The Inuit (pronounced /ˈɪnuːɪt/ or /ˈɪnjuːɪt/; Inuktitut: ᐃᓄᐃᑦ, "People") are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions ofGreenland, Canada, and the United States.[5] Inuit is a plural noun; the singular is Inuk. The Inuit languages are classified in the Eskimo-Aleut family.[6]
In the United States, the term "Eskimo" was commonly used to describe Inuit, and other Arctic peoples, because it includes both of Alaska's Yupik andIñupiat peoples while "Inuit" is not proper or accepted as a term for the Yupik. No collective term exists for both peoples other than "Eskimo."[7] However,Aboriginal peoples in Canada and Greenland view the name as pejorative, so "Inuit" has become more common.[8][9] In Canada, sections 25 and 35 of theConstitution Act of 1982 named the "Inuit" as a distinctive group of Aboriginal Canadians who are not included under either the First Nations or theMétis.[10]
The Inuit live throughout most of the Canadian Arctic and subarctic in theterritory of Nunavut; "Nunavik" in the northern third of Quebec; "Nunatsiavut" and "NunatuKavut" in Labrador; and in various parts of the Northwest Territories, particularly around the Arctic Ocean. These areas are known in Inuktitut as the "Inuit Nunangat".[11][12] In the United States, Inupiat live on theNorth Slope in Alaska and on Little Diomede Island. The Greenlandic Inuit are the descendants of migrations from Canada and are citizens of Denmark, although not of the European Union.
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[hide]Early history[edit]
- For pre-history, see: Paleo-Indians and Archaic periods (Canada)
Inuit are the descendants of what anthropologists call the Thule culture,[13] who emerged from western Alaska, after crossing the land bridge from Asia also called Beringia, around CE 1000 and spread eastwards across the Arctic.[14] They displaced the related Dorset culture, the last major Paleo-Eskimo culture (in Inuktitut, called theTuniit).[15] Inuit legends speak of the Tuniit as "giants", people who were taller and stronger than the Inuit.[16] Less frequently, the legends refer to the Dorset as "dwarfs".[17] Researchers believe that the Dorset culture lacked dogs, larger weapons and other technologies that gave the expanding Inuit society an advantage.[18] By 1300, the Inuit had settled in west Greenland, and they moved into east Greenland over the following century.[19]
Faced with population pressures from the Thule and other surrounding groups, such as the Algonquian and Siouan to the south, the Tuniit gradually receded.[20] They were thought to have become completely extinct as a people by about 1400 or 1500.
But, in the mid-1950s, researcher Henry B. Collins determined that, based on the ruins found at Native Point, the Sadlermiut were likely the last remnants of the Dorset culture.[21] The Sadlermiut population survived up until winter 1902–03, when exposure to new infectious diseases brought by contact with Europeans led to their extinction as a people.[22] More recently, mitochondrial DNA research has supported the theory of continuity between the Tuniit and the Sadlermiut.[23][24] It also has provided evidence that a population displacement did not occur within the Aleutian Islands between the Dorset and Thule transition.[25] In contrast to other Tuniit populations, the Aleut and Sadlermiut benefited from both geographical isolation and their ability to adopt certain Thule technologies.
In Canada and Greenland, Inuit circulated almost exclusively north of the "Arctic tree line", the effective southern border of Inuit society. The most southern "officially recognized" Inuit community in the world is Rigolet[26] in Nunatsiavut. South of Nunatsiavut, the descendants of the southern Labrador Inuit in NunatuKavut continued their traditional transhumant semi-nomadic way of life until the mid-1900s. The Nunatukavummuit were usually spread out among islands and bays and therefore did not establish stationary communities. In other areas south of the tree line, Native American cultures were well established. The culture and technology of Inuit society that served so well in the Arctic were not suited to subarctic regions, so they did not displace their southern neighbors.
Inuit had trade relations with more southern cultures; boundary disputes were common and gave rise to aggressive actions. Warfare was not uncommon among those Inuit groups with sufficient population density. Inuit such as the Nunatamiut (Uummarmiut) who inhabited the Mackenzie River delta area often engaged in warfare. The more sparsely settled Inuit in the Central Arctic, however, did so less often.
Their first European contact was with the Vikings who settled in Greenland and explored the eastern Canadian coast. The Norse sagas recorded meeting skrælingar, probably an undifferentiated label for all the native Americans whom the Norse encountered, whether Tuniit, Inuit, or Beothuk.[27]
After about 1350, the climate grew colder during the period known as the Little Ice Age. During this period, Alaskan natives were able to continue their whaling activities, but Inuit were forced to abandon their hunting and whaling sites in the high Arctic as bowhead whales disappeared from Canada and Greenland.[28] These Inuit then had to subsist on a much poorer diet in addition to losing access to essential raw materials for their tools and architecture previously derived from whaling.[28]
The changing climate forced Inuit to work their way south, forcing them into marginal niches along the edges of the tree line. These were areas which Native Americans had not occupied or where they were weak enough for coexistence with Inuit. Researchers have difficulty defining when Inuit stopped territorial expansion. There is evidence that they were still moving into new territory in southern Labrador when they first began to interact with Europeans in the 17th century.
Postcontact history[edit]
Canada[edit]
Early contact with Europeans[edit]
The lives of Paleo-Eskimos of the far north were largely unaffected by the arrival of visiting Norsemen except for mutual trade.[29] Labrador Inuit have had the longest continuous contact with Europeans.[30] After the disappearance of the Norse colonies in Greenland, the Inuit had no contact with Europeans for at least a century. By the mid-16th century, Basquewhalers and fishermen were already working the Labrador coast and had established whaling stations on land, such as the one that has been excavated at Red Bay.[31][32] The Inuit appear not to have interfered with their operations, but they raided the stations in winter for tools and items made of worked iron, which they adapted to their own needs. Martin Frobisher's 1576 search for the Northwest Passage was the first well-documented post-Columbian contact between Europeans and Inuit. Frobisher's expedition landed in Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island, not far from the settlement now called The City of Iqaluit which was long known as Frobisher Bay. Frobisher encountered Inuit on Resolution Island where five sailors left the ship, under orders from Frobisher, and became part of Inuit mythology. The homesick sailors, tired of their adventure, attempted to leave in a small vessel and vanished. Frobisher brought an unwilling Inuk to England, possibly the first Inuk ever to visit Europe. The Inuit oral tradition, in contrast, recounts the natives helping Frobisher's crewmen, whom they believed had been abandoned.
The semi-nomadic eco-centred Inuit were fishers and hunters harvesting lakes, seas, ice platforms and tundra. While there are some allegations that Inuit were hostile to early French and English explorers, fishers and whalers, more recent research suggests that the early relations with whaling stations along the Labrador coast and later James Bay were based on a mutual interest in trade.[33] In the final years of the 18th century, the Moravian Church began missionary activities in Labrador, supported by the British who were tired of the raids on their whaling stations. The Moravian missionaries could easily provide the Inuit with the iron and basic materials they had been stealing from whaling outposts, materials whose real cost to Europeans was almost nothing, but whose value to the Inuit was enormous and from then on contacts in Labrador were far more peaceful.
