Skip to Main Content
The University of Manitoba campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Ojibwe-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. More

Kivalliq Health Information Service: Indigenous in the North

Indigenous in the North

Elders

Interviewing Inuit Elders Series

 Nakasuk S, et al. Interviewing Inuit Elders: Volume One Introduction. Iqaluit: Nunavut Arctic College; 1999.

Aupilaarjuk M, et al. Interviewing Inuit Elders: Volume Two Perspectives on Traditional Law. Iqaluit: Nunavut Arctic College; 1999.

Ekho N, et al. Interviewing Inuit Elders: Volume Three Childrearing Practices. Iqaluit: Nunavut Arctic College; 2000.

Aupilaarjuk M, et al. Interviewing Inuit Elders: Volume Four Cosmology and Shamanism. Iqaluit: Nunavut Arctic College; 2001.

Ootoova I, et al. Interviewing Inuit Elders: Volume Five Perspectives on Traditional Health. Iqaluit: Nunavut Arctic College; 2001.

Guidelines for Working with Elders

NAHO. Interviewing Elders: Guidelines from the National Aboriginal Health Organization. Ottawa: NAHO; 2005.

Articles

Groarke P. Legal Volumes from Arctic College's Interviewing Inuit Elders Series. Osgoode Hall Law Journal. 2009; 47(4):787-805.

Lyons N. The Wisdom of elders: Inuvialuit social memories of continuity and change in the twentieth century. Arctic Anthropology. 2010; 47(1): 22-38. (please request).

McGregor H. Curriculum change in Nunavut: Towards Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. McGill Journal of Education. 2012; 47(3):285-302. 

Steiegelbauer SE. What is an Elder? What do Elders do? First Nation Elders as teachers in culture-based urban organization. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies. 1996; 14(1);37-66.

Waddell C. Decolonizing approaches to Inuit community wellness: conversations with elders in a Nunavut community. Canadian Journal  of Community Mental Health. 2017; 36(1): 1-13. 

Weatherhead E, et al. Changes in weather persistence: Insight from Inuit knowledge. Global Environment Change. 2010; 20(3): 523-528. (please request).

Books

For more information on these titles click on the links below. For access to the full-text please contact us.

Cuerrier A, et al. "The caribou taste different now" : Inuit elders observe climate change. Iqaluit: Nunavut Arctic College; 2016.

Ekho N, et al. Childrearing practices Naqi Ekho and Uqsuralik Ottokie. Iquluit  Nunavut Arctic College; 2000.

Hallendy N. Tukiliit : The stone people who live in the wind : An introduction to inuksuit and other stone figures of the North. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre; 2009.

Hammond M. Our ancestors never smoked... : Elders' reflections about how tobacco has affected Inuit communities. Ottawa: Pauktuuitit Inuit Women of Canada; 2006.

Karetak J, et al. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit : What Inuit have always known to be true. Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing; 2017.

Korhonen M, et al. Resilience : Overcoming challenges and moving on positively. Ottawa: Ajunnginiq Centre, National Aboriginal Health Organization; 2007.

Laugrand F, et al. Hardships of the past : Recollections of Arviat elders. Iqaluit: Nunavut Arctic College; 2010.

Laugrand F, et al. Perspectives on traditional health Ilisapi Ootoova. Iqaluit: Nunavut College; 2001.

Mannik H. Inuit Nunamiut Inland Inuit. Altona, MB: Friesen Corp; 1998.

MacDonald J. The Arctic sky : Inuit astronomy, star lore, and legend. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum/Nunavut Research Institute; 1998.

Nickles S, et al. Unikkaaqatigiit : Putting the human face on climate change : Perspectives from Inuit in Canada. Ottawa: Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami; 2006.

O'Brien B, et al. Birth on the land : Memories of Inuit elders and traditional midwives. Arctic Bay: Nunavut Arctic College; 2012.

Stern P, et al. Critical Inuit Studies : An Anthology of Contemporary Arctic Ethnography. Lincoln: UNP-Nebraska; 2006.

Videos

National Geographic. Inuit Wisdom. 2008.
Mauro I. Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change. Isuma TV. 2009. (Inuktitut with English subtitles)

Articles

Baron M, et al. The social determinants of healthy ageing in the Canadian Arctic. Int J Circumpolar Health.2019; 78(1).

Bethune R, et al.  Social determinants of self-reported health for Canada's Indigenous peoples: a public health approach. Public Health. 2018. (please request)

Durkalec A, et al. Climate change influences on environment as a determinant of Indigenous health: Relationships to place, sea ice, and health in an Inuit community. Social Science and Medicine. 2015;136-137(July):17-26.

