Caribou Inuit

ethnic group
group=Caribou Inuit


poptime=3,000
popplace=Nunavut
rels=Christianity, Shamanism
langs=Inuktitut
related=Copper Inuit

Caribou Inuit, Barren-ground Caribou hunters, are bands of inland Inuit who lived west of Hudson Bay in northern Canada's Keewatin Region of the Northwest Territories, now the Kivalliq Region ("Barren Lands") of present-day Nunavut between 61° and 65° N and 90° and 102° W. They were originally named "Caribou Eskimo" by the Danish Fifth Thule Expedition of 1921 - 1924 led by Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen.cite web |url=http://www.everyculture.com/North-America/Caribou-Inuit.html |title=Caribou Inuit |publisher=everyculture.com |accessdate=2007-12-27] cite journal |url=http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic47-2-193.pdf |title=Caribou and Iglulik Inuit Kayaks |first=E. |last=Arima |publisher=ucalgary.ca |journal=Arctic |volume=47 |number=22 |date=June, 1994 |pages=193–195 |accessdate=2007-12-27]

Caribou Inuit are the southernmost subgroup of the "Central Inuit", a group that also includes the Netsilik, the Copper Inuit, the Iglulik, and the Baffinland Inuit, the group designation determined by geography and tradition of snowhouses ("iglu", igloos), fur clothing, and sled dogs.cite web |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=I3dy40EqyCAC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=%22central+inuit%22&source=web&ots=DNHZVrn27N&sig=5DBPQffKWsNLzWaCCi4V2IIiWfE#PPA149,M1 |title=Faces of the North: the ethnographic photography of John Honigmann |first=B.D. |last=Cummins |location=Toronto |publisher=Natural Heritage/Natural History |year=2004 |work=google.com |pages=149 |isbn=1896219799 |accessdate=2007-12-27] cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=7YtnNYBcGAgC&pg=PA136&lpg=PA136&dq=%22caribou+inuit%22&source=web&ots=lT2uGJaop-&sig=rrHjbVlmSJEZEYV_jw65NRTb7ss#PPA136,M1 |last=Issenman |first=B. |year=1997 |title=Sinews of survival: the living legacy of Inuit clothing |location=Vancouver |publisher=UBC Press |format=pdf |pages=136 |isbn=077480596X |accessdate=2007-12-27]

Bands

;AhialmiutAhialmiut relied on caribou year-round. They spent summers on the Qamanirjuaq calving grounds at Qamanirjuaq Lake ("huge lake adjoining a river at both ends") and spent winters following the herd to the north. [cite journal |url=http://www.polarbearalley.com/Assets/pages10-11.pdf |title=History & Culture - Qamanirjuwhat? |publisher=Hudson Bay Post |date=October, 2007 |volume=3 |number=2 |pages=10–11 |accessdate=2008-02-12]

;AkilinirmiutAkilinirmiut were located in the Thelon River area by the Akiliniq Hills ("A-ki", meaning "the other side") to the north of Beverly Lake and also visible above Aberdeen Lake. Some lived northwest of Baker Lake ("Qamani'tuuaq"), along with Qairnirmiut and Hauniqturmiut. Many relocated to Aberdeen Lake because of starvation or education opportunities.cite web |url=http://inuitarteskimoart.com/artists/About-BakerLake.html |title=Baker Lake |first=Darren |last=Keith |publisher=inuitarteskimoart.com |accessdate=2007-12-27] [cite web |url=http://www.nunavutparks.com/parks-special-places/thelon-wildlife-sanctuary/features.html |title=Features |publisher=nunavutparks.com |accessdate=2008-01-01] [cite web |url=http://www.cogema.ca/publications/annual_report_2007/nunavut.html |title=Involving Northern Communities in Project Development |first=William |last=Noah |publisher=cogema.ca |accessdate=2008-01-01] [cite web |url=http://www.bakerlake.org/HTML/3105-Hamlet.htm |title=Hamlet of Baker Lake |publisher=bakerlake.org |accessdate=2008-01-01] [cite web |url=http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm.php?id=story_line&lg=English&fl=0&ex=00000299&sl=6814&pos=1 |title=Tuhaalruuqtut Ancestral Sounds |publisher=virtualmuseum.ca |accessdate=2008-01-01]

