Pitquhivut Ilihaqtavut (“Learning about Our Culture”): A Collaborative Approach to Archaeology and Traditional Knowledge in Inuit Nunangat

Friesen, Max; Angulalik, Emily; Crockatt, Kim; Hakongak Gross, Pamela; Angulalik, Gwen

doi:https://doi.org/10.7202/1106908ar

Inuit Nunangat (the Canadian Arctic) has a long and complex history, and over the past century there have been many archaeological projects across its huge territory. This archaeology has covered every period, from the earliest ancestors of the Tuniit people who were here 5,000 years ago to camps where Inuit lived within living memory. These different projects have been connected to Inuit communities in various ways, from not at all to cases involving deep and meaningful collaborations.

In this paper, we discuss our collaborative project, which is unusual because it was started by a community heritage organization run by Elders: the Pitquhirnikkut Ilihautiniq / Kitikmeot Heritage Society (PI/KHS) of Cambridge Bay, in western Nunavut. The PI/KHS wanted to see how archaeology could fit with their ongoing activities, which were mainly centered on recording Elders’ knowledge. It has developed into a long-running partnership that includes many different projects and is still going strong today (Figure 1).

Figure 1

**Map of the Cambridge Bay region, showing areas where we have worked collaboratively**

History of Our Collaboration

Founded in 1996, the PI/KHS is a highly active Elder-run Inuit cultural organization whose activities include collecting and archiving traditional knowledge and place names, operating the northernmost museum in Canada, organizing programs on the land that bring together Elders and youth, designing school programs, and coordinating a range of research initiatives. It is particularly involved with Inuinnait (Inuit of western Nunavut) and the Inuinnaqtun language.

Early on, the PI/KHS was interested in how archaeology might relate to their other activities. In their first year in 1996, they worked with archaeologist Andrew Stewart in connection with oral history work at Uvayuq, a prominent hill north of Cambridge Bay. Over the next few years, they continued to consider how collaborative work with archaeologists might benefit their activities, and decided there were at least six reasons why a new partnership would be worthwhile:

Archaeology could contribute to the deep interest of the PI/KHS in the long-term history of the Inuinnait region and how it fits with the recent history they had been recording.
This partnership could involve joint traditional knowledge/ archaeology projects, which in turn could expand the PI/KHS’s exploration of traditional knowledge and link it directly to heritage sites on the land.
Archaeology is a way to engage local students with heritage to draw connections with Inuit history on the land and learn how researchers conduct work in Nunavut.
Such a partnership could potentially lead to collaborations in obtaining funding and organizing complex projects.
Archaeology could expand the range of PI/KHS activities by providing content for its programs, museum exhibits, and website.
The PI/KHS wished to contribute to important scientific knowledge and thought this could best be accomplished by bringing together archaeology and traditional knowledge.

In 1999, the original volunteer President of the PI/KHS, Kim Crockatt, invited Max Friesen of the University of Toronto (UofT) up to Cambridge Bay for an initial meeting to discuss a possible collaborative research plan. Its main purpose was to see if there was a good fit in terms of personalities and visions for the future. Kim, Max, and several Elders travelled by helicopter to an important heritage landscape called Iqaluktuuq to talk about the history of the area, and more generally to discuss how the integration of archaeology and community heritage goals could work (Figure 2). Based on that meeting, both groups committed to getting a long-term project going. After acquiring funding, they organized their first full field season in 2000, and the project continued almost every year up to 2010. At that point, as the archaeology and oral history at Iqaluktuuq appeared to have reached a logical conclusion, Max developed a separate project to the west in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. However, contact and cooperation was maintained between the PI/KHS and the UofT during this period.

Figure 2

**Our first meeting at Iqaluktuuq in 1999**

In 2016, Pamela Hakongak Gross took over as Executive Director of the PI/KHS. Pamela had been a student participant in the 2010 field season of this collaborative project (Figure 3), and one of her priorities for the PI/KHS was to make archaeology a bigger part of their activities again. In 2017, Pamela and Max met in Ottawa and enthusiastically decided to renew the partnership. Fieldwork started back up in 2018 with two field seasons in Bathurst Inlet, combining the recording of oral histories and place names with archaeological work.

Figure 3

**Pamela Hakongak Gross excavating at Iqaluktuuq in 2010**

In 2021, Emily Angulalik became the new Executive Director of the PI/KHS. She has been a part of the PI/KHS since its first year in 1996, and had been a researcher at several of the collaborative traditional knowledge / archaeology camps at Iqaluktuuq and other locations over the years (Figure 4). Emily is currently developing a new set of activities and priorities for the PI/KHS, which will continue to include archaeology. The top priority at the moment is to continue expanding programs related to the Inuinnaqtun language, and in particular to find ways to help “silent speakers”—those who know the language but cannot always speak it fluently—to use it more. 2021 also marked the 25th Anniversary of the PI/KHS, involving a social media campaign that included a timeline with the “Top 10 Archaeological Discoveries” on the PI/KHS website (Figure 5).

