The Inuit society - the cause of change

The Inuit’s are a race of people who inhabit the northern provinces of Canada. Both Rasing’s article, “Hunting for Identity, Thoughts on The Practice of Hunting and its Significance for Iglulingmiut Identity” and Sears’ film, “Between Two Worlds,” illustrate and analyze the way the Inuit live. However, they approach this fascinating culture in two completely distinct ways. Rasing produced an article that views the Inuit community as a whole, and portrays the identity of the Inuit’s as a function of their community. Sears’ film, conversely, takes a much more specific approach based on one main individual, the most well known Inuit of them all, Joseph Idlout. Both these pieces go into detail about the history of the Inuit people, their customs, beliefs, and how their lives have changed forever.

The purpose of Rasing’s article was, “to explore the nature and forms of settlement-based hunting and assess to what extent this shapes or affects Inuit identity” (Rasing 1999: 81). To further understand the significance of hunting, Rasing felt it was necessary, “to look at the previous era of subsistence hunting and examine the nature and impact of the changes that resulted from contacts with outsiders” (Rasing 1999: 81). Before the Inuit’s became dependent on the western world, they lived in an isolated state. They were dependent solely on nature, the animals around them, and themselves. This was clearly evident in the Sears’ film as well. Idlout, in the early years of his life, hunted animals in order to survive. It was a way of life. The animals were his means of survival, and he made maximum use of what nature provided. Idlout, along with his people, were nomadic. They followed the animals’ migratory pattern throughout the changing seasons. Their lives depended upon obtaining land and sea mammals such as, “walrus, beluga, narwhal, bowhead whale, polar bear, fish…these were animal species that provided food” (Rasing 1999: 83). These animals also supplied the material for clothing, hunting, traveling, and cooking equipment. Since these people traveled so often, Inuit society was small by necessity, usually no more than a few dozen people per each group. The Inuit did not simply hunt the animals; it was much deeper than that. They existed within their world as a natural component. The Inuit hunted in order to live; they were dependent on nature, animals in particular, for every aspect of their survival. Hunting was their cultural focus. Because of this, a feeling that animal and humans were equals developed. Joseph Idlout made reference to this as well. The Inuit believed that animals, as well as humans, all had souls and that they were all part of one undivided universe. The animals and humans were closely associated. They even believed that humans and animals were interchangeable. They believed that they had to respect every animal’s life because it was possible that the animal’s soul had once been a person’s.

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The members of each small Inuit society, in a material sense, were all treated as equals. The environment in which they lived in limited the possibilities of developing a rich material culture. The only items each person had were from the animals or from nature itself. Because of this, and the lack of technology, each man and women could only carry and have what they could hold on their sleds. The Inuit managed to survive on this just fine and in fact created highly functional hunting tools, nice clothes, traveling equipment, and good cooking gear. However, just like in every other society, not everyone can be equal. As described by Idlout, the elders held much more power than the younger people. They had lived longer and because of this experience had greater wisdom than the others. Idlout also knew that there were certain people in their society that had specific knowledge about the land, animals, or other important information, and because of this these certain people were looked upon as more important.

Joseph Idlout was a great hunter and lived the life of a true Inuit, and because of this he became a symbol of his people (Sears 1990). Things, however, began to change for Idlout and the Inuit. They were not able to remain completely independent, but began to depend on the more “civilized” South in order to live. They needed money in order to buy the necessary equipment and supplies in order to exist. Idlout continued to try to provide the best he could for his family, and became a fox fur trapper and guide. Little did Joseph know, but change for the Inuit was inevitable. Idlout could not imagine the changes that would overwhelm the north, his people, and finally, his own life.

