Caribou Inuit
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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 Nu ...
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 ce ...
,
Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut 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 Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada#Territories, territor ...
. They were originally named "Caribou Eskimo" by the
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
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 Studies ...
. Caribou Inuit are the southernmost subgroup of the Central Inuit.


Groups

;Ahialmiut Ahialmiut relied on caribou year-round. They spent summers on the Qamanirjuaq calving grounds at
Qamanirjuaq Lake Qamanirjuaq Lake formerly Kaminuriak Lake, pronunciation: ''ka-min-YOO-ree-ak''; meaning: "huge lake adjoining a river at both ends", is a lake in the Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is the first of several named lakes on the eastward flow of ...
("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 The Thelon River ('' iu, Akilinik'', "on the other side") stretches across northern Canada. Its source is Whitefish Lake in the Northwest Territories, and it flows east to Baker Lake in Nunavut. The Thelon ultimately drains into Hudson Bay at C ...
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 Garry Lake (variant: Garry Lakes; Inuktitut: , meaning "sideways", or "crooked") is a lake in sub-Arctic Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. As a portion of the Back River waterway, Garry Lake originates directly east of Lake Pelly and drains to th ...
, 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 Harvaqtuurmiut (alternate: Harvaqtormiut, or Ha'vaqtuurmiut; translation: "whirlpools aplenty people") were a Caribou Inuit society in Nunavut, Canada. Predominantly, their inland existence was along the lower Kazan River section, by Thirty Mil ...
were a northern group located in the region of Kazan River, Yathkyed Lake,
Kunwak River The Kunwak River is a river of Nunavut, Canada. It flows northeast out of Tulemalu Lake and enters Tebesjuak Lake, Mallery Lake and Princess Mary Lake before turning southeast and flowing into Thirty Mile Lake on the Kazan River. Historically ...
, 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 a ...
. ;Ahiarmiut
Ahiarmiut The Ahiarmiut ᐃᓴᓪᒥᐅᑦ or Ihalmiut ("People from Beyond") or ("the Out-of-the-Way Dwellers") are a group of inland Inuit who lived along the banks of the Kazan River, Ennadai Lake, and Little Dubawnt Lake (renamed ''Kamilikuak''), as ...
("people from beyond" or "the out-of-the-way dwellers") were located at the banks of the
Kazan River The Kazan River (Inuktitut ''Harvaqtuuq'', Inuktitut syllabics ᓴᕐᕙᖅᑑᖅ; meaning "strong rapids", "the big drift" or "place of much fast flowing water"), is a Canadian Heritage River located in Nunavut, Canada. The Dene name for the riv ...
,
Ennadai Lake Ennadai Lake is a lake in the Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is long, and wide. It is drained to the north by the Kazan River. A section of the Kazan River from the outlet of Ennadai Lake to Baker Lake, was designated as a part of the Ca ...
, Little
Dubawnt Lake Dubawnt Lake is a lake in the Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is in size and has several islands. It is about north of the Four Corners, about west of Hudson Bay and about south of the Arctic Circle. To the northwest is the Thelon Wildlife ...
(''Kamilikuak''), and north of Thlewiaza (''Kugjuaq''; "Big River"). Relocations in the 1950s included to
Henik Lake Henik Lake is located in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut, Canada. The lake is made up of two lakes, North Henik Lake and South Henik Lake with a narrows separating them. Of the two, North Henik Lake is the smaller with an area of , while South Hen ...
, Whale Cove, and by the 1980s, most were in Eskimo Point. ;Paallirmiut
Paallirmiut 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 Northern Canada. They were originally na ...
("people of the willow"), or Padlermiut ("people from the
Padlei Padlei is a former community in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located on the mainland on the north shore of Kinga (Kingarvalik) Lake at the juncture of the Maguse River. Whale Cove is to the east, while the Henik Lakes are to th ...
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 The Arvia'juaq and Qikiqtaarjuk National Historic Site contains two areas: ''Arvia'Juaq'' and ''Qikiqtaaruk''. Arvia'juaq (Sentry Island ), an island in Hudson Bay, is located close to Arviat, Nunavut. It is a National Historic Site of Canada an ...
is the band's historic summer camping site. By the 1980s, most lived in Eskimo Point (Arviat). ;Qaernermiut Qaernermiut ("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 Chesterfield Inlet (Inuit: ''Igluligaarjuk'')Issenman, Betty. ''Sinews of Survival: The living legacy of Inuit clothing''. UBC Press, 1997. pp252-254 is an inlet in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is an arm of northwestern Hudson Bay, and the ...
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 The Utkuhiksalingmiut ''Ukukhalingmiut'', ''Utkukhalingmiut'' —the people of the place where there is soapstone—is one of 48 groups of Inuit in what is now Nunavut, Canada. Their traditional land was around Chantrey Inlet (''Tariunnuaq'') ar ...
("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 zo ...
of the area, therefore their name. Their dialect is a variant of Natsilingmiutut, spoken by the
Netsilik The Netsilik (Netsilingmiut) are Inuit who live predominantly in Kugaaruk and Gjoa Haven of the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut and to a smaller extent in Taloyoak and the north Qikiqtaaluk Region, in Canada. They were, in the early 20th century, a ...
.


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 North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
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 t ...
. (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 ...
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 The Sayisi Dene ('People under the Sun'http://skfn.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Sayisi-Dene-First-Nation.pdf or 'People of the East', chp, ᓴᔨᓯ ᑌᓀ, Sayisi Dene) are Chipewyan peoples, a Dene group, living in northern Manitoba. They are ...
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 Churchill is a town in northern Manitoba, Canada, on the west shore of Hudson Bay, roughly from the Manitoba–Nunavut border. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname ...
. 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 Joseph Burr Tyrrell, FRSC (November 1, 1858 – August 26, 1957) was a Canadian geologist, cartographer, and mining consultant. He discovered dinosaur (''Albertosaurus sarcophagus'') bones in Alberta's Badlands and coal around Drumheller in 188 ...
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 en ...
'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 trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
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 relative. Do ...
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 Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
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 welding) ...
. 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 dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...
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 term "level of analysis" is used in the social sciences to point to the location, size, or scale of a research target. "Level of analysis" is distinct from the term "unit of observation" in that the former refers to a more or less integrated s ...
. 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, Soul, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct Spirituality, spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—Animal, animals, Plant, plants, Ro ...
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 through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...
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 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 ...
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 Jessie Oonark, ( ᔨᐊᓯ ᐅᓈᖅ; 2 March 1906 – 7 March 1985) was a prolific and influential Inuit artist of the Utkuhiksalik, Utkuhihalingmiut ''Utkuhiksalingmiut'' whose wall hangings, prints and drawings are in major collections includ ...
, 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 s ...
medium associated with religious beliefs, also considered a game, involves
string figure A string figure is a design formed by manipulating string on, around, and using one's fingers or sometimes between the fingers of multiple people. String figures may also involve the use of the mouth, wrist, and feet. They may consist of sing ...
s (/ lural. ;Population About 3,000 Caribou Inuit exist today, located in
Chesterfield Inlet Chesterfield Inlet (Inuit: ''Igluligaarjuk'')Issenman, Betty. ''Sinews of Survival: The living legacy of Inuit clothing''. UBC Press, 1997. pp252-254 is an inlet in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is an arm of northwestern Hudson Bay, and the ...
,
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 a ...
, Whale Cove,
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 * * - 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


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