Inuit Research Articles

Manitoba Inuit Association’s Rapid Response to Include an Inuit Identifier within Manitoba COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests

To monitor the progress of the COVID-19 outbreak, ensure equitable access to testing and treatment, and provide up-to-date information to Indigenous decision-makers engaged in setting up measures to protect their communities, the Manitoba Inuit Association (MIA) mobilized to work with the First Nation Heath and Social Secretariat of Manitoba, Ongomiizwin Research, and the Manitoba Government to identify Inuit in COVID-19 diagnostic tests, including Inuit who reside in Manitoba or those who come from Nunavut to the province to access health services. Provincial work was already underway to add Indigenous identifiers into provincial clinical health information systems; however, it was apparent early in April 2020 that reporting to Indigenous organizations on identified COVID-19 cases for First Nation, Metis, and Inuit People would be also be required in order for remedial measures to occur. This article describes the governance considerations needed to establish an information-sharing agreement with the Government of Manitoba and the role of the MIA in overseeing this process. Further background information is provided in addition to an extended discussion around the context in which Inuit are identified and receive healthcare services in Manitoba.

Socio-Environmental Impacts of Mobility on Inuit People and Its Consequences in the High Arctic Region of Canada

This study examines the socio-environmental impacts of mobility on Inuit people and its consequences in the High Arctic region of Canada. Mobility is the part of Inuit culture, the Inuit people moved for hunting on familiar distances and sites that is the part of their life through generations. These patterns of mobility represent an admirable appreciation and familiar knowledge of the environment in the aboriginal people. The system of mobility as social change is related to the environmental stress, food shortage, fur-trade, construction of military bases, state policies, forced resettlement and non-renewable resources development projects in the Arctic region. Since 1950s, the Inuit of Canadian Arctic region have experience forcefully the mobilities in form of relocation, new-settlements, medical moves and residential schools as well as environmental mobility. The effects of relocation from their original lands have sustained through generations. There is another sad story of the DEW-line (Distance Early Warning) construction. The construction was started without any consent or notification to the local communities. Inuit people were displaced into other places with non-respectable way from their indigenous land. The residential school system was another a misfortune form of mobility which removed Aboriginal children from their parents and forcefully teach them ‘white manners’. This unfair treatment to the Inuit becomes big debate in the country from the several decades ago. Experience of mobility either it was due to relocation, displacement, individual or residential schools and mobility due to climate change are common story of Inuit people in the Arctic region of Canada. A number of families are still dealing with this intergenerational distresses.

Fuzzy cognitive mapping with Inuit women: what needs to change to improve cervical cancer screening in Nunavik, northern Quebec?

BackgroundAmong Canadian Inuit, cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates are up to three times higher than the Canadian average. Cervical cancer is preventable through regular screening which, in Quebec, is opportunistic and requires physical examination and Papanicolaou (“Pap”) smears. Since Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the necessary cause of cervical cancer, HPV testing is a plausible screening alternative. HPV testing by self-sampling also addresses several barriers associated with physical examination and access to healthcare. In a participatory research paradigm, we worked with two communities of Nunavik to explore the possible implementation of HPV self-sampling.MethodKey community stakeholders formed an Advisory Committee to guide direct discussions with Inuit women. We presented available facts around cervical cancer, HPV and the female anatomy, and used Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping to collate women’s views. A thematic analysis summarized data, adding links and weights to represent the relationship of each factor on the outcome: screening for cervical cancer.ResultsAccording to the 27 Inuit women who participated, the most influential factor in using health services was the cultural awareness of the healthcare provider. A significant barrier to screening was patient lack of information. The principal vector of change – the factor most likely to influence other factors – was the means of communication between the healthcare provider and the patient: visual communication was told to be the most effective.ConclusionFuzzy Cognitive Mapping is a practical tool for discussing possible health actions with stakeholders and to inform future research. The tool offers a visual aid for discussion across cultural and educational differences. It can help to build the partnerships that incorporate community voices into co-design of interventions that are relevant to and aligned with the needs of those who use them.