;HanningajurmiutHanningajurmiut, or Hanningaruqmiut, or Hanningajulinmiut {"the people of the place that lies across"} lived at Garry Lake, south of the Utkuhiksalingmiut. Many Hanningajurmiut starved in 1958 when the caribou bypassed their traditional hunting grounds, but the 31 who survived were relocated to Baker. Most never returned permanently to Garry Lake. [cite book |url=http://www.ubcpress.ca/search/title_book.asp?BookID=1539 |title=Tammarniit (Mistakes), Inuit Relocation in the Eastern Arctic, 1939-63 |first=F.J. |last=Tester |coauthors=Kulchyski, P. |location=Vancouver |publisher=UBC Press |date=1994-01-01 |isbn=9780774804523 |accessdate=2008-03-09] [cite web |url=http://www.spiritwrestler.com/catalog/index.php?artists_id=98 |title=Hannah Kigusiuq |publisher=spiritwrestler.com |accessdate=2008-03-09] [cite web |url=http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~inuit/UIDP/Historical%20Developments%20in%20Utku%20Phonology.pdf |last=Dyck |first=C.J. |coauthors=Briggs, J.L. |title=Historical developments in Utkuhiksalik phonology |date=2004-05-16 |publisher=utoronto.ca |accessdate=2008-03-09] [cite web |url=http://mailhub.edu.nu.ca/kivalliq/BakerLake.html |title=Baker Lake, Nunavut |publisher=edu.nu.ca |accessdate=2008-03-09]

;HarvaqtuurmiutHarvaqtuurmiut, or Harvaqtormiut, or Ha'vaqtuurmiut ("whirlpools aplenty people") were a northern group located along the lower Kazan River ("Harvaqtuuq"), as well as below Yathkyed Lake ("Hikuligjuaq"), below the Kunwak River, and inland to Beverly Lake and the lower Dubawnt River. By the early 1980s, most lived at Baker Lake.cite web |url=http://jimmymacdonald.com/inuitmap.html |title=Inuit Map of the Canadian Arctic |publisher=jimmymacdonald.com |accessdate=2007-12-27]

"You must know that human beings differ. The Harvaqtormiut know many things we do not know, and we know many things they do not. Therefore you must not compare the Harvaqtormiut with us, for their knowledge is not our knowledge, as our knowledge is not theirs." (Rasmussen, 1930) [cite encyclopedia |url=http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-121647076.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=2&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DHarvaqtormiut%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GFRC_enUS207US208 |title=Write to Speak |first=F. |last=Laugrand |date=2002-05-01 |publisher=Anthropology and Company |work=encyclopedia.com |accessdate=2008-01-01]

;HauniqtuurmiutHauneqtormiut, or Hauniqtuurmiut, or Kangiqliniqmiut, ("dwellers where bones abound") were a smaller band who lived near the coast, south of Qairnirmiuts, around the Wilson River and Ferguson River. By the 1980s, they were absorbed into subgroups at Whale Cove and Rankin Inlet.

