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Seminar 1 - “Authority, Leadership And Governance: Cosmopolitical Issues In Contemporary Inuit Society”, Inuit Studies Conference (Val D’or, Oct. 28-30, 2010)
Part 1: Cosmopolitical Issues in Contemporary Inuit Society
Fabien Pernet, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
“Aux sources de l’autorité : l’éducation aux relations avec les êtres non-humains dans la jeune enfance”
Abstract :
Les règles sociales que suivent les Inuit ne concernent pas seulement les relations entre êtres humains, mais s’étendent aux autres habitants de leurs territoires, animaux en premier lieu, et d’autres êtres non-humains. L’éducation à ces règles commence très jeune, et mobilise une grande variété de pratiques, inscrites dans la diversité des traditions familiales inuit. Je propose dans cette communication de souligner l’existence de cet ensemble de pratiques narratives et/ou
rituelles qui caractérisent l’éducation traditionnelle des jeunes enfants inuit (3-6 ans), et témoignent d’une connaissance et d’une attention particulière au développement de la mémoire et de la pensée enfantine. A travers un examen détaillé de ces pratiques, anciennes ou contemporaines, je voudrais explorer la question du rôle des êtres non-humains dans l’apprentissage enfantin des règles sociales, en soulignant notamment le support moral – l’autorité – qu’ils apportent à ces règles.
Caroline Hervé, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
“Dynamics of power in Ivujivik (Nunavik) : the role of the angajuk (the oldest one)”
Abstract :
This presentation will explore some elements of the political transformations which occured in a Nunavik community during the XXth century. We will focus on one particular aspect : the role played by the angajuk (the oldest one) in different kind of context (family, political life, hunting activities…). The age of a person was a structuring aspect of power relations in Inuit groups before sedentarization. It can be observed in the way people helped each other in work activities. It was the major way to transmit knowledge. We can see it still at work today in the context of the school, the coop or municipal life. These observations will give us the occasion to question the categories of age groupings and particularly the one of inuturait (elders) and the concept of angajuqqaaq.
Florence Dupré, Université Laval, Québec, Canada et Université de Lyon 2 Lumière, France
“Gouvernance et parentés. Étude exploratoire des perspectives qikirtamiut sur les enjeux relationnels contemporains de la société des Îles Belcher (Nunavut)”
Abstract :
La question de la reconnaissance des valeurs et des perspectives inuit dans la gestion des territoires arctiques et la mise en place de systèmes politiques inédits fait aujourd’hui l’objet de toutes les attentions théoriques, conceptuelles et épistémologiques de la part des chercheurs en sciences politiques, humaines et sociales. Cette problématique liée aux dynamiques de gouvernance communautaire, territoriale et nationale ne se limite cependant pas à des questions d’ordre strictement politique et prend aujourd’hui des formes socioculturelles aussi diverses que la lutte pour la légitimation juridique et morale de l’adoption plénière par les gouvernements (fédéral, provinciaux et territoriaux), ou encore la reconnaissance morale de l’importance identitaire et sociologique du mode de transmission éponymique des noms personnels dans les sociétés inuit contemporaines.
À partir d’une étude réalisée dans la communauté de Sanikiluaq (Nunavut) au cours des années 2007-2010, cette communication sera consacrée à l’émergence de nouvelles formes de gouvernance culturelle dans la sphère parentale des jeunes familles inuit. Je m’intéresserai notamment à la mise en place, dans le système hiérarchique générationnel, d’un ensemble de stratégies relationnelles résistant à l’importation d’une idéologie biogénétique de la parenté par l’intermédiaire d’une appropriation inédite des technologies de l’imagerie numérique.
Louis McComber, Chercheur autonome, Québec, Canada
“Leadership, governance, dependence and resistance in the Canadian North”
Francis Lévesque, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada
“Investigating the Inuit-Canadian Government relationship. Claiming about the fate of Inuit Dogs and Inuit Leadership”
Lisa Koperqualuk, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
“Puvirniturmiut Religious and Political Dynamics”
Abstract :
The Inuit community of Puvirnituq is a community founded by a few families whose descendants have grown to a number of 1500 in 58 years. There are the modern amenities of housing, and all the comforts that go with housing including municipal services provided through the regional government. Like in other Inuit communities Puvirnituq has schooling up to secondary levels and local health and social services. The Inuulitsivik Hospital is centered here serving the Hudson Bay communities. Then there are the two main churches, the Anglican and the Full Gospel Churches. Inuit maintain a way of living that includes hunting, fishing, and knowledge of the environment around them; and Inuit women too continue to practice their knowledge in keeping their families well clothed. My research looks into the dynamics of the Inuit system of belief and their relationship with the local and regional committees. Inuit are raised with religious values and Inuit values, which are holistic, and participate in local committees such as the Education Committee or the Health Committee, as well as the municipal council, which are products of western ideology. How do Inuit integrate their values into these political institutions? Are Inuit values impacted by their integration of Christianity into their society?
Frédéric Laugrand, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
“Inuit leaders and local gatekeepers in contemporary Inuit Evangelical traditions”
Abstract : This paper deals with Inuit leadership and how it is conceived by contemporary Evangelical movements now spreading among the Inuit of the Canadian Eastern Arctic. In the context of a joint research with J. Oosten, I will here focus especially on the Canada Awakening Ministries (CAM) and show how it successfully integrates traditional Inuit ideas and values in a modern Christian perspective. I explore how elders and local leaders are given a more prominent role in the “Healing the Land” rituals and how traditional elements (such as the drum) are now becoming part of a Inuit Christian culture. Examining CAM’s views on leadership, I argue that Evangelical movements are bound to strengthen their position in the North.
PART 2: The Training and Agency of Youth, and Educational Issues
Thierry Rodon, Carleton University and Centre Interuniversitaire d’Études et de Recherches Autochtones (CIERA), Québec, Canada
“Inuit Governance and Leadership: Youth voices from Nunavut “
Shelley Tulloch, Saint-Mary’s University, Nova Scotia, Canada
“Youth Agency and Voice in Inuit Language Revitalization”
Abstract :
Inuit youth have become deliberate agents of Inuit language preservation, both at personal and organizational levels. Research with youth over the past ten years has shown the personal responsibility youth assume for learning and transmitting the Inuit language. Inuit youth are also working through their representative organizations, hosting two Inuit Circumpolar Youth Symposia on the Inuit Language, participating in international forums, and advocating to local, regional, national and international bodies for language policies and programs which reflect their needs and priorities. Our analysis of these activities shows Inuit youth’s engagement in language planning as a collaborative, consensus process within a particular sociolinguistic context. These experiences are increasing Inuit youths’ voice, choice and agency in language planning. The interface of youths’ personal efforts with their organizational initiatives and advocacy shows promise for successful revitalization of the Inuit language. Further, analysis of these processes can illuminates how bottom-up and top-down approaches can come together to achieve maximal impact of grassroots and governmental language planning.
Marise Lachapelle, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
“Perspectives on Inuit postsecondary Education”
Abstract :
This presentation will restore Inuit students as actors into postsecondary education challenges and processes without losing sight of the larger structures that constrain, but also enable, actions.
Access to postsecondary education is a primary concern for the Inuit. They are underrepresented in many sectors such as health, environment, social services and law. Increasing postsecondary education will enable greater Inuit participation in these sectors. Moreover, it will contribute to the development of new leaders and decision makers able to cope with the social, economic and political changes that affect the culture and livelihoods of their communities.
