Inuit Research Articles

Playing to Survive: Children and Innovation During the Little Ice Age in Greenland

Greenland is the world's largest island, but only a narrow strip of land between the Inland Ice and the sea is inhabitable. Yet, the Norse chose to settle here around ad 986. During the eleventh century ad, precontact Inuit people moved into Greenland from northern Alaska via Canada. Although the two cultures faced the same climatic changes during the Little Ice Age, the Inuit thrived, while the Norse did not, for multiple causes. The authors focus on one of these causes, the hitherto overlooked contribution of young children's learning strategies to societal adaptation. The detailed analysis of a large corpus of play objects reveals striking differences between the children's material culture in the two cultures: rich and diverse in the precontact Inuit material and more limited and normative in the Norse. Drawing on insights from developmental psychology, the authors discuss possible effects of play objects on children's future adaptability in variable climatic conditions.

“Dear John”: Overriding institutional axiology by privileging Indigenous relational ethics

Institutional ethical oversight of research involving humans conducted at Canadian universities is guided by the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS2). Beginning in 2010, the TCPS2 included a chapter specific to research involving First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples of Canada, which is intended to provide a framework for the ethical conduct of research with Indigenous communities. These institutional guidelines reflect progress in the way research is done with Indigenous communities. However, concerns remain about the ways in which these guidelines are taken up, interpreted, and operationalized by institutional research ethics boards, which include creating tensions and challenges for Indigenous scholars conducting research together with their own communities. The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the challenges and conflicting expectations we faced as an Indigenous doctoral student and non-Indigenous academic supervisor, navigating the axiological differences between institutional ethical oversight and community relational ethics with the aim of supporting other Indigenous scholars who may experience similar challenges and influencing policy change and relational engagement in ethical review processes in university settings. We outline the various critiques of institutional oversight of Indigenous research, share several examples of how we experienced the tensions and potential/actual harm that institutional power interference caused in the review process and how we worked through them, and demonstrate how, in our experience, it was not bureaucratic institutional procedures that protected community participants from risk, it was community relationships. We conclude by discussing implications and offering our suggestions for change.

Food security and the ma(s)king of indigenous peoples’ dispossession: the example of Inuit in Canada

ABSTRACT Focusing on constructions of food security in settler colonial contexts, this article demonstrates how its contemporary conceptualization is heir to long-standing schemes to reform Indigenous peoples and validate state projects. It highlights how discursive regimes of food security in the areas of health, conservation, and economics were conceived within frameworks that instruct Indigenous peoples as to correct behaviour, blame them for their misconduct, and ignore the role of settler states and populations in defining notions of right and wrong and in creating the conditions that promote and sustain those definitions. Ignorance, blame, and indoctrination are thus constitutive features of state interventions aimed at promoting Indigenous peoples’ food security. Using instructional publications directed at Inuit, the article demonstrates how, through the provision of services, and in the exercise of settler nation-building, Indigenous peoples have been subjected to programmes of indoctrination and ideological pacification whilst larger contexts of dispossession are bracketed out.

Differentiating Indigenous Peoples from local communities under climate regimes in just energy transition: Implications for the Inuit and Sami Peoples

The distinction between Indigenous peoples and local communities under climate regimes was initially addressed under the UNFCCC and has recently garnered renewed attention owing to energy policy changes to cope with rapid climate change such as in Alaska. The Montana climate litigation demonstrates the possibility of harmonizing Indigenous peoples and local communities by clearly identifying the unique climate-related indigenous culture and avoiding unintentional confrontation, given the difficulty of making clear distinctions in modern society and garnering sympathy from the local community against litigations that solely seek indigenous rights, but Indigenous peoples themselves may not see the need for harmony. Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs) is one approach to achieve a 30 by 30 target under the CBD by designating Indigenous peoples’ original land but may not be beneficial to assert inherent rights or the best way to achieve harmony if they work with local communities. The local community of Finnish non-Sami reindeer herders will not receive protection under the ICCPR unlike Sami herders in Norway, if a case similar to Norway’s Fosen case occurs. As just energy transition alone does not automatically reflect the perspectives of Indigenous peoples, green colonialism could easily occur when their rights are not considered.