The European arrival tremendously damaged the Inuit way of life, causing mass death through new diseases introduced by whalers and explorers, and enormous social disruptions caused by the distorting effect of Europeans' material wealth. Nonetheless, Inuit society in the higher latitudes had largely remained in isolation during the 19th century. The Hudson's Bay Companyopened trading posts such as Great Whale River (1820), today the site of the twin villages of Whapmagoostui and Kuujjuarapik, where whale products of the commercial whale hunt were processed and furs traded. The British Naval Expedition of 1821–3 led by Admiral William Edward Parry, which twice over-wintered in Foxe Basin, provided the first informed, sympathetic and well-documented account of the economic, social and religious life of the Inuit. Parry stayed in what is now Igloolik over the second winter. Parry's writings, with pen and ink illustrations of Inuit everyday life, and those of George Francis Lyon, both published in 1824 were widely read.[34] Captain George Comer's Inuit wife Shoofly, known for her sewing skills and elegant attire,[35] was influential in convincing him to acquire more sewing accessories and beads for trade with Inuit.
Early 20th century[edit]
During the early 20th century a few traders and missionaries circulated among the more accessible bands, and after 1904 they were accompanied by a handful of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Unlike most Aboriginal peoples in Canada, however, the lands occupied by the Inuit were of little interest to European settlers — to the southerners, the homeland of the Inuit was a hostile hinterland. Southerners enjoyed lucrative careers as bureaucrats and service providers to the north, but very few ever chose to visit there. Canada, with its more hospitable lands largely settled, began to take a greater interest in its more peripheral territories, especially the fur and mineral-rich hinterlands. By the late 1920s, there were no longer any Inuit who had not been contacted by traders, missionaries or government agents. In 1939, theSupreme Court of Canada found, in a decision known as Re Eskimos, that the Inuit should be considered Indians and were thus under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
Native customs were worn down by the actions of the RCMP, who enforced Canadian criminal law on Inuit, such as Kikkik, who often could not understand what they had done wrong, and by missionaries who preached a moral code very different from the one they were used to. Many of the Inuit were systematically converted to Christianity in the 19th and 20th centuries, through rituals like the Siqqitiq.
Second World War to the 1960s[edit]
World War II and the Cold War made Arctic Canada strategically important for the first time and, thanks to the development of modern aircraft, accessible year-round. The construction of air bases and the Distant Early Warning Line in the 1940s and 1950s brought more intensive contacts with European society, particularly in the form of public education, which traditionalists complained instilled foreign values disdainful of the traditional structure of Inuit society.[36]
In the 1950s the High Arctic relocation was undertaken by the Government of Canada for several reasons. These were to include protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic, alleviating hunger (as the area currently occupied had been over-hunted), and attempting to solve the "Eskimo problem", meaning the assimilation and end of the Inuit culture. One of the more notable relocations was undertaken in 1953, when 17 families were moved from Port Harrison (now Inukjuak, Quebec) to Resolute and Grise Fiord. They were dropped off in early September when winter had already arrived. The land they were sent to was very different from that in the Inukjuak area; it was barren, with only a couple of months when the temperature rose above freezing and several months of polar night. The families were told by the RCMP they would be able to return within two years if conditions were not right. However, two years later more families were relocated to the High Arctic and it was to be thirty years before they were able to visit Inukjuak.[37][38][39]
By 1953, Canada's prime minister Louis St. Laurent publicly admitted, "Apparently we have administered the vast territories of the north in an almost continuing absence of mind."[40] The government began to establish about forty permanent administrative centres to provide education, health and economic development services.[40] Inuit from hundreds of smaller camps scattered across the north, began to congregate in these hamlets.[41]
Regular visits from doctors, and access to modern medical care raised the birth rate and decreased the death rate, causing an enormous natural increase. In the 1950s, the Canadian government began to actively settle Inuit into permanent villages and cities, occasionally against their will (such as in Nuntak and Hebron). These forced resettlements were acknowledged by the Canadian government in 2005<http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2012-08-15/article-3052970/Forced-relocation-of-Inuit-acknowledged/1>. By the mid-1960s, encouraged first by missionaries, then by the prospect of paid jobs and government services, and finally forced by hunger and required by police, most Canadian Inuit lived year-round in permanent settlements. The nomadic migrations that were the central feature of Arctic life had become a much smaller part of life in the North. The Inuit, a once self-sufficient people in an extremely harsh environment were, in the span of perhaps two generations, transformed into a small, impoverished minority, lacking skills or resources to sell to the larger economy, but increasingly dependent on it for survival.
Although anthropologists like Diamond Jenness (1964) were quick to predict that Inuit culture was facing extinction, Inuit political activism was already emerging.
Cultural renewal[edit]
In the 1960s, the Canadian government funded the establishment of secular, government-operated high schools in the Northwest Territories (including what is now Nunavut) and Inuit areas in Quebec and Labrador along with the residential school system. The Inuit population was not large enough to support a full high school in every community, so this meant only a few schools were built, and students from across the territories were boarded there. These schools, in Aklavik, Iqaluit, Yellowknife, Inuvik and Kuujjuaq, brought together young Inuit from across the Arctic in one place for the first time, and exposed them to the rhetoric of civil and human rights that prevailed in Canada in the 1960s. This was a real wake-up call for the Inuit, and it stimulated the emergence of a new generation of young Inuit activists in the late 1960s who came forward and pushed for respect for the Inuit and their territories.
The Inuit began to emerge as a political force in the late 1960s and early 1970s, shortly after the first graduates returned home. They formed new politically active associations in the early 1970s, starting with the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (Inuit Brotherhood and today known as Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami), an outgrowth of the Indian and Eskimo Association of the 60s, in 1971, and more region specific organizations shortly afterwards, including the Committee for the Original People's Entitlement (representing the Inuvialuit),[42] the Northern Quebec Inuit Association (Makivik Corporation) and the Labrador Inuit Association (LIA) representing Northern Labrador Inuit. Since the mid-1980s the Southern Labrador Inuit ofNunatuKavut began organizing politically after being geographically cut out of the LIA, however, for political expediency the organization was erroneously called the Labrador Métis Nation. These various activist movements began to change the direction of Inuit society in 1975 with the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. This comprehensive land claims settlement for Quebec Inuit, along with a large cash settlement and substantial administrative autonomy in the new region of Nunavik, set the precedent for the settlements to follow. The northern Labrador Inuit submitted their land claim in 1977, although they had to wait until 2005 to have a signed land settlement establishing Nunatsiavut. Southern Labrador Inuit ofNunatuKavut are currently in the process of establishing landclaims and title rights that would allow them to negotiate with the Newfoundland Government.
Canada's 1982 Constitution Act recognized the Inuit as Aboriginal peoples in Canada, but not First Nations.[10] In the same year, the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut (TFN) was incorporated, in order to take over negotiations for land claims on behalf of the Inuit living in the eastern Northwest Territories, that would later become Nunavut, from the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, which became a joint association of the Inuit of Quebec, Labrador and the Northwest Territories.
Inuit cabinet members at the federal level[edit]
On October 30, 2008, Leona Aglukkaq was appointed as Minister of Health, "[becoming] the first Inuk to hold a senior cabinet position, although she is not the first Inuk to be in cabinet altogether."[43] Jack Anawak and Nancy Karetak-Lindellwere both parliamentary secretaries respectively from 1993 to 1996 and in 2003.
