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@sympatico.ca
[mailto:wpb@sympatico.ca]
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2003
8:49 PM
To: compost_tea@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [compost_tea] Re:
ICTC
lemmings.
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