Structures of Self: How Kalaallit Self-Identity Was Hidden in Plain Sight

Greenlandic Inuit culture (1200-1900 AD) rarely presents explicit forms of self-representation – unless one considers their winter dwellings as self-portraits in the landscape? This paper investigates how the Kalaallit Inuit’s understanding of self and place is archaeologically reflected in the architectural design and orientation of their winter houses. Archaeologically, the Greenlandic cultural landscape can be seen as an extention of the Kalaallit themselves, as the winter house was a living entity embodying both ancestral cosmological knowledge and self-understanding as a human being (Inuk). The relationship is mirrored in the construction of their winter dwellings often designed to echo the human form, symbolically orienting towards the ocean, their primary source of sustenance, but also how they oriented themselves geographically. Thus, using organic material sources from the environment, these structures became self-portraits of their inhabitants – articulating the inseparable bond between humans and the landscape in Inuit culture. By examining the material and symbolic components of Kalaallit winter houses, this study sheds light on how the Kalaallit perception of ‘self’ transcended mere physicality, instead cultivating a dynamic, personified connection with the landscape. This approach underscores the ways Kalaallit Inuit reaffirmed their Arctic identity through architectural choices that resonate with notions of cultural knowledge, orientation, and belonging.