Inuit Relocations: Colonial Policies and Practices, Inuit Resilience and Resistance

NOTE: In Inuit Relocations, the word formerly used to describe the Inuit, “Eskimo”, is indicated by the following: E*****, an acknowledgment that the word is both an anachronism and a pejorative term.

Prior to World War II, Canada’s Inuit lived off the land in areas known as Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and northern Labrador. They were a migratory people, spending the summer and autumn hunting caribou and fishing, and in winter and spring, they hunted the sea mammals of the Arctic coast. It wasn’t an easy life, but the Inuit were “creative and resourceful, incredibly skilled hunters, seamstresses and artists. They were wise and respectful users of their lands, waters and resources.” (p. 8) The land and climate were harsh, and, at times, when hunting and fishing were less than successful, they experienced starvation. But they had a well-developed culture, shared through the generations by stories and related wisdom. The first chapter of Inuit Relocations, “Life on the Land” offers a sense of “the way things used to be” for the Inuit, prior to contact with non-Inuit.

In 1824, the first recorded contact took place on Qikiqtaaluk (Baffin Island) when whalers from Scotland, England, and the United States arrived. Whale oil was a valuable commodity, and, until the first decade of the 20th century, the Inuit harvested the whales in return for food and trade goods. It was the first instance of Arctic resource exploitation. A significant cultural change happened when Edmund Peck, an Anglican missionary, introduced “syllabics, a way of writing Inuktitut, to Inuit at Blacklead Island whaling station.” (p. 17) Within twenty years, it was adopted throughout the eastern Arctic, a major change to a culture dependent on oral transmission. With the establishment of HBC trading posts in the eastern Arctic, Inuit trapped foxes and sold the furs to the HBC. Rather than being paid in cash, the Inuit were paid in credit redeemable for goods, including rifles, at the trading post. Guns made hunting easier, but the Inuit were never paid the true value of the furs that were used as trim on garments sold in the South. When synthetic fur replaced fox fur, the bottom fell out of that market, and a valuable source of income was gone, too.

The following chapters of the book all deal with varying reasons for the relocations as well as the outcomes, with governmental apologies happening many decades later. In the second chapter, “High Arctic Relocations”, the Inuit of Inukjaak (Port Harrison) could no longer rely on hunting and trapping and became dependent on government assistance. The Canadian government relocated the people of Inukjaak to areas of the High Arctic much farther north from their home community where “the climate and long, dark winter nights would be very different from their home.” (p. 33) Furthermore, although promised that they would be kept together, they were split up, and their sense of community was destroyed. The Canadian government had established sovereignty in the North through the construction of defensive radar and air bases during the Cold War decades, but employment in these industries continued to be scarce for the Inuit. Even today, life in the High Arctic is a challenge, and Inuit youth face difficulties accessing education and employment. It was not until 2010 that the Canadian government apologized for the pain and hardship caused by the relocation of Inuit to the High Arctic.

Throughout Canada, health care is currently undergoing profound stress, but, in the North, the problem is exacerbated by distance and lack of staff and facilities. The book’s third chapter, “Puvaglungnaqtuq (Tuberculosis): Exiled for a Cure”, details the history of northern healthcare. Until the 1960s, medical care was provided first by church-run hospitals, and later, by the Canadian government which sent medical teams north by ship for once-a-year check-ups and dental care. Medical practitioners had little knowledge of Inuit culture or living conditions, and some Inuit “saw the hospitals . . . as places where people went to die”. (p. 51) Most feared of all was tuberculosis (TB) because anyone who contracted it would be separated from family and sent south for treatment in sanatoria located in cities such as Edmonton and Hamilton. Once in a southern TB hospital, changes in diet, loss of the Inuktitut language, and lack of news from their families made for an emotionally traumatic experience. Many Inuit died and were buried in the South and “only sometimes was it in a marked grave, and only sometimes was their family told.” (p. 68) Damaged lungs, chronic heart and kidney illness disabled some who had survived TB. Government sponsored rehabilitation centres offered programs for re-adjustment, and many Inuit had to learn new skills because they could no longer return to traditional living. In 2019, the Canadian government apologized for the relocations and its general mismanagement of its handling of TB in the North. Despite a commitment to eliminate the disease by 2030, TB has a three-hundred percent higher rate of incidence amongst the Inuit. Poorly maintained housing, buildings inappropriate to the harsh climate, and crowded living conditions all continue to fuel outbreaks of this highly communicable disease.

As was the case with other Canadian Indigenous peoples, “Leaving for School”, the book’s fourth chapter, was another type of forced relocation. Prior to 1949, when the Canadian government mandated school attendance for Inuit children, “formal education of Inuit children came from missionaries, mostly when families were visiting a settlement to trade or attend religious holiday celebrations.” (p. 78) Although the there was awareness of the problems that had resulted from the largely church-run residential school system, in 1951, a day school was opened in Igluligaarjuk (Chesterfield Inlet). The teachers were Catholic nuns, and, in 1955, a hostel was opened for students to board. Inuit parents were coerced into sending their children to school there by being told that they would not receive family allowance unless they complied. As with the residential school system, the separation of parents and children resulted in emotional distress for both; with the children, the results were loss of language and culture, and the experience of multiple abuses. Years later, when the Government of Canada issued the Indian Residential Schools Act, awarding compensation to survivors, the Inuit were not initially included. A subsequent suit awarded them the right for inclusion, and apologies were issued by the Government of Canada in 2009, and, in 2022, Pope Francis apologized on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church.

