Nuutauniq (Moves in Inuit Life): Arctic Transformations and the Politics of Urban Inuit Mobility

ABSTRACT

Today, one in four Inuit live outside of Inuit Nunangat, the Arctic territory incorporating the four northern Inuit land claims regions. With the majority of those Inuit living in cities, the issue of urban Inuit populations is becoming a more prominent focus for policy debate. In this article, I argue that urban Inuit mobility is a historically complex and multilayered phenomenon embedded in, not detached from, the major processes of social transformation affecting Inuit across the Canadian Arctic from the mid-twentieth century on. I use this analysis to explore the diverse formulation of Inuit-specific policy initiatives in Montreal, a task that, I show, is made easier by the Montreal Inuit radio show called Nipivut.     

Space syntax analysis of Central Inuit snow houses

Space syntax is a graph-based theory used by architects to examine how the spatial layout of buildings and cities influences the economic, social, and environmental outcomes of human movement and social interaction. Archaeologists have explored this concept by analyzing how social structure is reflected in the spatial configuration of public and domestic architecture. In this paper, space syntax is used to examine the spatial morphology of snow houses built by three Central Inuit groups in the Canadian Arctic, based on ethnohistoric and ethnographic accounts. The results of this study demonstrate that variation in family structure and the behavioral directives present in Inuit kinship systems are reflected in the spatial configurations of snow house architecture. This has important implications for understanding how architecture might be used to identify enduring and changing patterns of household and community organization in the archaeological record.     

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of human dental calculus: a potentially new non-destructive proxy for paleodietary analysis

Fifty-eight dental calculus samples from medieval and post-medieval skeletons from Vitoria, Spain, and a single sample from an Alaskan Inuit were tested for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions. There was sufficient carbon and nitrogen concentrations to obtain δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values, and the samples from Spain produced results that were replicable and comparable to European isotope values based on bone collagen collected from literature sources. The Alaskan Inuit calculus sample yielded a δ¹⁵N value of +17.5‰, well beyond the range of the Spanish samples, but consistent with literature data for modern Greenlandic Inuit consuming a diet rich in marine food. There are several potential sources for carbon and nitrogen in calculus. The results of this study yield stable isotope values consistent with those obtained from other biomaterials used as isotope proxies for paleodietary research, including bone collagen, hair, and fingernails, although further work is necessary to verify the fidelity of calculus as an isotope proxy. Many studies in bioarchaeology are precluded by curatorial concerns regarding the destructive analysis of primary biomaterials. However, calculus is an “add-on”, or secondary biomaterial, that is not an integral part of the dental or skeletal system. Hence, its consumption during analysis is technically not destructive. Therefore, isotope analysis of dental calculus may provide a potential new avenue for paleodietary analysis where the use of other primary biomaterials is precluded.     

A Three-Dimensional Model of a Thule Inuit Whale Bone House

Abstract

The semi-subterranean whale bone house is one of the most distinctive features of Thule Inuit culture in the Canadian Arctic (A.D. 1000–1600). An understanding of how these remarkable dwellings were designed and built has been hindered by measurement and recording techniques restricted to two dimensions. Determining how the unusual shapes and sizes of whale bone elements would have influenced the strength of the roof frame and the volume of the house's interior requires a three-dimensional point of view. We constructed a three-dimensional computer model of such a house by first employing laser scanning technology to create a digital model of a North Atlantic Right Whale skeleton on display at the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts. Individual elements from the digital model were used in combination with archaeological data to construct an accurate representation of a Thule whale bone dwelling. Constructing a model in a virtual world is analogous to building one in the real world. Consequently, we gained a deeper understanding of the design principles used by Thule builders, and conclude that the development of an architectural tradition based upon whale bone may be among the greatest technological achievements in Arctic prehistory.     