Nomenclature[edit]
See also: Eskimo#Nomenclature
In the United States, the term "Eskimo" used to be commonly used, because it includes Inuit, Aleut, Iñupiat, and Yupik peoples, while distinguishing them from American Indians. The Yupik do not speak an Inuit language or consider themselves to be Inuit.[7] However, as the term is probably an Montagnais[44][45][46] – exonym and has been widely[44][47][48][49] folk etymologized as meaning "eater of raw meat" in Cree,[9][50] it has become considered a pejorative or even racial slur among Canadian and English-speaking Greenlandic Inuit.[9][50]
In Canada and Greenland, "Inuit" is preferred. Inuit is the Eastern Canadian Inuit (Inuktitut) and West Greenlandic(Kalaallisut) word for "People." Since Inuktitut and Kalaallisut are the prestige dialects in Canada and Greenland, respectively, their version has become dominant, although every Inuit dialect uses cognates from the Proto-Eskimo *ińuɣ – for example, "people" is inughuit in North Greenlandic and iivit in East Greenlandic.
Cultural history[edit]
Main article: Inuit culture
Languages[edit]
Main article: Inuit languages
Inuit speak Inuinnaqtun, Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, andGreenlandic Inuktitut, which belong to the Inuit-Inupiaq branch of the Eskimo-Aleut language family.[4] Greenlandic Inuktitut is divided into: Kalallisut (Western), Inuktun (Northern), andTunumiit (Eastern).[51]
Inuktitut is spoken in Canada. Kalaallisut is the official language of Greenland.[52] As Inuktitut was the language of the Eastern Canadian Inuit and Kalaallisut is the language of the Western Greenlandic Inuit, they are related more closely than most other dialects.[53]
Inuit in America and Canada also typically speak English. In Greenland, Inuit also speak Danish and learn English in school. Canadian Inuit may also speak Québécois French.
Diet[edit]
Main article: Inuit diet
The Inuit have traditionally been fishers and hunters. They still hunt whales (esp. bowhead whale), walrus, caribou,seal,The Narwhal, polar bears, muskoxen, birds, and at times other less commonly eaten animals such as the Arctic Fox. The typical Inuit diet is high in protein and very high in fat – in their traditional diets, Inuit consumed an average of 75% of their daily energy intake from fat.[54] While it is not possible to cultivate plants for food in the Arctic, the Inuit have traditionally gathered those that are naturally available. Grasses, tubers, roots, stems, berries, and seaweed (kuanniq or edible seaweed) were collected and preserved depending on the season and the location.[55][56][57][58][59] There is a vast array of different hunting technologies that the Inuit used to gather their food.
In the 1920s anthropologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson lived with and studied a group of Inuit.[60] The study focused on the fact that the Inuit's extremely low-carbohydrate diet had no adverse effects on their health, nor indeed, Stefansson's own health. Stefansson (1946) also observed that the Inuit were able to get the necessary vitamins they needed from their traditional winter diet, which did not contain any plant matter. In particular, he found that adequate vitamin C could be obtained from items in their traditional diet of raw meat such as Ringed Seal liver and whale skin (muktuk). While there was considerable skepticism when he reported these findings, they have been borne out in recent studies.[61] However, the Inuit have lifespans 12 to 15 years shorter than the average Canadian's, which is thought to be a result of overcrowding.[62] The life expectancy gap is not closing.[62][63][64]
[edit]
The natives hunted sea animals from single-passenger, covered seal-skin boats called qajaq (Inuktitut syllabics: ᖃᔭᖅ)[65] which were extraordinarily buoyant, and could easily be righted by a seated person, even if completely overturned. Because of this property the design was copied by Europeans and Americans who still produce them under the Inuit name kayak.
Inuit also made umiaq ("woman's boat"), larger open boats made of wood frames covered with animal skins, for transporting people, goods and dogs. They were 6–12 m (20–39 ft) long and had a flat bottom so that the boats could come close to shore. In the winter, Inuit would also hunt sea mammals by patiently watching an aglu (breathing hole) in the ice and waiting for the air-breathing seals to use them. This technique is also used by the polar bear, who hunts by seeking holes in the ice and waiting nearby.
In winter, both on land and on sea ice, the Inuit used dog sleds (qamutik) for transportation. The husky dog breed comes from Inuit breeding of dogs and wolves for transportation. A team of dogs in either a tandem/side-by-side or fan formation would pull a sled made of wood, animal bones, or the baleen from a whale's mouth and even frozen fish,[66] over the snow and ice. The Inuit used stars to navigate at sea and landmarks to navigate on land; they possessed a comprehensive native system of toponymy. Where natural landmarks were insufficient, the Inuit would erect an inukshuk.
Dogs played an integral role in the annual routine of the Inuit. During the summer they became pack animals, sometimes dragging up to 20 kg (44 lb) of baggage and in the winter they pulled the sled. Yearlong they assisted with hunting by sniffing out seals' holes and pestering polar bears. They also protected the Inuit villages by barking at bears and strangers. The Inuit generally favored, and tried to breed, the most striking and handsome of dogs, especially ones with bright eyes and a healthy coat. Common husky dog breeds used by the Inuit were the Canadian Eskimo Dog, the official animal of Nunavut,[67] (Qimmiq; Inuktitut for dog), the Greenland Dog, the Siberian Huskyand the Alaskan Malamute. The Inuit would perform rituals over the newborn pup to give it favorable qualities; the legs were pulled to make them grow strong and the nose was poked with a pin to enhance the sense of smell.
Industry, art, and clothing[edit]
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Main article: Inuit art
Inuit industry relied almost exclusively on animal hides, driftwood, and bones, although some tools were also made out of worked stones, particularly the readily worked soapstone. Walrus ivory was a particularly essential material, used to make knives. Art played a big part in Inuit society and continues to do so today. Small sculptures of animals and human figures, usually depicting everyday activities such as hunting and whaling, were carved from ivory and bone. In modern times prints and figurative works carved in relatively soft stone such as soapstone, serpentinite, or argillite have also become popular.
Inuit made clothes and footwear from animal skins, sewn together using needles made from animal bones and threads made from other animal products, such as sinew. The anorak (parka) is made in a similar fashion by Arctic peoples from Europe through Asia and the Americas, including the Inuit. The hood of an amauti, (women's parka, plural amautiit) was traditionally made extra large with a separate compartment below the hood to allow the mother to carry a baby against her back and protect it from the harsh wind. Styles vary from region to region, from the shape of the hood to the length of the tails. Boots (mukluk or kamik[68]), could be made of caribou or seal skin, and designed for men and women.
