MAIRC’s Vice-Director, Joanna Kodzik, has been appointed as a visiting professor at Ilisimatusarfik, University of Greenland, where she will contribute to research and outreach within her project Arctic Life Stories.
Joanna Kodzik has been working on Greenland’s cultural history, particularly the history of communication about the Arctic and the Moravian missions from the 17th to 19th centuries, based on German manuscripts written in old German script. Her most recent study focuses on the circulation of knowledge about people and the environment in the European Arctic among German Protestants in the 18th century.As a visiting professor, she will collaborate with researchers and communities on her new project, Arctic Life Stories, developed in partnership with Arctic Portal (Iceland). The project is dedicated to the historical documentation of Indigenous peoples’ lives in Greenland, Labrador, and Alaska from the 18th century to the present day. It examines handwritten historical materials, including so-called “life stories” from the Moravian Church, to explore ways of strengthening Indigenous identities and preserving Indigenous values.The main aim of the project is to create a database and website in English featuring texts and information drawn from Indigenous life stories recorded at missionary stations:
• Greenland (1733–1900): Neu-Herrnhut (Nuuk, 1733), Lichtenfels (Akunnat, 1758), Lichtenau (Alluitsoq, 1774), Friedrichsthal (Narsarmijit), Umanak (near Neu-Herrnhut), Idlorpait
• Labrador, Canada (1771–2005): Nain (from 1771), Okak (1776–1919), Hopedale (from 1782), Hebron (1830–1959), Zoar (1865–1894), Ramah (1871–c. 1908)
• Alaska: Bethel (1885–present)The objectives of Arctic Life Stories are to:
• bring to light hundreds of previously unknown Indigenous individuals by documenting their lives
• enable genealogical research and connections to ancestors
• provide insight into Indigenous cultures within the Moravian community context
• trace mobility patterns and land use across and beyond inhabited regions
• analyze population changes in selected areas
• offer an overview of the historical physical and mental health of Indigenous populations
