March 26th - Culture/History Week

There were many great presentations done on this day (the others were on Inuit Language and Inuit Spirituality) but I found the first one to be the most interesting and something that I didn't know existed in Canadian history. The first presenter of the day chose to do their topic on “From the Land to Settlement: The Impact on Canadian Arctic Inuit Families”. These families led a nomadic lifestyle and maintained minimal contact with the Qallunaat (outsiders, mostly white people) Qallunaat means “the man with the bushy eyebrows”. It is interesting that this is what the Inuit people refer to white people as.

The presenter went on to talk about the role of the Canadian Government and how they manipulated these families into moving from northern Quebec to the high Arctic, promising them better lives for their children. Instead, these families lived in deplorable conditions. They had to build shacks with old material from government projects to live in. These living quarters didn't have the proper insulation, and were often very cold. By 1960, they were starting to getting better housing but they still housed quite a few people. The presenter indicated that in 1965, a housing survey was conducted in Baffin Island territory and 1480 people were in 272 tents, 722 people in shacks and 2377 in 448 one-room houses. What was intended to achieve positive outcomes for the relocated families, actually did quite the opposite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Can_high_arctic_relocation.svg

This map indicates the relocation of families from Inukjuak (Northern Quebec) to Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord.  

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2010/08/18/apology-inuit-relocation.html

One of the families who were forced to relocated in the 1950's. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfy9pvOW6aI

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfrigz_inuit-get-federal-apology-for-forced-relocation_news#.UVO0xb_N994
(This is a video of the actual apology issued by the government)

The presenter raised the question, do you think that the public apology made by the Harper government to the Inuit people of Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay was sincere? If you were in their position, how would an apology like this make you feel?

I feel as though this apology was a long time coming. The Canadian Government had made empty promises to these families that were forced to relocate. They were selfish in thinking that it would affect their land claims in the North. People look to the government as a body of people that will always have their best interest in mind but that was clearly ignored in the case of these families. Words only mean so much, but when action is taken and the formal apology was issued, I think this was a step in the right direction for the Canadian government and mending their relationship with these Inuit people. 

On a side note, it is so hard to believe that next class is our last day of presentations! I must say that this class has taught me so much more than I expected it to. I have found that by listening to these presentations I have a much better understanding of Northern Environments that I would have if the teacher was giving lectures each class. It has definitely been my favorite class of the semester and I'm going to be sad when it's over!

Until next time,

Janelle