Inuit Nunangat

Inuit Nunangat (; ), formerly Inuit Nunaat (), is the homeland of the Inuit in Canada. This Arctic homeland consists of four northern Canadian regions called the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (, home of the Inuvialuit and the northern portion of the Northwest Territories and Yukon), the territory Nunavut (), Nunavik () in northern Quebec, and Nunatsiavut of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Etymology

Inuit of Canada originally used the Greenlandic Inuit term ''Nunaat'' which excludes the waters and ice. In 2009 the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami formally switched to the Inuktitut ''Nunangat'' in 2009 to reflect the integral nature "land, water, and ice" have to Inuit culture.

History

Inuit settlement

Inuit are the most recent Indigenous arrivals on the continent aside from Métis. Inuit ancestors known as the Thule settled the Arctic, replacing the previous dominant Dorset culture (Tuniit) over the course of around 200 years. Displacement of the Tuniit (Inuktitut syllabics; ), or the Dorset people, and the arrival of the Inuit (whose ancestors are often called Thule) occurred in the 1100–1300s CE. Coming from Siberia where they split from the Aleut and other related peoples about 4,000 years ago, Inuit had reached Inughuit Nunaat in western Greenland by about 1300 CE, bringing with them transport dogs and various new technologies.

Trade relations were and remain strong with bordering countries and nations, such as with the Gwichʼin and Dënesųłı̨né (Chipewyan) of Denendeh (now in the Northwest Territories) and Innu of Nitassinan (), though occasional conflicts arose. Martin Frobisher's 1576 expedition to find the Northwest Passage landed on and around Baffin Island, in today's Qikiqtaaluk Region (Inuktitut syllabics: ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ ), where three Inuit, a man called Calichough ( Kalicho), an unrelated Inuk woman, Egnock ( Arnaq), and her child, Nutioc (Nuttaaq), were kidnapped and brought to the Europe, where they all died.

Canadian colonization

Canadian colonization extended in to Inuit Nunangat via the lands claimed as Rupert's Land, North-Western Territory and Quebec, later including Newfoundland and Labrador. Rapid spread of diseases, material wealth, the Christian churches and Canadian (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) policing saw a rapid decline and collapse of Inuit Nunangat, from which it is still recovering.

Since European colonizers had little desire to settle much of Inuit Nunangat's territories, the violence experienced by southern First Nations was comparatively minimal in the north. However, assimilation policies including the wide-scale slaughter of community dogs between 1950 and 1970, the High Arctic relocation as well as forced participation within the Canadian Indian residential school system has left Inuit society with language loss and transgenerational trauma.

Modern era

Today, Inuit Nunangat is overseen by the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (, meaning either "Inuit are united with Canada" or "Inuit are united in Canada") which acts as a cultural centre piece and quasi-central government for Inuit affairs within Canada.

While Nunavut's confederation within Canada in 1999 via the ''Nunavut Act'' and ''Nunavut Land Claims Agreement'' is most visible, each of the regions of Inuit Nunangat. The Inuvialuit Settlement Region () came under the jurisdiction of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation two years after the 1984 ''Inuvialuit Final Agreement'', and Nunatsiavut was granted an autonomous government in 2005 after the 2002 Labrador Inuit Association proposal for a separate government. Beginning with a land claim in 1977, negotiations launched in 1988 between the Labrador Inuit Association, the governments of Newfoundland and Labrador and that of Canada. In Northern Quebec, the Makivik Corporation was established upon the ''James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement'' signing in 1978, taking the mantle from the previous Nunavimmiut organization, the "Northern Quebec Inuit Association" ( ).

The Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee (ICPC) was created in 2017 and last met on April 21, 2022. At this meeting, the Canadian federal government, in partnership with the Inuit Nunangat, unanimously endorsed the federal policy called the Inuit Nunangat Policy (INP). In a live address shortly after this meeting, the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, said the policy "recognizes the Inuit homeland as a distinct geographical, cultural and political region," which includes the "land, sea, and ice."

