RE: [compost_tea] Re: ICTC

From: Tom Jaszewski <tomj_at_livesoil.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 16:23:22 -0800

Inuit do not eat lemmings, nor do they make any use of their small skins.
However, those Inuit who support themselves in whole or in part by trapping
benefit indirectly from the "run" of arctic foxes that follows each lemming
peak.

One of the Inuit names for the collared lemming is kilangmiutak, which means
"one-who-comes-from-the-sky." The legend of lemmings falling from the sky is
common to Inuit all across the North American Arctic and Scandinavia. It
probably arose because of the sudden appearance of lemmings when the snow
melts following a winter of intensive reproduction. Lemmings, particularly
the collared lemming with its presumed origin from the sky, were sometimes
used by shamans ("medicine men") as a source of supernatural powers.

Lemmings are a vital part of the rather simple web of life on the tundra,
and they help to teach us how intricate even that simple ecosystem is. Their
burrowing changes the arctic soil. Their feeding habits influence the
composition of the plant community on the tundra. And trappers appreciate
them for another reason. Because arctic fox numbers rise and fall according
to the abundance of lemmings, the income of people who depend on fox
trapping for a livelihood is linked to lemmings. The influence of lemmings
extends far beyond the Arctic. A lemming population decline may produce a
surplus of Snowy Owls that will, for a time, flood into southern Canada to
the delight of bird watchers. Meanwhile, the tundra ecosystem is gathering
its resources in preparation for the outburst of energy that will come with
the next lemming year.


Tom Jaszewski
www.livesoil.com
702-595-7012

-----Original Message-----
From: wpb_at_sympatico.ca [mailto:wpb_at_sympatico.ca]
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2003 8:49 PM
To: compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [compost_tea] Re: ICTC



 lemmings.




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Received on Wed Jan 29 2003 - 19:29:35 EST

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