Canadian foreign policy analysis and Inuit within Canada

ABSTRACT This article examines transnational Indigenous cooperation among Permanent Participants in the Arctic Council using decolonialism and Indigenization in Canadian foreign policy analysis. The mainstream IR approaches primarily consider Indigenous NGOs as civil society groups united by common interests and cultures and as organizations that promote social change. This study argues that unlike other types of NGOs, Indigenous organizations have a complex social identity, which is influenced by settler-colonial heritage. Besides this, transnationalism promotes collective Indigenous agency. Like feminist IR, Indigenous IR scholarship challenges dominant worldviews and conceptualizations of Westphalian sovereignty, nation-state, and security. This study suggests comparing the state-centred IR concepts and Inuit within Canada’s understandings of the same terms. Although the Inuit within Canada perceive international relations distinctly, their conceptualizations of IR should be recognized by state structures. The article suggests that CFPA should incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing and promote transnational Indigenous IR studies to decolonize foreign policy and include Indigenous views in analysis.

Housing and respiratory health among Indigenous peoples in Canada

Indigenous (First Nations, Metis and Inuit) peoples bear a disproportionate burden of infectious and noninfectious respiratory disease in rural and urban communities in Canada. Biologic and behavioral determinants exist and have relevance, but the primary determinants are socioeconomic, environmental and political. Although Canada has recently declared a national housing crisis, crowded and poor-quality housing, or no housing at all, has been experienced by generations of Indigenous peoples. Crowding in homes or shelters increases risk of exposure and dose to infectious agents. Indoor air pollutants are due to housing defects, sources of heat and smoke, and include mold, endotoxin, mite allergens, gases and particulate matter, which in turn are associated with respiratory irritation and disease. Environmental radon is a noted risk factor for lung cancer in communities located in high risk regions. Studies have demonstrated that interventions in Indigenous communities on both the social and biomedical fronts, to improve housing and health care, result in improved well-being, of which respiratory health is only one component.

Settler colonialism and the administrative state: The transfer of the Government of the Northwest Territories to Yellowknife in 1967

AbstractIn September 1967, the federal government transferred the Government of the Northwest Territories from Ottawa to Yellowknife. While the transfer brought the machinery of government closer to the governed, it also established settler institutions in the homelands of Dene, Métis, and Inuit peoples. Using the tools of administrative history and settler colonial theory, this article reconstructs the transfer using newly released archival papers of NWT Commissioner Stuart Hodgson, who oversaw the transfer and the development of government in the NWT until 1979. It analyzes the role federal public servants played in facilitating settler colonial development in northwestern Canada and, in turn, how that development affected the structure and work of the federal public service in Ottawa. While the transfer entrenched Westminster parliamentary government in the NWT, it also served as a focal point for Indigenous resurgence and resistance that has remade contemporary governance in the territory.

CPR RACISM: A Guide for Health Care Providers to Safely Address Racism in a Health Care Setting

Racism is a form of violence that results in poorer health outcomes for First Nation, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) Peoples and is a barrier toward achieving equitable healthcare. There is growing recognition that FNMI Peoples experience racism in health care and with the highly publicized deaths of Brian Sinclair and more recently the death of Joyce Echaquan in Canada, there has been an outcry to end racism in health care. With the growing numbers of nurses and nursing students learning about the impact of racism on health outcomes there is a need for a concrete, practical, and visual guide to assist with teaching an intervention for when racism is witnessed. As part of creating and supporting a speak-up culture to address unsafe care related to racism in health care, the writer offers the following guide - CPR RACISM. Health care providers are all familiar with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), capable of saving a life during cardiac arrest — when the heart stops beating or is unable to effectively circulate blood to the brain and other vital organs. CPR instructors advocate for everyone to be prepared for moments that matter by taking a CPR class to help save a life. Similarly, there needs to be a plan to save lives lost related to racism. The writer selected the name of this guide, CPR RACISM, as a way to underscore the urgency to address racism in health care as FNMI Peoples’ lives are at risk. Just as CPR is meant to be a set of actions to save lives when the heart stops beating, CPR RACISM is a guide to prepare healthcare providers to save lives when they witness racism in healthcare. The CPR RACISM guide was created in response to the common questions the writer has heard from nursing students and colleagues: Where do I begin? How can I address racism in healthcare? How do I teach my nursing students to effectively intervene when they witness racism? To address this gap in praxis, the writer suggests CPR RACISM as an additional resource to disrupt and dismantle racism in health care. Key Words: racism, health care, advocating, teaching, equity, Indigenous, First Nation, Métis, Inuit, Aboriginal, intervening.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Indigenous Self-determination in Health System Reforms