;Ihalmiut
Ihalmiut ("people from beyond"), or Ahiarmiut ("the out-of-the-way dwellers") were located at the banks of the Kazan River, Ennadai Lake, Little Dubawnt Lake ("Kamilikuak"), and north of Thlewiaza ("Kugjuaq"; "Big River"). Relocations in the 1950s included to Henik Lake, Whale Cove, and by the 1980s, most were in Eskimo Point.cite book |url=http://worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/45667705?page=frame&url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.loc.gov%252Fcatdir%252Fsamples%252Frandom051%252F00069690.html&title=&linktype=digitalObject&detail= |title=Walking on the land |first=Farley |last=Mowat |location=South Royalton, Vt. |publisher=Steerforth Press |year=2001 |isbn=1586420240 |accessdate=2007-12-24] cite web |url=http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:0tHNIi8aLjQJ:www.taiga.net/projectcaribou/pdf/casestudies/qamanirjuaq_study.PDF+%22caribou+inuit%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us |title=Project Caribou |first=Kirsten |last=Madsen |location=Whitehorse, Yukon Territory |publisher=Yukon Department of Environment |accessdate=2007-12-27] cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OOf6_i100_4C&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=ihalmiut+tyrrell+-wiki&source=web&ots=zoKEwEc9Oc&sig=Ud1jbdrmml5qhHySLhFe6PsQ4Yc#PPA25,M1 |title=No Man's River |first=Farley |last=Mowat |location=New York |publisher=Carroll & Graf Publishers |year=2005 |pages=24 |isbn=0786716924 |accessdate=2007-12-24] cite news |url=http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/nunavut020621/news/features/20621_1.html |title=Remembering Kikkik |date=2002-06-21 |publisher=nunatsiaq.com |accessdate=2007-12-22] cite web |url=http://www.churchillrivercanoe.com/stories/thlewiaza.htm |title=Nu-thel-tin-tu-eh and the Thlewiaza River, The Land of the Caribou Inuit and The Barren Ground Caribou Dene |first=Bill |last=Layman |publisher=churchillrivercanoe.com |accessdate=2007-12-24]

;PaallirmiutPaallirmiut ("people of the willow"), or Padlermiut ("people from the Padlei River region"), or Padleimiut were the most populous band. They were located south of the Hauniqtuurmiut and Harvaqtuurmiut bands. Paallirmiut were split into a coast-visiting (Arviat) subgroup who spent the hunting season on the lower Maguse River, and an interior subgroup who stayed year round in the Yathkyed Lake to Dubawnt Lake area. After Hudson's Bay Company ships discontinued trading the Keewatin coast in 1790, Paallirmiut traveled to Fort Prince of Wales for trade. The Arvia'juaq and Qikiqtaarjuk National Historic Site is the band's historic summer camping site. By the 1980s, most lived in Eskimo Point (Arviat). cite web |url=http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:ERSqbQ1y2dkJ:www.nativeaccess.com/teachers/Harmsound.pdf+Paallirmiut&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=20&gl=us |title=Community Profile |publisher=nativeaccess.com |accessdate=2007-12-27] [cite web |url=http://www.aaanativearts.com/article358.html |title=Clothing, footwear and territory of the Caribou Inuit |publisher=aaanativearts.com |accessdate=2008-01-01]

;QaernermiutQaernermiut ("dwellers of the flat land"), or Qairnirmiut ("bedrock people"), or Kinipetu (Franz Boas, 1901), or Kenepetu, a northern group, were located from the sea coast between Chesterfield Inlet to Rankin Inlet across to their main area around Baker Lake and some even to Beverly Lake. By the early 1980s, most lived at Baker Lake.

;UtkuhiksalingmiutUtkuhiksalingmiut ("people who have cooking pots"), were located in the Chantrey Inlet area around the Back River, near Baker Lake. They made their pots ("utkusik") from soapstone of the area, therefore their name. Their dialect is a variant of Natsilingmiutut, spoken by the Netsilik. [cite web |url=http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm.php?id=story_line&lg=English&fl=0&ex=00000299&sl=6814&pos=1 |title=Tuhaalruuqtut Ancestral Sounds |publisher=virtualmuseum.ca |accessdate=2007-12-29] [cite web |url=http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www2.umoncton.ca/cfdocs/icrml/eng/liens_info.cfm%3Ftype%3D10&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=6&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DUtkuhiksalingmiut%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GFRC_enUS207US208 |title=Canadian Institute for research on linguistic minorities |publisher=google.com |accessdate=2008-01-01]

