Young Inuit Research Articles

Participatory Video: One Contemporary Way for Cree and Inuit Adolescents to Relate to the Land in Nunavik

Indigenous peoples in Canada’s North, especially youth, are increasingly using creative visual arts, such as film, video, and new media technologies to portray their own realities and their personal view of the surrounding environment, thereby contesting colonial, stereotyped media representations of First Peoples. To analyze the youth geography—a sub-discipline of human geography—of nuna (“land” in Inuktitut) and istchee (“land” in Cree) and to understand the distinctive and contemporary meanings that Inuit and Cree young people give to the land, we carried out participatory video (PV) workshops in three Inuit and one Cree communities in Nunavik in 2016, 2017, and 2019. In this paper, we give an account of the nuna/istchee PV project as a method for engaging with young Indigenous people, as a means to develop an Indigenous youth cultural geography in the Arctic. We discuss the effects of PV on the different actors involved in the research process: young Inuit and Cree participants and their communities, the participating schools, and researchers.

Indigenous self-determination in cryospheric science: The Inuit-led Sikumik Qaujimajjuti (“tools to know how the ice is”) program in Inuit Nunangat, Canada

Inuit have lived along the shoreline of the frozen Arctic Ocean for centuries. Our wellbeing, culture, and identity are closely tied to safe and dependable ice access. As the ice becomes more unpredictable with a changing climate, Elders and experienced ice users recognize that their accumulated wisdom and experience of safe ice travel—their Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ; a term used to describe Inuit knowledge and values) of sea-ice—must be shared and applied in new ways for the benefit of younger generations. Here we illustrate one such application that enables young Inuit scientists to learn and apply the tools and skills they need to create operational community-scale sea-ice maps (Sikumik Qaujimajjuti, or “tool to know how the ice is”). Our cross-cultural partnership approach—called the Sikumiut-SmartICE model—focuses on developing the skills of young Inuit to create the maps, while non-Indigenous partners provide mentorship, tools, and training. Our novel maps incorporate culturally relevant ice terminology, on-ice monitoring data and observations, and IQ-grounded interpretations of ice features and travel conditions from near-real time optical and radar satellite imagery. The layers of data are integrated into a local GIS, enabling the creation of maps that reflect local and seasonal travel patterns and meet our information needs in information content, extent and frequency. The maps are posted and shared through social media platforms preferred by the community. The maps are a trusted source of travel information because they are made by one of our own, using local language, experience, and IQ. The Sikumik Qaujimajjuti program illustrates the incredible potential of Indigenous self-determination in cryospheric science when the scientific merit of IQ is fully recognized, when Indigenous researchers are able to access technologies and training to apply their IQ, and when non-Indigenous partners mentor and support young Indigenous scientists.

Cirqiniq: the decolonising of social circus in Nunavik

This writing sets out to explore the Social Circus program in Nunavik in the Arctic in Far North Canada which in various forms has now been running for nearly twenty years. The initial program begun by Cirque du Soleil in 2002 had little uptake by the Inuit. There was a lack of community support and very sporadic attendance by the Inuit young people and after five years it was discontinued. The Social Circus program now known as Cirqiniq developed out of this initial program. Its success can be gauged by the fact that every year young Inuit vote in a poll as to whether it should continue or not. The program now has the support to ensure it continues each year. This article asks questions about what it was that changed in order to cause this turnabout? What was it that changed to cause the involvement of young Inuit and Inuit communities? Did the approaches to training change? Did structural changes occur? The authors, two of whom have worked with Cirqiniq, set out to answer these questions. A series of interviews undertaken with Inuit and Qallunaat (non-Inuit) involved in the program, along with research undertaken in response to these interviews, revealed a process of structural and cultural decolonisation of the Social Circus program which the authors point to as the key component in the program’s current success.

