Inuit
Pietro Santachiara
Karetak, J., Tester, F. J., & Tagalik, S. (2017). Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: What Inuit Have Always Known to Be True. Fernwood Publishing.
This book is a collection of essays about some of the fundamental tenets and implication of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (/inuit qaujimanituqaŋit/), written by nine Nunavut elders. Qaujimajatuqangit is itself a body of knowledge and experience which is transmitted intergenerationally, and is composed of eight principles—1) Inuuqatigiitsiarniq (respecting others, relationships and caring for people); 2) Tunnganarniq (fostering good spirit by being open, welcoming and inclusive); 3) Pijitsirniq (serving and providing for family or community, or both); 4) Aajiiqatigiinniq (decision making through discussion and consensus); 5) Pilimmaksarniq or Pijariuqsarniq (development of skills through practice, effort and action); 6) Piliriqatigiinniq or Ikajuqtigiinniq (working together for a common cause); 7) Qanuqtuurniq (being innovative and resourceful); 8) Avatittinnik Kamatsiarniq (respect and care for the land, animals and the environment)—which characterize en masse the Inuit worldview; it is in this sense “an ethical framework and detailed plan for having a good life. It is a way of thinking, connecting all aspects of life in a coherent way” (p. 3), and indeed a system of beliefs and values which underpin an epistemological framework.
The aim of this book is to produce a record of the various ways in which these principles should guide Inuit life, and practices of intergenerational knowledge transmission, in a way that may prove helpful to the communities who have been either displaced or colonized by Eurowestern practices and customs; in this sense, the editors’ “most sincere wish is that the book will provide Inuit with access to their own process of healing by reconnecting them with the unique knowledge and perspective of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit” (p. xv).
The main emphasis and focus of this book are the fundamental aspects that underpin the Inuit approach to social, communal—or family—life, as they relate specifically to childrearing and education. The central belief around which the others are oriented is that the development of capable human being begins in early childhood. “Capable” is defined here as having the capacity to negotiate the various challenges that life will present, in terms of both material aspects related to livelihood, as well as other related to the acknowledgment and management of one’s feelings and emotions. Maturity, resourcefulness, commitment to helping others, nuance, adaptability, and emotional intelligence are identified as desirable traits throughout the book, and a few passages in which the articulation of their importance is outlined are remarkably profound—e.g, “children should neither be coddled as if they were eggs not hardened into rocks” (p. 143); “little things will get [a child with a bad attitude] upset. The child won’t care if the tension inside of them spills out on everyone around them” (p. 112).
These values are contextualized by an astute analysis of the ways in which they have been colonized and thus excluded by Western society. The essays repeatedly express discontent with the ways in which traditional childrearing has been interrupted, replaced by the contemporary school system, and the fact that parents are increasingly less involved in their children’s education. Indeed, it is noted how Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit has been all but forgotten, an occurrence that both underlines the relevance of this knowledge system, as well as confirms the importance of this book as a collection of descriptions and qualifications of the tenets which compose and support this epistemological system.
Inuit Circumpolar Council. (2021). Ethical and Equitable Engagement Synthesis Report: A collection of Inuit rules, guidelines, protocols, and values for the engagement of Inuit Communities and Indigenous Knowledge from Across Inuit Nunaat. Synthesis Report. https://www.inuitcircumpolar.com/project/icc-ethical-and-equitable-engagement-synthesis-report/
This report was underwritten within a socio-political context in which governments have recognized the need to involve Indigenous communities in the decision-making processes that undergird the various activities—related to politics, policy-making, cultural development, wildlife management, environmental decisions, and so on. This need has been further qualified to foster and include ethical engagement of these communities; in theory, this means not only affording these communities a seat at the table, but also engaging them in a way that is both compatible with their traditions, values, and knowledge systems, as well as genuine, and not tokenizing.
Within this context, this report presents an analysis of guidelines for the engagement of Inuit communities and Indigenous knowledge, which are complemented by strategies that may be employed to facilitate such engagement, as well as coherent descriptions of the various themes and concepts that have underpinned the development of circumpolar protocols and guidelines. The aim of this document is “to contribute to the development of circumpolar protocols/guidelines for the engagement of Inuit communities and Indigenous knowledge through a direct participation process” (p. 10), as the guidelines it establishes have been directly voiced and formulated by Inuit communities and organizations. The report is composed of five parts, each concentrating on one relevant aspect of Inuit culture and traditions, as they relate specifically to matters of political and policy-aimed engagement.
