Perceptions and representations of Arctic tourism that reify ‘pristine’ nature can obscure the livelihoods of Arctic Aboriginal inhabitants, thus impeding cooperation among all Arctic tourism stakeholders. The purpose of this article is to illuminate relational, value-based metaphors that may nurture cooperative spaces for just and sustainable Arctic tourism. It draws on case study research of the Thelon River in Arctic Canada and, specifically, the productive tensions and affiliations expressed through diverse practices of canoe tourists and Inuit residents of Baker Lake, Nunavut, documented using mobile ethnography. Empirical substance is interpreted against a backdrop of supporting literatures to flesh out emplacement, wayfaring and gathering as relational metaphors of becoming; that is, in their fluidity, hybridity and indeterminacy, they refuse absolute, universal or divisive expressions of value. These metaphors intend to disrupt the ‘nature’ of Arctic tourism and create opportunities to understand, debate and craft tourism’s intellectual terminology.
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