During the winter, certain Inuit lived in a temporary shelter made from snow called an iglu, and during the few months of the year when temperatures were above freezing, they lived in tents, known as tupiq,[69] made of animal skins supported by a frame of bones or wood.[70][71] Some, such as the Siglit, used driftwood,[72] while others built sod houses.[73]
Gender roles, marriage, birth, and community[edit]
See also: Eskimo kinship and Inuit women
The division of labor in traditional Inuit society had a strong gender component, but it was not absolute. The men were traditionally hunters and fishermen and the women took care of the children, cleaned the home, sewed, processed food, and cooked. However, there are numerous examples of women who hunted, out of necessity or as a personal choice. At the same time men, who could be away from camp for several days at a time, would be expected to know how to sew and cook.[74]
The marital customs among the Inuit were not strictly monogamous: many Inuit relationships were implicitly or explicitly sexual. Open marriages, polygamy,divorce, and remarriage were known. Among some Inuit groups, if there were children, divorce required the approval of the community and particularly the agreement of the elders. Marriages were often arranged, sometimes in infancy, and occasionally forced on the couple by the community.[75]
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Marriage was common for women at puberty and for men when they became productive hunters. Family structure was flexible: a household might consist of a man and his wife (or wives) and children; it might include his parents or his wife's parents as well as adopted children; it might be a larger formation of several siblings with their parents, wives and children; or even more than one family sharing dwellings and resources. Every household had its head, an elder or a particularly respected man.[76]
There was also a larger notion of community as, generally, several families shared a place where they wintered. Goods were shared within a household, and also, to a significant extent, within a whole community.
The Inuit were hunter–gatherers,[77] and have been referred to as nomadic.[78]One of the customs following the birth of an infant was for an Angakkuq(shaman) to place a tiny ivory carving of a whale into the baby's mouth, in hopes this would make the child good at hunting. Loud singing and drumming were also customary after a birth.[79]
Raiding[edit]
Virtually all Inuit cultures have oral traditions of raids by other indigenous peoples, including fellow Inuit, and of taking vengeance on them in return, such as the Bloody Falls Massacre. Western observers often regarded these tales as generally not entirely accurate historical accounts, but more as self-serving myths. However, evidence shows that Inuit cultures had quite accurate methods of teaching historical accounts to each new generation.[80] In northern Canada, historically there were ethnic feuds between the Dene and the Inuit, as witnessed by Samuel Hearne in 1771.[81] In 1996, Dene and Inuit representatives participated in a healing ceremony to reconcile the centuries-old grievances.[82]
The historic accounts of violence against outsiders does make clear that there was a history of hostile contact within the Inuit cultures and with other cultures.[83] It also makes it clear that Inuit nations existed through history, as well as confederations of such nations. The known confederations were usually formed to defend against a more prosperous, and thus stronger, nation. Alternately, people who lived in less productive geographical areas tended to be less warlike, as they had to spend more time producing food.
Justice within Inuit culture was moderated by the form of governance that gave significant power to the elders. As in most cultures around the world, justice could be harsh and often included capital punishment for serious crimes against the community or the individual. During raids against other peoples, the Inuit, like their non-Inuit neighbors, tended to be merciless.[84]
Suicide, murder, and death[edit]
See also: Suicide in Greenland and Suicide in Canada
A pervasive European myth about Inuit is that they killed elderly (senicide) and unproductive people",[85] but this is not generally true.[86][87][88] In a culture with an oral history, elders are the keepers of communal knowledge, effectively the community library.[89] Because they are of extreme value as the repository of knowledge, there are cultural taboos against sacrificing elders.[90][91]
In Antoon A. Leenaar's book Suicide in Canada he states that "Rasmussen found that the death of elders by suicide was a commonplace among the Iglulik Inuit."[92] He heard of many old men and women who had hanged themselves.[92] By ensuring they died a violent death, Inuit elders purified their souls for journey to the afterworld.[92]
According to Franz Boas, suicide was "...not of rare occurrence..." and was generally accomplished through hanging.[93]Writing of the Labrador Inuit, Hawkes (1916) was considerably more explicit on the subject of suicide and the burden of the elderly:
Aged people who have outlived their usefulness and whose life is a burden both to themselves and their relatives are put to death by stabbing or strangulation. This is customarily done at the request of the individual concerned, but not always so. Aged people who are a hindrance on the trail are abandoned.—Antoon A. Leenaars, Suicide in Canada[94]
People seeking assistance in their suicide made three consecutive requests to relatives for help.[95] Family members would attempt to dissuade the individual at each suggestion, but with the third request by a person, assistance became obligatory.[95] In some cases, a suicide was a publicly acknowledged and attended event.[95] Once the suicide had been agreed to, the victim would dress him or herself as the dead are clothed, with clothing turned inside out.[95] The death occurred at a specific place, where the material possessions of deceased people were brought to be destroyed.[95]
When food is not sufficient, the elderly are the least likely to survive. In the extreme case of famine, the Inuit fully understood that, if there was to be any hope of obtaining more food, a hunter was necessarily the one to feed on whatever food was left. However, a common response to desperate conditions and the threat of starvation was infanticide.[96][97] A mother abandoned an infant in hopes that someone less desperate might find and adopt the child before the cold or animals killed it. The belief that the Inuit regularly resorted to infanticide may be due in part to studies done by Asen Balikci,[98] Milton Freeman[99] and David Riches[100] among the Netsilik, along with the trial of Kikkik.[101][102] Other recent research has noted that "While there is little disagreement that there were examples of infanticide in Inuit communities, it is presently not known the depth and breadth of these incidents. The research is neither complete nor conclusive to allow for a determination of whether infanticide was a rare or a widely practiced event." [103]
Anthropologists believed that Inuit cultures routinely killed children born with physical defects because of the demands of the extreme climate. These views were changed by late 20th century discoveries of burials at an archaeological site. Between 1982 and 1994, a storm with high winds caused ocean waves to erode part of the bluffs near Barrow, Alaska, and a body was discovered to have been washed out of the mud. Unfortunately the storm claimed the body, which was not recovered. But examination of the eroded bank indicated that an ancient house, perhaps with other remains, was likely to be claimed by the next storm. The site, known as the "Ukkuqsi archaeological site", was excavated. Several frozen bodies (now known as the "frozen family") were recovered, autopsies were performed, and they were re-interred as the first burials in the then-new Imaiqsaun Cemetery south of Barrow.[104] Years later another body was washed out of the bluff. It was a female child, approximately 9 years old, who had clearly been born with a congenital birth defect.[105] This child had never been able to walk, but must have been cared for by family throughout her life.[106] She was the best preserved body ever recovered in Alaska, and radiocarbon dating of grave goods and of a strand of her hair all place her back to about AD 1200.[106]
During the 19th century, the Western Arctic suffered a population decline of close to 90%, resulting from exposure to new diseases, including tuberculosis, measles, influenza, and smallpox. Autopsies near Greenland reveal that, more commonlypneumonia, kidney diseases, trichinosis, malnutrition, and degenerative disorders may have contributed to mass deaths among different Inuit tribes. The Inuit believed that the causes of the disease were of a spiritual origin.[107]
Traditional law[edit]
Inuit traditional laws are anthropologically different from Western law concepts. Customary law was thought non-existent in Inuit society before the introduction of the Canadian legal system. Hoebel, in 1954, concluded that only 'rudimentary law' existed amongst the Inuit. Indeed, prior to about 1970, it is impossible to find even one reference to a Western observer who was aware that any form of governance existed among any Inuit,[108] however, there was a set way of doing things that had to be followed:
- maligait refers to what has to be followed
- piqujait refers to what has to be done
- tirigusuusiit refers to what has to be avoided
If an individual's actions went against the tirigusuusiit, maligait or piqujait, the angakkuq (shaman) might have to intervene, lest the consequences be dire to the individual or the community.[109]
We are told today that Inuit never had laws or "maligait". Why? They say because they are not written on paper. When I think of paper, I think you can tear it up, and the laws are gone. The laws of the Inuit are not on paper.—Mariano Aupilaarjuk, Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Perspectives on Traditional Law[110]
Traditional beliefs[edit]
See also: Inuit mythology and Shamanism among Eskimo peoples
The environment in which the Inuit lived inspired a mythology filled with adventure tales of whale and walrus hunts. Long winter months of waiting for caribou herds or sitting near breathing holes hunting seals gave birth to stories of mysterious and sudden appearance of ghosts and fantastic creatures. Some Inuit looked into the aurora borealis, or northern lights, to find images of their family and friends dancing in the next life.[111] However, some Inuit believed that the lights were more sinister and if you whistled at them, they would come down and cut off your head. This tale is still told to children today.[112] For others they were invisible giants, the souls of animals, a guide to hunting and as a spirit for the angakkuq to help with healing.[112][113] They relied upon theangakkuq (shaman) for spiritual interpretation. The nearest thing to a central deity was the Old Woman (Sedna), who lived beneath the sea. The waters, a central food source, were believed to contain great gods.
