CONCEPT OF CHANGE

The key concept of change describes â€œthe alteration or modification of cultural or social elements in a society,â€ (Vago, 1989) and for ethnographers, this concept can help one understand how a society or culture undergoes transformation due to internal or external causes, whether it be interior renewal or contact with an exterior group.

In this passage anthropologist Pertti Pelto observes how the Skolt Lapps, a reindeer herding society from Northern Finland living in the Arctic Circle was affected by the introduction of the snowmobile technology. Pelto had the opportunity to observe the Lapps prior to and after the introduction of the snowmobile in 1962-1963 and assess the impact it had on the Lapps society and culture.

Prior to the introduction of the snowmobile Pelto describes the Lapp society as egalitarian â€“each family had about the same number of reindeer and was autonomous. They relied on their reindeer to live and not any external resources. Their main food was reindeer meat. Reindeer sleds were their main means of transportation and they used reindeer skins for their clothing and shoes. The surplus meat was traded for cash as well as for materials (flour, sugar, tea etc.) The innovation of the snowmobile shifted local and autonomous (reindeer sleds) to external and dependent on other sources i.e. gasoline. The Lapps also had a very special relationship with their reindeer and treated them with care.

The concept of change offers that some changes are rapid while others are gradual. When the snowmobile was introduced, it very quickly replaced the reindeer sleds as a means of herding the reindeer. This being a favorable technology and better means of transportation, the Lapps adopted it quickly. The Lapps also stopped caring for the reindeer as much and their relationship with the reindeer was disrupted. In addition, it became increasingly difficult to own or raise reindeers without having a snowmobile.

The key concept of change is evident in how after the rapid adoption of the snowmobile in their lives the Lapps went from an egalitarian to a classed society. One privileged family monopolizing the use of the snowmobile and therefore creating a professionalized industry, which excluded those who couldnâ€™t afford the snowmobile technology, evidences this societal change. Besides economic status, herders who could afford the snowmobile also gained social status, whereas those without the means to gain snowmobiles not only lost their herder jobs, but also their social status within the community. Similarly, many Lapps, who lost reindeer-centered livelihoods, were forced to depend on the Finnish government, another marker of low socio-economic status.

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