More than Needle and Thread: Inuit Knowledge Sharing and Well-being through Community-based Programs

ABSTRACT

Community-based educational programs coordinated and run by local residents, Inuit organizations, and nonprofit organizations are periodically offered in communities in Nunavut. This article presents examples of these programs from the communities of Kangiqłiniq (Rankin Inlet) and Igluligaarjuk (Chesterfield Inlet) as well as programs connecting Inuit with belongings in museum collections held outside of Nunavut. The research involved anthropological methods of participant observation, interviews, and ethnographic insights from experiences of organizing and participating in programs. Indigenous research methodologies also guide the research. We elaborate how community-based programs provide opportunities for Inuit knowledge generation and transmission while contributing to well-being and community cohesion. These programs can (re)connect and engage Inuit with knowledge of the land, traditional and contemporary cultural practices, and Inuit belongings that have been disconnected from communities and individuals through colonial processes.

[Inuktitut: Rankin Inlet/Chesterfield Inlet dialect] ᓄᓇᓕᖕᒦᖓᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᓄᑦ ᑐᕌᖓᔪᑦ ᑐᑭᒧᐊᒃᑎᖅᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᐅᓚᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᒥᐅᓄᑦ, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒌᓄᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᕈᐃᑎᑦᑎᓇᓱᙱᑦᑐᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒌᓄᑦ ᖃᑯᑎᒃᑯᑦ ᒪᓂᒪᑎᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂᑦ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᑦ. ᑖᒻᓇ ᑎᑎᖅᖃᖅ ᑐᓂᓯᔪᖅ ᐆᒃᑑᑎᓂᒃ ᑖᑉᑯᓄᙵ ᑐᕌᖓᔪᓄᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂᑦ ᑲᖏᖅᖠᓂᕐᒥᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒑᕐᔪᖕᒥᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᕌᖓᔪᑦ ᑲᑎᑎᑦᑎᑉᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᐱᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒃᓴᖃᕐᕕᖕᓃᑦᑐᓂᑦ ᑲᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᓯᓚᑖᓂᑦ ᓄᓇᕗᑦ. ᖃᐅᔨᓴᐃᓂᕐᒥᑦ ᐃᓚᐅᔪᑦ ᐃᓄᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᓚᐅᖃᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᑦ, ᐊᐱᖅᓱᐃᓃᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓇᑭᙶᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᑐᑭᓯᔭᐅᓂᖏᑦ ᐊᑐᕐᓂᑯᖏᑦᑎᒍᑦ ᐋᖅᕿᒃᓱᐃᓂᕐᒥᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓚᐅᖃᑕᐅᓂᕐᒥᑦ ᑐᕌᖓᔪᓂᑦ. ᓄᓇᖃᖅᖄᖅᑐᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᐃᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᑐᖃᑦᑕᖅᑕᖏᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᒥᔪᑦ ᕿᒥᕐᕈᓂᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ. ᕿᓂᖅᓴᐃᑦᑎᐊᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᒍᑦ ᖃᓄᖅ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᒦᖓᔪᑦ ᑐᕌᖓᔪᑦ ᐱᕕᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᖃᑦᑕᕐᒪᖔᑕ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᕆᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᓂᔭᐅᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᑕᐅᑦᑎᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᑲᔪᐃᓂᖃᕐᓗᓂ ᖃᓄᐃᖏᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᓕᒃ ᐃᓚᐅᑎᑕᐅᓂᖓᓄᑦ. ᑐᕌᖓᔪᑦ ᑲᑎᑎᑦᑎᒃᑲᓐᓂᕈᖕᓇᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓚᐅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᕆᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᒥᑦ, ᐱᖅᖁᓯᕆᔭᐅᔪᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᑉᓗᒥᐅᔪᖅ ᐱᖅᖁᓯᕆᔭᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᓄᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᐱᒋᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᑲᑎᓐᓂᖃᙱᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᑦ ᐃᓂᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦᑎᒍᑦ.

KEYWORDS:

• Community-based education
• well-being
• knowledge generation
• museum collections
• belongings

Disclosure statement

In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and my ethical obligation as a researcher, I (Ezra Greene) am reporting that I have previously worked as a consultant for the Kangiqłiniq HTO to support their work in wildlife co-management in Nunavut. I was not involved with the coordination or implementation of the Young Hunters Program.