Fraser, S. et al. Communities being well for family well-being: exploring the socio-ecological determinants of well-being in an Inuit community of Northern Quebec. Transcultural Psychiatr. 2018;55(1):120-146. (please request)

Gray A, et al.  Individual and community-level determinants of Inuit youth mental wellness. Can J Public Health. 2016;107(3):251-7. (please request)

Healey G. Tradition and culture: An important determinant of Inuit women's health. Journal of Aboriginal Health. 2008; 4(1):25-33.

Nelson C. et al. Mental health indicators among pregnant Aboriginal women in Canada: results from the Maternity Experiences Survey. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada. 2018; 38(7/8).

Newell S, et al. Cultural continuity and Inuit health in Arctic Canada. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2020; 74(1):64-70.

Pike I, et al. Developing injury indicators for First Nations and Inuit children and youth in Canada: a modified Delphi approach. CDIC. 2014; 34(4):203-209.

Smylie J, et al. Our health counts: population-based measures of urban Inuit health determinants, health status, and health care access. Can J Public Health. 2018; 109(5-6):662-670.

Young K, et al. Comparing the Health of Circumpolar Populations: Patterns, determinants, and systems. in: Evangard B, Nymand L, Paasche O. (eds). The New Arctic. Springer, Cham; 2015.  

Books

Greenwood, M. Determinants of Indigenous Peoples' Health: Beyond the Social. Toronto: Canadian Scholars; 2018.

Land Claims

Websites

Government of Canada. Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act. (1993).

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Nunavut - Final Agreements and Related Implementation Matters. (updated 2017).

Nunavut Tunngavik. Publications:Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.

Reports

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.Annual Report on the Implementation of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA) 2006-2008. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development; 2011.

Indian and Northern Affairs of Canada.Agreement Between the Inuit of the Nunavut Settlement Area and Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada as amended. Indian and Northern Affairs of Canada; 2010. (Also available in Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, French)

Nunavut Tunngavik.A Plain Language Guide to the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. Iqaluit: Nunavut Tunngavik; 2004.

PriceWaterHouseCoopers.Second Five Year Review of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement- Final Report. 2006.

Maps

Native-Land.ca

Articles

Bennett M, et al. Articulating the Arctic: contrasting state and Inuit maps of the Canadian north. Polar Record. 2016; 52(6):630-644. (please request)

Bernauer W, et al. The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and Caribou habitat management. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, 2015; 35(1):5-32. (please request)

Dombrowski K, et al. Relocation redux: Labrador Inuit population movments and inequalitites in the Land Claims era. Current Anthropology. 2016; 57(6):785-805. (please request)

Gabel C, et al. The Community Readiness Initiative in Kugluktuk, Nunavut: The challenge of adapting an Indigenous community-based participatory framework to a multi-stakeholder, government-designed project environment. Engaged Scholar Journal. 2016; 2(1):89-108.

Nicol H. From territory to rights: new foundations for conceptualising Indigenous sovereignty. Geopolitics. 2016; 22(4):794-814. (please request)

Ritsema R, et al. "Steering our own ship?" And assessment of self-determination and self-governance for community development in Nunavut. The Northern Review. 2015; 41:157-180.

Samson C. Canada's strategy of dispossession: Aboriginal lank and rights cessions in comprehensive land claims. Canadian Journal of Land and Society. 2016; 31(1):87-110. (please request)

Books

Oceans North Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund Canada, and Ducks Unlimited Canada. Canada’s Arctic Marine Atlas. Ottawa, Ontario: Oceans North Conservation Society; (2018).

For more information on these titles click on the links below. For access to the full-text please contact us.

Cameron, E. Far off Metal River: Inuit lands, settler stories, and the makings of the contemporary Arctic. Vancouver:UBC Press; 2015.

Grey, M. et al. Voices and images of Nunavimmiut. Montreal:International Polar Institute Press; 2010.

Nutall, M. The Routledge handbook of the polar regions. London: Routledge; 2018.

Shadian, J. The politics of Arctic sovereignty: oil, ice and Inuit governance. New York: Routledge; 2014.

Tidwel, A., Zellen, B. Land, Indigenous peoples and conflict. New York: Routledge; 2016.

Reports

Nunavut Tunngavik. Annual Report on the State of Inuit Culture 2014-2015. Iqualuit: Nunavut Tunngavik; 2016. (Inuktitut)

Magazines

Inuktitut Magazine

Articles

Aporta C. The trail as home: Inuit and their Pan-Arctic network of routes. Human Ecology. 2009; 37(2): 131-146. (please request)

Heyes S. Protecting the authenticity and integrity of Inuksuit within the Arctic milieu. Etudes Inuit Studies. 2002; 26(2): 133-156.