Inuit Tattoos in Greenland Today

For years, Greenland has been under Danish colonial rule, which has left the Indigenous People of Greenland with trauma that still haunts them today. The search for identity that has left many young Inuit angry and confused has been difficult to express. Many young Inuit have chosen to use traditional tattoos to heal and strengthen themselves, to show that they are Inuit, to show that they are Kalaallit (Greenlanders). This phenomenon has been seen in Indigenous communities around the world who have experienced similar colonial violence. This essay focusses mainly on the young Inuit from Nuuk, but also discusses the Inuit from Nunavut.

“If They Were Important, We Would Have Heard About Them”

The community of Gjoa Haven/Uqsuqtuuq has recently received national and international attention for its proximity to the lost ships of the nineteenth century Franklin expedition. The locating of Franklin’s ships in 2014 and 2016 has been followed by celebrations of the role of Inuit knowledge in finding the wrecks, and thought to hold promise for how Inuit and Western research partnerships are conducted. Yet many people in Gjoa Haven, and particularly its youth, have little knowledge of or interest in the Franklin story. Locally, Franklin stores are associated with Qablunaat (non-Inuit) interests in northern history, but they are not representative of Inuit history. We examine the relationship between Inuit and Qablunaat history in Gjoa Haven, with a focus on what is important to its youth. Although Franklin stories are of limited importance in Inuit history, they continue to influence how Inuit are perceived by non-Inuit and present obstacles to informing Qablunaat about Inuit history and culture. As young Inuit have more opportunities to interact with Qablunaat, the subject of history offers space for these youth to articulate their own views and priorities for learning and sharing northern stories.

Archaeology Field Schools in Nunavut

Inuit have contributed to museum collections for centuries, first through ethnographic collecting for early explorers, and later for traders, whalers, and government officials. Inuit have also contributed to collections through archaeological work as field assistants, archaeologists and through field schools. Archaeological field schools in Nunavut have trained young Inuit in archaeological field methods and community collaboration since the 1990s and into the early 2000s. Building on the field schools in Iglulik in the 1990s, archaeological work with Inuit communities in Nunavut since 1999 fostered the concepts of Indigenous archaeology early in the history of field schools in Nunavut. In this paper, Krista Ulujuk Zawadski and Ericka Chemko share their experiences on field schools that took place in Nunavut as organized by the Inuit Heritage Trust Inc. (IHT) from 2002-2008 through discussions and personal reflections, offering insight into the field schools and Inuit contributions to contemporary Arctic archaeology and anthropology.

Food insecurity and psychological distress in Inuit adolescents of Nunavik.

The present study aims at measuring the association between household food insecurity and psychological distress in adolescents in Inuit communities, concurrently and overtime from childhood to adolescence. The study used measures of internalising behaviours (anxiety, withdrawn attitude, somatic complaints and depression) as indicators of psychological distress during adolescence, a concurrent measure of household food insecurity in adolescence and an assessment of longitudinal patterns of household food insecurity from childhood to adolescence. We collected descriptive information at birth, childhood and adolescence on potential confounders. Inuit communities of Nunavik in northern Quebec, Canada. The study consisted of 212 participants from the Nunavik Child Development Study, who have been assessed at birth, childhood (mean age = 11 years, range = 9-13 years) and adolescence (mean age = 18 years, range = 16-21 years). Concurrent severe household food insecurity in adolescence was associated with higher measures of psychological distress: depression (βstd = 0·26, P < 0·01) and withdrawn attitude (βstd = 0·20, P = 0·04). Persistent household food insecurity (both at childhood and adolescence) was associated with higher levels of adolescent depression (βstd = 0·18, P = 0·02) and anxiety (βstd = 0·17, P = 0·03). Adolescents from Nunavik living with higher food insecurity and those having experienced food insecurity in both childhood and adolescence were more likely to report symptoms of psychological distress. Considering the high level of distress experienced by young Inuit, existing initiatives to reduce food insecurity in Nunavik communities should be targeted to include children and adolescents.

