NUNANGAT AND BEYOND:

ACCULTURATION AND THE RETAINMENT OF INUIT IDENTITY IN CANADA

Abstract

Examining how acculturative changes affect Inuit culture—especially
lifestyle, customs, Inuktut language proficiency, and
intellectual endeavours—I assess Inuit culture and identity
within the fabric of multicultural Canada. Taking John W.
Berry’s Fourfold Model of acculturation as an investigative
framework, I use Peter Weinreich’s Identity Structure Analysis
to study the effects of acculturation on Inuit living in both
Arctic Canada and the South. I propose that access to Southern
culture for a people with strong attachment to the land transforms
personal and collective identity and creates amalgamated
identities—especially for Inuit relocated to urban settings—
which reflect both tradition and acculturative build-up. The
official recognition of the Inuit Nunangat, the homeland, was
a fundamental necessity for positive self-image and is a driving
force today in asserting a uniquely Inuit identity within the
cultural context of Canada. Building on Inuit-led amendments
to the curriculum already in place across the North, I propose a
heritage language-based and traditional knowledge-enhanced
school curriculum implementing the teaching of traditional
texts, such as myths, classic tales, and songs in Inuktut in order
to foster traditional knowledge—known as IQ, or Inuit Quaujimajatuqangit—
and Inuktut fluency, which are vital aspects
of cultural retainment for Inuit in Canada.