Architectures of domestication: on emplacing human‐animal relations in the North

Abstract

This article explores human‐animal relationships in the North by calling for a fresh examination of the infrastructures and architectures which inscribe them. We draw attention to the self‐limiting quality of Arctic architectures which are designed to emphasize mutual autonomy. This approach challenges models that would create a crisp, clear separation between domestication as constituting a form of domination or a type of mutualism. By describing several key infrastructures of domestication – of tethers, enclosures, and traps – we hope to draw attention to the silencing of these domestic inventories. Revisiting the metaphor of the domus, we focus on the lands where these relationships are elaborated, re‐linking Arctic architectures to places of encounter. Drawing on in‐depth fieldwork mainly from Northern North America and various sites in Northern Eurasia, we present an ethnographically informed account that stresses the nuanced way in which strategies of control are blended with those of care and comfort, creating unbounded homes that are good to live in.