Producing consent: How environmental assessment enabled oil and gas extraction in the Qikiqtani region of Nunavut

There is now an extensive body of academic literature examining how the environmental movement contributed to the colonization of Indigenous peoples and development of capitalism in northern Canada. This paper contributes to these discussions by considering how environmental assessment (EA) helped enable hydrocarbon extraction in the Qikiqtani (Baffin Island) region of Nunavut in the 1970s and 1980s. When exploration activities began to threaten the Inuit harvesting economy, communities protested with letters and petitions. The federal government responded to Inuit resistance by referring proposed exploratory drilling and extraction to its new EA process. While Inuit won significant victories during some assessments of proposed exploratory drilling and extraction, federal EA ultimately helped create the conditions for Inuit to consent to oil extraction. EA helped impose material compromises between Inuit and hydrocarbon industries, including preferential hiring of Inuit, a reduction in the scope of proposed extraction, and the rejection of especially controversial proposals for offshore drilling. These concessions, combined with a collapse in the market for sealskins due to international boycotts, persuaded several Qikiqtani communities to support oil extraction in the 1980s. The ensuing extraction and export of oil from the High Arctic accelerated processes of colonial dispossession and reinforced colonial political dynamics.     

The analysis of copper artifacts of the copper inuit

Metallography and neutron activation analysis have been used to investigate copper artifacts from 19th century archaeological sites associated with the “Copper Inuit” of the west-central Canadian Arctic. A knowledge of the source of the copper from which the artifacts were manufactured - native (local) copper or European (exotic) copper - is important, for example, to studies of the effects of European contact on utilization of native copper and on the general lifestyle of the Copper Inuit. Trace element analysis by neutron activation using the SLOWPOKE reactor has allowed local native copper, from the Coppermine River and Victoria Island, NW Territories, to be clearly distinguished from 19th century European smelted copper, which was found to contain higher concentrations of arsenic, antimony, nickel and selenium. Moreover, optical and scanning electron metallography revealed significant microstructural differences between native copper and the 19th century smelted copper. As a consequence it was possible to differentiate between native copper archaeological artifacts and those produced from smelted copper.     

Nunavik and the Multiple Dimensions of Inuit Governance

ABSTRACT

Over the last five decades, the emergence of a sophisticated and multidimensional set of governance institutions in the predominantly Inuit regions of Canada and the circumpolar north has had a profound impact on the lives of Inuit peoples and the states in which they live. The region of Nunavik in northern Québec has played an important role in the political development of the Canadian and circumpolar Inuit, serving as both an institutional innovator and a key source of leadership at the regional, national, and international levels. Using a multilevel governance framework, this article explores the vertical and horizontal dimensions of Inuit governance in Canada and the circumpolar north. In particular, the article will focus on Nunavik’s contribution to and place in this multidimensional governance structure.     

Gendered Inuinnait (Copper Inuit) landscapes of Banks Island’s northern interior,Arctic Canada, 17th–20th centuries a.d.

Abstract

Archaeological survey data from the northern interior of Banks Island in Canada’s western Arctic builds upon traditional interpretations of past land use to explore the ways in which this landscape was perceived by different groups. The data confirm earlier archaeological, ethnographic, and oral history work which suggest that the area was occupied primarily in the summer months at two separate times in the past: the Palaeoeskimo period and the Inuinnait (Copper Inuit) period. The earlier occupation was less intensive than the latter and both were focused on muskox hunting. Drawing on ethnographic studies of the Inuit in both the early and late 20th centuries, and on the distribution of archaeological camp sites versus hunting sites, a reconstruction is made of the different ways in which men and women experienced and understood the survey area during Inuinnait times. It suggests that the main drainages formed important travel routes, and that while women’s knowledge of the region was concentrated along these corridors and in favorite camping places, men’s knowledge extended into hunting areas beyond their peripheries.     

“The Men of the North” Redux: Nanook and Canadian National Unity

This article explores the operation of nordicity as a discursive resource in Canadian national identity. Drawing on the late nineteenth-century idea of Canadians as “the men of the north” and therefore having a particular national character, this article examines the way that the Inuit have been drawn into this discursive frame since the 1950s. The key argument advanced in this article is that idealized images of the Inuit as exemplars of “northern people” operate in various ways to affirm a “northern” identity for all Canadians. This claim is explored with reference to the images of Nanook of the North and of the Inuit as “a quintessential Canadian Folk.” Continuities between the nineteenth- and twentieth-century versions of the “northmen” thesis are examined in this article.     