“Our connection makes us stronger”: Inuit youth’s strategies to feel comfortable in Ottawa

This paper focuses on challenges young Inuit adults face in everyday life in the city and the coping strategies they have developed. For research participants, being “connected” with the world(s) surrounding them appears to be central to how they feel and orientate themselves in the city. Connectedness, for these young Inuit, translates into close and significant relationships with people, ancestors, future generations, objects, animals, and nature, which are elements of the Inuit universe of meanings and, more broadly, belong to Indigenous universes. Therefore, being comfortable is linked to the maintenance of harmonious relationships with these different agents. As we will see, urban milieus, like Ottawa, belong to a universe of meanings to which Inuit youth are not always accustomed. Nevertheless, through their agency, they develop strategies to establish relationships within the city, enabling themselves to become acquainted with the urban world and its inhabitants. As Ottawa hosts a large Inuit community, the urban challenges that they face can be mitigated as they participate in Inuit worlds.

Branched-chain and aromatic amino acids in relation to behavioral problems among young Inuit from Nunavik, Canada: a cohort study.

BackgroundObesity and insulin resistance are linked with mood disorders, and elevated concentrations of branched-chain (BCAAs) and aromatic amino acids (AAAs). Our study aimed to prospectively assess the relationship between childhood plasma BCAAs and AAAs, and behavioral problems in young Inuit from Nunavik.MethodsWe analyzed data on 181 children (with a mean age of 11.4 years at baseline) involved in the Nunavik Child Development Study. Plasma BCAA and AAA concentrations were measured in childhood (2005-2010). BCAA/AAA tertiles-the ratio of total BCAAs to AAAs-were considered as surrogate categorical independent variables. Behavioral problems were assessed with the Youth Self-Report (YSR) from the Child Behavior Checklist about 7 years later during adolescence (2013-2016). ANOVA ascertained relationships between BCAA/AAA tertiles and YSR outcomes.ResultsAscending BCAA/AAA tertiles were positively associated (Ptrend<0.05) with somatic complaint scores. Scores of somatic complaints syndrome were significantly higher (Ptrend <0.05) with increasing BCAA/AAA tertiles among both normal and overweight/obese participants.ConclusionOur results suggest that higher BCAA/AAA ratios in childhood are significantly associated with somatic complaints in adolescence.

Youth-Led Participatory Video as a Strategy to Enhance Inuit Youth Adaptive Capacities for Dealing with Climate Change

Rapid climatic and environmental changes experienced throughout the Canadian North are having significant impacts on the lives of Inuit, with implications for the future of the large Inuit youth population. Within the adaptation research and practitioner community, youth voices, perspectives, and involvement are essential in ensuring representative and sustainable adaptation strategies. This paper examines the potential of youth-led participatory video (PV) as a strategy to foster known protective factors that underpin the resilience of youth and their capacity to adapt to various stresses, including impacts of climate change. The work draws on a case study from the Inuit community of Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Labrador, Canada, where a two-week PV workshop was conducted with seven youth and followed by in-depth interviews with participants and community members. The findings show that PV may be a pathway to greater adaptive capacities because the process connects to known protective factors that enhance resilience of circumpolar indigenous youth. PV also shows promise as a strategy to engage youth in sharing insights and knowledge, connect generations, and involve young Inuit in planning and decision making in general.

The feasibility of the interferon gamma release assay and predictors of discordance with the tuberculin skin test for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection in a remote Aboriginal community.

