LibGuides: Indigenous Peoples in Canada: Inuit

Inuit Nunangat ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᑦ (Authentic Voice) native-land.ca Map of Inuit territories and links to the websites of Inuit nations
Inuit (Authentic Voice)
Inuit Nunangat (Authentic Voice)
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (Authentic Voice) The National Representational Organization Protecting and Advancing the Rights and Interests of Inuit in Canada
Culture | Inuvialuit Regional Corporation Inuvialuit means "the real people" and it is believed that the population descended from the Thule people, who once lived in the Arctic. They migrated from the Bering Sea region and settled on the edge of the Beaufort Sea, at the mouth of the Mackenzie River, some 800 years ago. Drawing on ancient cultural traditions, they adapted to new resources and challenges. Today, many of the 5,000 Inuvialuit reside in the communities of Aklavik, Inuvik, Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk and Ulukhaktok.
Inuit Collection
Inuit
Arctic Indigenous Peoples in Canada The term Arctic peoples in Canada generally refers to the Inuit population. The Inuit are descendants of the Thule people, who lived in the Arctic from 400 to 1,000 years ago. The Inuit refer to their homeland as Inuit Nunangat. In 2021, there were 70,545 Inuit in Canada. According to that census, 69 per cent of all Inuit lived in Inuit Nunangat.
Why don’t we speak the language even though it’s part of who we are? | Sarah Jancke, Inuit Sarah Jancke started with a very simple question about Inuinnaqtun — one of the official languages of the Inuit. The result of that question was a very personal journey.
There [are] just so many stereotypes we live with. | Trina Qaqqaq, Inuit Qaqqaq would like Canadians to understand Indigenous people: their communities, their history on the land, and the challenges they face.
Inuit Tattoo Revitalization Project | Hovak Johnston,Inuit At one time the tattoos were a common part of Inuit culture, with girls receiving their first marks as children and adding to them as they experienced significant life events. But missionaries and residential schools taught that the markings were shameful, explains Johnston, and soon the practice faded.

AGES 9-17 Tide - Stories from Our Land 1.5 (Ericka Chemko 2012 | 4 min) This beautiful short film captures the majesty of ice sculpted by wind and water. By using time-lapse imagery, Iqaluit filmmaker Ericka Chemko reveals the dynamic intertidal dance of water and ice in the Arctic.
AGES 9-17 Family Making Sleds - Stories from Our Land 1.5 (Rosie Bonnie Ammaaq 2012 | 5 min) This short film portrays a family working together to make sleds. While the father expertly threads rope through runners and slats, expertly tying knots to hold them together, his wife and child work on their own stylized sleds. The film pays homage to the craft, while also capturing the sheer joy of downhill sled racing.
AGES 9-17 Nippaq - Stories From Our Land 1.5 (Qajaaq Ellsworth 2011 | 3 min) In this short film, hunter Joshua Atagooyuk stands by a seal's breathing hole. He hunches over, silent, waiting. The sun crosses the sky, hours pass, yet Atagooyuk remains, waiting for the right moment to strike.
AGES 9-17 If You Want to Get Married... You Have to Learn How to Build an Igloo! - Stories from Our Land 1.5 (Allen Auksaq 2011 | 5 min) In the spirit of the 1949 NFB classic How to Build an Igloo, this short film records Dean Ittuksarjuat as he constructs the traditional Inuit home. From the first cut of the snow knife, to the carving of the entrance after the last block of snow has been placed on the roof, this is an inside-and-out look at the entire fascinating process.
Justin Trudeau apology for governments' mistreatment of Inuit with tuberculosis In this Curio.ca video, Justin Trudeau makes an historic apology for past governments’ “colonial” and “purposeful” mistreatment of Inuit people with tuberculosis, which included taking them from their families.
What Indigenous Communities Teach Us About Climate Change (05:06) Learn 360 video
Qanuilirpitaa? How Are We Now? (44:08) 2021 A young Montreal resident from Nunavik joins the largest health survey ever conducted on Nunavik Inuit. Filmed aboard the Canadian icebreaker Amundsen, which has been converted into a floating clinic, the documentary follows Lydia Audlaluk, the main interviewer and intake specialist for the survey. As she greets her extended family and neighbouring communities, we feel the tension between the appeal of traditional life in the North and her return to Montreal where she is building a professional life. Although the health survey expedition is at the behest of the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, encounters between the ship's 40 crew members and the 2,000 Inuit participants are fraught.
North of 60: Life in the North – Traditions and Culture (Part 1 of 2) (39:07) 2007 The first of the two-part North of 60 series is comprised of five short documentaries that examine the traditional world of the Inuit and the efforts being made to preserve their unique cultural heritage.
North of 60: Life in the North – Real Challenges, Real Life (Part 2 of 2) (34:07) 2005 The second of the two-part North of 60 series is comprised of six short documentaries that look at modern day life and the harsh realities of living in the North, exploring such issues as housing, health care and the high cost of living.
Survival of the Inuktitut Language (14:02) 2002 Through the forces of modernization, the Inuit in Northern Canada are losing their language. We follow attempts to connect people from all areas where Inuktitut is spoken in a campaign to revitalize and preserve their native means of communication.
The Road to Tuktoyaktuk (5:14) 2017 After years of a seasonal ice road and four years of construction, there will soon be an actual road to the Arctic Ocean. Journalist David Common looks at Tuktoyaktuk, a small predominately Inuit/Inuvialuit community of 800 people used to a life centered around the land. How will easy year-long access in and out change their lives for better and worse?
Legacies 150 Stories: The Cache Bonnie and Michelline Ammaaq tell their story of leaving Igloolik, Baffin Island, Nunavut, in 1986 to return to a traditional way of life.
Arctic Defenders By John Walker | 2013 (1:30:00) Set in the dramatic and alluring landscape of the north, Arctic Defenders tells the remarkable story that began in1968 with a radical Inuit movement that changed the political landscape forever. It lead to the largest land claim in western civilization, orchestrated by young visionary Inuit with a dream - the governance of their territory - the creation of Nunavut. The story reveals Canada’s misguided attempts at sovereignty in the north and finds hope and inspiration from determined people who changed the rules of the game.
Traditional Foods and Harvesting | Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
8 Videos with English Subtitles