Across Canada, First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and communities live in rural, remote, Northern and reserve places, as well as urban places, and experience health inequities when compared with non-Indigenous peoples. These inequities are founded by pervasive colonial ideologies, policies, systems, and practices, many of which persist today resulting in multiple disparities in health as well as social, political, and economic areas (Adelson 2005; Allan and Smylie 2015). In Canada, the federal government’s role in the provision of health services is primarily through the limited public health and prevention services offered by the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB), now Indigenous Services Canada (ISC). Services are offered to status (registered) First Nations living on-reserve and to Inuit living in their traditional territories. They provide non-insured health benefits (NIHB) such as prescription drugs, dental, and vision coverage to all status/registered First Nations and Inuit, regardless of where they live; however, non-insured health benefits are not offered to Métis or non-status First Nations. As a result of historical legislative vagueness, and the multiplicity of authorities that has resulted, the First Nations, Inuit and Métis legislation and health policy framework is very complex, which itself results in a great deal of diversity in health service provision across provinces and territories. The framework fails to adequately address the health care needs of the Métis or First Nations and Inuit people who are either not registered or not living on reserve or in their traditional territory (Lavoie and Gervais 2012). [continued in PDF / HTML]

Characterization of gill bacterial microbiota in wild Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) across lakes, rivers, and bays in the Canadian Arctic ecosystems.

Teleost gill mucus has a highly diverse microbiota, which plays an essential role in the host's fitness and is greatly influenced by the environment. Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), a salmonid well adapted to northern conditions, faces multiple stressors in the Arctic, including water chemistry modifications, that could negatively impact the gill microbiota dynamics related to the host's health. In the context of increasing environmental disturbances, we aimed to characterize the taxonomic distribution of transcriptionally active taxa within the bacterial gill microbiota of Arctic char in the Canadian Arctic in order to identify active bacterial composition that correlates with environmental factors. For this purpose, a total of 140 adult anadromous individuals were collected from rivers, lakes, and bays belonging to five Inuit communities located in four distinct hydrologic basins in the Canadian Arctic (Nunavut and Nunavik) during spring (May) and autumn (August). Various environmental factors were collected, including latitudes, water and air temperatures, oxygen concentration, pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), salinity, and chlorophyll-a concentration. The taxonomic distribution of transcriptionally active taxa within the gill microbiota was quantified by 16S rRNA gene transcripts sequencing. The results showed differential bacterial activity between the different geographical locations, explained by latitude, salinity, and, to a lesser extent, air temperature. Network analysis allowed the detection of a potential dysbiosis signature (i.e., bacterial imbalance) in fish gill microbiota from Duquet Lake in the Hudson Strait and the system Five Mile Inlet connected to the Hudson Bay, both showing the lowest alpha diversity and connectivity between taxa.IMPORTANCEThis paper aims to decipher the complex relationship between Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and its symbiotic microbial consortium in gills. This salmonid is widespread in the Canadian Arctic and is the main protein and polyunsaturated fatty acids source for Inuit people. The influence of environmental parameters on gill microbiota in wild populations remains poorly understood. However, assessing the Arctic char's active gill bacterial community is essential to look for potential pathogens or dysbiosis that could threaten wild populations. Here, we concluded that Arctic char gill microbiota was mainly influenced by latitude and air temperature, the latter being correlated with water temperature. In addition, a dysbiosis signature detected in gill microbiota was potentially associated with poor fish health status recorded in these disturbed environments. With those results, we hypothesized that rapid climate change and increasing anthropic activities in the Arctic might profoundly disturb Arctic char gill microbiota, affecting their survival.

Use of stable isotopes to reveal trophic relationships and transmission of a food-borne pathogen

Predators in food webs are valuable sentinel species for zoonotic and multi-host pathogens such as Toxoplasma gondii. This protozoan parasite is ubiquitous in warm-blooded vertebrates, and can have serious adverse effects in immunocompromised hosts and foetuses. In northern ecosystems, T. gondii is disproportionately prevalent in Inuit people and wildlife, in part due to multiple routes of transmission. We combined data on T. gondii infection in foxes from Nunavik (northern Québec, Canada) with stable isotope data tracking trophic relationships between foxes and several of their main prey species. Red (Vulpes vulpes) and Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) carcasses were collected by local trappers from 2015 to 2019. We used magnetic capture PCR to detect DNA of T. gondii in heart and brain tissues, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect antibodies in blood. By linking infection status with diet composition, we showed that infected foxes had a higher probability of consuming aquatic prey and migratory geese, suggesting that these may be important sources of T. gondii transmission in the Arctic. This use of stable isotopes to reveal parasite transmission pathways can be applied more broadly to other foodborne pathogens, and provides evidence to assess and mitigate potential human and animal health risks associated with T. gondii in northern ecosystems.

Prevalence and determinants of insufficient vitamin D status in young Canadian Inuit children from Nunavik.