Do You See Ice? Inuit and Americans at Home and Away

Do You See Ice? Inuit and Americans at Home and Away

Constructing Human Versus Non-Human Climate Migration in the Anthropocene: The Case of Migrating Polar Bears in Nunavut, Canada

Critical anthropology is currently awash with research aimed at disabling human exceptionalism, alignment with indigenous knowledge, decolonisation of thought, and the taking of the posthuman turn. Meanwhile states with settler colonial histories, such as Canada, also seek to align policies with indigenous knowledge and seek reconciliation with indigenous peoples. This article examines this trend by analyzing the conflict occurring in Nunavut between the Canadian state and Inuit communities living there, over the migration of polar bears. In this context, indigenous knowledge clashes with the rationalities and policies of the state. Claiming support from biological science, the state argues that the migration of the bears indicates their threatened status, while the Inuit argues it to be an expression of polar bear resilience. What does this clash of rationalities tell us about the integrity of the posthuman turn, given that its legitimacy depends on claims of alignment with indigenous knowledge and interests as well as opposition to western science and colonial state power? States with colonial histories, including Canada, as well as international organisations including the United Nations, are at pains these days to stress the extent to which their policy responses to the climate crisis are informed by indigenous knowledge. However, the construction of indigenous knowledge in the policies of colonial states, as much as in critical anthropology, is rendered problematic by the analysis offered in this article. Were Inuit knowledge and perspectives on the climate migration of polar bears to be taken seriously, different policies and different approaches, based on the privileging of the human over and against the interests of the animal would have to prevail.

Indigenous Peoples and Child Welfare: The Path to Reconciliation

Commissioners were asked to look at virtually every aspect of the lives of the First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples of Canada in the North as well as in cities: their history, the way they are governed, their land claims, their treaties, their economy, their cultures, their education, their health, their living conditions, their relationship with the justice system, the state of their languages and more generally, their situation in Canada relative to that of non-Aboriginal Canadians. The task assigned to our Commission by the Government of Canada was in fact no less than recommending ways to rectify the errors made when Confederation came about in 1867 and, for the first time, make Aboriginal peoples true partners in this great undertaking. That meant recommending ways to lift up the apparatus of colonization that had been imposed upon Aboriginal peoples during the last 150 years and suggesting principles and structures upon and around which to restructure their relationship with Canada.

Do You See Ice? Inuit and Americans at Home and Away. Karen Routledge

<i>Do You See Ice? Inuit and Americans at Home and Away</i>. Karen Routledge

Denmark’s Obligations Regarding Mineral Resources in Greenland

Greenland has rich deposits of natural resources. Some of them could have the potential to be commercially developed. The exploitation of these resources could provide enormous opportunities for Greenland’s economic development. Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and enjoys far reaching rights of self-government. The population of Greenland is overwhelmingly Inuit, a people elsewhere recognized as an Indigenous people. The question concerning the exploitation of the natural resources is thus a complicated legal issue. International law provides indigenous peoples with special rights concerning the natural resources in their territory as referenced in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention 169. The Kingdom of Denmark thus has international obligations regarding free, prior and informed consent. At the national level, the Self-Government Act includes provisions concerning natural resources, and this area is under the sole competence of the self-government. The Greenlandic Mineral Resources Act includes provisions on participation and consultation processes of local inhabitants. This article discusses whether the Kingdom of Denmark, through the Self-Government Act, lives up to its obligations under international law regarding the rights of the Inuit people in relation to the natural resources in their territory.

