
Inuit Cartography: Wooden Coastline Maps That Fit in a Mitten - nkurz
https://decolonialatlas.wordpress.com/2016/04/12/inuit-cartography/
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nkurz
Interesting to contrast these with Polynesion Stick Charts:
[http://thenonist.com/index.php/thenonist/permalink/stick_cha...](http://thenonist.com/index.php/thenonist/permalink/stick_charts/)

The Inuit maps have the characteristics of Inuit art: solid, smooth, compact.
The Polynesian charts are remniscent of Polynesian architecture: airy,
lightweight, resilient.

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harlanlewis
I'd never seen Polynesian stick charts before, they're incredible. Thanks for
sharing!

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jonah
You may like this article then. "The Secrets of the Wave Pilots"

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11320127](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11320127)

"...the Marshallese use stick charts, wood frames crosshatched like dream
catchers to represent swells coming from four cardinal directions, with shells
woven in to symbolize the position of the atolls."

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netgusto
The mapping between the coastline and the maps looks distorted though - it
seems that what matters on these is the succession of capes and creeks rather
than proportions or topography. Any insight on how useful this would be while
navigating in the dark ?

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Papachooka
I've heard of indigenous maps scaled by time of travel rather than physical
distances. Maybe that's why these Inuit maps look distorted.

I've never seen such maps (only heard of them), so if anyone has a link to
such a map I'd be interested.

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jmnicolas
I like these wooden maps but I'm wondering if they are really practical : if
you don't know the terrain I'm not sure how it can help you and if you know
the terrain you probably don't need the map.

Maybe it's used as an educational tool : you have to learn all the fjords on
your map as a rite of passage ?

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Ensorceled
As I've rediscovered time and again while hunting and hiking; if you haven't
been to a place in a couple of years you may recognize landmarks but not
remember exactly how they fit into your mental map of the area. This kind of
problem would have been deadly in places like Greenland, so any kind of
mnemonic could be a life saver.

Also, when you are hungry, thirsty and tired, self doubt can be debilitating;
a map can give a little extra assurance that you are heading towards fresh
water.

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deepnet
These seem so similar in shape to Native American totem poles, could there be
a stylistic influence, or a tradition of coastline mapping in the Americas ?

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awinter-py
awesome UX tool

