Caribou Inuit ( iu, Kivallirmiut/ᑭᕙᓪᓕᕐᒥᐅᑦ),
barren-ground caribou
The barren-ground caribou (''Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus''; but subject to a recent taxonomic revision. See Reindeer: Taxomony.) is a subspecies of the reindeer (or the caribou in North America) that is found in the Canadian territories of ...
hunters, are
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, ...
who live west of
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...
in
Kivalliq Region
The Kivalliq Region (; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑭᕙᓪᓕᖅ ) is an administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the portion of the mainland to the west of Hudson Bay together with Southampton Island and Coats Island. The regional c ...
,
Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' ...
, between 61° and 65° N and 90° and 102° W in
Northern Canada
Northern Canada, colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories and ...
. They were originally named "Caribou Eskimo" by the
Danish Fifth Thule Expedition of 19211924 led by
Knud Rasmussen
Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic–Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studie ...
.
Caribou Inuit are the southernmost subgroup of the
Central Inuit Central Inuit are the Inuit of Northern Canada, their designation determined by geography and their tradition of snowhouses ("igloos"), fur clothing, and sled dogs. They are differentiated from Alaska's Iñupiat, Greenland's Kalaallit, and Russian ...
.
Groups
;Ahialmiut
Ahialmiut 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.
;Akilinirmiut
Akilinirmiut 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.
;Hanningajurmiut
Hanningajurmiut, or Hanningaruqmiut, or Hanningajulinmiut 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.
;Harvaqtuurmiut
Harvaqtuurmiut were a northern group located in the region of Kazan River, Yathkyed Lake,
Kunwak River,
Beverly Lake, and Dubawnt River. By the early 1980s, most lived at
Baker Lake.
;Hauniqtuurmiut
Hauneqtormiut, 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
Rankin Inlet ( iu, Kangiqliniq; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑲᖏᕿᓂᖅ or ''Kangirliniq'', ᑲᖏᖅᖠᓂᖅ, or ''Kangir&iniq'' meaning ''deep bay/inlet'') is an Inuit hamlet on Kudlulik Peninsula in Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest hamlet an ...
.
;Ahiarmiut
Ahiarmiut ("people from beyond" or "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 Whale Cove can refer to:
* Whale Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Whale Cove, Nunavut
* Whale Cove (Oregon), south of Depoe Bay, Oregon
{{geodis ...
, and by the 1980s, most were in
Eskimo Point.
;Paallirmiut
Paallirmiut ("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
The Prince of Wales Fort is a historic bastion fort on Hudson Bay across the Churchill River from Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.
History
The European history of this area starts with Henry Hudson sailing into Hudson Bay in 1610. The area was re ...
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).
;Qaernermiut
Qaernermiut
Kivallirmiut, also called the Caribou Inuit ( iu, Kivallirmiut/ᑭᕙᓪᓕᕐᒥᐅᑦ), barren-ground caribou hunters, are Inuit who live west of Hudson Bay in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, between 61° and 65° N and 90° and 102° W in Northe ...
("dwellers of the flat land"), or Qairnirmiut ("bedrock people"), or Kinipetu (
Franz Boas
Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...
, 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.
;Utkuhiksalingmiut
Utkuhiksalingmiut ("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
Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the ...
of the area, therefore their name. Their dialect is a variant of Natsilingmiutut, spoken by the
Netsilik.
Origin
Lacking an early written language, Caribou Inuit pre-history is unclear. There are three main theories:
#Caribou Inuit are the descendants of an interior Eskimo culture that spread in Arctic
North America and
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is ...
. (Birket-Smith, 1930; Rasmussen, 1930; Czonka, 1995)
#Caribou Inuit are the descendants of
Thule people
The Thule (, , ) or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by the year 1000 and expanded eastward across northern Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people o ...
who had migrated from Alaska. (Mathiassen, 1927)
#Caribou Inuit were the 17th century descendants 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
Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...
(''Tariurjuaq'') for whaling and to fish during the winters. The
Chipewyan
The Chipewyan ( , also called ''Denésoliné'' or ''Dënesųłı̨né'' or ''Dënë Sųłınë́'', meaning "the original/real people") are a Dene Indigenous Canadian people of the Athabaskan language family, whose ancestors are identified ...
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.
Regular contact between the Caribou Inuit and European explorers and missionaries 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. Father Alphonse Gasté, a Christian missionary, made diary notes about peaceful relations between settled Caribou Inuit and migratory Dene that he met along the Kazan River in the late 19th century. Explorer
Joseph Tyrrell estimated the "Caribou Eskimo" numbered nearly 2,000 when he led the
Geological Survey of Canada
The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the e ...