Maps Of Inuit Nunangat (Inuit Regions Of Canada) The term “Inuit Nunangat” is a Canadian Inuktitut term that includes land, water, and ice. As Canadian Inuit consider the land, water, and ice, of our homeland to be integral to our culture and our way of life it was felt that “Inuit Nunangat” is a more inclusive and appropriate term to use when describing our lands.
Inuit Nunangat Map
A map of Inuit communities from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada

Sheila Watt-Cloutier on Climate Change and Human Rights (10:17) Sep 10, 2008 Sheila Watt-Cloutier, a Canadian Inuit activist, delivers a touching and powerful presentation on the impacts of Climate Change in the Arctic . She has been a political representative for Inuit at the regional, national and international levels, most recently as International Chair for Inuit Circumpolar Council (formerly the Inuit Circumpolar Conference). Watt-Cloutier has worked on a range of social and environmental issues affecting Inuit, and has most recently focused on persistent organic pollutants and global climate change. She has received numerous awards and honors for her work, and has been featured in a number of documentaries and profiled by journalists from all media.
Live It Earth Programs

Inuit Collection
Inuit Stories
District Resource Centre
(AbEd Library)
Shaman By Echo Henoche | (5:00) 2017 This animated short tells the story of a ferocious polar bear turned to stone by an Inuk shaman. The tale is based on emerging filmmaker Echo Henoche's favourite legend, as told to her by her grandfather in her home community of Nain, Nunatsiavut, on Labrador's North Coast. Hand-drawn and painted by Henoche in a style all her own, Shaman is the first collaboration between the Labrador artist and the NFB.
Nunavut Animation Lab: Qalupalik By Ame Papatsie | (5:00) 2010 This animated short tells the story of Qalupalik, a part-human sea monster that lives deep in the Arctic Ocean and preys on children who do not listen to their parents or elders. That is the fate of Angutii, a young boy who refuses to help out in his family's camp, opting instead to play by the shoreline. But one day, Qalupalik seizes him and drags him away. Angutii's father, a great hunter, must then embark on a lengthy kayak journey to try and bring his son home.
Nunavut Animation Lab: The Bear Facts By Jonathan Wright | (4:00) 2010 In this animated short, a self-important colonial explorer emerges from a sailing ship and plants a flag on the Arctic ice, as a bemused Inuit hunter looks on. Then the explorer plants another, and another, and another, while the hunter, clearly not impressed that his land has been “discovered,” quietly goes about his business. In this charming and humorous re-imagining of first contact between Inuit and European, Jonathan Wright brings us the story of a savvy hunter and the ill-equipped explorer he outwits.
Inuit Nunangat Taimannganit - Storytelling Project This storytelling project tells the story of Inuit Nunangat (the Inuit homeland in Canada) from time immemorial (taimannganit). Over the next two years, we will be sharing stories about our connections to the land and sea, as well as our legends, our histories, and our relationship with the environment and all living things within it. Through these stories, we hope to build Inuit unity, and create a greater appreciation of Inuit history among all Canadians. We are still here. We are resilient, and we look forward to sharing our resilience, our knowledge, and our love of our environment and land with you through this project.