By 1968, much of the Inuit had moved to settlements rather than living a migratory existence on the land. Much like immigration, “push” and “pull” factors had led the Inuit to move: the collapse of the fur trade, decline in caribou population, the availability of employment and social assistance benefits. “Relocating to Settlements, 1955-1968” offers details of the many dramatic changes in Inuit life resulting from the move. Employment came with the construction of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line and the North Rankin Nickle Mine (which closed in 1962 due to a drop in nickel prices.) Unemployment resulted when construction ended and the mine closed, and Inuit who had worked on these projects found themselves with no means of making a living other than dependence on government welfare. Sled dogs, necessary to traditional life, could not be easily maintained in settlements, and law was enacted allowing the RCMP the right to kill free-roaming dogs. The Inuit were not consulted about the creation of the law and were justifiably upset at yet another act destructive to their culture. Despite being forced to move to settlements during the 1950’s, no provision was made to house them. Tents, igloos, and shacks built from leftover construction materials were their shelters that lacked running water, indoor toilets, and electrical power. As such, they were a health hazard. In 1959, an Inuit housing program was created, the result of demands made by doctors working for the Medical Services Branch of the Northern Administration. Although the initial concept was that the Inuit would pay for their houses, “government measures did not take into account the fact that there were few jobs for earning money in most communities.” (p. 108) A rental program, based on the ability to pay, was established instead. Housing in the North continues to be inadequate, and the cost of maintaining utility services is prohibitively expensive.

The sixth chapter, “Abandoned and Misled”, contains several accounts of forced relocation, beginning with the plight of the Ahiarmiut, one of the few groups of Inuit living inland. The Canadian Army Signal Corps had built a radio station at Ennadai lake, a location west of Hudson Bay, north of the Manitoba border. A small commercial fishery was being established just south of Ennadai Lake, and, in 1950, a group of 47 Ahiarmut were flown to work on the project. No explanation was provided to them for the relocation, and their habitation was destroyed as they left. The fishery failed, the Ahiarmut were abandoned, and they walked back to Ennadai Lake to start over. Seven years later, the government undertook a second relocation attempt, moving the Ahiarmut to Henik Lake, and this time starvation killed many because the caribou did not come. Several more attempts at relocation failed until the final move to Arviat (formerly known as E***** Point). The relocations of several other Inuit groups are detailed, and each is an unremitting tale of hardship and tragedy, the result of the Canadian government’s having “made unilateral decisions about Inuit lives”. (p. 121) Although the Government of Canada has made an official apology, reading the extracts of that document is heartbreaking.

The final chapter, “Dealing with Colonialism”, overviews the many challenges faced by the Inuit today, the results of past and current colonial attitudes. Employment, and the lack of it, is an ongoing concern for Inuit youth, and education for professional careers requires moving to the South. In government and industry, management jobs are typically held by non-Inuit, with the Inuit occupying lower-ranking positions. On a positive note, traditional employment in the fisheries is rising, and co-ops offer a retail presence for a variety of businesses, especially in arts and crafts products. As a result of the injustices experienced in the past, the Inuit have formed organizations which advocate for Inuit self-determination and rights, with Inuit youth organizations becoming increasingly strong and vocal. Inuit culture has become increasingly promoted through a variety of art forms - graphic arts, sculpture, and music, to name three – which offer a sense of the “social history and the strength and wisdom found in Inuit culture.” (p. 32) Like other Indigenous peoples in Canada, the Inuit have been represented in and participants in the work of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

As the pull quote for this review states, Inuit Relocations: Colonial Policies and Practices Inuit Resilience and Resistance provides an overview of history unknown to most Canadians. It is the history of government policies which were dismissive of Inuit culture and traditions and which created pain and hardship for the people who were dispossessed of a long-established way of life. The opening pages of the book contain a map of Inuit Nunangat, (The place where Inuit live). Some communities have both contemporary Inuit names and historical English names, and the historical name is provided in the legend. Photos, both colour and black and white, are the primary media for the telling of this story. The captions to the photos are rich in content, and extracts of interviews provide compelling personal accounts of Inuit life, how it once was and how it changed. Some of the photos have notes to “Watch the Video”, and a link is provided to short video clips which provide explanatory content for some of the photos. A “Timeline” charts events from 1824, the first recorded contact between English and Scottish whalers and the Inuit, up to and including August 15, 2019, when Carolyn Bennett, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister apologized for relocations and the killing of sled dogs. A “Glossary”, a listing of items for “Further Reading” in both text, visual and digital media, and an “Index” all enhance access to the original sources of information contained in the book.

Inuit Relocations: Colonial Policies and Practices Inuit Resilience and Resistance is a worthwhile acquisition for both high school libraries and as a supplementary text for social studies classrooms. It teaches much about the strength of the Inuit people and their ability to survive despite incredible challenges.