Inuit Subsistence Research Articles

Inuit Subsistence, Social Economy and Food Security in Clyde River, Nunavut

This paper examines the flow of money and country food resources within an Inuit extended family (ilagiit) in Clyde River, Nunavut, to understand the effects of a mixed wage-income and hunting economy on customary resource sharing and food security. Over a 12-week period in 2009, data were gathered through participant observation and bi-weekly recall interviews with 10 ilagiit households in the community. The findings are compared to data on sharing collected in 1999 from the same family group. Results indicate that resource sharing, especially for country food, continues to follow traditional kinship patterns and retains considerable importance in the group’s aggregated “income.” Further, imported foods are shared, but on what appears to be an ad hoc basis, while control of money appears to rest with individuals. Overall, differences between households in cash income, seen in terms of hunting and fishing equipment, are more apparent in 2009 than in 1999, but this inequality is moderated by shared use among close kin of large items like freighter canoes and outboard motors. At this time, social relations critically buffer subsistence disparities between lower- and higher-income households in culturally prescribed ways. Our study of the socioeconomic dynamics within an Arctic community is particularly valuable for informing a culturally relevant understanding of Arctic food security, given significant recent interest in this research area.

Climate change vulnerability and adaptation research focusing on the Inuit subsistence sector in Canada: Directions for future research

The last decade has witnessed a proliferation of research into the human dimensions of climate change in the Arctic. Much of this work has examined impacts on subsistence hunting, fishing, and trapping among Canadian Inuit communities. This scholarship has developed a baseline understanding of vulnerability and adaptation, drawing upon interviews with community members and stakeholders to identify and characterize climatic risks and adaptive strategies. To further advance this baseline understanding, new methodologies are needed to complement existing research if we are to capture the dynamic nature of how climate change is experienced and responded to, and fully engage communities as equal partners. Longitudinal studies, community‐based monitoring, and targeted adaptation research offer significant promise to advance understanding. These methodologies provide a strong basis for developing meaningful partnerships with communities, the co‐production of knowledge, and empowerment for adaptation: essential components of community‐based participatory research.

Bacular and testicular growth and allometry in the ringed seal (Pusa hispida): evidence of polygyny?

We determined ringed seal (Pusa hispida) bacular and testicular growth relationships and made interspecific comparisons to species with better-known mating systems to elaborate on current hypotheses about the mating system of the ringed seal. We measured 161 bacula, 251 pairs of testes, and 55 mandibles collected from ringed seals of known age from Inuit subsistence harvests in Arviat and Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, Canada, from 2003 to 2006. Ringed seal bacular and testicular sizes were positively allometric relative to mandibular size for immature males (,7 years of age) but increased isometrically in mature males (7 years of age), similar to relationships between bacular size and body length for known polygynous pinnipeds. Adult isometric growth contrasted with harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus), a promiscuous species, in which bacular size likely is sexually selected. Our results, combined with previously reported ecological and behavioral ringed seal characteristics, suggest that ringed seals display a polygynous mating system.

Polar bear management, sport hunting and Inuit subsistence at Clyde River, Nunavut

This paper begins by reviewing the structure and evolution of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) management in Canada and in the Territory of Nunavut since the inception of the Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears in the 1970s. This is followed by the paper's main focus, the examination of the socio-economic and cultural importance of polar bears for Inuit and the success of the Agreement in supporting contemporary Inuit subsistence relations in Nunavut.

Caribou to Cod: Moravian Missionary Influence on Inuit Subsistence Strategies

German Moravian missionaries arrived in Labrador, Canada at the end of the 18th century. They intended to introduce Christianity to Inuit peoples without disrupting important aspects of traditional Inuit culture, such as hunting practices. Over time the Moravians began introducing more than just religion: European raw materials, manufactured products, and foods. As a result, Inuit were incorporated into a market economy in which the export of local goods produced by Inuit labor such as seal oil, dried fish, ivory, and fur were exchanged for iron tools, guns, cloth, and ceramics. Simultaneously, becoming part of a larger global economy meant changing aspects of the local subsistence economy. Inuit subsistence strategies were incorporated into a Moravian economic strategy, and ecological relationships changed as a result of colonial influences. Integration into a market economy also altered the spiritual intersection between Inuit and animals.

Oakes Bay 1: A Preliminary Reconstruction of a Labrador Inuit Seal Hunting Economy in the Context of Climate Change

Geografisk Tidsskrift—Danish Journal of Geography 110(2):245–259, 2010 This paper presents results of recent archaeological research at the site of Oakes Bay 1 (HeCg-08), on Dog Island, Labrador, dated from the late 17th to late 18th century. Analyses of faunal remains provide a means of reconstructing the site's subsistence economy. The site's inhabitants practiced a very consistent mode of hunting throughout this time period, depending heavily on adult ringed seals taken on the fast ice in winter and spring. Juvenile ringed seals, taken at the ice edge in the spring were a secondary resource. A lack of evidence for the hunting of harp seals in the fall and of ringed seal pups in late spring suggests that the site had a relatively short season of occupation. The consistent pattern of hunting through time suggests that the impacts of climatic variability on Inuit subsistence in the Nain region were relatively limited, moderated by their capacity for mobility on the sea ice rather than by whole scale changes in hunting practices and species choice. The Oakes Bay 1 site presents an example of a different subsistence economy than that seen at other recently examined sites in Labrador, suggesting that the impacts of the so-called Little Ice Age were not global or uniform.