Demographics

As of the 2021 Canadian census the population of Inuit Nunangat was 58,220 an increase of over the 2016 census population of 56,585. The Indigenous population is 50,500 or 89.24 per cent of the total population, of which 48,695 (83.63 per cent) are Inuit.

In 2021 of those Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat 6.46 per cent live in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, 63.38 per cent in Nunavut, 25.87 per cent in Nunavik and 4.29 per cent in Nunatsiavut.

In total there are 70,545 Inuit in Canada with 48,695 (69.02 per cent) living in Inuit Nunangat and 21,850 (30.98 per cent) living in other parts of Canada. This is a growth of over 2016 when there were 65,025 Inuit in Canada with 47,335 (72.80 per cent) living in Inuit Nunangat and 17,695 (27.21 per cent) living in other parts of Canada.

Communities

There are six communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR). The ISR is made up of five hamlets and one town, Inuvik, which is the headquarters of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and the regional centre for the larger Inuvik Region.

There are twenty-five populated communities in Nunavut, The territory is divided into three regions, Kitikmeot, with the regional centre in Cambridge Bay, the Kivalliq, with the regional centre in Rankin Inlet, and the Qikiqtaaluk, with the regional centre and capital in Iqaluit. Other than Iqaluit, which is a city, all other Nunavut communities are hamlets. Statistics Canada also lists three settlements, Bathurst Inlet (also recognized by the Government of Nunavut), Nanisivik and Umingmaktok, all with a population of zero.

In Nunavik there are fourteen northern villages (village nordique, code=VN), governed by the Kativik Regional Government with the administrative capital at Kuujjuaq. All villages, with the exception of Puvirnituq, have Inuit reserved land (Terre de la catégorie I pour les Inuits, TI) associated with the community.

There are five towns in Nunatsiavut. The Nunatsiavut Assembly Building is located in Hopedale while the administrative capital is in Nain.

The government of Canada also lists Bathurst Inlet, Killiniq and Umingmaktuuq (Umingmaktok) as forming part of Inuit Nunangat, giving a total of 53 communities.

Languages

There are multiple Inuit languages, along with English and French, spoken across Inuit Nunangat. The oral languages form a vast dialect continuum with mutual intelligibility between neighbouring variants from the westernmost Iñupiatun dialect to the three Greenlandic languages: Kalaallisut, Tunumiisut, and, the closest variation to Canadian dialects, Inuktun. In Canada, there is Inuvialuktun spoken in the West in Inuvialuit Settlement Region (Inuvialuit Nunangit Sannaiqtuaq); Inuktitut, the most spoken dialect; Inuinnaqtun which straddles the line between Inuktitut and Inuvialuktun; and Inuttitut spoken in the Labradorian east by Nunatsiavummiut. And, attested contemporarily only in a few Nunavut communities, Inuit Sign Language (also known as Atgangmuurngniq and Uukturausingit) continues to be passed down through generations regardless of deafness. It is unknown by academia if there is any relation between Greenlandic and Inuit Sign Languages or if Greenlandic Sign Language is a dialect of Danish Tegnsprog.

