Arctic Heritage: Commodification, Identity, and Revitalisation in the Anthropocene

ArcHeritage is a JPI-funded project exploring the commodity chains of three iconic heritage artefacts in the Arctic: reindeer antler, the conical tent, and walrus ivory.

The project traces the oral histories and new market and social entanglements of these artefacts across several sites in Sápmi, Canada, and Greenland, linking them to historical pastoralist and hunting lifeways and their transformation over time. In recent years, each artefact has taken a new form within the heritage and tourism industries:

• reindeer antler as Traditional Chinese Medicine
• the conical tent as a fixed tourism dwelling
• and walrus ivory as souvenir carvings.

They thus tell a wider story of Arctic heritage and the relationship between indigenous producers, consumers, and the market.