“A Set of Very Fair Cups and Saucers”: Stamped Ceramics as an Example of Inuit Incorporation

During the nineteenth century, the Labrador Inuit were incorporated into the global economic system primarily through contact with Moravian missionaries. Although they never abandoned traditional food procurement strategies, some Inuit became wage laborers for missions, and others participated in a market economy based on their procurement of marine mammals, fish, and furbearers. Excavations conducted at the Inuit village site of Nain attest to the increased consumption of European products throughout the nineteenth century. We describe one recovered artifact type, stamped earthenware, in detail and discuss how these artifacts provide insight into global economic processes.     

Spondylolysis in Inuit skeletons from Arctic Canada

Inuit skeletons from archaeological sites in Arctic Canada were examined for the presence of spondylolysis. The largest series represent the Thule culture and historic Inuit from northwest Hudson Bay and Labrador, and Sadlermiut from Southampton Island. The condition was found in 90 individuals, with a total of 120 affected vertebrae producing 198 hemi‐arch defect sites. As in other studies, L5 is affected most frequently, followed by L4 and L3, but examples of L1, L2, L6, and S1 involvement are represented. Incomplete separations account for 20% (40) of the 198 defects, and 5% (10) occur at sites other than interarticularis. Affected males outnumber females at a ratio of 2.4 to 1. The condition was found to increase in frequency from adolescence to young adulthood, and then decrease to middle adulthood and decrease again to old adulthood, but the drop in frequency with age in the adult categories is significant only at the .20 level. Where comparisons could be made, the data obtained from the Canadian Inuit closely resemble those obtained from Alaskan Eskimos and Aleuts, especially their closest linguistic relatives, Inupiat speakers in northern Alaska. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stable Isotopes and Oral Tori in Greenlandic Norse and Inuit

Palatine (PT) and mandibular torus (MT) have long been of interest to dental researchers and anthropologists, but their aetiology remains unresolved. Some combination of genetic and environmental factors influences their expression, but the relative role of each remains contentious. Previous research has shown that the Greenlandic Norse exhibit exceptionally high frequencies and pronounced expressions of PT and MT. In this regard, they are significantly different from genetically related medieval Scandinavian populations, so environmental factors have to be considered. An earlier study that estimated stable carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions for a Greenlandic Norse sample makes it possible to compare directly PT and MT expression with the relative degree of marine protein intake. For comparative purposes, parallel observations were made on a Greenlandic Inuit sample. Some researchers suggest the intake of marine resources could impact bone development, including torus expression, but our analysis found no significant correlation between PT or MT expression and δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values in the Norse. In the Inuit, PT expression also showed no relationship to stable isotope compositions. MT size in the Inuit did, however, show a significant inverse relationship with δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values. As MT size goes up, stable isotope compositions go down. Compared with contemporary European populations, the Greenlandic Norse show very positive isotope compositions, but the Inuit, with their high protein‐high fat diet, show significantly higher δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values than the Norse. It is unclear how this relates to the contrasting findings for MT size and stable isotope values. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gendered spheres: theorizing space in the English printing house

The English printing house was initially conceived, legally, as a printing house, with public work taking place in a private setting. This private space emphasised the traditional hierarchies of political and legal order: Women’s work that took place within the printing house thus fell into the traditional role of household labours. This erasure of labour is one that foregrounds the erasure of women’s writing from history; women who worked in essence as publishers, as printers and booksellers, are very clearly present in the historical records but invisible in our narratives of book history. How did this erasure happen, and why is their presence, and work, overlooked? If we consider the language of space in theory and reread Moxon’s Mechanickal Exercises closely, we see the ways in which the ideas of space itself can be implicitly gendered, and how this might shape our idea of the printing house.     

Measuring Inuit Health from Ungava to Nunavik via Nouveau Québec: Episodes in the History of Researcher–Subject Relations

ABSTRACT

Inuit have been the subject of research attention since the earliest encounters with Europeans. Using the Foucauldian concept of biopolitics this article explores the history of researcher–research subject relations produced through health knowledge in the region now known as Nunavik. This history is organized in three time periods: The first is the “Ungava” era and is explored in the observations of members of the Hudson Bay Expedition and subsequent mapping efforts. The second “Nouveau Québec” era begins in 1912 when the current borders of Québec were established and lasts until 1975. After a period of indifference, research interest grows rapidly in the post-war period with a focus of social adaptation and culture change. The third era begins in 1975 with the signing of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. This marks the beginning of Inuit political development within an Inuit-controlled regional governance structure. The conceptualization of three different health surveys during this period shows an emerging complexity in how Inuit health is imagined. An upcoming fourth survey which marks the first time the study of Inuit physical, social, and community health will be initiated by an Inuit-led health authority.     

