Animal Housing/Housing Animals: Nodes of Politics, Practices and Human–Animal Relations

Abstract

This chapter presents the human-bird relationship produced within the traditional practice of housing eider ducks in the Vega Archipelago. It comprises both local historical literature and official documents, such as the nomination file proposing the area for the World Heritage List. The eiders have been termed as both wild and tame; and characterized as non-domesticated species as well as regarded as included in humans' domestication practices. The chapter presents with a theoretically based reflection on human and non-human animal relations. It uses conceptual frame to present the tradition of building eider duck nesting houses, its character as a domestication practice, and how people adapt to the presence of these birds in their environment. The chapter describes both on ethnographic fieldwork and on written sources such as local historical literature and policy documents from the national and international heritage authorities. The human-made shelters have the quality of providing protection and comfort to the nesting eider ducks.