Canadian Inuit subsistence and ecological instability—if the climate changes, must the Inuit?

Canadian Inuit subsistence and ecological instability—if the climate changes, must the Inuit?

Canadian Inuit subsistence and ecological instability—if the climate changes, must the Inuit?

Considerable attention has been devoted to the possible effects of global climate change on the environment of the circumpolar world.With regard to the Inuit, the aboriginal culture of Arctic Canada, research interest has focused principally on the vulnerability of the hunting and harvesting component of the traditional food system, otherwise frequently referred to as the subsistence system, if wild terrestrial and marine resources become less available. Although also concerned with the traditional Inuit food economy, this paper concentrates on the customary institutional mechanisms by which the Inuit distribute and share the products obtained from hunting. After analysing this social economy, a review of the data on recent climate-related range changes of a number of Arctic animal populations is carried out, in terms of how projected environmental changes may affect this other aspect of Inuit subsistence. After tentatively concluding that some species substitution and/or replacement will occur, the final aspect of the paper considers the potential for the possible exclusion of these “replacements” as a result of the political aspect of climate change.

Heavy metal and mineral concentrations and their relationship to histopathological findings in the bowhead whale ( Balaena mysticetus)

The bowhead whale ( Balaena mysticetus) is a species endangered over much of its range that is of great cultural significance and subsistence value to the Inuit of Northern Alaska. This species occupies subarctic and arctic regions presently undergoing significant ecological change and hydrocarbon development. Thus, understanding the health status of the Bering–Chukchi–Beaufort Sea (BCBS) stock of bowhead whales is of importance. In this study, we evaluated the concentrations of six essential and non-essential elements (Zn, tHg, Ag, Se, Cu and Cd) in liver and kidney of bowhead whales ( n = 64). These tissues were collected from the Inuit subsistence hunt in Barrow, Wainwright and Kaktovik, Alaska between 1983 and 2001. Reference ranges of these elements (including previously reported data from 1983–1997) were developed for this species as part of a health assessment effort, and interpreted using improved aging techniques (aspartic acid racemization and baleen isotopic 13C methods) to evaluate trends over time with increased statistical power. Interactions between element concentrations and age, sex and harvest season were assessed. Age was found to be of highest significance. Sex and harvest season did not effect the concentrations of these elements, with the exception of renal Se levels, which were significantly higher in fall seasons. In addition, histological evaluation of tissues from whales collected between 1998–2001 was performed. Associations between concentrations of Cd in kidney and liver and scored histopathological changes were evaluated. Liver Cd concentration was strongly associated with the degree of lung fibromuscular hyperplasia ( P = 0.001) and moderately associated with the degree of renal fibrosis ( P = 0.03). Renal Cd concentration influenced the degree of lung fibromuscular hyperplasia and renal fibrosis ( P = 0.01). A significant age effect was found for both pulmonary fibromuscular hyperplasia and renal fibrosis, indicating age may be a causative factor. Improvements in aging techniques and the addition of histological indices help clarify the relationships between elements and the influence of life history parameters on concentrations of these elements and potential impacts on health. These data provide essential baseline input useful for monitoring the effects of arctic ecosystem change as it relates to global climate change and industrial development, as well as help inform epidemiological studies examining the public health implications of heavy metals in subsistence foods.

Tundra Game Drives: an Arctic-Alpine Comparison

Stone fences and blinds built by prehistoric hunters to gather and ambush elk and bighorn sheep above timberline in the Colorado Front Range are similar in concept and function to structures built by the Copper Inuit and their predecessors for hunting caribou near Bathurst Inlet, in the Central Canadian Arctic. Four principal differences exist: (1) Circular blinds and continuous rock walls are more numerous in the Front Range than in the Arctic, where arcuate breastworks and lines of widely spaced cairns predominate. Differences in prey-species behavior are the most probable explanation. (2) Stone house foundations, meat-drying facilities, meat caches, kayak-storage racks, and fox and wolf traps occur near drive sites along caribou migration routes in the Bathurst Inlet region. The structures imply long-term habitation made possible by a plentiful meat supply. Comparable structures are absent above timberline in the Front Range because people retreated to warmer environments in winter, and because steep terrain and deep snow discouraged return visits to high-altitude caches. (3) The technique was adopted much earlier in Colorado than in the Central Canadian Arctic. The oldest Front Range drive systems were constructed while the Laurentide Ice Sheet still covered the Bathurst Inlet landscape. (4) Pedestrian game-drive hunting was abandoned in the Front Range soon after arrival of the horse (ca. a.d. 1700), but remained an integral part of Copper Inuit subsistence until the mid twentieth century. The rich ethnographic and oral history record of communal hunting in the Arctic is invaluable for interpreting the Colorado structures.

