Traces sur la neige, signes sur le papier . Significations de l'empreinte chez les Inuit Nunavimmiut (Arctique québécois)

Abstract

Prints on snow, signs on paper. Significance of prints among the Inuit Nunavimmiut (Arcic Quebec)In winter men and animals cover the Arctic land with their foot and paw prints and give them life. Prints far from only belonging to immediate visual experience also have a symbolic dimension. In their functional aspect prints allow the identification of beings, inform on their movements and enable men to pursue the animals. As a symbolic experience, prints give access to an animal's family life : to the bear, the wolf, the cariboo. When invisible though nonetheless real, they indicate a spirit's presence. Half-human, half-animal they evoke a metamorphosis. These different aspects account for the dynamics of the associative thought. Print is an open experience which can be re-actualized. Introduced recently in the Inuit writing, this print complex offers a good example of re-actualization in an oral society. The Inuit seem to have found a way to integrate writing by associating written signs with foot prints. The author compares linguistic and cultural elements that may shed light on experiences which link signs on snow to signs on paper.