Tuesday, July 24, 2007
monkey trials: Preserving a Non-Tradional Tradition
From today's Canadian Press clippings:
Report: Quebec Inuit's traditional way of life threatened by warming temp.MONTREAL (CP) - A report on climate change in Quebec's north says warming temperatures are making it more dangerous for Inuit to travel and hunt.
Shorter winters and thinner ice mean increased risk for Quebec's Inuit, who rely heavily on Ski-Doos to get around.
“People are preoccupied because the traditional life up north, the traditional diet, are very important here,” Dr. Tremblay, a geographer and environmental researcher based in Kuujjuaq, near Ungava Bay, said in a telephone interview from the Kativik offices.
Researchers are even suggesting it may be necessary for the Inuit to return to dog sleds, which are lighter and whose dogs can detect precarious patches of ice.
OK, so their traditional way of life is threatened because they might have to go back to using dog sleds?
I imagine there will be a million hippies blowing a mental gasket trying to compute this story. On the one hand, climate change - bad thing; on the other hand, return to traditional aboriginal way of life - good thing.
A news debate about the value of dog sleds over Ski Doos: Man, I'm really not doing much to help stereotypes of my country, am I?
posted by Mentok @ 11:17 a.m.,
