaries and the moods of non- human persons and forces. Coastal dwellers attentiveness towards the liveliness of fiords, mulls and inlets is anchored in stories about both previous encounters, and contemporary experiences, with wilful environmental agents, which reflect an enduring ontology of openness towards the sea. The chapter argues that coastal - as opposed to crisis - narratives about Qeqertarsuarmiut seascape making reflect the complexities of arctic livelihoods in ways that conflict with imposed whaling regulations and the otherwise dominant vocabulary of risk associated with climate change in the Arctic today.

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The Icelandic government continues to campaign for regulated commercial whaling in its territorial water, and advocates the maintenance of this practice as part of what it terms the "rational management of the ocean ecosystem," despite international pressure for a termination of whale hunting. Support in Iceland for a pro-whaling policy is extremely high, and the debate about whaling has over the last twelve years become increasingly nationalistic in focus. / This dissertation examines the whaling issue in the context of Icelandic nationalism and the rise of the Icelandic nation-state during the 19th century. It argues that the national self is constructed through discourses which articulate space and construct it as the locus for social action. Three spatialdiscourses relevant to the nation-state--as territory, property, and nature--are discussed in terms of their emergence in Europe during the 17th century, and their relation to the "institutional clusters" of capitalism, industrialism, surveillance, and control of the means of violence. / Icelandic nationalist discourse celebrates three key symbols: a pure and ancient language, a pure and beautiful land, and the sagas, a body of medieval historical and heroic literature. The idea of independence is pivotal to political action, as well as a moral imperative for guiding individual behaviour and attitudes toward the survival of the nation. For Icelanders, all are forms of knowledge about the world which situate their identity in relation to other nations, and to their own past. The whaling issue and associated events arouse nationalist sentiments because they are seen to threaten the independence of the nation.

The hunting of narwhals (Monodon monoceros) has been an important element in the cultural and economic life of indigenous people in the eastern Canadian Arctic and Greenland for centuries. This dissertation explores factors that have motivated the hunters and ways that non-indigenous forces have intervened to restrict hunting activities. Particular attention is paid to commercial (trade) aspects of the hunt and to how these have developed and changed through time. Concern about narwhal conservation first arose during the late 1960s and early 1970s. This concern has focused on a presumed positive correlation between the monetary value of tusk ivory for export and the intensity of hunting by the Inuit. An idealized model of conflict development and resolution is used to facilitate comparisons among six cases, including bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) hunting in Alaska, beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) hunting in southeastern Baffin Island and northern Quebec, dugong (Dugong dugon) hunting in Australia and Papua New Guinea, and narwhal hunting in Canada. These comparisons suggest that the conflict surrounding narwhal-hunt management is in a middle to late phase of development. Also, its commercial dimensions and geographically dispersed markets for products (ivory and maktaq) distinguish the narwhal hunt from the other marine-mammal hunts considered here. The continuing demand for narwhal products necessitates a hunt-management regime that is rooted in scientific knowledge, has legitimacy in Inuit communities, and keeps the kill rate within sustainable bounds.

No description available.

No description available.