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RE: [compost_tea] Re: ICTC



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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