The Inuit practiced a form of shamanism based on animist principles. They believed that all things had a form of spirit, including humans, and that to some extent these spirits could be influenced by a pantheon of supernatural entities that could be appeased when one required some animal or inanimate thing to act in a certain way. The angakkuq of a community of Inuit was not the leader, but rather a sort of healer and psychotherapist, who tended wounds and offered advice, as well as invoking the spirits to assist people in their lives. His or her role was to see, interpret and exhort the subtle and unseen. Angakkuit were not trained; they were held to be born with the ability and recognized by the community as they approached adulthood.
Inuit religion was closely tied to a system of rituals integrated into the daily life of the people. These rituals were simple but held to be necessary. According to a customary Inuit saying,
The great peril of our existence lies in the fact that our diet consists entirely of souls.
By believing that all things, including animals, have souls like those of humans, any hunt that failed to show appropriate respect and customary supplication would only give the liberated spirits cause to avenge themselves.
The harshness and unpredictability of life in the Arctic ensured that Inuit lived with concern for the uncontrollable, where a streak of bad luck could destroy an entire community. To offend a spirit was to risk its interference with an already marginal existence. The Inuit understood that they had to work in harmony with supernatural powers to provide the necessities of day-to-day life. Before the 1940s, Inuit had minimal contact with Europeans, who passed through on their way to hunt whales or trade furs but seldom had any interest in settling down on the frozen land of the Arctic. So the Inuit had the place to themselves. They moved between summer and winter camps to always be living where there were animals to hunt.
But that changed. As World War II ended and the Cold War began, the Arctic became a place where countries that did not get along were close to each other. The Arctic had always been seen as inaccessible, but the invention of aircraft made it easier for non-Arctic dwellers to get there. As new airbases and radar stations were built in the Arctic to monitor rival nations, permanent settlements were developed around them, including schools and health care centres. In many places, Inuit children were required to attend schools that emphasized non-native traditions. With better health care, the Inuit population grew too large to sustain itself solely by hunting.[citation needed] Many Inuit from smaller camps moved into permanent settlements because there was access to jobs and food. In many areas[where?] Inuit were required to live in towns by the 1960s.
Demographics[edit]
In total there are about 118,426 Inuit living in three countries, Canada, Greenland and the United States.[1][2][3]
Canada[edit]
Although the 50,480[1] Inuit listed in the 2006 Canada Census can be found throughout Canada the majority, 44,470, live in four regions.[114][115][116][117]
As of the 2006 Canada Census there were 4,715 Inuit living in Newfoundland and Labrador[114] and about 2,160 live inNunatsiavut.[118] There are also about 6,000 NunatuKavut people (Labrador Metis or Inuit-metis) living in southernLabrador in what is called NunatuKavut.[119]
As of the 2006 Canada Census there were 4,165 Inuit living in the Northwest Territories.[115] The majority, about 3,115, live in the six communities of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.[120]
As of the 2006 Canada Census there were 24,640 Inuit living in Nunavut.[116] In Nunavut the Inuit population forms a majority in all communities and is the only jurisdiction of Canada where Aboriginal peoples form a majority.
As of the 2006 Canada Census there were 10,950 Inuit living in Quebec.[117] The majority, about 9,565, live inNunavik.[121]
Greenland[edit]
According to the 2013 edition of The World Factbook, published by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Inuit population of Greenland is 89% (51,365) out of a total of 57,714 people.[2] Like Nunavut the population lives throughout the region.
United States[edit]
According to the 2000 United States Census there were a total of 16,581 Inuit/Inupiat living throughout the country.[3] The majority, about 14,718, live in the state of Alaska.[122]
Governance[edit]
The Inuit Circumpolar Council is a United Nations-recognizednon-governmental organization (NGO), which defines its constituency as Canada's Inuit and Inuvialuit, Greenland'sKalaallit Inuit, Alaska's Inupiat and Yup'ik, and Russia's Siberian Yupik,[123] despite the last two neither speaking an Inuit dialect[7]or considering themselves "Inuit". Nonetheless, it has come together with other circumpolar cultural and political groups to promote the Inuit and other northern people in their fight againstecological problems such as climate change which disproportionately affects the Inuit population. The Inuit Circumpolar Council is one of the six group of Arctic indigenous peoples that have a seat as a so-called "Permanent Participant" on the Arctic Council,[124] an international high level forum in which the eight Arctic Countries (US, Canada, Russia, Finland and the 4 Scandinavian countries) discuss Arctic policy. On 12 May 2011, Greenland's Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist hosted the ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council, an event for which the American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to Nuuk, as did many other high-ranking officials such as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. At that event they signed the Nuuk Declaration.[125]
Regional autonomy in Canada[edit]
The Inuvialuit are western Canadian Inuit who remained in the Northwest Territories when Nunavut split off. They live primarily in the Mackenzie River delta, on Banks Island, and parts of Victoria Island in the Northwest Territories. They are officially represented by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and, in 1984, received a comprehensive land claims settlement, the first in Northern Canada, with the signing of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.[126]
The TFN worked for ten years and, in September 1992, came to a final agreement with the Government of Canada. This agreement called for the separation of the Northwest Territories into an eastern territory whose Aboriginal population would be predominately Inuit,[127] the future Nunavut, and a rump Northwest Territories in the west. It was the largest land claimsagreement in Canadian history. In November 1992, the Nunavut Final Agreement was approved by nearly 85% of the Inuit of what would become Nunavut. As the final step in this long process, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement was signed on May 25, 1993, in Iqaluit by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and by Paul Quassa, the president of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, which replaced the TFN with the ratification of the Nunavut Final Agreement. The Canadian Parliament passed the supporting legislation in June of the same year, enabling the 1999 establishment of Nunavut as a territorial entity.
With the establishment of Nunatsiavut in 2005, almost all the traditional Inuit lands in Canada, with the exceptionNunatuKavut in central and South Labrador, are now covered by some sort of land claims agreement providing for regional autonomy.