A review of Canadian Arctic killer whale (Orcinus orca) ecology

The killer whale (Orcinus orca (Linnaeus, 1758)) is a widely distributed marine predator with a broad ecological niche at the species level with evidence of specialization and narrow ecological niches among populations. Their occurrence in Canadian Arctic waters is limited by sea ice and it has been suggested that climate warming, which has caused increases in the area of ice-free water and duration of the ice-free season, has led to an increased killer whale presence during the open-water period. In this review, we summarize our knowledge of Canadian Arctic killer whale demographics and ecology, synthesizing published and previously unpublished information in a single document. More specifically, we summarize our knowledge of killer whale population size and trends, distribution and seasonality (including results from recent satellite-tracking studies), feeding ecology, and threats, and identify research priorities in the Canadian Arctic. Despite increased research efforts during the past decade, our demographic and ecological knowledge remains incomplete. An improved ecological understanding is necessary for effective management of killer whales and their prey, species of ecological, economic, and cultural importance to Canadian Inuit and the marine ecosystem. This knowledge will allow us to better understand the ecological consequences of a changing Arctic climate.

Previously undetected super-spreading of Mycobacterium tuberculosis revealed by deep sequencing.

Tuberculosis disproportionately affects the Canadian Inuit. To address this, it is imperative we understand transmission dynamics in this population. We investigate whether 'deep' sequencing can provide additional resolution compared to standard sequencing, using a well-characterized outbreak from the Arctic (2011-2012, 50 cases). Samples were sequenced to ~500-1000x and reads were aligned to a novel local reference genome generated with PacBio SMRT sequencing. Consensus and heterogeneous variants were identified and compared across genomes. In contrast with previous genomic analyses using ~50x depth, deep sequencing allowed us to identify a novel super-spreader who likely transmitted to up to 17 other cases during the outbreak (35% of the remaining cases that year). It is increasingly evident that within-host diversity should be incorporated into transmission analyses; deep sequencing may facilitate more accurate detection of super-spreaders and transmission clusters. This has implications not only for TB, but all genomic studies of transmission - regardless of pathogen.

Environmental colonialism, digital indigeneity, and the politicization of resilience

While there is wide scholarly agreement that anthropogenic climate change has serious global implications, more debate exists around whether discourses of adaptation and resilience are effective at inspiring the necessary politics for addressing those implications. Resilience-based policies have been criticized for being overly techno-bureaucratic in nature, while leaving intact the deeper colonial and neoliberal logics that produce ecological destruction in the first place. This paper examines the Internet as a tool that Indigenous peoples are using to intervene in discourses of resilience, to mitigate the colonial impact that resilience and adaptation policies have on their communities. It does this through an exploration of how Inuit in Canada are leveraging digital technologies to engage in discussions about hunting and climate change in the Arctic. The paper argues that Inuit are engaging in digital forms of politics to re-scale their vulnerability beyond the local, to highlight dimensions of Arctic resilience beyond the “traditional,” and to intervene in the colonial relationships that produce environmental vulnerability in the first place.

Akutaq: The Impact of Colonialism on Inuit Religiosity and Literature

Akutaq: The Impact of Colonialism on Inuit Religiosity and Literature

A review of health and wellness studies involving Inuit of Manitoba and Nunavut

ABSTRACT The purpose of this review is to summarise past Inuit health and wellness studies in Manitoba and the Kivalliq region of Nunavut to provide a snapshot of the types of studies available and identify the gaps in knowledge. Research to date has largely been disease-based and often provides comparisons between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Distinct Inuit experiences are rarely written about from an Inuit perspective. However, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national organisation of Inuit in Canada, and Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada have been leaders in strengths-based community research and publications that address priorities determined by the Inuit, including the 2018 Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami document National Inuit Strategy on Research (132).

The Arctic Ocean Melt and the Impacts in Traditional Populations: Possibilities for an International Guarantee

The research intends to show how the melting of the Arctic Ocean, caused by the climatic collapse, affects the life of the traditional populations that inhabit the region and its ways of being influenced by the changes of the landscape and of the own structure and environmental availability. In view of this, it aims to present the environmental balance as a Human Right and, in view of this position, demonstrate the need for international mobilization to protect traditional communities that are historically more vulnerable. In order to do so, the study questions the possibility of universal jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, since the litigation previously raised by the Inuit people was frustrated due to the unavailability of the non-jurisdictional countries. In addition, the possibility of litigation is also raised in the International Criminal Court, on the grounds of Ecocide. Thus, through the hypothetical-deductive method and the questions raised by Cloutier SW, et al. [1], the impacts of climate collapse on vulnerable populations will be demonstrated, with a dissertation on the imperative need of effective and sensitive international tutelage - which also justifies the research.