Origin

Lacking an early written language, Caribou Inuit pre-history is unclear. There are three main theories: [cite web |url=http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:gp7EghgDrEAJ:www.erudit.org/revue/etudinuit/2004/v28/n2/013195ar.pdf+ahiarmiut+%22copper+inuit%22+%22caribou+inuit%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us |title=Caribou, river and ocean: Harvaqtuurmiut landscape organization and orientation |first=Darren |last=Keith |date=2004 |publisher=erudit.org |accessdate=2008-01-15] [cite journal |last=Birket-Smith |first=K. |year=1930 |title=The Question of the Origin of Eskimo Culture; a Rejoinder |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=32 |number=4 |pages=608–624 |doi=10.1525/aa.1930.32.4.02a00030]
#Caribou Inuit are the descendents of an interior Eskimo culture that spread in Arctic North America and Greenland.(Birket-Smith, 1930; Rasmussen, 1930; Czonka, 1995)
#Caribou Inuit are the descendents of Thule people who had migrated from Alaska.(Mathiassen, 1927)
#Caribou Inuit were the 17th century descendents of a migratory subgroup of Copper Inuit from the arctic coast.(Taylor, 1972; Burch, 1978) While this is the most current hypothesis, it is still unproven.(Czonka, 1998)

History

Caribou Inuit ancestors originally went back and forth between the Barrenlands to hunt the Beverly and the Qamanirjuaq ("Kaminuriak") caribou herds during seasonal migrations; and the Hudson Bay ("Tariurjuaq") for whaling and to fish during the winters. The Chipewyan Sayisi Dene were caribou hunters also, but they stayed inland year-round. Because of waning caribou populations during extended periods, including the 18th century, the Dene moved away from the area, and the Caribou Inuit began to live inland year-round harvesting enough caribou to get through winters without reliance on coastal life.cite web |url=http://www.chrs.ca/Rivers/Kazan/Kazan-F_e.htm |title=Kazan River |publisher=chrs.ca |accessdate=2007-12-31]

Regular contact began around 1717 after the establishment of a permanent settlement in Churchill, Manitoba. The contact included access to guns, along with an introduction to trapping and whaling. Christian missionary, Father Alphonse Gasté, made diary notes about peaceful relations between settled Caribou Inuit and migratory Dene that he met along the Kazan River in the late 1800s. Explorer Joseph Tyrrell estimated the "Caribou Eskimo" numbered nearly 2,000 when he led the Geological Survey of Canada's Barren Lands expeditions of 1893 and 1894. Eugene Arima classifies the Hauniqtuurmiut, Ha'vaqtuurmiut, Paallirmiut, and Qairnirmiut as Caribou Inuit "southern, latter" bands: through the end of the 19th century, they were primarily coastal saltwater hunters, but with firearm ammunition from commercial whalers, they were able to live inland year round hunting caribou without augmenting their diet on sea life.(Arima 1975)

Regular trade dates to the early 1900s and missionaries arrived soon thereafter, developing a written language, challenged by a variety of pronunciations and naming rules. In the Arctic spring of 1922, explorer/anthropologist Kaj Birket-Smith and Rasmussen encountered and reported on the lives of Harvaqtuurmiut and Paallirmiut. Some hunting years were better than others as resident caribou and migratory herds grew or declined, but Caribou Inuit populations dwindled through the decades. Starvation was not uncommon. During a bleak period in the 1920s, the Caribou Inuit made their way to Hudson's Bay Company outposts and small, scattered villages on their own. Author/explorer Farley Mowat visited the Ihalimut in the 1940s and 1950s, writing extensively about the Ihalmiut. [cite journal |url=http://www.anthrosource.net/doi/abs/10.1525/aa.2002.104.2.657 |title=Padlei Diary, 19S0. An Account of the Padleimiut Eskimo in the Keewatin District West of Hudson Bay during the Early Months of 1950 as Witnessed |first=Sarah |last=Elder |publisher=anthrosource.net |journal=American Anthropologist |date=June, 2002 |volume=104 |number=2 |pages=657–659 |doi=10.1525/aa.2002.104.2.657 |accessdate=2007-12-27] [cite web |url=http://www.amazon.ca/People-Deer-Farley-Mowat/dp/0770420796 |title=People of the Deer |publisher=amazon.ca |accessdate=2007-12-24]