Piercey M. Traditional Indigenous Knowledge: An ethnographic study of its application in the teaching and learning of traditional Inuit Drum Dance in Arviat, Nunavut. Critical Perspectives in Canadian Music Education. Wilfrid Laurier Press; 2012.

Rathwell K, Armitage D. Art and artistic processes bridge knowledge systems about social-ecological change: An empirical examination with Inuit artists from Nunavut, Canada. Ecology and Society. 2016; 21(2).

Books

Oceans North Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund Canada, and Ducks Unlimited Canada. Canada’s Arctic Marine Atlas. Ottawa, Ontario: Oceans North Conservation Society; 2018.

For more information on these titles click on the links below. For access to the full-text please contact us.

Gedalof R, Ipellie A. Paper stays put: a collection of Inuit writing. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers; 1980.

Hallendy N. Inuksuit silent messengers of the Arctic. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre; 2000.

Hallendy N. Tukiliit: the stone people who live in the wind: an introduction to Inuksuit and other stone figures of the North. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre; 2009.

Zizman P, Amogoalik L. Working with Inuit: Selected resources to help you learn about Inuit culture and way of life. National Aboriainal Health Organization; 2010. 

Inuktitut

Font Downloads

Keyboard for iPhone - the Piruvik Centre

Microsoft Inuktitut Keyboard

Syllabic Fonts for Inuktitut - Government of Nunavut

Syllabics Translator for Google Chrome - Pinnguaq (replaces Inuktitut syllabics with Roman orthography on websites visited)


Learn Inuktitut

Tusaalanga - The Piruvik Centre (app for ipad, iphone, ipod)

Inuktitut Ilinniaqta

Let's Speak Inuinnaqtun

Inuktitut Transliteration Tool

Apps for Language Learning

Singuistics - Pinnguaq

Uqalimaarluk - Pinnguaq - Inuktitut storytelling app (ReadToMe)

Uqausiit Pinnguarutii - From the Government of Nunavut, provides young children with fun activities that support shape and sound recognition, as well as, vocabulary development.


Literacy Organizations

Ilitaqsiniq - Nunavut Literacy Council 

Nunavut Educators (supports educators teaching in Inuktitut with resources that accommodate different dialects.)

Nunavut Bilingual Education Society


Literature

Inuit Myths Website - Qikiqtani Inuit Association

Puukammaluk - Bookstore (Inhabit Media & Nunavut Bilingual Education Society books)


Videos in Inuktitut

Inuktitube (Inuktitut content from Vimeo and Youtube)

Articles

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. National Inuit Positions on Federal Legislation in Relation to the Inuktitut Language. 2017.

Kelly B, et al. Indigenous children's language: acquisition, preservation and evolution of language in minority contexts. First Language. 2015. 35(4-5):279-285. (please request)

Romain S. Pharmaceutical health care and Inuit lnguage communications in Nunavut, Canada. International Journal of Circumpolar Health. 2013; 72(1): 

Romain S. "We don't have the words in Inuktitut": Pharmacy translations in Nunavut, Canada. Cogent Social Sciences. 2017; 3(1):1349563.

Smylie J, et al. Indigenous knowledge translation: Baseline findings in a qualitative study of the pathways of health knowledge in three Indigenous communities in Canada. Health Promotion Practice. 2009; 10(3):436-446. (please request)

Books

For more information on these titles click on the links below. For access to the full-text please contact us.

Collis D, Unesco. Arctic languages: an awakening. Paris: Unesco; 1990.

Dorais L. Language in Inuit society. Iqaluit: Nunavut Arctic College, Nunatta Campus; 1996.

Dorais L. The language of the Inuit: syntax, semantics, and society in the Arctic. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press; 2010.

Inuit Cultural Institute. ICI Inuktitut glossary. Eskimo Point, NWT: Inuit Cultural Institute; 1987.

Kitikmeot Inuit Association. KIA language framework: revitalizing Inuit language in the Qitirmiut region: final report. Kitikmeot Inuit Association; 2011.

Mallon S, et al. Introductory Inuktitut. Iqaluit: Ittukuluuk Language Programs; 1995.

Swift M. Time in child Inuktitut: a developmental study of an Eskimo-Aleut language. New York: M. de Gruyter; 2004.

Toka Peet M. Pocket Inuktitut: a phrasebook for nearly all occasions. Winnipeg, MB: Mazinaate Inc; 2008.

Health Reports and Statistics

Reports on Inuit Health

Health Canada. Health Status of Canadians 2016. Ottawa: Public Health Agency of Canada; 2016.

Health Canada. et al. Inuit Oral Health Survey Report 2008-2009. 2011.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. Health Indicators of Inuit Nunangat within the Canadian Context. 2010.