Greenland autonomous country[edit]
Main articles: Kalaallit and History of Greenland
In 1953, Denmark put an end to the colonial status of Greenland and grantedhome rule in 1979 and in 2008 a self-government referendum was passed with 75% approval. Although a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland, known as Kalaallit Nunaat, maintains much autonomy today. Of a population of 55,000, 80% of Greenlanders identify as Inuit. Their economy is based on fishing and shrimping.[128]
The Thule people arrived in Greenland in the 13th century. There they encountered the Norsemen, who had established colonies there since the late 10th century, as well as a later wave of the Dorset people. Because most of Greenland is covered in ice, the Greenland Inuit (or Kalaallit) only live in coastal settlements, particularly the northern polar coast, the eastern Amassalik coast and the central coasts of western Greenland.[129]
Alaska[edit]
See also: Alaska Native Regional Corporations,Russian America,Alaska Statehood Act, and List of Alaska Native tribal entities
Currently Alaska is governed as a state within United States with very limited autonomy for native Alaskan. European Colonization of Alaska started in 18th century by Russia. By the 1860s, the Russian government was considering ridding itself of its Russian America colony. Alaska was officially incorporated to United States on January 3, 1959.
The Inuit of Alaska are the Inupiat (from Inuit- people – and piaq/piat real, i.e. 'real people') who live in the Northwest Arctic Borough, the North Slope Borough and the Bering Straits region. Barrow, the northernmost city in the United States, is in the Inupiat region. Their language is Iñupiaq (which is the singular form of Inupiat).
Modern culture[edit]
Inuit art, carving, print making, textiles and Inuit throat singing, are very popular, not only in Canada but globally, and Inuit artists are widely known. Canada has adopted some of the Inuit culture as national symbols, using Inuit cultural icons like the inukshuk in unlikely places, such as its use as a symbol at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Respected art galleries display Inuit art, the largest collection of which is at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Some Inuit languages such as Inuktitut, appears to have a more secure future in Quebec and Nunavut. There are a surprising number of Inuit, even those who now live in urban centres such as Ottawa, Montreal and Winnipeg, who have experienced living on the land in the traditional life style. People such asLegislative Assembly of Nunavut member, Levinia Brown and formerCommissioner of Nunavut and the NWT, Helen Maksagak were born and lived the early part of their life "on the land". Inuit culture is alive and vibrant today in spite of the negative impacts of recent history.
An important biennial event, the Arctic Winter Games, is held in communities across the northern regions of the world, featuring traditional Inuit and northern sports as part of the events. A cultural event is also held. The games were first held in 1970, and while rotated usually among Alaska, Yukon and the Northwest Territories, they have also been held inSchefferville, Quebec in 1976, in Slave Lake, Alberta, and a joint Iqaluit, Nunavut-Nuuk, Greenland staging in 2002. In other sporting events, Jordin Tootoo became the first Inuk to play in the National Hockey League in the 2003–04 season, playing for the Nashville Predators.
Although Inuit life has changed significantly over the past century, many traditions continue. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, or traditional knowledge, such as storytelling, mythology, music and dancing remain important parts of the culture. Family and community are very important. The Inuktitut language is still spoken in many areas of the Arctic and is common on radio and in television programming.
Well-known Inuit politicians include Premier of Nunavut, Eva Aariak, Nancy Karetak-Lindell, former MP for the riding of Nunavut, Kuupik Kleist, Prime Minister of Greenland, and Leona Aglukkaq, current MP and Canadian Federal Health Minister since 2008.f"Inuit welcome Aglukkaq as federal health minister". CBC News. 2008-10-31.
Visual and performing arts are strong. In 2002 the first feature film in Inuktitut,Atanarjuat, was released worldwide to great critical and popular acclaim. It was directed by Zacharias Kunuk, and written, filmed, produced, directed, and acted almost entirely by the Inuit of Igloolik. In 2009 the film, Le Voyage D'Inuk, a Greenlandic language feature film directed by Mike Magidson and co-written by Magidson and French film producer Jean-Michel Huctin.[130] One of the most famous Inuit artists is Pitseolak Ashoona. Susan Aglukark is a popular singer. Mitiarjuk Attasie Nappaaluk works at preserving Inuktitut and has written the first novel published in that language.[131] In 2006, Cape Dorset was hailed as Canada's most artistic city, with 23% of the labor force employed in the arts.[132] Inuit art such as soapstone carvings is one of Nunavut's most important industries.
Recently, there has been an identity struggle among the younger generations of Inuit, between their traditional heritage and the modern society which their cultures have been forced to assimilate into in order to maintain a livelihood. With current dependence on modern society for necessities, (including governmental jobs, food, aid, medicine, etc.), the Inuit have had much interaction with and exposure to the societal norms outside their previous cultural boundaries. The stressors regarding the identity crisis among teenagers have led to disturbingly high numbers of suicide.[133]
A series of authors has focused upon the increasing myopia in the youngest generations of Inuit. Myopia was almost unknown prior to the Inuit adoption of western culture. This phenomenon is also seen in other cultures (for example,Vanuatu). Principal theories are the change to a western style diet with more refined foods, and extended education.[134][135][136]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arviat
Inuit community[edit]
Arviat is the southernmost community on the Nunavut mainland and is close to the geographical centre of Canada. In Arviat, Inuktitut and English are primarily spoken, having the third largest population in Nunavut, behind Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit. From the 2006 census to the2011 census there was a population increase of 12.5%.[3] The mayor of Arviat is Robert Leonard.[9]
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Hunting and fishing are very active in the community; they are the primary source of sustenance. Three local stores - Padlei Co-op, Northern Stores and EPLS - carry a wide range of products.
To the south, the town ofChurchill, Manitoba is accessible by boat, snowmobile and Bombardier from Arviat and is often travelled to for supplies.
Arviat is well known around the Arctic for its artistic qualities. It is a thriving community with many talented musicians: Susan Aglukark, a well known musician; Simon "Johnny Cash of the North" Sigyariaq; the band Uniaqtuq, with Arsene, Pelagie and Mary Angalik; the Arviat Band, with John and Billy Kuksuk, Paul Kattau and others; the Irksuk band, played by Paul Irksuk and sons. All have had CDs recorded commercially.
Many types of wildlife are abundant. Within the vicinity of Arviat, polar bears, millions of migratory birds, beluga whales, and caribou are often spotted.
The only access is by air and snowmobile, but the Nunavut government and the federal Senate member for Nunavut, Dennis Patterson, are investigating the possibility of a highway from Thompson, Lynn Lake, orGillam to Rankin Inlet, through Arviat. Like other Arctic coast communities there is an annual sealift but it is not available to passengers.
Arviat was originally inhabited by the Paallirmiut, a coastal/inland Inuit band. In 1957, dying of starvation, the last remaining Ihalmiut, another Caribou Inuit band, were relocated to Arviat by theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police. Though there are differences between the two bands, they recognize a need to work together in order to benefit the community.[10]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunavut
Main article: History of Nunavut
The region now known as Nunavut has supported a continuous indigenouspopulation for approximately 4,000 years. Most historians identify the coast of Baffin Island with the Helluland described in Norse sagas, so it is possible that the inhabitants of the region had occasional contact with Norse sailors.