The Inuit society eventually had more and more contact with outsiders, thus changing their whole way of live. Hunting was once the primary characteristic of Iglulingmiut life. Their whole existence centered on securing the food supply required for survival. Almost all of the people’s activities were somehow related to the hunt. Today however, besides the few Inuit who live in “outpost camps”, most reside in settlements. Hunting has remained a large aspect of life, although it no longer dominates all of their activities. The absolute necessity of hunting has vanished because their very survival no longer depends on it. Most members of their society either work now to earn cash, or are on some kind of welfare payments, in order to purchase food imported from the South. Hunting is not completely gone, however. When the Inuit people can gather the necessary supplies in order to hunt, they still enjoy the food that they kill. Hunting has lost its vital position for the Inuit’s, however it still is prominent within their economy and sometimes provides enjoyment and provisions as well.

Today, the Inuit live in a completely different way as they did only a few decades ago. There have been many changes to their society. Hunting technology for instance has changed over the years from stone and bone to iron; from spears and bows and arrows to rifles; from kayaks to canoes; and from dog teams to snow mobiles (Sears 1990). Nothing could have prepared Idlout and his people for such drastic changes as these. Many Inuit were able to change and adapt to these new strange situations, but Idlout was unable to. After moving to Resolute Bay where he hoped he could do better for himself, he was ill-prepared for the reality that he encountered. He was no longer represented as a symbol to his people. He took a job and earned money just like everyone else. Joseph was unprepared for this twist of fate, and didn’t know how to deal with these vast changes. He became a drunkard and a bully. On June 2, 1968, following a night of drinking at the Resolute Bay armed forces base, Joseph Idlout was found dead after driving his snowmobile over a cliff.

Contact with the outside world has drastically changed Inuit life. Most people now live in wood houses and wear modern clothing instead of garments fashioned from animal skins. Snowmobiles and outboards have replaced traditional vehicles, and the population is concentrated in larger settlements near trading posts (Sears 1990). Idlout was once a symbol for the old Inuit way of life, however that has now changed. Also hunting has far less an impact on the current Inuit way of life. However, contrary to popular belief, hunting itself was not now the Inuit’s true identity. “Living in an Inuit community in the 1980s and observing the actual hunting-activities I wondered whether or not the Inuit political leaders were caught up in their own rhetoric. They more or less claimed that Inuit identity depended on hunting, while I saw a fair number of young people who were not involved and seemed to be not interested in hunting (Rasing 1999: 81). The Inuit believe in their cultural identity. Their cultural identity encompasses not just hunting, but their whole way of life, “The Inuit have always based themselves on their identity markers: the land and its use, hunting, fishing and trapping, and the intimate association between humans and animals. These are characteristics of their cultural (and ethnical) identity,” (Rasing 1990: 105).

It is apparent that because of the South the Inuit way of life drastically changed in a relatively short amount of time. However, as sad as this might seem, in reality it also has had many benefits. Yes, a group who had lived for centuries independently in a matter of years was stricken of their natural way of life. Hunting no longer was the key to their survival. As, however, the Canadian government played a bigger and bigger role, “better medical care and facilities, new day-schools and an influx of nurses, doctors, teachers, and civil servants,” were all established throughout the Canadian North to help the Inuit (Rasing 1990: 92). Today, the Inuit have regained more control over their lives. The Canadian government has allowed them to live in what is called Nunavut, the Northwestern territories of Canada. The Inuits’ have retained the capacity to govern them selves. This autonomy provides them identity and self-sufficiency. The drastic changes that affected the Inuit were both powerful and remarkable. After all the transformation, the Inuit world still survives, though not exactly the same, still with a sense of pride, independence, and self worth. They remain a proud people.

References Cited

1. Rasing, Willem C.E. 1999. “Hunting for Identity, Thoughts on The Practice of Hunting and its Significance for Iglulingmiut Identity.” Pp. 79-108 in Arctic Identities, edited by Jarich Oosten and Cornelius Remie. The Netherlands: Research School CNWS.

2. Sears, Barabara. 1990. “Between Two Worlds.” [Video recording] New York: First Run Icarus Films.