Within each of the primary oral language divisions, collectively referred to as Inuktut, (Inuvialuktun, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuktitut, and Inuttut), there exist several dialects therein. Within Inuvialuktun, the Siglit who live at the mouth of the Mackenzie River (Inuvialuktun: uːkpɑk''literally'' great river) speak Siglitun; and the Uummarmiut, or "people of the green trees" and are sometimes called "Canadian Iñupiat," speak Uummarmiutun. Western Inuktut dialects are sometimes considered Inuvialuktun dialects, such as Inuinnaqtun (including one of its sub dialects, Kangiryuarmiutun, spoken by the Copper Inuit group, the Kangiryuarmiut). Others include Natsilingmiutut, spoken by the Netsilik, with its sub-dialects including Utkuhiksalik (the language of the "people of the place where there is soapstone": Utkuhiksalingmiut); Kivallirmiutut spoken by the Caribou Inuit of the Kivalliq Region; Aivilingmiutut of the Aivilingmiut; and the northern Qikiqtaaluk uannangani spoken by Iglulingmiut of the Igloolik. On the southern part of Baffin Island (Qikiqtaaluk) around the Nunavut capital Iqaluit, Qikiqtaaluk nigiani is spoken, and relatively close is the dialect of Nunavik, Nunavimmiutitut, sometimes called Tarramiutut, Taqramiutut, or Inuttitut (not to be confused with Nunatsiavummiutut (Inuttitut) of Labrador). Nunavimmiutitut includes the sub dialects spoken by the Tarrarmiut and Itivimuit. Nunatsiavummiut in Nunatsiavut, Labrador speak Inuttitut, Inuttut, or, alternatively, Labradorimiutut.

People

Inuit are diverse peoples who share cultural and linguistic similarities. Moreover, they are a bimodal people, speaking both oral languages, Inuit languages, and sign languages, Inuit Sign Language (Atgangmuurniq).

Peoples of Inuit Nunangat

* Inuvialuit (people of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, northwestern Northwest Territories, seasonally in northern Yukon)
* Nunavummiut (people of Nunavut)
* Nunavimmiut (people of Nunavik, northern Quebec)
* Nunatsiavummiut / Labradorimiut (people of Nunatsiavut, northern Labrador)

Inuit outside Nunangat

* Greenlandic Inuit (, Greenland)
* Iñupiaq (northern and northwestern Alaska)

Related peoples

* Yup'ik (western Alaska)
* Alutiiq (Sugpiaq, southern Alaska)
* Siberian Yupik (Bering Strait, Russia and Alaska)
* Sirenik Eskimos (eastern Siberia)
* Aleut (Aleutian and Kommodor islands)

Geography

Spanning much of the North American Arctic, Inuit Nunangat is mostly above the tree line.
It is situated in Northern Canada, and some tribes can even expand to Siberia, Alaska and Greenland.

Climate change

In 2019, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami released their National Inuit Climate Change Strategy to combat and respond to the ecological collapse and its effects on Inuit and Inuit Nunangat.

Culture

Inuit culture transcends millennia and includes numerous music styles, sports and other cultural attributes.

Inuit Nunangat has produced numerous contemporary bands and singers, such as Joshua Haulli, Quantum Tangle, The Jerry Cans (Inuktitut syllabics: ᐸᐃ ᒑᓚᖃᐅᑎᒃᑯᑦ, ''Pai Gaalaqautikkut''), Elisapie (Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᓕᓴᐱ), Aasiva, Charlie Panigoniak, Riit (Inuktitut syllabics: ᕇᑦ), Willie Thrasher, and Tumasi Quissa, as well as many others. Of particular note is Inuit throat singing performed by artists such as Qaunaq Mikkigak, Tudjaat, and Tanya Tagaq (Inuktitut syllabics: ᑕᓐᔭ ᑕᒐᖅ). Yearly, the Alianait Music and Arts Festival features talented acts from across Inuit Nunangat, Canada, and the world, as one of many festivals that take place.

Inuit art first came to outside attention in the 1940s through printmaking and carving. It is known for the use of soapstone, such as for carvings and for making qulliq (Inuktitut syllabics: ᖁᓪᓕᖅ, seal oil lamps). Although power tools are used, soapstone carving is often preferably done by axe and file.