The first part concentrates on guiding engagement through Inuit values, and in this sense both defines the values that underpin the Inuit metaphysical and epistemological view of the world, as well as establishes the ways in which these values define how Inuit interact with the world, each other, the environment, and the various other processes that are inherent to social life. The second part provides and analysis of the guidelines according to which Indigenous knowledge may be appropriately be engaged; this section concentrates specifically on traditional knowledge, and provides both definitions of the various entities that populate it, as well as the common misconceptions that the Western world often projects onto it. The key point expressed by this chapter is that there is a way in which indigenous knowledge may be engaged ethically, and there is another, distinct way, which instead leads to what one might call mischaracterization, and misappropriation. The third chapter puts forth a number of guidelines according to which Indigenous communities may be engaged respectfully, and not only included but also consulted in matters of project and policy development. The fourth part outlines strategies through which engagement may be guided through the Inuit methodologies outlined in Inuit Nunaat. The relevance of these methodologies as they pertain to the objectives of this report has primarily to do with the identification and negotiation of social problems, and the mediation processes that are inherent and necessary to find solutions and resolutions. Finally, part five introduces the concept of permission, and defines ways through which it may be leveraged to promote engagement. In this context, permission is intended to mean consent, imply contracts, and underpin ethical laws, as well as sovereignty and self-determination.
Leduc, T. B. (2007). Sila dialogues on climate change: Inuit wisdom for a cross-cultural interdisciplinarity. Climatic Change, 85(3), 237. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-006-9187-2
The premise that is articulated in support of the argument proposed by this paper is that while climate change research has demonstrated interest in Inuit ecological observations in recent years, because of the inherent relevance of northern changes on the global climate systems, this research has done little to integrate the knowledge that emerges from an Inuit analysis of weather, and has instead continued to marginalize its understanding of climate-related changes. The author engages an analysis of the Inuktitut term Sila as a case study of the cross-cultural, methodological problem that exists. Within this framework, what the author identifies is first and foremost a problem of semantics and linguistics, which is in turn an expression of a misalignment of metaphysical values across scientific systems; with Sila, the Inuit reference a “spiritual power that is related to the weather,” (p. 237) while climate research translations characterize Sila as just weather. The intention of this paper is therefore to define Sila in order to identify the implications the concept or phenomenon it references may have for Western approaches to the cross-cultural study of climate, while beginning to establish a cross-cultural dialogue from which a deeper understanding of the various phenomena at play may be achieved while respecting the different contributing knowledge systems.
The following passage serves to provide a definition of Sila which is both softly framed and specific at the same time: “Sila is a strong spirit, the upholder of the universe, of the weather, in fact of all life on earth—so mighty the his speech to man comes not through ordinary words, but through storms, snowfall, rain showers, the sea, through all the forces that man fears […] When times are food, Sila has nothing to say to mankind. He has disappeared into his infinite nothingness and remains away as long as people do not abuse life but have respect for their daily food. No one has ever seen Sila. His place is so mysterious that he is with us and infinitely far away at the same time” (p. 241). Indeed, this set of definitions serves to characterize the breadth of representations the Inuit attribute to Sila. This is in obvious and stark contrast to the Western definition of weather—a set of mechanistic phenomena which are direct expressions of the various processes undergirding fluid dynamics. In this sense “climate change confronts science with the difficulty of objectively standing outside the world and experimentally reducing each natural process as a means to knowledge and control, especially in a cultural context where Western science is deeply intertwined with those political economic actions that are manifesting [today’s] climatic changes” (p. 247).
The uncertainties that the Western body of scientists have been and are experiencing in matters of climate change may be fruitfully complemented by the various, profound notions emerging from the Inuit definition of Sila; however, this may only be achieved when an effective, respectful, cross-cultural integration of knowledge systems and values is carried out, which is the concept this paper argues for.
Oosten, J. G., & Miller, B. H. (2018). Traditions, traps and trends: Transfer of knowledge in Arctic regions. University of Alberta Press.
This edited monograph is composed of eight essays which present eight relevant case studies centered around various aspects of Indigenous knowledge transmission in Canada. These essays are based on long-terms fieldwork carried out by the authors, or extensive archival research. Insofar as the focus of the book as a whole is to highlight the challenges Indigenous people have faced to preserve their autonomy, knowledge, and practices, the editors say that “by studying this transfer [of knowledge] we can gain a better understanding of the dynamics of a society and its interaction with other cultures, notably the dominants culture’s effort to assimilate the Indigenous people” (p. 22). In this sense, this book seeks to “shed light on various types of knowledge, how these circulate and can be combined, and how they are applied and used at various levels in Arctic communities” (p. x), and in so doing reflect on the difficulties and challenges that characterize intergenerational knowledge transfer. With this objective as north star guiding its approach, this book brings authentic Indigenous voices to the fore to present an array of methods of knowledge transfer carried out by Arctic Indigenous communities. It is important to note how both authors and editors refrain from providing any comparison to equivalent, normative alternatives rooted in Western scientific knowledge practices.
