Book
The snowmobile revolution: technology and social change in the Arctic
Waveland Press • Prospect Heights, Ill. • Published In 1987 • Pages:
By: Pelto, Pertti J..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This study is concerned with the impact of the snowmobile on a small population of Skolt Saami in northeastern Finland, with particular emphasis on its effects on reindeer herding. In order to document the transformation that Pelto has called the 'snowmobile revolution,' chapters one through four of this work provide background on the methods and technology of reindeer herding and arctic transportation before the advent of the snowmobile. Chapters five and six describe the arrival of the snowmobile in the Skolt region, its spread throughout Lapland, and its problems of upkeep and maintenance. Chapter seven discusses the mechanization of reindeer herding -- the main focus of this book, while the social, economic, and political effects of the snowmobile are examined in chapters eight and nine in both statistical and qualitative terms. Chapter ten presents Pelto's evaluation of the effects of the snowmobile on Skolt society. He suggests that the results have been disastrous and consequently he outlines certain courses of action which could perhaps alleviate the situation post 1980s (p. vi). The final chapter of this study (chapter eleven), consists of three appendices, an epilogue, and some interesting notes on reindeer herding in the 1980s.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Sociocultural trends
- Annual cycle
- Pastoral activities
- Vehicles
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Saami
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1996
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Europe
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Scandinavia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 1994
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1978, 1979, 1984 (p. vii)
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1978-1984
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Sevettijärvi, Finland
- NotesAdditional notes
- Pertti J. Pelto
- Originally published: 1978
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-227)
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Sami (European people)