Figure 4

**Elders’ visit to Iqaluktuuq in 2003**

Figure 5

**A screen shot from the PI/KHS website showing part of our “Top 10 Archaeological Discoveries” page (https://www.kitikmeotheritage.ca/top10discoveries)**

How Our Project Works

We believe our project is truly collaborative because it is not only driven by shared decision-making at all stages of the research but is also intended to maximize the benefits for both the PI/KHS and the UofT. Planning for collaborative activities begins with the PI/KHS, who develop their research priorities in discussions with Elders. Once this outline of priorities is established, Max is encouraged to explore issues and activities that are also significant from an “academic” perspective. Thus, for example, for our long-term project at Iqaluktuuq, the PI/KHS defined the area to be investigated, and prioritized the recording of oral histories on site and the meaningful involvement of Inuinnait youth for the remainder of the project. Most of the field seasons began with a 5-day traditional knowledge camp, where Elders recounted regional histories, followed by visits to heritage sites to discuss and interpret them with the participating archaeologists and youth (Figure 6). However, Max was also encouraged to study the most significant and interesting aspects of the sites from an archaeological viewpoint. The rationale for this is that the PI/KHS wants to be involved in better understanding the full archaeological history of the area, which can then be used to develop programs and communications.

Figure 6

**Drumming and singing traditional songs at Iqaluktuuq**

Figure 7

**Discussing early stone structures at Huluraq**

Over the years, most of our work has taken place at Iqaluktuuq, where we had multiple Elders’ Traditional Knowledge camps as well as extensive archaeological excavations. However, we also visited a number of other areas, usually because of a desire by groups of Elders to visit places of significance from their younger years and to record histories and place names while there. Excursions have included a one-day trip to the important fishing river of Halukvik on the west side of Wellington Bay, a 5-day camp at Huluraq at the east end of Ferguson Lake (Figure 7), and a visit to Tikiraaryuk, which had been the Fall Sewing Camp for Iqaluktuurmiut (people of Iqaluktuuq) in the early 20th century. These trips yielded many unexpected insights into Inuinnait history in the region (see Figure 1 for locations). As just one example, the following is the story of how the site of Huluraq got its name. This story was told by Matthew Nakashook, who was interviewed by Emily Angulalik and Max Friesen in July of 2007 at Huluraq (translated from Inuinnaqtun):

This is where Huluraq may have passed away, that is why this place bears its name: Huluraq. This is an ancient story of Huluraq, this is what Pannaktannuaq used to tell the story of Huluraq. He had two wives at that time, this is where he used to live. He was almost killed by men, he was approached by many men that wanted to kill him, the reason being that the men wanted to have his wives. The two women ran up the hill to hide because they didn’t want to watch their husband being killed by these men, they ran up to a place called Nahiqhurvik… Huluraq escaped this encounter with stab wounds from the bow and arrows; he escaped to a place called Uqilittiivik. He was almost killed but escaped to that place beyond Uvajuq to heal his wounds.

In terms of training and experience, the project is designed to benefit Northern student trainees and other youth, who gain experience in field archaeology, Inuit history on the land, and oral history research, and also Southern graduate students, who gain experience working on community-based projects and who, in many cases, collect data for their own research. A large part of the benefit to students has come from their working alongside one another. Northern and Southern students learn about each other’s worlds and often develop real and lasting friendships. In fact, the project has even led to a romance and eventually a marriage between a Southern undergraduate and a Northern student!

Other aspects of the research are also integrated. For example, archaeological specimens are transported to Toronto for analysis (Figure 8) prior to their eventual storage with Nunavut collections currently located in the Canadian Museum of Nature building in Gatineau. On the other hand, all products of the oral history research are controlled and stored by the PI/KHS in Cambridge Bay. Most interviews with Elders are conducted by PI/KHS researchers, though Max often takes part. These interviews have led to several extremely important insights which have guided the interpretation of archaeological sites. For example, the Iqaluktuuq area is the location of dozens of a very small simple type of harpoon head that archaeologists have been unable to understand. Archaeologist William Taylor, who worked at Iqaluktuuq in the 1960s, was unsure if they had been used to hunt caribou or to fish for Arctic char. In an interview at Iqaluktuuq, Elder Frank Analok, who had spent his childhood there, was absolutely certain that these were fishing harpoons similar to ones used by Inuit to fish for Arctic char; this has led to important insights into how 2,000-year-old sites along the riverbank were used.

Figure 8

**Elders discussing artifacts from Iqaluktuuq at the University of Toronto Arctic Archaeology Lab**

On an administrative level, both partners apply for funding and permits, and each is responsible for managing its own budgets. It is safe to say that the scale of the activities of each partner would not be possible without the collaboration of the other. In addition, both partners provide the complementary expertise needed to efficiently run the project. The PI/KHS provides important regional knowledge about heritage site locations, environmental factors, local transportation information such as the best boating routes, and safety information relating to wildlife, among many others, while UofT personnel provide technical archaeological expertise, logistical coordination of helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft schedules, and information on additional aspects of field equipment and communications.