Ethnography

Caribou Inuit were nomadic and summers were time of relocation to reach different game and to trade. In addition to hunting, they fished in local lakes and rivers ("kuuk"). Caribou Inuit northern bands from as far away as Dubawnt River travelled on trading trips to Churchill via Thlewiaza River for extra supplies. The nomadic nature made the people and their dogs into strong walkers and sleders who carried loads of implements, bedding, and tents. Kayaks portaged people and baggage in rivers and lakes.

Kayaks were also used for hunting at water crossings during annual migration. Wounded animals were tied together, brought ashore, and killed there to avoid the struggle of dragging dead animals. Every part of the caribou was important. The antlers were used for tools, such as the "ulu" ("knife") and goggles to prevent snow blindness. The hides were used for footware and clothing, including the "anorak" and "amauti", using caribou sinew to piece the articles together, and worn in many layers. Mittens were lined with fur, down, and moss. While spring-gathered caribou skins were thin, sleek, and handsome, summer-gathered caribou skins were stronger and warmer. Hides were used also for tents, tools, and containers.cite web |url=http://www.invitationproject.ca/cgi-win/quilt.exe?LISTING=1155 |title=Kivalliq (Inuit) |publisher=invitationproject.ca |accessdate=2007-12-29] [cite web |url=http://www.athropolis.com/arctic-facts/fact-clothing-caribou.htm |title=Want to Stay Warm? Try a Caribou Suit |publisher=athropolis.com |accessdate=2007-12-29]

Caribou Inuit lived within a patrilocal social unit. The male elder, the "ihumataq" ("group leader"), was the centralized authority. There was no other form of authority within subgroups or within the Caribou Inuit in general. Like other Inuit, Caribou Inuit practiced an animist religion, including beliefs that everything had a soul or energy with a disposition or personality. The protector was Pinga, a female figure, the object of taboos, who brings the dead to Adlivun. The supreme force was "Hila" ("air"), a male figure and the source of misfortune. Christian missionaries established posts in the Barren Lands between 1910 and 1930, converting ("siqqitiq") most Inuit from animists to Christians, though some, nonetheless, maintain remnants of their traditional shamanistic beliefs. [cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=5eEASHGLg3MC&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&dq=%22caribou+inuit%22+language&source=web&ots=EZtt6FM77m&sig=858thOqE0bAG_NEIkoKe7pz0V30 |title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers |first=R.B. |last=Lee |coauthors=Daly, R.H. |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1999 |pages=59 |isbn=052157109X |accessdate=2007-12-27]

Caribou Inuit are Inuktitut speakers. Inuktitut has six dialects, of which Caribou Inuit speak the "Kivalliq" dialect, and that is further divided into the subdialects, Ahiarmiut, Hauniqturmiut, Paallirmiut, and Qairnirmiut. The Utkuhiksalingmiut's dialect, Utkuhiksalingmiutut, is similar to but distinct from their neighbors' Nattilingmiutut. Like other central Canadian Arctic people, Caribou Inuit participated in "nipaquhiit" ("games done with sounds or with noises"). The Caribou Inuit genre lacked typical "katajjaq" ("throat sounds") but added narration missing amongst other Inuit groups.cite web |url=http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:Cv5G05esIHYJ:www.uarctic.org/mod3_7DwHs.pdf.file+arima+caribou&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us |title=Inuit or Eskimo |first=Michel |last=Bouchard |publisher=University of the Arctic |accessdate=2007-12-27] [cite web |url=http://dimmuborghild.blogspot.com/2007/01/baby-its-cold-outside-igloo.html |title=Baby it's cold outside the igloo |publisher=blogspot.com |accessdate=2007-12-27] [cite web |url=http://www.languagegeek.com/inu/inuktitut.html |title=Start of 8.0 Inuktitut dialects |publisher=languagegeek.com |accessdate=2007-12-29]