Archaeological findings[edit]
In September 2008, researchers reported on the evaluation of existing and newly excavated archaeological remains, including yarn spun from a hare, rats,tally sticks, a carved wooden face mask that depicts Caucasian features, and possible architectural material. The materials were collected in five seasons ofexcavation at Cape Banfield. Scholars determined that these provide evidence of European traders and possibly settlers on Baffin Island, not later than 1000 CE. They seem to indicate prolonged contact, possibly up to 1450. The origin of the Old World contact is unclear; the article states: "Dating of some yarn and other artifacts, presumed to be left by Vikings on Baffin Island, have produced an age that predates the Vikings by several hundred years. So [...] you have to consider the possibility that as remote as it may seem, these finds may represent evidence of contact with Europeans prior to the Vikings' arrival in Greenland."[14]
First written historical accounts[edit]
The written historical accounts of Nunavut begin in 1576, with an account by an English explorer. Martin Frobisher, while leading an expedition to find the Northwest Passage, thought he had discovered gold ore around the body of water now known as Frobisher Bay on the coast of Baffin Island.[15] The ore turned out to be worthless, but Frobisher made the first recorded European contact with the Inuit. Other explorers in search of the elusive Northwest Passage followed in the 17th century, including Henry Hudson, William Baffin and Robert Bylot.
Cold War[edit]
Cornwallis and Ellesmere Islands feature in the history of the Cold War in the 1950s. Concerned about the area's strategic geopolitical position, the federal government relocated Inuit from the High Arctic of northern Quebec to Resolute and Grise Fiord. In the unfamiliar and hostile conditions, they faced starvation[16] but were forced to stay.[17] Forty years later, theRoyal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples issued a report titled The High Arctic Relocation: A Report on the 1953–55 Relocation.[18] The government paid compensation to those affected and their descendants, but it did not apologize.[19]
Recent history[edit]
In 1976, as part of the land claims negotiations between the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (then called the "Inuit Tapirisat of Canada") and the federal government, the parties discussed division of the Northwest Territories to provide a separate territory for the Inuit. On April 14, 1982, a plebiscite on division was held throughout the Northwest Territories. A majority of the residents voted in favour and the federal government gave a conditional agreement seven months later.[20]
The land claims agreement was completed in September 1992 and ratified by nearly 85% of the voters in Nunavut in areferendum. On July 9, 1993, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act[8] and the Nunavut Act[7] were passed by theCanadian Parliament. The transition to establish Nunavut Territory was completed on April 1, 1999.[21] The creation of Nunavut has been followed by growth in the capital Iqaluit, a modest increase from 5200 in 2001 to 6600 in 2011.
Demography[edit]
Main article: Demographics of Nunavut
See also: List of communities in Nunavut
As of the 2011 Census, the population of Nunavut was 31,906, an 8.3% increase from 2006.[3] In 2006, 24,640 people identified themselves as Inuit (83.6% of the total population), 100 as First Nations (0.34%), 130 Métis(0.44%) and 4,410 as non-aboriginal (14.96%).[22]
| Municipality | 2006 | 2001 | growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iqaluit | 6,184 | 5,236 | 18.1% |
| Rankin Inlet | 2,358 | 2,177 | 8.3% |
| Arviat | 2,060 | 1,899 | 8.5% |
| Baker Lake | 1,728 | 1,507 | 14.7% |
| Igloolik | 1,538 | 1,286 | 19.6% |
| Cambridge Bay | 1,477 | 1,309 | 12.8% |
| Pangnirtung | 1,325 | 1,276 | 3.8% |
| Pond Inlet | 1,315 | 1,220 | 7.8% |
| Kugluktuk | 1,302 | 1,212 | 7.4% |
| Cape Dorset | 1,236 | 1,148 | 7.7% |
The population growth rate of Nunavut has been well above the Canadian average for several decades, mostly due to birth rates significantly higher than the Canadian average—a trend that continues. Between April and July 2010, Nunavut had the highest population growth rate of any Canadian province or territory, at a rate of 1.01%.[23] The second highest was Yukon, with a growth rate of 0.90%. However, Nunavut has a large net loss from migration, due to many native Inuit leaving the territory for better economic opportunity elsewhere.
Language[edit]
Along with the Inuit Language (Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun), English, and French are also official languages.[1]
In his 2000 commissioned report (Aajiiqatigiingniq Language of Instruction Research Paper) to the Nunavut Department of Education, Ian Martin of York University states that a "long-term threat to Inuit language from English is found everywhere, and current school language policies and practices on language are contributing to that threat" if Nunavut schools follow the Northwest Territories model. He provides a 20-year language plan to create a "fully functional bilingual society, in Inuktitut and English" by 2020. The plan provides different models, including:
- "Qulliq Model", for most Nunavut communities, with Inuktitut as the main language of instruction.
- "Inuinnaqtun Immersion Model", for language reclamation and immersion to revitalize Inuinnaqtun as a living language.
- "Mixed Population Model", mainly for Iqaluit (possibly for Rankin Inlet), as the 40% Qallunaat, or non-Inuit, population may have different requirements.[24]
Of the 29,025 responses to the census question concerning 'mother tongue', the most commonly reported languages were:
| 1. | Inuktitut | 20,185 | 69.54% |
| 2. | English | 7,765 | 26.75% |
| 3. | French | 370 | 1.27% |
| 4. | Inuinnaqtun | 295 | 1.02% |
Only English and French were counted as official languages in the census. Nunavut's official languages are shown in bold. Figures shown are for the number of single-language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.[25]
In the 2006 census it was reported that 2,305 people (7.86%) living in Nunavut had no knowledge of either official language of Canada (English or French).[26]
Religion[edit]
The largest denominations by number of adherents according to the 2001 census were the Anglican Church of Canada with 15,440 (58%); the Roman Catholic Church (Roman Catholic Diocese of Churchill-Baie d'Hudson) with 6,205 (23%); and Pentecostal with 1,175 (4%).[27] In total, 93.2% of the population are Christian.
Economy[edit]
The economy of Nunavut is Inuit and Territorial Government, mining, oil gas mineral exploration, arts crafts, hunting, fishing, whaling, tourism, transportation, education - Nunavut Arctic College, housing, military and research – new Canadian High Arctic Research Station CHARS in planning for Cambridge Bay and high north Alert Bay Station.
Iqaluit hosts the annual Nunavut Mining Symposium every April, this is a tradeshow that showcases many economic activities on going in Nunavut.
Mining and Exploration[edit]
The current and only mine in production in 2013 is Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd - Meadowbank Division. Meadowbank is an open pit mine with an estimated mine life 2010-2018 and employs 678 persons. Cost to produce an ounce of gold is $913.00[28] The north holds vast reserves of coal, oil, and gas and, increasingly, these areas are being looked at to move into production.