Notes

1. We have chosen to use the Inuktitut names for the communities rather than the English names throughout this article. The character “ł” represents the voiceless lateral fricative in written Inuktitut. Combined with Inuktitut vowels of “i,” “u,” and “a,” it approximates the sounds “-shli-,” “-shlu-,” and “-shla-.”

2. We use first names to refer to ourselves and people we have worked directly with throughout this article.

3. Inuk is the singular form of Inuit.

4. UBC Behavioral Research Ethics Board Certificate #H14-00266 (2014-16) #H14-00686 (2014-16). Nunavut Research Institute Scientific Research License #03 009 14N-M, #03 015 14N-A (2014), #03 001 15R-M (2015). Carleton Behavioral Research Ethics Board A Certificate #112507 (2020-Present). Nunavut Research Institute Scientific Research License #03 001 21R-M (2021).

5. UBC Behavioral Research Ethics Board Certificate #H15-00189 (2015-2019). Nunavut Research License #03 013 15N-M (2015), #03 002 17R-M (2016, 2017), #03 010 18R-M (2018), and #03 005 19R-M (2019).

6. This section and the next have been modified from sections in Greene’s (2021, 182-190) doctoral dissertation.

7. English names are used in this sentence to emphasize that the present-day settlements began as foreign entities at the location of Igluligaarjuk and Kangiqłiniq.

8. In 1951, with the support of the federal government, the Roman Catholic mission and Grey Nuns opened and began operating the Joseph Bernier Federal Day School in Igluligaarjuk. From 1955 to 1969, many Inuit children from across the Eastern Arctic lived apart from their families in Turquetil Hall, while attending elementary school in Igluligaarjuk. From the 1960s into the 1990s, many older students attended secondary school while living in residential hostels in Yellowknife, Churchill, Iqaluit, and Kangiqłiniq.

9. The Nunavut Agreement is a modern, comprehensive treaty between the Inuit of Nunavut and the Crown.

10. KIA is a regional Inuit organization with specific responsibilities defined in the Nunavut Agreement. One of these responsibilities is supporting social and cultural programs and well-being.

11. Pijunnaqsiniq roughly translates to “being able to do it.”

12. Interview numbers in this section are randomized three-digit numbers. All interviews referenced occurred in 2017 or 2018.

13. HTOs are local Inuit organizations in each community in Nunavut that represent all of the Inuit harvesters in their respective community. They participate in regional and territorial wildlife co-management processes.

14. For example, Uqsuqtuuq has the Nattilik Heritage Center that has worked with museums in Norway and Canada to create a small museum with its own collections on display, as well as collections on loan from other museums (Wang 2018).

15. American and Scottish whaling companies exploited the north Hudson Bay whaling grounds from 1860 to 1915, and many Inuit were active participants in this industry as whalers and provisioners of whaling ships (Ross 1975).

16. Tuiliit is the plural form of tuili.

17. The whaler Captain George Comer collected extensive materials for the anthropologist Franz Boas (1901, 1907), which are now held in the American Museum of Natural History, the Mystic Seaport, and other American museums.

Additional information

Funding

Ezra’s research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies, the Northern Scientific Training Program, Killam Laureates, and the UBC Department of Anthropology. Krista’s research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies, the Northern Scientific Training Program, Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimaksarniq/Pijariuqsarniq Project, and the Nunavut Tunngavik Foundation’s Cultural and Healing Program.

Notes on contributors

Ezra Anton Greene

Ezra Anton Greene (PhD, University of British Columbia) is an anthropologist, geographic information systems specialist, and educator. His research interests include systems of knowledge generation and transmission; relatedness between humans, the land, and other beings; science and technology studies; political economy; and resource co-management. He works with Inuit in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut on projects related to wildlife research and co-management. ORCiD: 0000-0001-8849-6060

Krista Ulujuk Zawadski

Krista Ulujuk Zawadski (PhD Candidate, Carleton University) is an anthropologist, curator, beader, and Inuk researcher who mobilizes Indigenous research methodologies in her work. Her interests include Arctic anthropology, museology, and collections-based research. Krista co-curated the exhibition INUA at Qaumajuq in Winnipeg and recently curated Nuvisi: Threading Our Beads at Qatiktalik at the Carleton University Art Gallery in Ottawa, which she plans to exhibit in Nunavut. ORCiD: 0000-0002-1426-6147