Abstract
Traditional food is central to Inuit culture and sense of identity. Recent changes in lifestyle, climate, and animal populations have influenced how people practice and experience activities on the land. We summarize the findings of 191 new and archived interviews addressing the continued relationships of Inuit to berries in the Canadian territories of Nunavut, Nunavik, and Nunatsiavut. Berry plants have been and remain widely used throughout the study area. Berry picking is an important cultural activity that contributes to spiritual, personal, and community wellbeing. In some regions, the availability of berries and accessibility to berry patches are threatened by climate change, recent increases in goose populations, as well as community development. Study outcomes suggest that berry picking should be considered in land-use planning since, alongside hunting and fishing, it is an activity that contributes to physical and mental health while being an important cultural practice across Inuit territories.
Highlights
Traditional foods obtained through hunting, fishing, and gathering are an important part of Inuit diet (Searles 2016) as well as culturally meaningful and contributing to mental and physical health in contemporary Inuit communities (Loring and Gerlach 2009; Cunsolo Willox et al 2012)
These interviews were the main source of information for this study and are hereafter referred to as Bcore interviews.^ Complementary interviews were conducted in Arviat in 2015 and archive material was gathered from the Oral History Project archives in Igloolik
We focused on the cultural and social importance of berry picking as well as ethnobotanical knowledge and quality and availability of berries
Summary
Traditional foods obtained through hunting, fishing, and gathering are an important part of Inuit diet (Searles 2016) as well as culturally meaningful and contributing to mental and physical health in contemporary Inuit communities (Loring and Gerlach 2009; Cunsolo Willox et al 2012).
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