Cultural continuity and Inuit health in Arctic Canada

BackgroundPrevious research association increased levels of cultural continuity and decreased rates of youth suicide in First Nations communities. We investigate the relationship between cultural continuity and self-rated health looking specifically...

Perspective on Convention 169, its significance to Inuit and some troubling developments

Whereas universal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice1The aims of the ILO are significant for millions of workers across the globe. Moreover, consistent wit...

P2.16-40 Acknowledging Social and Economic Inequities Experienced by Canada’s Inuit: Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment of Lung Cancer

The Inuit living in Canada’s north have the highest rates of lung cancer in the world. Barriers to care are numerous and exist at all phases of the lung cancer journey. Beginning with difficulty in accessing the diagnostic phase of care through to treatment at a tertiary cancer centre located over 2000 km away and little to no palliative care available locally, this population experiences obstacles at each step of their lung cancer journey. The Inuit in Canada’s arctic experience dramatically higher rates of social and economic inequity than the rest of Canada with only one hospital serving a land mass similar to the size of Mexico, access to or from many communities is by air only. This means that diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer is provided thousands of kilometres away from family, community and culture, often for months at a time. Along with geographic barriers to care, Inuit peoples also have a historical mistrust of government and mainstream health care services owing to past encounters with colonization and marginalization. A lack of awareness of Inuit specific culture from health care providers (i.e. discrimination) further compounds this lack of trust. These end result of these traumas contribute to the significant health disparities experienced by the Inuit as compared to other Canadians and may in part explain why approximately 30% of Inuit diagnosed with lung cancer between 2000-2010 did not access cancer care. To better meet the needs of this population, TOHCC hired an Indigenous Nurse Navigator in 2016 with a goal to provide culturally safe care for Inuit patients and their families. Collaborative relationships have been built with key stakeholders in Inuit communities through consistent efforts which in turn have garnered awareness of Inuit specific issues within TOHCC and the surrounding city. In depth semi-structured interviews with Inuit patients, caregivers and community leaders. The Indigenous nurse navigator will interview participants either in person or by video during April and May 2019. The results of these interviews will be presented at the 2019 World Lung Cancer Conference in Barcelona. There is still much work to do in breaking down barriers to accessing care at all phases of the lung cancer journey for the Inuit of Canada’s North. This presentation offers the opportunity to hear directly from a marginalized community who potentially have the greatest lung cancer needs of any population in the world.

EP1.11-01 Lung Cancer Screening and Canada’s Inuit: A Missed Opportunity

Inuit peoples account for 0.2% of Canada’s population. Lung cancer rates in this population are disproportionately high for both genders with Canada’s Inuit having the highest incidence of lung cancer in the world. Outcomes are also poor with median survival for all stages combined in Nunavut being approximately 10 months. Lung cancer screening with low dose CT scan is being implemented in many countries, and a pilot program exists in Ontario, Canada. However, the screening model may not be appropriate for the Inuit. A literature review was performed regarding lung cancer screening, specifically with reference to the Inuit. Several challenges must be considered for implementation of lung cancer screening with the Inuit population. The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Screening Trial model (PLCO[M2012]) is the risk prediction model used in the Ontario Lung Cancer Screening Pilot for People at High Risk. This requires individuals to be between ages 55-74 and to have smoked daily for at least 20 years during their life. The average life expectancy among Inuit is 72 years, compared to 82 years for Canadians overall. Using this model where the average life expectancy is lower than the upper limit of eligibility restricts its applicability. Smoking rates among this indigenous group are approximately 3 times higher than the rest of Canada, which indicates a clear need for screening where a higher proportion of the population would be eligible. Nunavut is a vast land area of around 2 million square kilometres, with a population of approximately 35,000. The logistics of providing screening in remote communities only connected by air travel is therefore daunting. Other dominant health issues among the Inuit of Nunavut are high rates of tuberculosis, therefore screening CT scans may be further complicated by higher false positive scans requiring established algorithms for management of all abnormal scans. With the Inuit population growing faster than the rest of Canada, yet experiencing a reduced lifespan as compared to other Canadians, there is an opportunity to address the inequity that may be created with the current eligibility model used for screening in Ontario. Furthermore, current recruitment strategies and eligibility assessments are not well suited to this group’s unique background. The current PLCO risk prediction model used in Ontario may not offer the best benefit for screening in this population while careful thought about how this group is recruited is also required to minimize barriers experienced by this vulnerable population.