BackgroundThe tuberculin skin test (TST) is the standard test used to screen for latent TB infection (LTBI) in the northern Canadian territory of Nunavut. Interferon gamma release assays (IGRA) are T cell blood-based assays to diagnose LTBI. The Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is part of the routine immunization schedule in Nunavut. The objective of this study was to test the feasibility, and predictors of discordance between the Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) and the IGRA assay in a medically under-serviced remote arctic Aboriginal population.MethodsBoth the TST and QuantiFERON-TB Gold (Qiagen group) IGRA tests were offered to people in their homes as part of a public health campaign aimed at high TB risk residential areas in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada. Feasibility was measured by the capacity of the staff to do the test successfully as measured by the proportion of results obtained.ResultsIn this population of predominantly young Inuit who were mostly BCG vaccinated, the use of IGRA for the diagnosis of LTBI was feasible. IGRA testing resulted in more available test results reaching patients (95.6% vs 90.9% p = 0.02) but took longer (median 8 days (IGRA) vs 2 days (TST), p value <0.0001). 44/256 participants (17.2%) had discordant results. Multivariable regression analysis suggested that discordant results were most likely to have received multiple BCG vaccinations (RR 20.03, 95% CI, 3.94–101.82)), followed by BCG given post infancy (RR 8.13, 95% CI, 2.54–26.03)) and then to a lesser degree when BCG was given in infancy (RR 6.43, 95% CI, 1.72–24.85).InterpretationIGRA is feasible in Iqaluit, Nunavut, a remote Arctic community. IGRA testing results in more test results available to patients compared to TST. This test could result in fewer patients requiring latent TB treatment among those previously vaccinated with BCG in a region with limited public health human resources.

Nunavut youth saturated in the realities of suicide

When her parents’ drinking, her brother’s beatings and a close friend’s suicide got too much for 17-year-old Carol,[*][1] she did what hundreds of young Inuit across Nunavut have done since the territory was created. She formulated a plan to kill herself. Carol intended to go home, during the

Correction to Exposure to Toxic Metals and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Young Inuit Children from Nunavik (Canada),

ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVAddition/CorrectionORIGINAL ARTICLEThis notice is a correctionCorrection to Exposure to Toxic Metals and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Young Inuit Children from Nunavik (Canada),Huguette Turgeon O’Brien*, Rosanne Blanchet, Doris Gagné, Julie Lauzière, Carole Vézina, Émilie Vaissière, Pierre Ayotte, and Serge DéryCite this: Environ. Sci. Technol. 2012, 46, 14, 7926Publication Date (Web):July 6, 2012Publication History Published online6 July 2012Published inissue 17 July 2012https://doi.org/10.1021/es3024995Copyright © 2012 American Chemical SocietyRIGHTS & PERMISSIONSArticle Views435Altmetric-Citations-LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InReddit PDF (115 KB) Get e-Alerts Get e-Alerts

Starting Fire with Gunpowder revisited: Inuktitut New Media content creation in the Canadian Arctic

In 1991, the Canadian documentaryStarting Fire with Gunpowderwas produced, focusing in part on the history of early media productions by the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation (IBC). It examined how the creation of Inuktitut media content could be an effective means of creative improvisation, linguistic and cultural preservation, and transmission of traditional knowledge. Almost 20 years later, the Internet serves as one of the primary communicative methods for young Inuit in the Canadian Arctic. However, it remains to be seen whether the quality of Inuktitut media online can compare with the example of linguistic and cultural preservation set by the visionaries of the early IBC. This article challenges prevailing critical approaches to the Inuit as linguistically and culturally vulnerable. It views Inuktitut New Media content as an embodiment of the wordairaq(‘edible roots’), used here as a model of strength, resilience, and adaptability. It concludes that the creativity and prolificacy of the early IBC productions should set the standard for a new generation of Inuktitut content creators online.

Unikkaartuit: Meanings of Well‐Being, Unhappiness, Health, and Community Change Among Inuit in Nunavut, Canada

Suicide among young Inuit in the Canadian Arctic is at an epidemic level. In order to understand the distress and well-being experienced in Inuit communities, a first step in understanding collective suicide, this qualitative study was designed. Fifty Inuit were interviewed in two Inuit communities in Nunavut, Canada, and questionnaires asking the same questions were given to 66 high school and college students. The areas of life investigated here were happiness and wellbeing, unhappiness, healing, and community and personal change. Three themes emerged as central to well-being: the family, talking/communication, and traditional Inuit cultural values and practices. The absence of these factors were most closely associated with unhappiness. Narratives about community and personal change were primarily about family, intergenerational segregation, an increasing population, more trouble in romantic relationships among youth, drug use, and poverty. Change over time was viewed primarily as negative. Discontinuity of kinship structure and function appears to be the most harmful effect of the internal colonialism imposed by the Canadian government in the 1950s and 1960s. Directions toward community control and action are encouraging, and are highlighted. Inuit community action toward suicide prevention and community wellness is part of a larger movement of Indigenous self-determination.

