The Inuit

Much has been written about the Inuit peoples of the Arctic, some of it factual, much of it fanciful. Although their number is small among the world's five billion people, they are famous far beyond their homeland.

Perhaps this recognition stems from the uniqueness of their traditional lifestyle and culture. Or perhaps it comes from others' fascination with the Inuit's ability to survive and thrive in the harsh climate of Canada's North.

Canada is home to a quarter of the world's Inuit. "Inuit" is the Inuktitut word for "the people." The Inuit, as well as the Metis and First Nations peoples, are Aboriginal peoples as defined in the Canadian Constitution. About 55 700 Inuit live in 53 communities accross the North. Population density in the North is approximately one person per one-hundred square kilometres. Over the past few decades, the Inuit population has grown rapidly. If present trends continue, there will be about 84 600 Inuit in the North by 2016.

Modern technology has changed life for the Inuit, facilitating transportation and communications, and improving health care and protection against the harsh climate. The traditional dog team has largely been replaced by snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, cars and trucks. The harpoon has been replaced by the rifle. And the iglu, that legendary dome-shaped snow shelter, has been replaced by houses with central heating, electricity, appliances and plumbing and is now only used out on the land when hunting.

Modern life has also brought new problems with it. In common with many Aboriginal peoples, Canada's Inuit must grapple with the challenge of adapting to life in an advanced industrialized society, while maintaining and preserving their traditional social and cultural roots.

History

The exact origins of the Canadian Inuit are unknown. It is generally believed, however, that their ancestors came to North America from Asia, crossing a land bridge formed between the two continents during the last ice age.

These ancestors were inland hunters, but as they moved east across the North, they adapted to coastal conditions and began to hunt seal and walrus. The culture that can properly be described as Inuit is considered to have sprung from this adaptation to marine hunting and the use of the kayak.

Hunting remains central to Inuit life. Indeed, their society was built on this activity, with the family as the basic unit. Because hunting was essentially a co-operative venture, several households would form into a group to hunt. Until well into this century, there were some 700 such groups of Inuit scattered across the North.

The Inuit adapted their lifestyle to the conditions they found. On Hudson Bay's western shores, where game was plentiful, the Caribou Inuit were inland hunters who never went to sea. In other areas, marine mammals and fish were the main diet. The food supply, although limited in variety and often difficult to obtain, was balanced nutritionally.

Contact with the Outside

For many centuries, the Canadian Inuit lived in nearly total isolation. Despite some brief and limited contact with early explorers, it was not until the advent of the 19th-century whaling fleets that the Inuit had any lasting and significant dealings with Europeans.

The growing importance of the fur trade also brought the Inuit into further contact with the outside. Because furs were always a vital part of the Inuit lifestyle, trapping soon became as important an activity as hunting.

A Period of Transition

Interaction between the Inuit and other Canadians accelerated rapidly during and following World War II. Airfields, weather stations and a radar line across Canada's North were built. Government services, mining exploration and development increased and, more recently, discoveries of large oil and gas reserves have brought thousands of southerners into the North.

It was during this latter period that the Canadian government recognized the need to provide health, education and other social services to the Inuit. This led to a greatly increased government presence and presaged the move of the Inuit to a smaller number of larger, more stable communities with schools, churches, government offices and stores.

The Inuit Today

Hunting and fishing still provide most Inuit with fresh protein. Some sealing and trapping activities continue, but anti-sealing and anti-trapping crusades have diminished the value of these once-lucrative industries. Fur harvesting, however, remains part of Inuit culture, and hunting provides most of the food supply and supplements many incomes.

The Inuit's economic base is much more diversified today than in past years. Internationally renowned Inuit carvings and prints are in great demand. Generally sold through Inuit co-operatives, they provide a steady source of income to many communities.

Inuit community growth has provided jobs in community services, service and development industries, and government.

Many communities are too remote to allow the Inuit reasonable access to major labour markets. The problem of further diversifying the economy and providing meaningful employment for the young and growing Inuit population remains a challenge.

Political Awakening

Traditionally, the Canadian Inuit had few formal political structures. They remained largely outside the political systems that were introduced with the modernization of the North. For example, the Inuit had no vote in Canadian elections until 1962. But, concerned with regaining control over their lives and their future, the Inuit have become much more politically active. Most communities are now incorporated and governed by elected councils, similar to those in municipalities across Canada.

In the Northwest Territories, where the Inuit and other Aboriginal peoples form a majority of the population, Inuit are well represented in the Legislative Assembly and at the territorial ministerial level. In Canada's Parliament, Inuit members now sit in both the House of Commons and the Senate. Notable among the political organizations formed, the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada speaks with a united voice on important economic, environmental and political issues of concern to the Inuit.

Canada's Inuit have also joined those of Greenland, Alaska and Russia to form the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, an international body addressing the key issues and concerns of the entire arctic world.

A political accord and resulting legislation proclaimed in July 1993 will lead to a new, predominantly Inuit territory in Canada's North by 1999. The new territory, to be called Nunavut, will comprise roughly the eastern half of the present Northwest Territories (roughly three times the size of France) and will hold the same degree of political and economic sovereignty as the other northern territories.

Land Claims

As the North became more developed, conflicts over land ownership and rights inevitably emerged. Usually, land not privately owned belongs to the Government of Canada. But the Inuit have an historic claim to large tracts of land by virtue of their occupancy and use over many centuries.

Funds from the 1984 settlement of the Inuvialuit (western Arctic) land claim have also helped open up more opportunities to Inuit in that region. The final agreement provided 2 500 Inuvialuit with 91 000 km² of land, financial compensation, social development funding, hunting rights and a greater role in wildlife management, conservation and environmental protection.

In 1993, a final agreement was reached with the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut - - the largest comprehensive land claim to be settled in Canada. The agreement will provide some 17 500 Inuit with 350 000 km² of land, financial compensation, the right to share in resource royalties, hunting rights, and a greater role in the management of land and the environment.

Claims settlements have also been successfully reached with Inuit groups in the northern region of the province of Quebec. Negotiations are also under way with the Labrador Inuit Association, which represents about 3800 Inuit living in the coastal, interior and offshore areas of northern Labrador (part of the province of Newfoundland).

Environmental Protection

Throughout the modern development of the Canadian North, the Inuit have been leaders in urging caution and concern for the effects of human activity on the arctic environment. They have a deeply rooted tradition of living in harmony with nature, understanding better than most the fragility of northern ecosystems.

Canadians have become aware that the North is no longer a remote, pristine area immune from the effects of industrialization. Contaminants caused by activities as far away as Europe have shown up in the environment and in the Inuit diet. In the years ahead, climate change and phenomena such as the "greenhouse effect" may profoundly change northern life.

The Inuit of Canada are working with the territorial and federal governments to understand and seek solutions to environmental issues affecting their homeland.

The Future

Canada's Inuit have shown a remarkable resilience in withstanding, absorbing and adapting to a very different culture without losing either their traditional values or their desire to remain a distinct and self-reliant society.

They have, in recent years, gained an important measure of political control. The settlement of their land claims and their work to create the new territory of Nunavut will provide a more solid base from which they can plan their future.