Ultimately, this collaborative research results in greater progress than either of the two partners could achieve on their own. The current phase of the project, which saw fieldwork in 2018 and 2019, provides a good example. The PI/KHS had long wanted to pursue research in the Qingauq (Bathurst Inlet) region southwest of Cambridge Bay on the mainland. Many Cambridge Bay Elders had grown up in the area and had wished to record oral histories, place names, and other information—before it was lost. However, because of the significant expenses involved and logistical difficulties, they had been unable to mount this project. With the help of grants secured by the UofT and aircraft support from the Polar Continental Shelf Program, they were able to fly to Bathurst Inlet in 2018 with a team of 11 (three Elders, an interpreter, two PI/KHS researchers, three youth trainees, and two UofT researchers). Meanwhile, the PI/KHS funded Elders’ honoraria, researchers’ time, student wages, and accommodations in Bathurst Inlet. Both partners applied for different permits and licences, each including letters of support from the other. Once in Bathurst Inlet, they established a field camp that also included several additional families who spend their summers in the region. The result was a series of recordings documenting Inuinnait history in the region as well as many previously unrecorded place names. Most interviews took place on sites where the Elders had lived in the mid-20th century, and which contain archaeological remains going back hundreds and in some cases thousands of years (Figure 9).

Figure 9

**Interviewing Elders in a caribou blind at the Hiuqqitaaq River, 2018**

Figure 10

**Mapping a seal oil caching rock (urhuqaqvik) with a drone, 2019**

In 2019, Max returned with a smaller crew that included one graduate student, one PI/KHS researcher, and two Inuit trainees. They returned to the same sites where the Elders had been interviewed during the previous year to carry out detailed site surveys and to map them in three dimensions with a drone (Figure 10). These continued surveys were led by Allen Kapolak, who lives in Bathurst Inlet for much of the year. PI/KHS and UofT researchers are currently combining the products of both seasons into a planned publicly accessible web-based map that directly links modern Elders’ knowledge (including videos of interviews) with place names, environmental and geographic knowledge, and high-resolution 3D imagery of the archaeological sites.

Final Thoughts

For us, this partnership works very well. Much of our work brings together traditional knowledge and Western science in a meaningful way. This does not mean that every activity and every product is a perfect blend of the two, but the end result is that a high proportion of the work that has been done brings together these two ways of knowing, with the questions asked, and the way they are answered, based on multiple sources of insight.

Can we offer any advice to others seeking to perform collaborative work? Most of what we have to say is obvious, and while we recognize that there are other very successful collaborative projects taking place in the North, here are a few comments from our perspective:

First, time is an important variable—to make a project like this work, it has to be able to grow over a significant period. In 1999, none of us knew each other, so we were all probably cautious for the first while, especially in the first full fieldwork year in 2000. After that initial period, however, things got much easier because we had established close relationships, and eventually everyone could trust each other to do the right thing. Now, after 23 years, our internal conversations and decision-making run very smoothly, mainly because we have a straightforward trust that every member of the group has the best interests of all at heart. While we come from very different backgrounds, we believe we have shared values as they relate to our work together.

Second, we have been very lucky in that we have a history of each group working hard to support the other. Whenever one needs input, for example a letter of support, the other prioritizes this and gets it in as soon as possible. Max makes a point of designing the logistics of each season’s work as much as possible around local priorities, within the constraints imposed by outside forces such as funding agencies. In turn, the PI/KHS has been very supportive of research in more remote early time periods, even when the links to recent Inuinnait lifeways are slender. In other words, we all try to be flexible and willing to assume that everything that happens will ultimately lead to a better outcome for both groups.

Third, a key part of our positive outcomes results from having excellent student participants on both sides of the partnership (Figure 11). Inuinnait students have added immeasurably to the results of the fieldwork, including bringing their detailed understanding of the land and its history to the project, while also benefitting from a rare opportunity to work directly with local heritage. Graduate students from UofT have also made immense contributions, with several students playing key roles in the collaborative relationship. This has been a great help to Max by giving him more time to keep other aspects of the project running smoothly.

Figure 11

**Three students at Iqaluktuuq**

Fourth, it is important for all participants to keep an open mind about how the project might develop and what will come out of it. For example, Max’s research has been taken in completely new directions by this collaboration. Before working with the PI/KHS, his research focused on quite recent Inuit and Inuvialuit archaeology, but the work at Iqaluktuuq pulled him into much older Tuniit (Paleo-Inuit) time periods. From the perspective of the PI/KHS, the project has led to the exploration of new ways not only to use and pass on language between generations but also to involve youth in Inuit heritage activities in general. It has also enabled the collection of place names and traditional knowledge at important places that were previously difficult to get to, due to a lack of helicopter support.

Fifth, and finally, it is important for all of us to recognize that for Inuinnait, digging up the land to understand history is a new way of learning. We regularly discuss the process as a group to ensure that a consensus exists around the types of activities (including excavation) that will take place in any given year. Through the years, the community has continued to support the archaeology; in fact, in our most recent 2022 field season, Elders participated actively in the excavation process (Figure 12). This support is based on a sense of mutual respect and continues because traditional knowledge is incorporated and passed on during each project, with Elders sharing their knowledge with the next generations and with researchers.

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History of Our Collaboration

How Our Project Works

Final Thoughts

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History of Our Collaboration

How Our Project Works

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