Abstracts
Abstract
The Qikiqtani Truth Commission was created by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association to examine events affecting Qikiqtanimiut between 1950 and 1980. Paramount among these was the fate of Inuit sled dogs. Dogs, unlike the snowmobiles that have replaced them, had no exchange value in a market economy. They enabled existential relations dependent upon traditional and personal skills rooted in Inuit culture and personality. It is understandable that their fate was identified by elders as an important focus of the Commission. The loss of dogs was both real and symbolic of cultural transformations that concern Inuit elders. As Inuit relocated to settlements, sled dogs became a liability for the Arctic administration. The Dog Ordinance of the Northwest Territories, intended to protect people from attacks, was at the same time a tool in the totalising agenda of a Canadian State committed to assimilating Inuit to Canadian norms, values, assumptions, rule of law, and settlement living. As Inuit moved to town in the 1950s and 1960s, the Dog Ordinance of the Northwest Territories was used to redefine dogs—previously seen as essential to Inuit lifestyles, to keeping Inuit out of town, away from welfare and living independently—as liabilities and commodities. Their replacement by snowmobiles introduced Inuit to new commodity relations. As a commodity essential to hunting, snowmobiles pose a serious challenge to Inuit reciprocity and ningiqtuq (sharing) relations and InuitQaujimajatuqangit (traditional knowledge).
Résumé
La Qikiqtani Truth Commission a été créée par la Qikiqtani Inuit Association pour examiner les événements qui affectèrent les Qikiqtanimiut entre 1950 et 1980. L’un des plus importants de ces événements fut le sort des chiens de traîneau inuit. Les chiens, à la différence des motoneiges qui les ont remplacés, n’avaient aucune valeur d’échange dans une économie de marché. Ils permettaient des relations existentielles selon les compétences traditionnelles et personnelles enracinées dans la culture inuit et la personnalité des individus. Il est compréhensible que leur sort ait été identifié par les aînés comme un axe important de la Commission. La perte des chiens était à la fois réelle et symbolique des transformations culturelles affectant les aînés inuit. Tout comme les Inuit relocalisés dans des communautés, les chiens de traîneau sont devenus une responsabilité de l’administration de l’Arctique. L’ordonnance concernant les chiens des Territoires du Nord-Ouest, destinée à protéger les gens de leurs attaques, représentait en même temps un outil dans le programme de l’État canadien d’assimiler les Inuit aux normes, valeurs, suppositions, prééminence du droit et vie sédentaire canadiens. Comme les Inuit se sont sédentarisés dans les années 1950 et 1960, l’ordonnance a été utilisée pour redéfinir les chiens comme des garanties et des marchandises alors qu’autrefois ils étaient considérés comme essentiels au mode de vie des Inuit, les maintenant hors des communautés, loin des allocations gouvernementales et leur permettant de vivre de façon indépendante. Leur remplacement par des motoneiges a fait entrer les Inuit dans de nouvelles relations marchandes. En tant que produit de base essentiel à la chasse, la motoneige constitue un énorme défi à la réciprocité inuit et aux relations de ningiqtuq (partage) et aux Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (savoirs traditionnels).
Appendices
Archival sources
- Note: LAC = Library and Archives of Canada
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