Sikuup tukingit (The Meaning of Ice) Inuktitut Edition: People and Sea Ice in Three Arctic Communities

by Shari Gearheard (Editor), Lene Kielsen Holm (Editor), Henry Huntington (Editor), Joe Mello Leavitt (Editor), Andrew R. Mahoney (Editor)

Overview

Winner of the Inaugural Mohn Prize (2017)
Winner of the William Mills Prize for nonfiction Polar Books (2014)

The Meaning of Ice celebrates Arctic sea ice as it is seen and experienced by the Inuit, Iupiat, and Inughuit, who for generations have lived with it and thrived on what it offers. With extensive details offered through their own drawings and writings, this book describes the great depth of Inuit, Iupiat, and Inughuit knowledge of sea ice and the critical and complex role it plays in their relationships with their environment and with one another. Over forty Inuit, Iupiat, and Inughuit from three different Arctic communities contributed stories, original artwork, hand-drawn illustrations, maps, family photos, and even recipes to this book. Professional and historical photographs, children's artwork, and innovative graphics add more to the story of The Meaning of Ice.

The Meaning of Ice is an important contribution to understanding the Arctic and its people at a time when the region is undergoing profound change, not least in terms of sea ice. It takes readers beyond what sea ice is, to broaden our appreciation of what sea ice means.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780996193887
Publisher:	International Polar Institute
Publication date:	09/19/2017
Pages:	366
Product dimensions:	9.90(w) x 10.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

SHARI FOX GEARHEARD is originally from southern Ontario, Canada. She is a geographer and researcher with NSIDC, University of Colorado Boulder, and lives full time in Kangiqtugaapik, Nunavut. LENE KIELSEN HOLM is from Qaqortoq, South Greenland. She is a researcher and project leader with the Greenland Climate Research Centre, at Pinngortitaleriffik, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, in Nuuk. HENRY HUNTINGTON grew up on the east coast of the United States. He lives now in Eagle
River, Alaska, and studies human- environment interactions in the Arctic. JOE MELLO LEAVITT is a whaling captain and subsistence hunter from Barrow, Alaska. He is a wellrespected expert on sea ice and frequent collaborator with other researchers on sea ice projects. ANDY MAHONEY, originally from Devon, England, is an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, specializing in sea ice. MARGARET OPIE is a whaler and subsistence hunter from Barrow, Alaska. She is retired from a professional career with the local government, the North Slope Borough. TOKU OSHIMA is a full time hunter, fisherwoman, and sewer from Qaanaaq, Greenland. She is also a trained electrician. JOELIE SANGUYA is a hunter, qimuksiqti (dog teamer), experienced researcher, and filmmaker from Kangiqtugaapik, Nunavut.

Editorial Reviews

In a field of study—climate change/sea ice/Inuit—that can appear to be, at the least, overcrowded, The Meaning of Ice stands out and is outstanding. As I read it, what came to mind was that the best way to describe the volume’s qualities is that it is nothing less than a work of Ethno-Anthropology, an odd but right term to use here. The Inuit who participated in Siku-Inuit-Hila, in concert with the project’s editors and scientific advisors, have produced a work that removes its subject from the realm of abstraction and in so doing makes it absolutely clear that the sea ice is not someplace Inuit only venture onto; rather it is an essential aspect of Inuit culture and life. The Meaning of Ice is very much greater than the sum of its parts and kudos to all involved in it.”—Arctic

From the Publisher