Achievement

IGERT faculty Lenore Grenoble (Linguistics, University of Chicago) and IGERT Trainee Simone Whitecloud (Ecology) are conducting highly interdisciplinary research on Greenlandic language and traditional plant uses. In Summer 2011 they travel to small communities between Nuuk and S. Greenland to conduct interviews with those still holding knowledge about native plants for food and medicine. Additionally they are studying how Greenlandic words for plants and their uses are related to the Inuit language areas of Canada and Alaska. The work may help elucidate the evolution of Inuit language during the westward movement of peoples across the circumpolar north. Early results were presented at the International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation in March 2011. Their intention is to make these results available to Greenlandic environmental and community organizations through publications, presentations, websites, and possible video conferences.