Background: Vitamin D deficiency has reached pandemic levels affecting over one billion people worldwide. However, limited data is available on the prevalence and determinants of vitamin D status of Canadian Indigenous children and no study has been reported in Inuit children from Nunavik. Aim: Therefore, using data collected between 2006 and 2010, we aimed to investigate the prevalence and main determinants of insufficient serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (s25(OH)D) concentrations in Inuit children attending childcare centres in Nunavik. Methods: This study included 245 Inuit children aged 11 to 54 months. s25(OH)D concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay. Dietary intakes were assessed using 24-hour recalls. Usual dietary intakes were estimated using the National Cancer Institute method. We used a multiple imputation technique to replace missing values when performing regression analysis. Results: Our findings revealed that 64.5% of children had a s25(OH)D concentration < 75 nmol/L, while 78.1% did not meet the estimated average requirement (EAR) for vitamin D. Vitamin D intake and fluid milk consumption were positively associated with s25(OH)D concentrations, while negative associations were observed with children' energy intake, non-alcoholic beverage consumption, body weight, breastfeeding duration and, biological/adoptive/foster parents' educational level. Conclusion: Vitamin D inadequacy was highly prevalent and closely aligned with levels observed over the years in non-Indigenous children. Breastfed children who do not receive vitamin D supplementation, overweight and obese children, and children with inadequate milk consumption were at high risk of vitamin D insufficiency. Eating vitamin D rich foods such as fluid milk and seafood along with vitamin D supplementation when needed are recommended.

Борьба за “ледяную Африку”? Гренландия между колониальным прошлым, интересами США и стратегической автономией ЕС

The article deals with the foreign policy priorities of Greenland as they are reflected in the perception and rhetoric of the contemporary Greenlandic elites. The special focus is on the current stage of the autonomous territory’s development, in particular the possibility of concluding a free association agreement, as envisaged in the draft constitution of Greenland, published in April 2023. With the 2019–2023 period as a basis, the article provides an insight into the key events of the following areas of Greenland’s foreign policy contacts: the Danish-Greenlandic relations, Inuit internationalism where the bonds with the Inuit of Canada are of most significance, Greenland's place in the US Arctic strategy and its great-power competition with China, and, finally, the increased interest of the EU and certain European countries in fostering relations with the Danish Arctic autonomy, which can contribute to developing the EU strategic autonomy. The study of the political discourse has shown that Greenlandic elites have been successfully using colonial ‘traumas’ and a growing circle of contacts with major external actors to exact pressure on Copenhagen and expand its political leverage despite the absence of substantial economic successes comparable to those achieved by the Faroe Islands, another Danish autonomy. Greenland’s desire to increase its own actorness on the international scene makes it difficult for Copenhagen to use the ‘Greenland card’ both in its relations with the USA to revitalize the special relations with the key ally and as a contribution to the EU strategic autonomy. The Danish leadership is thus entrapped by Greenland’s own economic and foreign policy potential, since the widespread use of Greenland in relations with the EU, NATO, the United States and other actors of world politics could potentially lead to the renewed mounting pressure on Copenhagen from Greenland and to the autonomy’s further alienation and diplomatic self-sufficiency.

Equal Respect, Equitable Treatment: Core Commitments for Responding to Diversity and Inequality in the Health System

The Fraser Health Authority (FHA) has established a framework of commitments to guide a range of issues from incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion in clinical and policy decisions and responding to the historical and continuing discrimination against First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples, to creating psychologically safe environments, and dealing with harassment, bullying and other disrespectful behaviours. FHA Ethics Services hosted a workshop as part of the 2023 Canadian Bioethics Society-Société canadienne de bioéthique (CBS-SCB) Workshop and Community Forum to create an opportunity for critical reflection and discuss strategic responses for the organization to live up to these commitments. This paper summarizes the workshop and identifies key insights and issues that emerged as areas that should be addressed in responding to diversity and inequality in the health system.