Publications New Archaeological Books and Journals

Abstract

An electrical resistivity survey and accompanying soil analyses were performed over an exposed but unexcavated prehistoric house in Peoria loess in westcentral Illinois. Positive resistivity anomalies occur along the trenches for the house walls and within the house and distinctive patterns in contoured resistivity data occur over the house.

Soil analyses show that quartz, kaolinite, montmorillonite, illite, and hematite are the main mineral constituents in the soil. Within the house basin, the soil is dark gray in color because of the presence of organic carbon. Prominent positive electrical resistivity anomalies occur where the dark soil is thickest.

Analyses of the resistivity and soil data enable the identification of several anthropogenic features within the house and suggest that electrical resistivity data would be helpful to archaeologists in doing both detailed and reconnaissance work. For example, the mean amplitude and fabric patterns in contoured resistivity are distinctive over the house relative to areas outside the house. This fact suggests that similar analyses of reconnaissance resistivity data might be helpful in exploration for large archaeologic activity areas such as whole villages or camps. Also, detailed analyses of the resistivity and soil data, in conjunction with information already available from other excavated structures at Orendorf village, suggest that the electrical resistivity technique can serve as a valuable, but ancillary, tool to help archaeologists focus their efforts and decide which of the many structures in a village should be excavated.     

Modern human,early modern human and Neanderthal limb proportions

The limb proportions of 686 subjects (461 men and 225 women) from five ethnic groups (White, Inuit, Gurkha, Bantu, San) have been compared. Stature, limb and skeletal measurements were taken directly from the subjects by one observer. The brachial and crural indices of the Whites were markedly smaller (lower) than those of the other populations. The crural indices of the Inuit were similar to those of the two African populations, but this may be an artefact from relatively small numbers for the Inuit population. There is no sexual dimorphism for the brachial index, but men have larger (higher) crural indices than women, a finding which probably relates to the relatively broad pelvises and consequently long femurs of women. The two African populations have long limb lengths standardized for height compared to the Gurkha and Inuit populations, with the Whites intermediate. This finding is consistent with Bergmann's thermoregulatory rule. The correlations between distal abbreviation and limb abbreviation for both the upper and lower limbs are poor and negative. Relatively long limbs tend to have smaller distal segments than relatively short limbs and for the legs this may constitute a safeguard for the integrity of the medial and cruciate ligaments of the knee. For these five modern populations distal abbreviation cannot be used as a proxy for limb abbreviation and there is no justification for linking distal abbreviation with climatic selection. Skeletal data relating to nine Neanderthal and 25 early modern humans have also been analysed. The analysis confirms marked limb and distal abbreviation for the Neanderthals compared to early and contemporary modern humans, but this conclusion presupposes that the taxonomic classes are correct and that limb proportions were not used originally as a class discriminant. For these archaic populations there is a moderate positive correlation between lower limb abbreviation and distal abbreviation, but the numbers are small and the confidence intervals very wide. In view of the findings for modern populations, and until more relevant fossils are available, it is probably unwise to use the crural index as a proxy for limb abbreviation in archaic populations. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The fertility of the Inuit of Northern Québec: A half‐century of fluctuations

The fertility of the Inuit of Northern Québec went through many changes during the last fifty years. We observe, at first, a decline during the thirties followed by a recovery, in the early forties, stopped momentarily between 1946 and 1956. The fertility reached a summit around 1961 to drop sharply afterwards. In spite of this important decrease, the fertility of the Inuit remains much higher than the generations replacement level.

We will try to relate these fluctuations in the Northern Québec Inuit fertility to the various events that influenced the recent history of this population such as starvations, epidemics, settling process, health improvements and socio‐economic changes.