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-THE ISLAND LIFE-
What The Inuit People Can Teach Us About Conflict Resolution
Towards the end of winter in one of the harshest environments on earth, two people feel growing resentment towards one another over the sharing of hunting duties. These two individuals live in a community made up of 6 family units, where a breakdown of social ties can result in starvation. The stakes are high. It is in this environment that the Inuit people developed a unique form of conflict resolution, the song-duel.
WHAT ON EARTH IS A SONG-DUEL?
Song-duels are featured alongside a festival or gathering and are a platform for two parties to publically express feelings through song, comedy and dance. Often used to address a dispute that is a little harder to resolve , both parties will spend time creating a song and dance to mock the other, making fun of the confrontation. The audience decides the winner, who will usually have greater poetic or vocal skills.
WHY IT WORKS
There are three key reasons as to why song-duels are so effective at resolving conflicts…
Contestants are prevented from taking impulsive actions that could disrupt community peace by having to think carefully about creating their songs
Private disputes are brought into public (which can also have a preventative effect on conflicts arising)
Settlement is made in public, meaning that future issues are less likely to arise
As the Inuit people view life as a complete whole, it is particularly important to preserve harmony and relationships within a group.
This is why the song-duel focuses on much more than settling an argument with one losing party and one wining party. By using comedy, song and dance, people are able to make light of a situation, dealing with their issues in a non-confrontational way; allowing each the opportunity to ‘save face’ through humour.
WHAT WE CAN LEARN
For many indigenous, nomadic groups, dealing with conflict is more about restoring the quality of relationships than the actual outcome itself (5). Whilst alternative dispute resolution (ADR) has gained popularity in recent decades, Western legal approaches have confrontation engrained into their systems – outcomes are often focused on the win of one party and the loss of another. Whilst this may be an appropriate way of dealing with serious crime, when it comes to restoring a harmonious community, there’s a long way to go.
Today, because feelings of bitterness and a lack of cooperation are not destructive to survival, we have not had the motivation to deal with repairing relationships during conflict. However, for optimal team performance, we can learn from the Inuit masters of cooperation that it is vital to provide a platform to...
a) Make light of the situation in a non-confrontational setting
b) Place restoring social ties as the central focus
c) Publicly acknowledge feelings of resolution and goodwill
(Just to clarify, I’m not suggesting incorporating song-duels into a post-takeover meeting or discrimination tribunal here)
Interestingly though, there have been attempts to reproduce the song-duel in modern-day settings. The artist Jack Tan recently introduced the concept of Karaoke Court – part of an interactive exhibition at an art school in Singapore. Here, Jack puts it beautifully:
“We usually perceive litigation as a negative experience – one which corrodes relationships and goodwill, one which divides rather than unites. Karaoke Court turns that on its head. It is constructive, not destructive; through humour and performance, it encourages cohesion”
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