'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 20th century 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, some of the Caribou Inuit made their way to
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trade, fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake b ...
outposts and small, scattered villages on their own. In the early 1950s the Canadian media reported the
starvation deaths of 60 Caribou Inuit.
The government was slow to act but in 1959 moved the surviving 60, of around the 120 that were alive in 1950, to settlements such as Baker Lake and Eskimo Point.
This set off an Arctic settlement push by the Canadian government where those First Nations living in the North were encouraged to abandon their traditional way of life and settle in villages and outposts of the Canadian North.
Author/explorer
Farley Mowat
Farley McGill Mowat, (May 12, 1921 – May 6, 2014) was a Canadian writer and environmentalist. His works were translated into 52 languages, and he sold more than 17 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Can ...
visited the Ihalmiut in the 1940s and 1950s, writing extensively about the Ihalmiut.
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 (). 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
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relativ ...
into strong walkers and sledders who carried loads of implements, bedding, and tents. Kayaks
portage
Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
d 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 ("knife") and
goggles
Goggles, or safety glasses, are forms of protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect the area surrounding the eye in order to prevent particulates, water or chemicals from striking the eyes. They are used in chemistry laboratories and ...
to prevent
snow blindness
Photokeratitis or ultraviolet keratitis is a painful eye condition caused by exposure of insufficiently protected eyes to the ultraviolet (UV) rays from either natural (e.g. intense sunlight) or artificial (e.g. the electric arc during weldin ...
. The hides were used for footwear and clothing, including the and , using caribou
sinew
A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of fibrous connective tissue, dense fibrous connective tissue that connects skeletal muscle, muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skele ...
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.
Caribou Inuit lived within a patrilocal
social unit. The male elder, the ("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
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, hu ...
religion, including beliefs that everything had a soul or energy with a disposition or personality. The protector was , a female figure, the object of taboos, who brings the dead to . The supreme force was ("air"), a male figure and the source of misfortune. Christian missionaries established posts in the Barren Lands between 1910 and 1930, converting () most Inuit from animists to Christians, though some, nonetheless, maintain remnants of their traditional
shamanistic
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...
beliefs.
Caribou Inuit are
Inuktitut
Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...
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 neighbours' Nattilingmiutut. Like other central Canadian Arctic people, Caribou Inuit participated in ("games done with sounds or with noises"). The Caribou Inuit genre lacked typical ("throat sounds") but added narration missing amongst other Inuit groups.
Modern-day adaptation
;Re-settlement
There 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 ("people of the land") ways ended and Caribou Inuit joined ("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, and parental neglect.
;Language
With the acquisition of English, native language loss is the primary threat to their cultural survival, while neither language is being mastered.
;Art
Artisan skills evolved and Caribou Inuit, such as
Jessie Oonark, are notable for their figurines of animal life. Another
Inuit art
Inuit art, also known as Eskimo art, refers to artwork produced by Inuit, that is, the people of the Arctic previously known as Eskimos, a term that is now often considered offensive. Historically, their preferred medium was walrus ivory, but sin ...
medium associated with religious beliefs, also considered a game, involves
string figures (/
lural.
;Population
About 3,000 Caribou Inuit exist today, located in
Chesterfield Inlet,
Rankin Inlet
Rankin Inlet ( iu, Kangiqliniq; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑲᖏᕿᓂᖅ or ''Kangirliniq'', ᑲᖏᖅᖠᓂᖅ, or ''Kangir&iniq'' meaning ''deep bay/inlet'') is an Inuit hamlet on Kudlulik Peninsula in Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest hamlet an ...
,
Whale Cove Whale Cove can refer to:
* Whale Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Whale Cove, Nunavut
* Whale Cove (Oregon), south of Depoe Bay, Oregon
{{geodis ...
,
Arviat
Arviat (, syllabics: ᐊᕐᕕᐊᑦ; formerly called Eskimo Point until 1 June 1989) is a predominantly Inuit hamlet located on the western shore of Hudson Bay in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut, Canada. Arviat ("place of the bowhead whale") is ...
, and
Baker Lake.
Bibliography
Notes
References
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- Total pages: 510
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
* Photos
*
man carrying a Caribou Inuit kayak and paddle, 1894*
Padlermiut old woman, 1924 Smithsonian Institution Archives
*
Hauneqtormiut parkas and a figurine McCord Museum
*
Qaernermiut elderly woman on board a schooner, Hudson Bay, 1906*
Qaernermiut woman and son, Hudson Bay, ca. 1897-1912
{{Authority control