Not Just a Detective Novel: Trauma, Memory and Narrative Form in Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow

Summary This article argues that Peter Høeg's “detective novel”, Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, contains many elements relevant to postmodern and postcolonial experience. Smilla, the main character, who seeks answers to the death of a young Inuit boy in Denmark, encounters, in a profound way, the complexities of postmodern subjectivity, blended with postcolonial issues of identity formation and the power imbalances extant in any colonialist system. The journey of self-discovery Smilla undergoes in the narrative is the real “detective story”, and cannot be untangled from the wider political story of Danish colonialism of Greenland, and the encounter between the two cultures. There is no neat “answer” to the problems of colonialism and the hybrid identities formed out of it. At best the future belongs to a continued and traumatic “Middle Passage” where past and present interchange so thoroughly that any journey towards a teleological future or “closure” is one fraught with trauma and suffering.

Lexical Discontinuities between Generations: Recent Inuit Cases from North Baffin Island

During recent fieldwork in North Baffin Island, I came across several Inuit terms well known by elders but fading into oblivion among young people. In an apparent paradox, these more or less forgotten words among young Inuit generations designate objective situations that in most cases still belong to the contemporary world, at least as possibilities. It is argued that the loss of these words is the result of the obsolescence of the social practices and cultural understandings that the words reference.

Kiviuq: the power to heal

Kiviuq A film by John Houston; Triad Films and drumsong production; 2007; 72 min. English The film Kiviuq , the Inuit creation myth, begins with this plea from a young Inuit woman: “Many young Inuit have a hole in their spirit as I have. I feel hungry, thirsty, wanting to learn more of our elder'

Climate change in the Arctic: current and future vulnerability in two Inuit communities in Canada

Climate change is already occurring in the Arctic and the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment recently concluded that future climate change could be devastating for Inuit. This paper characterises vulnerability to climate change in two Inuit communities in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, focusing on the resource harvesting sector. In both communities, Inuit have demonstrated significant adaptability in the face of current changes in climatic conditions. This adaptability is facilitated by traditional Inuit knowledge, strong social networks, flexibility in resource use, and institutional support. Changing Inuit livelihoods, however, have undermined certain aspects of adaptive capacity and have resulted in emerging vulnerabilities. Global and regional climate projections indicate that climatic conditions which currently pose risks are expected to be negatively affected by future climate change. These projections are not without precedent and analysis of current vulnerability and identification of adaptation constraints by Inuit in the two communities indicate the continued importance of traditional coping mechanisms. The ability to draw on these coping mechanisms in light of future climate change, however, will be unequal and the research indicates that young Inuit and those without access to economic resources, in particular, are vulnerable.

An ephemeral anomaly. The metamorphoses of the Eskimo Language School: 1968-1999

This is an informal history of the now defunct Eskimo Language School and its successors from 1968 to its demise in 1999. The Eskimo Language School was an institution set up by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development of the federal government of Canada in order to provide Inuktitut as second language training to federal and North West Territorial employees. Private students were also admitted if there was space. It could therefore be considered an early effort to ameliorate the effects of the language shift from Inuktitut to English that was the inevitable result of the incursion of a massive southern bureaucracy into the Arctic. In addition, the school had a secondary effect on the situation as it provided a casual form of apprenticeship in applied linguistics to the young Inuit who spent time there as instructors. Its story is also that of an anomaly, a creation of the bureaucracy that escaped the usual stultifying institutional control for most of its existence. At the end of the paper there is a brief discussion of the problems involved in teaching a polysynthetic language to speakers of languages such as English and French, with suggestions for solutions.