Advanced Mining Projects[edit]
| Name | Company | In the region of | Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary River | Baffinland Iron Mines | Pond Inlet | Iron ore |
| Meliadine Gold | Agnico-Eagle | Rankin Inlet | Gold |
| Back River Project | Sabina Gold & River Corp. | Bathurst Inlet | Gold |
| Izok Corridor Project | MMG Resources Inc. | Kugluktuk | Gold, Copper, Silver, Zinc |
| Hackett River | Xstrata Zinc Canada | Kugluktuk | Copper, Lead, Silver, Zinc |
| Chidliak | Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. | Iqaluit / Pangnirtung | Diamonds |
| Committee Bay, Three Bluffs Gold Project | North Country Gold Ltd. | Repulse Bay | Gold |
| Kiggavik | Areva Resources | Baker Lake | Uranium |
| Hope Bay Doris North Mine | TMAC Holdings | Cambridge Bay | Gold |
| Roche Bay | Advanced Exploration | Hall Beach | Iron Ore |
| Ulu and Lupin | Eligin Mining Ltd. | Contwoyto Lake - connected to Yellowknifewith an ice road | Gold |
| Storm Copper Property | Commander Resources Ltd. | Taloyoak | Copper |
Historic Mines[edit]
- Lupin Mine 1982–2005 - gold, current owner Elgin Mining Ltd located near the Northwest Territories boundary nearContwoyto Lake)[29]
- Polaris Mine 1982–2002—lead and zinc (located on Little Cornwallis Island, not far from Resolute)
- Nanisivik Mine 1976–2002 — lead and zinc, prior owner Breakwater Resources Ltd (near Arctic Bay) at Nanisivik
- Rankin Nickel Mine 1957–1962, nickel, copper and platinum group metals
- Jericho Diamond Mine 2006–2008, diamond (located 400 km, 250 mi, northeast of Yellowknife) 2012 produced diamonds from existing stockpile, no new mining - closed.
- Doris North Gold Mine Newmont Mining approx 3 km underground drifting/mining, none milled or processed. Newmont closed the mine and sold it to TMAC Resources in 2013. TMAC is now advancing this project.
Transportation[edit]
- Northern Transportation Company Limited, owned by Norterra, a holding company jointly owned by the Inuvialuit of the Northwest Territories and the Inuit of Nunavut.[30][31]
Renewable power[edit]
Currently the people of Nunavut rely primarily on diesel fuel[32] to run generators and heat homes, with fossil fuel shipments coming from southern Canada by plane or boat because there are few to no roads or rail links to the region.[33] There is a government effort to use more renewable energysources,[34] which is generally supported by the community.[35]
This support comes from Nunavut feeling the effects of global warming.[36][37]“Climate change is very much upon us,” said Aariak. “It is affecting our hunters, the animals, the thinning of the ice is a big concern, as well as erosion frompermafrost melting.” The region is warming about twice as fast as the global average, according to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Ellesmere island has mummified deciduous dawn redwood Metasequoia trees that date back to 45 million years ago, attesting to a temperate northern climate.
Government and politics[edit]
Nunavut's Chief Executive is a Commissioner appointed by the federal Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. As in the other territories, the commissioner's role is symbolic and is analogous to that of a Lieutenant-Governor. While the Commissioner is not formally a representative of Canada's head of state, a role roughly analogous to representing The Crown has accrued to the position.
Nunavut elects a single member of the Canadian House of Commons. This makes Nunavut the largest parliamentary riding in the world by area, just ahead of the American state of Alaska.
The members of the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Nunavut are elected individually; there are no parties and the legislature is consensus-based.[38] The head of government, the premier of Nunavut, is elected by, and from the members of the legislative assembly. As of November 14, 2008, the premier is Eva Aariak.[39]
Faced by criticism of his policies, former Premier Paul Okalik set up an advisory council of eleven elders, whose function it is to help incorporate "Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit" (Inuit culture and traditional knowledge, often referred to in English as "IQ") into the territory's political and governmental decisions.[citation needed]
Owing to Nunavut's vast size, the stated goal of the territorial government has been to decentralize governance beyond the region's capital. Three regions—Kitikmeot, Kivalliq and Qikiqtaaluk/Baffin—are the basis for more localized administration, although they lack autonomous governments of their own.[citation needed]
The territory has an annual budget of C$700 million, provided almost entirely by the federal government. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin designated support for Northern Canada as one of his priorities for 2004, with an extra $500 million to be divided among the three territories.[citation needed]
In 2001, the government of New Brunswick[citation needed] collaborated with the federal government and the technology firmSSI Micro to launch Qiniq, a unique network that uses satellite delivery to provide broadband Internet access to 24 communities in Nunavut. As a result, the territory was named one of the world's "Smart 25 Communities" in 2006 by theIntelligent Community Forum, a worldwide organization that honours innovation in broadband technologies.
In September 2012, Premier Eva Aariak welcomed Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, to Nunavut as part of the events marking the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.[40]
Licence plates[edit]
The Nunavut licence plate was originally created for the Northwest Territories in the 1970s. The plate has long been famous worldwide for its unique design in the shape of a polar bear. Nunavut was licensed by the NWT to use the samelicence plate design in 1999 when it became a separate territory,[41] but adopted its own plate design in March 2012 for launch in August 2012—a rectangle that prominently features the northern lights, a polar bear and an inuksuk.[41][42]
Flag and Coat of Arms[edit]
The flag and the Coat of Arms of Nunavut were designed by Andrew Karpik from Pangnirtung.[43]
Culture[edit]
Music[edit]
Main article: Music of Nunavut
The indigenous music of Nunavut includes Inuit throat singing and drum-led dancing, along with country music, bluegrass, square dancing, the button accordion and thefiddle, an infusion of European influence.
Media[edit]
The Inuit Broadcasting Corporation is based in Nunavut. The territory is also served byNunatsiaq News and Nunavut News/North, published by Northern News Services, who also publish the regional Kivalliq News.[44] Broadband internet is provided by Qiniq andNorthwestel through Netkaster.[45][46]
Film[edit]
The film production company Isuma is based in Igloolik. Co-founded by Zacharias Kunukand Norman Cohn in 1990, the company produced the 1999 feature Atanarjuat, winner of the Caméra d'Or for Best First Feature Film at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. It was the first feature film written, directed, and acted entirely in Inuktitut.
In November 2006, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation announced the start of the Nunavut Animation Lab, offering animation training to Nunavut artists at workshops in Iqaluit, Cape Dorset and Pangnirtung.[47] Films from the Nunavut Animation Lab include Alethea Arnaquq-Baril's 2010 digital animation shortLumaajuuq, winner of the Best Aboriginal Award at the Golden Sheaf Awards and named Best Canadian Short Drama at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.[48]
In November 2011, the government of Nunavut and the NFB jointly announced the launch of a DVD and online collection entitled Unikkausivut (Inuktitut: Sharing Our Stories), which will make over 100 NFB films by and about Inuit available in Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun and other Inuit languages, as well as English and French. The Government of Nunavut is distributingUnikkausivut to every school in the territory.[49][50]
Performing arts[edit]
Artcirq is a collective of Inuit circus performers based in Igloolik.[51] The group has performed around the world, including at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.
[edit]
Main article: List of people from Nunavut
Susan Aglukark is an Inuit singer and song writer. She has released six albums and has won several Juno Awards. She blends the Inuktitut and English languages with contemporary pop music arrangements to tell the stories of her people, the Inuit of Arctic.
On May 3, 2008, the Kronos Quartet premiered a collaborative piece with Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, entitledNunavut, based on an Inuit folk story. Tagaq is also known internationally for her collaborations with Icelandic pop starBjörk.
Jordin John Kudluk Tootoo (Inuktitut syllabics: ᔪᐊᑕᓐ ᑐᑐ; born February 2, 1983 in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada) is a professional ice hockey player with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Although born in Manitoba, Tootoo grew up in Rankin Inlet, where he was taught to skate and play hockey by his father, Barney.