The art of Inuit administration: Post-war Canada, cultural diplomacy and northern administration

Abstract In this paper, we expand on existing studies of Canadian Inuit art in the international arena by examining ways in which this new art served domestic purposes, focusing primarily on the 1950s and 1960s. The Canadian government developed and promoted Inuit art as part of its project to transform Inuit from semi-independent hunters into modern Canadian citizens. In this effort, Canada took up and assimilated Inuit art as a genuine Canadian cultural product, presenting it as diplomatic gifts and for other forms of international cultural diplomacy. Previous studies of Canadian Inuit art from that era have noted the ways that the promotion of Canadian Inuit art supported the young nation’s claims to a deep history, while simultaneously marking the country’s distinction from both the United States and the United Kingdom. In the context of the Cold War, the promotion of Canadian Inuit art also asserted Canada as an Arctic power. Labelled as “primitive modernist” fine art, Inuit sculpture and prints provided a stark contrast to the contemporaneous socialist realist art of the Soviet Union and its allies. We argue that the success of the Inuit art program sustained a belief among government officials that their programme to remake Inuit lives and livelihoods would succeed. Inuit art likely deflected attention from the many things that were going wrong with that northern modernisation project.

Associative cultural landscape approach to interpreting traditional ecological wisdom: A case of Inuit habitat

Global climate change and the accelerated melting of glaciers have raised concerns about the ability to manage ice-snow environments. Historically, human ancestors have mastered the ecological wisdom of working with ice-snow environments, but the phenomenon has not yet been articulated in cultural landscape methodologies that emphasize “nature-culture relevance”. The challenging living environment often compels indigenous people to form a strong bond with their surroundings, leading to the creation of long-term ecological wisdom through synergistic relationships with the environment. This ecological environment is conceptualized as a cognitive space in the form of the landscape, with which the aboriginal community norms and individual spirits continually interact. Such interactions generate numerous non-material cultural evidences, such as culture, art, religion, and other ideological aspects of the nation. These evidences symbolize the intellectual outcome of the relationship between humans and the landscape, and they create the “spiritual relevance” through personification and contextualization. The aim of the study is to explore the traditional ecological wisdom of the Inuit people who live in the harsh Arctic, and analyze the Inuit's interaction with the landscape through the lens of “associative cultural landscape”, and decode the survival experience that the Inuit have accumulated through their long-term synergy with the Arctic environment. The findings focus on the synergy between the Inuit and the ice-snow landscape, examining the knowledge and ecological wisdom that the Inuit acquire from the ice-snow landscape. Our goal is to develop a perspective of the ecological environment from the viewpoint of aboriginal people and establish a methodology, model, and framework for “associative cultural landscape” that incorporates ethnic non-material cultural evidences. From the results, a total of nine models for interpreting traditional Inuit ecological wisdom are generated based on the “diamond model” of “associative cultural landscape”, covering the transition from the physical landscape to a spiritual one and demonstrating the associative role of the landscape in stimulating potential spiritual cognitive abilities in humans.

Food insecurity as a mediator and moderator in the association between residential mobility and suicidal ideation among Indigenous adults in Canada.

Despite a growing body of literature on the link between residential mobility and suicidal ideation, research into potential mediating or moderating factors, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, is sparse. This study explores the mediating and moderating roles of food insecurity in the relationship between residential mobility and suicidal ideation in Indigenous Canadian adults. Data from the 2017 Aboriginal Peoples Survey, which represent a national sample of off-reserve First Nations peoples, Métis, and Inuit in Canada (N = 16,214), were analyzed using logistic regression models. Food insecurity partially mediated the association between residential mobility in the past 5years and increased suicidal ideation risk among Indigenous adults. Moreover, food insecurity intensified the adverse link between residential mobility during this same timeframe and suicidal ideation. Yet, while food insecurity did mediate the adverse relationship between residential mobility in the past year and suicidal ideation, it did not function as a moderator. The results emphasize that food insecurity, as a systemic challenge, acts as both a partial mediator and, in some circumstances, an amplifier of the detrimental impacts of residential mobility on suicidal ideation.

Critically examining health complexity experienced by urban Indigenous peoples in Canada by exploring the factors that allow health complexity to persist: a qualitative study of Indigenous patients in Calgary, Alberta

ObjectivesThis study aims to identify and critically examine the components of health complexity, and explore the factors that allow it to exist, among urban Indigenous peoples in Canada.DesignQualitative exploration with...

The Impact Of The Zivot Limb Preservation Centre

Indigenous populations in Canada, including First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples, often have limited access to health care, increasing the prevalence of many chronic conditions, including diabetes mellitus. Diabetic foot ulcers are a common problem. This presentation outlines the impact of the Zivot Limb Preservation Centre in Alberta, its use of the ‘Toe and flow’ model of care and its role in decreased major amputation rates.

Cover Image, Volume 58, Number 7, July 2023

Front Cover Caption: The cover image is based on the Original Article First reports of primary ciliary dyskinesia caused by a shared DNAH11 allele in Canadian Inuit by Julia Hunter-Schouela et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/ppul.26414. Image Credit: Tom Kovesi.