Susan Aglukark: Breaths | (4:00) 2016 National Film Board short documentary “The North is the place where I feel I’m completely myself.” In this evocative documentary short, Inuit singer-songwriter and humanitarian Susan Aglukark weaves together stories of artistry, family, and belonging as she explores the complex cultural shifts of the last 50 years of Inuit life. Turning her lens on the turbulence of colonial transition, director Nyla Innuksuk examines the forces that shaped Aglukark’s voice and how that voice is now being translated for a new generation of Inuit artists.
Inngiruti - The Thing that Sings! - Stories from Our Land 1.5 By Nyla Innuksuk | (5:00) 2012 This short documentary filmed in Pangnirtung features 2 elders reminiscing about the dances held in their community 50 years ago. One of the elders is master accordion player Simeonie Keenainak, and soon he's making toe-tapping music with his instrument. In this celebration of the pleasures of music and dance, Keenainak plays for the enjoyment of friends, family, and the community at large.
Inuit Song On the shores of Canada's Arctic Bay, two teenage Inuit girls sing a traditional melody. Their friend keeps the beat with a qilaut, a drum made of stretched caribou skin.
Angela Amarualik - Angirrarviga Angirrarviga (My homeland). Taken in Igloolik, Nunavut.
The Ulukhaktok Western Drummers and Dancers Ulukhaktok Western Drummers and Dancers. Shot in and around Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, September 2012 - Inuvialuit HD Drum Dance Series
Drum Dancing | Inuvialuit Regional Corporation

Cape Dorset, Nunavut: The Epicentre of Inuit Art (5:24) The Inuit of Cape Dorset have a solid sense of family, society and tradition, and through their art have managed to place this tiny hamlet prominently on the international arts scene.
Kenojuak Ashevak | Heritage Minutes A founding member of Cape Dorset’s famed printmaking co-op, Kenojuak Ashevak introduced Inuit art to the world (1927-2013).
Kenojuak Ashevak - Inuit Artist Kenojuak Ashevak (October 3, 1927 -- January 8, 2013) was born in an igloo in an Inuit camp, Ikirasaq (Quebec) Canada, at the southern coast of Baffin Island. Her father, Ushuakjuk, an Inuit hunter and fur trader, and her mother, Silaqqi, named Kenojuak after Silaqqi's deceased father. According to the Inuit naming tradition, the love and respect that had been accorded to him during his lifetime would now pass on to their daughter. Kenojuak became known for her distinctive and lyrical work in printmaking. Her work drew upon familiar subjects in her environment such as birds and other animals, as well as images of Inuit women, but her fantastical compositions are also powerful statements of beauty and design. Her masterful use of silhouette, patterning, and abstract designs may have been influenced by her experience in sewing traditional clothing, which involves creating designs with piecework, in addition to other Inuit art practices such as scrimshaw. She also became one of the first Inuit women in Cape Dorset to begin drawing. She worked in graphite, colored pencils and felt-tip pens, and occasionally used poster paints, watercolors or acrylics. She created many carvings from soapstone and thousands of drawings, etchings, and stone-cut prints — all sought after by museums and collectors. She designed several drawings for Canadian stamps and coins, and in 2004 she created the first Inuit-designed stained-glass window for the John Bell Chapel in Oakville, Ontario.
Inuk Butterfly (22:01) 2020 Olivia Lya Thomassie is an Inuk woman following her path through art. Beading, photography and tattooing are her defense against prejudice and difficulty. This documentary explores her complex search for identity in the face of culture shock. Her resilience and her thirst for adventure mirror the flight of a butterfly in nature or in the immense urban landscape. In French with English subtitles.
I am but a little woman Inspired by an Inuit poem first assigned to paper in 1927, this animated short evokes the beauty and power of nature, as well as the bond between mother and daughter. As her daughter looks on, an Inuit woman creates a wall hanging filled with images of the spectacular Arctic landscape and traditional Inuit objects and iconography. Soon the boundaries between art and reality begin to dissolve.

Indigenous Peoples in Canada: Inuit

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