Modern-day adaptation

;Re-settlementThere are several books written on the hardships and the 1950s federal government re-settlement of Caribou Inuit. With re-settlement to coastal communities, the nomadic "nuunamiut" ("people of the land") ways ended and Caribou Inuit joined "tareumiut" ("people of the sea"), the maritime Inuit being a more stable group. Even with federal assistance, adapting to displacement in fewer and larger towns proved difficult, resulting in high unemployment, domestic violence, sexual abuse, substance addiction, suicide, parental neglect, and lack of motivation.

;LanguageWith the acquisition of English, native language loss is the primary threat to their cultural survival, while neither language is being mastered.cite web |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=bw12Q8y3cuUC&pg=PA116&lpg=PA116&dq=arima+caribou&source=web&ots=SdjH6MZb1n&sig=NL7G4pxUCh7qCr9ZGyvJs7dNmYE |title=Human Adaptability: An Introduction to Ecological Anthropology |first=E.F. |last=Moran |year=2002 |location=Boulder, Colo. |publisher=Westview Press |format=pdf |pages=116 |isbn=081331254X |accessdate=2007-12-27]

;ArtOn a positive note, artisan skills evolved and Caribou Inuit, such as Jessie Oonark, are notable for their figurines of animal life. Another Inuit art medium, also considered a game, and also associated with their religious beliefs, involves string figures ("ajaraaq"/"ajaqaat" [plural] ). [cite web |url=http://website.lineone.net/~m.p/sf/Archive-MDEN.html |title=Museums and other institutions with string figure artefacts |first=Martin |last=Probert |publisher=lineone.net |accessdate=2008-01-01] [cite web |url=http://www.wag.mb.ca/files/Inuit%20games%20pdf.pdf |title=The Winnipeg Art Gallery |first=Darlene Coward |last=Wight |publisher=wag.mb.ca |accessdate=2008-01-06]

;PopulationAbout 3,000 Caribou Inuit exist today, located in Chesterfield Inlet, Rankin Inlet, Whale Cove, Eskimo Point, and Baker Lake.

References

*

Further reading

* Buikstra JE. 1976. "The Caribou Eskimo: General and Specific Disease". "American Journal of Physical Anthropology". 45, no. 3: 351-67.
* Gordon, Bryan H. C. "People of sunlight, people of starlight Barrenland archaeology in the Northwest Territories of Canada". Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1996. ISBN 0660159635
* Oakes, Jill E. "Copper and Caribou Inuit Skin Clothing Production". Mercury series. Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1991. ISBN 0660129094
* Rasmussen, Knud. "Iglulik and Caribou Eskimo Texts". New York: AMS Press, 1976. ISBN 0404583008
* Steenhoven, Geert van den, and Geert van den Steenhoven. "Research Report on Caribou Eskimo Law". The Hague: G. van den Steenhoven, 1957.
* Thule Ekspedition, and Kaj Birket-Smith. "The Caribou Eskimos Material and Social Life and Their Cultural Position". Washington, D.C.: Brookhaven Press, 1978.

External links

* Photos
** [http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic47-2-193.pdf man carrying a Caribou Inuit kayak and paddle, 1904]
** [http://siris-sihistory.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!11506!0#focus Padlermiut old woman, 1924] - Smithsonian Institution Archives
** [http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/search_results.php?Lang=1&culture=00668 Hauneqtormiut parkas and a figurine] - McCord Museum
** [http://www.cthistoryonline.org/cdm-cho/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/cho&CISOPTR=16328&CISOBOX=1&REC=5 Qaernermiut elderly woman on board a schooner, Hudson Bay, 1906]
** [http://mobius.mysticseaport.org/detail.php?type=related&kv=169279&t=objects Qaernermiut woman and son, Hudson Bay, ca. 1897-1912]
* [http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~inuit/UIDP/index.html Utkuhiksalingmiut Inuktitut Dictionary Project]