Chapters one through four present case studies related to communities residing in the northern regions of Canada, and 1) engage issues arising from the transformations that have characterized the Inuit way of life from semi-nomadic to settlements, and concentrating specifically on the impact engendered by the transition from residential schools to government day schools; 2) the reverse cultural contamination which took place between the Moravians and the Inuit; 3) Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, as system of knowledge, political tool through which a degree of inclusion of the Inuit ways into daily Western life may be achieved, and by way tokenization, potential trap; 4) the effects brought about by the advent of settled life onto the traditional methods of knowledge transmission, specifically in relation to the ways in which these are passed on to new generations.
Chapter five is focused on East Greenlandic communities and processes through which their knowledge may be passed on to new generations through material, museum-owned artifacts. From this analysis the author argues for museum collections as loci from which “new ways of transferring knowledge” may arise, and thus concludes that “looking at historical objects and photographs in museum collections with representatives of Indigenous people provides opportunities for the transfer of cultural knowledge across generations, inspiring the telling of stories” (p. 180).
Chapters six through eight center on the Sámi homeland of Northern Norway, and concentrate specifically on 6) the dynamics that underpin an elderly mother’s transmission of knowledge to her middle-aged son, and the ways in which she characterizes the separation—or indeed lack thereof—between physical and spiritual illness; 7) two traditional Sámi love songs which have been translated in Latin in 1673, and the ways in which they enabled the transfer of Indigenous knowledge to English and European populations, thus contributing to a change of attitude of the latter toward Sámi people; 8) stories about the Kautokeino Rebellion originating from inside the population, rather than from outside it.
By presenting relevant case studies, stories, and insight into practices, traditions, and outlooks, as well as by avoiding the controversial practice of comparing Indigenous practices to Western ones, the editors of this book make space for fertile soil upon which a dialogue between the various knowledge systems that exists may flourish.
Wenzel, G. W. (2004). From TEK to IQ: Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and Inuit Cultural Ecology. Arctic Anthropology, 41(2), 238–250. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40316631
Human-animal interaction has been a long-standing interest of research that concentrates on Canadian Inuit, but the ways in which it is normally framed is a reflection of the various academic sub-specializations that concentrate on these themes—e.g., wildlife management, ecological and economic anthropology, ad evolutionary biology. As a consequence of the locus from which these interests originate, the characterization of the matter is often accompanied by the selective use of Inuit Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). Information about the ways in which Inuit conceptualize their relation to animals, and the place both kinds occupy in the world is only seldom engaged or referenced in these texts; however, this information may inform some of the practices engaged above.
Insofar as the advent of an official definition of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit as a set of guiding principles that may be operationalized presents, according to the author, the possibility for such an enriched engagement to take place, in this paper he analyses the principles contained in Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, and then puts forth a brief argument in favor of it, as well as of the potential ripples it may bring in relation to research on Inuit cultural ecology, and consequently wildlife management. Inuuqatigiitsiarniq, Tunnganarniq, Pijitsirniq, Aajiiqatigiinniq, Pilimmaksarniq or Pijariuqsarniq, Piliriqatigiinniq or Ikajuqtigiinniq, Qanuqtuurniq, and Avatittinnik Kamatsiarniq are firstly referenced and defined at length, and secondly leveraged to demonstrate the importance of the socio-cultural context Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit both embodies and represents. According to the author, this connotation is not present in TEK, which is left “offering little to our understanding of Inuit cultural ecology” (p. 248) as a consequence, though the values it is supported by are the same that support Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.
Overall, this paper highlights how the way in which something is presented influences its perception, interpretation, adoption and use. This is especially true in the context within which this paper exists, which is closely related to policy development, more than epistemology. Nonetheless, the argument the author sets out to articulate and make a case for is clear—because of the effective way in which Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit characterizes the social component underpinning Inuit definition of the human-animal relation, it may prove more effective than Tek at guiding the creation of policies that do not approach the issue of wildlife management that is merely focused on academic rhetoric, but rather in a way that fully engages and leverages the concepts, outlooks, and knowledges that have been developed and known by Inuit for centuries.