Climate change and community fisheries in the arctic: A case study from Pangnirtung, Canada

Coastal fishery systems in the Arctic are undergoing rapid change. This paper examines the ways in which Inuit fishers experience and respond to such change, using a case study from Pangnirtung, Canada. The work is based on over two years of fieldwork, during which semi-structured interviews (n = 62), focus group discussions (n = 6, 31 participants) and key informant interviews (n = 25) were conducted. The changes that most Inuit fishers experience are: changes in sea-ice conditions, Inuit people themselves, the landscape and the seascape, fish-related changes, and changes in weather conditions, markets and fish selling prices. Inuit fishers respond to change individually as well as collectively. Fishers’ responses were examined using the characteristics of a resilience-based conceptual framework focusing on place, human agency, collective action and collaboration, institutions, indigenous and local knowledge systems, and learning. Based on results, this paper identified three community-level adaptive strategies, which are diversification, technology use and fisheries governance that employs a co-management approach. Further, this work recognised four place-specific attributes that can shape community adaptations, which are Inuit worldviews, Inuit-owned institutions, a culture of sharing and collaborating, and indigenous and local knowledge systems. An examination of the ways in which Inuit fishers experience and respond to change is essential to better understand adaptations to climate change. This study delivers new insights to communities, scientists, and policymakers to work together to foster community adaptation.

Carnitine Palmitoyl Transferase, Type 1A (CPT1A)

Carnitine Palmitoyl Transferase 1A (CPT1A) is a crucial enzyme needed for mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation and is fundamental for appropriate metabolic responses to prolonged fasting. Under normal conditions, the human body guarantees a constant energy supply, by metabolizing glucose in the short term and by oxidizing fatty acids into ketones during long term fasting or starvation. Fasting induces breakdown of the hepatic glycogen supply into glucose. Continued fasting eventually leads to glycogen depletion followed by a decrease in serum glucose and insulin levels, this decrease then activates hormone-sensitive lipases located in adipose tissues and causes the release of free fatty acids into the blood. Normally these free fatty acids would undergo beta-oxidation to produce energy, but CPT1A deficiency results in an 80% decrease in the activity of the CPT1A enzyme, leading to significant hepatic glycogen depletion and the inability to utilize ketones during periods of fasting. Preoperative fasting in these patients may result in vomiting, lethargy, hypoketotic hypoglycemia, seizures, liver failure, increased risk for infectious illnesses and higher rates of respiratory illnesses, placing this population at greater perioperative risk for anesthesia and surgery. Interventions include, but are not limited to, parent education and prevention techniques, recognition of symptoms, prompt treatment with glucose and even surgery cancellation. CPT1A deficiency is found in circum-arctic populations such as Alaskan Inupiat and Yupik, Canadian and Greenland Inuit, and Siberian Yupik and is thus known as the “Arctic Variant” of CPT1A. Once thought of as a rare disorder, the introduction of tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to Alaska newborn screenings in 2003 revealed that the polymorphism c.1436C&gt;T variant in the CPT1A gene has an incidence as high as 80% in specific regions of Alaska. As of 2011, an estimated 700 Alaska Native Infants born each year are homozygous for the c.1436C&gt;T Arctic Variant. It is therefore important for anesthesia professionals in Alaska and other arctic regions to understand what CPT1A Arctic Variant is, and its implications for these patients in the perioperative period.