Seven Focal Economies for Six Focal Places: The Development of Economic Diversity in the Western Canadian Arctic

The Mackenzie River Delta is, by arctic standards, an area of unique ecological productivity and richness. Capitalizing on this resource abundance, Neoeskimo groups inhabiting the Mackenzie Delta region developed a diverse range of focal subsistence strategies, which evolved to support one of the most populous Inuit societies in the Canadian Arctic. By the historic period, the Mackenzie Inuit (the ancestors of the modern Inuvialuit) appear to have been segregated into at least seven distinct territorial groups. Economically, each group seems to have maintained a unique, and in most cases, focal, subsistence strategy, in part the product of the spatially heterogeneous nature of the resource aggregations in the area. In an effort to understand how this regional socioeconomic system developed, zooarchaeological data derived from 24 assemblages representing 19 sites are considered. The resulting analysis emphasizes the interaction between local resource aggregations and settlement patterns in the development of diversity in Mackenzie Inuit subsistence economies, and tracks how these economies phased in and out of a regional economic system in response to demographic, technological, and climatic changes over a period of approximately seven centuries.

Hydroxylated and methylsulfone-containing metabolites of polychlorinated biphenyls in the plasma and blubber of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus).

Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) blubber (n = 20) and plasma (n = 19) samples were collected during the 1997 to 2000 Inuit subsistence harvests in Barrow, Alaska, USA, to quantify the concentrations of methylsulfone (MeSO2)-containing and hydroxylated (OH) polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) metabolites in this cetacean. The distribution of MeSO2-PCBs in blubber was dominated by 4-MeSO2-substituted congeners, the most abundant being 4-MeSO2-CB-70, 3'-MeSO2-CB-132, and 4-MeSO2-CB-64. Mean (+/- 1 standard error) sum (sigma) MeSO2-PCBs concentrations in blubber were low (6.23 +/- 0.81 ng g(-1) lipid normalized) compared to concentrations previously reported in other marine mammals. However, similar ratios of MeSO2-PCB metabolites to parent PCB congeners among marine mammals suggest that cytochrome P450 2B-like biotransformation and other necessary enzyme-mediated processes and mechanisms that influence the formation and clearance of MeSO2-PCBs exist in the bowhead whale. Pentachlorophenol was the most abundant halogenated phenolic compound quantified in bowhead plasma (1.55 +/- 0.19 ng g(-1) wet wt). Despite indirect evidence for arene epoxidation of the biphenyl moiety inferred from MeSO2-PCB formation, sumOH-PCB concentrations in bowhead plasma were low (1.52 +/- 0.31 ng g(-1) wet wt) compared to humans and marine mammals and were comprised of only two detectable OH-PCB congeners (4'-OH-CB-130 and 4-OH-CB-187). Further research is required to elucidate the toxicokinetics and distribution of OH-PCBs in this cetacean.

GROWTH AND SEXUAL DIMORPHISM OF ATLANTIC WALRUSES (ODOBENUS ROSMARUS ROSMARUS) IN FOXE BASIN, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA

AbstractGrowth of Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) was investigated using morphological data collected in association with Inuit subsistence walrus hunts. Four growth models were examined. The growth parameters of a constrained Richards model were used to quantify growth and to test for sexual dimorphism. The asymptotic length of male walruses (315.2 cm ± 3.8 (SE),n= 103) was significantly larger (t= 7.21, df = 191,P< 0.05) than the asymptotic length of females (276.6 cm ± 3.4,n= 90). Sexual size dimorphism in adults was due to a longer growth period and a faster growth rate in males. The predictive equation relating mass (M, kg) to standard length (SL, cm) was: Log10M= ‐3.74 + 2.68(Log10SL),n= 25,r2= 0.98. There were no significant differences in the size of male walruses from Foxe Basin collected in the 1950s and this study. There were too few data to compare females. There were no significant differences in size between walruses sampled in Greenland and Foxe Basin in the 1980s and 1990s. Foxe Basin walruses were significantly larger than walruses sampled in northern Hudson Bay in the 1950s. Female Atlantic walruses sampled in Foxe Basin were larger than female Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) sampled in Alaska.

Cost analysis of modern hunting among the inuit of the Canadian central arctic

Abstract In northern Canada the traditional Inuit subsistence economy and means of transportation have undergone changes through the introduction of such technological innovations as the rifle, the boat motor, and the snowmobile. These innovations and the related changes have influenced hunting and trapping methods as well as the yield from hunting which, today, not only has to provide for the daily needs with regard to food and clothing, but also for the necessary monetary means to acquire and operate modern equipment. The paper presents data that were collected in Repulse Bay, N.W.T., in 1973 in order to arrive at a cost analysis of modern hunting within the superimposed framework of a “mixed economy”; based on both the traditional subsistence economy and wage employment. (The translation is by William Barr, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.)

Tappers and Trappers: Parallel Process in Acculturation

Tappers and Trappers: Parallel Process in Acculturation