The modern kayak originates from Inuit culture, originally called a ''qajaq'' (Inuktitut syllabics: ᖃᔭᖅ). As well, Inuit use the larger (), wood-framed flat-bottomed umiak or umiaq for transporting people, goods, and dogs; and, on land, qamutiik (dog sled) pulled by the Canadian Eskimo Dogs or huskies, known in Inuit languages as ''qimmiit'', though Inuit have since transitioned to motorized forms of transport such as the snowmobile for navigating. In part because the massacre of most of their sled dogs in the eastern part of Inuit Nunangat between the 1950s and 1970s. It was believed that the killings were done in order to force Inuit out of their traditional way of life and assimilate them into southern Canadian society. In 2007, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association organized the Qikiqtani Truth Commission, one year after a Royal Canadian Mounted Police report denying the slaughter of 20,000 dogs to help force Inuit into settlements, and stated that "the killings went on far too long to be the result of a secret plan or conspiracy, and that the dog killings began ... several years before the federal government adopted a formal central policy of dog control." On 14 August 2019, the Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations, Carolyn Bennett, apologized to the Qikiqtani Inuit for the slaughter.

Inuit cuisine, also known as "country food," incorporates a variety of meats (such as walrus, narwhal, bearded seal, caribou, polar bear, Arctic cod, and Arctic char, among others) and gathered plants (including crowberries, cloudberries, fireweed, seaweed, tubers and roots like mousefood, tuberous spring beauty, and sweet vetch) Much of the meat is served frozen, raw, or boiled, much like sushi or sashimi in Japanese cuisine. Delicacies include akutuq (Inuktitut syllabics: ᐊᑯᑐᖅ), an ice cream-like dessert made with fat or tallow, meat, and mixed with berries; igunaq (Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᒍᓇᖅ), a year-long fermentation of select meats; muktuk (Inuktitut syllabics: ᒪᒃᑖᖅ) (alternatively, maktaaq, maktak (Inuktitut syllabics: ᒪᒃᑕᒃ) or maktaq), whale skin and blubber usually eaten raw, sometimes frozen or pickled, and occasionally finely diced, breaded, deep fried, and then served with soy sauce; Labrador tea; and various dips such as aalu (Inuktitut syllabics: ᐋᓗ) (intended for meat made from the choice parts of caribou or seal, chopped into tiny pieces and blended with melted fat and blood), misiraq (Inuktitut syllabics: ᒥᓯᕋᖅ) (aged to resemble an aromatic white wine, made from seal or whale blubber), and nirukkaq (Inuktitut syllabics: ᓂᕈᒃᑲᖅ), a smooth made pâté made from the contents of a caribou's stomach.

Law

Inuit Nunangat currently functions through a variety of legal systems. As a Canadian jurisdiction, all of Inuit Nunangat falls under the federally overseen ''Criminal Code'' for criminal law. Inuvialuit Nunangat in the Northwest Territories and Yukon, Nunavut, and Nunatsiavut in Labrador are all subject to the English common law tradition. Nunavik, falling under the jurisdiction of Quebec, follows the civil law tradition as it pertains to private law. Finally, Inuit largely still follow Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit traditions, recognizing the interconnected nature of reality.
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᑐᖃᖏᑦ, alternatively rendered ''Qaujimanituqangit'' or ''Qauyimayatuqangit''), comes from the root word ''qaujima-'' (Inuktitut syllabics: ᖃᐅᔨ) meaning "to know," and could be literally translated as "that which has long been known by Inuit." Leaders and Elders did not see themselves as agents of social control or law and order, as each individual contributes to the functioning of the community. The integration of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (or IQ) and the wider Canadian legal tradition is an ongoing process. For example, the Nunavut Court of Justice is the only "unified," single-level court in Canada, and the court travels to communities every six weeks to two years. There are also on-the-land, restorative justice, and contemporary healing circle programs administered.

See also

*Indigenous self-government in Canada
* Qimmit, a Clash of Two Truths

Footnotes

References

External links

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

{{Authority control

Indigenous peoples in Atlantic Canada
Indigenous peoples in Northern Canada
Indigenous peoples of North America
History of Indigenous peoples of North America
Hunter-gatherers of the Arctic
Hunter-gatherers of Canada
Hunter-gatherers of the United States
Nunangat
Cultural regions of Canada
Inuit territories