Let’s learn more about the Inuit
October 11, 2024
The majority of the Inuit population in Canada live in 51 communities spread across Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland. This area encompasses 40% of Canada’s land area and 72% of Canada’s coastline. The Inuit are among the most culturally resilient in North America. Roughly 60 percent of Inuit report an ability to conduct a conversation in Inuktut (the Inuit language). People living in the Inuit Nunangat continue to harvest country foods such as seal, narwhal and caribou to feed their families and communities.
There are four Inuit regions in Canada, collectively known as Inuit Nunangat. The term “Inuit Nunangat” is a Canadian Inuit term that refers to land, water, and ice. Inuit consider the land, water, and ice, to be integral to their culture and their way of life.
Let’s look at some facts…The four Inuit regions are:
Inuvialuit Settlement Region:
The flag of the Inuvialuit people, depicting a gyrfalcon.
For more information on this northern bird of prey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrfalcon
This area comprises the northwestern part of the Northwest Territories. In 1984, the Inuvialuit, federal and territorial governments settled a comprehensive land claims agreement, giving the Inuvialuit surface and subsurface (mining) rights to most of the region to the territorial government. With a population of approximately 1,600, the town of Inuvik is the largest community in the region and is also the regional administrative center.
For more information about the history of this region: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuvialuit
Nunatsiavut (Labrador):
Flag Adopted: 1 December 2005
The flag of Nunatsiavut is the flag adopted by the Labrador Inuit Association to represent the Inuit of Labrador and their Land Claims Settlement Area called Nunatsiavut. The flag features the traditional Inuit inuksuk coloured white, blue, and green, echoing the flag of Labrador.
Approximately 2,300 Inuit live along the Labrador coast in this region, primarily in five communities. Nain is the biggest Inuit community in Labrador, and is also the administrative center, with a population of 1,100. The Nunatsiavut Government officially came into being on December 1, 2005. It has responsibility for economic development planning, preserving Inuit culture and implementing social programs. The legislative capital is in Hopedale, while the administrative capital is in Nain.
For more information about this region including maps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunatsiavut
Nunavik (Northern Quebec):
Flag Adopted: 27 September 2019
Designed by: Thomassie Mangiok
Nunavik was defined as a result of a comprehensive land claim launched by the Inuit and Cree and the first modern comprehensive land claims agreement in Canada. This agreement is called the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement and was signed in Quebec City on November 11, 1975. Some 11,000 Inuit live in 14 communities along the eastern coast of Hudson’s Bay and Hudson Strait.
The largest community in the region is Kuujjuaq, with a population of approximately 1,800.
The Regional Government is responsible for the delivery of municipal services and infrastructure in the communities and is located in a community called Kativik. Kativik (ᑲᑎᕕᒃ) is a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) of Quebec. Its land area is 443,372.20 km2 (171,186.96 sq mi), and its population is approximately 12,090+.
For more information about this region including maps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunavik
Nunavut:
Flag Adopted: 1 April 1999
Designed by: Andrew Qappik
On April 1, 1999, Nunavut became Canada’s newest territory. The area, once part of the Northwest Territories, is one-fifth of Canada’s landmass. Some 27,000 Inuit reside in 26 communities, with Iqaluit as its capital. Nunavut is divided into three regions, Qikiqtaaluk in the east, Kivalliq in the central Arctic along the western coast of Hudson’s Bay, and Kitikmeot in the west.
The territorial government of Nunavut incorporates traditional values and beliefs into a contemporary governing system. Inuktitut is an official language of government, along with French, English and Inuinnaqtun.
For more information about this region including maps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunavut
In addition to these four regions, about 30% of the people who identify as Inuit now live outside Inuit Nunangat. The trend toward urbanization among Inuit is growing. In Ontario, the Inuit population has grown from less than 100 in 1987 to an estimated 3,800 in 2017. The vast majority live in the National Capital area (Ottawa), making it the largest Inuit community in Southern Canada. According to Statistics Canada, the Ottawa-Gatineau area had an estimated 1,280 Inuit in 2016. But agencies that provide services to the community estimate the Inuit population in the capital is at least 3,700 and possibly as large as 6,000. As an aside, establishing improved data on Inuit outside of Inuit Nunangat is a priority; it is expected that the number of Inuit is much higher across Southern Canada than current data indicates.
As we make efforts on the path to reconciliation it is imperative as that we remember that the Inuit are a unique people with their own culture, language and history. While in some circumstances it is convenient and correct to include the Inuit under the broader term “Indigenous people” we must resist conflating the Inuit as being part of the group we refer to as the First Nations. There are many significant differences between these groups.
For example, legislatively the Inuit are not covered under the terms of the Indian Act. Nor at any time did they enter into treaties with European nations or with Canada (excepting agreements made in the latter part of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries that may be referred to as “modern treaties”). Importantly the history of the Inuit pre-contact is significantly different than the history of other indigenous people in North America. They are genetically linked to other groups living in the high Arctic in places like Greenland, Alaska and former Soviet Union regions.
The history of the relationship between Canada and the Inuit includes similarities to the First Nations experiences. Between 1950 and 1975, the Government of Canada enacted colonial policies which had deep and lasting scars and effects for Inuit. The Inuit suffered forced relocations of Inuit families from Port Harrison (Inukjuak) in Northern Québec and Pond Inlet in Nunavut to the High Arctic communities of Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord (Craig Harbour) in Nunavut. Inuit who were relocated had to adapt to colder climates and longer periods of total light or darkness. Inuit were separated from their home communities and extended family were not provided with adequate shelter or supplies and were not properly informed of where they would be located or for how long.
For Inuit in the Qikiqtani region (a part of Nunavut) actions during this period included similar forced relocation and family separation, but also the killing of qimmiit (sled dogs) essential for travel and food security in the Arctic and other assimilative actions. These policies and their effects were outlined by the Qikiqtani Truth Commission (QTC). The commission was independent of the Government of Canada and sought to bring a voice to Qikiqtani Inuit1[1]. Their report was published in 2010.
Official apologies were made in 2010 (for the forced relocations) and in 2019 specifically to the Qikiqtani Inuit Association. Additionally, significant comprehensive land claims (noted above for the four regions of Inuit Nunagat) have been successfully negotiated. These include arrangements for establishing local self-government and self-determination as well as being part of an overall government policy for the north that in part is designed to achieve reconciliation.
The Inuit are a very small group population wise, there are approximately 70,000 Inuit residing in different parts of Canada. This effectively is less than 1% of the indigenous population. As a result, it is too easy to forget that they are a separate indigenous group with their own history, language and culture. Collectively it is essential that we make the effort to acknowledge the differences and to avoid any pan-indigenous approaches which ignore the divergent history, interests and rights of the various groups who are indigenous to what we now call Canada.
The primary product of the QTC is the report: QTC Final Report - Achieving Saimaqatigiingniq was formally presented to the QIA at its 2010 Annual General Meeting on October 20, 2010. Achieving Saimaqatigiingniq means building a new relationship, when past opponents get back together, meet in the middle, and are at peace.
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