 

Articles

Healey G, Meadows L. Inuit Women's Health in Nunavut, Canada: a Review of the Literature. International Journal of Circumpolar Health. 2007; 66(3): 199-214.

Jenkins A, et al. An overview of factors influencing the health of Canadian Inuit infants. International Journal of Circumpolar Health. 2003; 62(1): 17-39.

Residential Schools

Websites

Coping with Emotional Reactions. Health Canada. (2013).

Indian Residential School Survivors Society

Legacy of Hope

Native Residential Schools a Select Bibliography. Libraries and Archives Canada.

Residential School Interactive Map. Canadian Broadcast Corporation.

Residential School Locations. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

Residential School Records Resources. Library and Archives Canada.

We Were So Far Away

Articles

Boyer Y. First Nations, Metis, and Inuit women's health: a rights-based approach. Alberta Law Review. 2017; 54(3): 611-636.

Bombay A, et al. The intergenerational effects of Indian Residential Schools: implications for the concept of historical trauma. Transcultural Psychiatry. 2013; 51(3); 320-338.

Elias B, et al. Trauma and suicide behaviour histories among a Canadian indigenous population: an empirical exploration of the potential role of Canada's residential school system. Social Science & Medicine. 2012; 74(10): 1560-9.

Feir D, Auld M. The effect of Indian Residential Schools on height and body mass post-1930. University of  Victoria Economics Department Discussion Paper. 2017.

Hackett C, et al. Canada's residential school system: measuring the intergenerational impact of familial attendance on health and mental health outcomes. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 2016; 70(11):1096-1105.

Kaspar V. The lifetime effect of residential school attendance on indigenous health status. American Journal of Public Health. 2014; 104(11): 2184-90.

King D. A brief report of The Federal Government of Canada's Residential School System for Inuit. Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation; 2006.

Wilk P, et al. Residential schools and the effects on Indigenous health and well-being in Canada a scoping review. Public Health Reviews. 2017; 38(8).

Books

For more information on these titles click on the links below. For access to the full-text please contact us.

International Tribunal for the Disappeared of Canada, et al. Murder by decree: the crime of genocide in Canada: a counter report to the "Truth and Reconciliation Commission". Toronto: The International Tribunal for the Disappeared of Canada; 2016.

King D. The history of the federal residential schools for the Inuit located in Chesterfield Inlet, Yellowknife, Inuvik and Churchill, 1955-1970. Thesis Trent University; 1999.

Milloy J. A national crime: the Canadian government and the residential school system, 1879 to 1986. Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba Press; 2017.

Reynaud A. Emotions, remembering and feeling better: dealing with the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement in Canada. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag; 2017.

Traditional Healing

Articles

Bhattacharjee R, Maltby A. What does ‘holism’ mean in Indigenous mental health?. UWOMJ. 2017; 86(2):25-7.

Blignault I. et. al. Integration of Indigenous healing practices with western biomedicine in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Univted States of America: a scoping review protocol. JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports. 2018; 16(6):1354-1360. 

Brooker A. Counselling within Inuit systems in Canada's North. First Peoples Child and Family Review. 2015; 10(2):110-121.

Healey K, et al. The Eight Ujarait (Rocks) Model: supporting Inuit adolescent mental health with an intervention model based on Inuit ways of knowing. International Journal of Indigenous Health. 2016; 11(1):92-110.

Hirsch R, et. al. Going off, growing strong: a program to enhance individual youth and community resilience in the face of change in Nain, Nunatsiavut. Etudes Inuit Studies. 2016; 40(1): 63-84. (Please request)

Howell T, et. al. Sharing our wisdom: a holistic Aboriginal health initiative. International Journal of Indigenous Health. 2016; 11(1):111-132.

Robbins J. Traditional Indigenous Approaches to Healing the Modern Welfare of Traditional Knowledge, Spirituality and Lands: A critical reflection on practices and policies taken from the Canadian Indigenous Example. The International Indigenous Policy Journal. 2011; 2(4).

Books

For more information on these titles click on the links below. For access to the full-text please contact us.

First Nations Health Authority. Traditional wellness strategic framework. Vancouver; First Nations Health Authority; 2014.

Ross R. Indigenous healing: exploring traditional paths. Toronto; Penguin; 2014. 

Truth and Reconciliation

Websites

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

Qikiqtani Truth Commission

Reports

Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future. 2015. Summary of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. The Survivors Speak. 2015.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Canada's Residential Schools: The History, Part 1: Origins to 1939. Montreal: McGill Queen's University Press; 2015.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Canada's Residential Schools: The History, Part 2:1939 to 2000. Montreal: McGill Queen's University Press; 2015.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Canada's Residential Schools: The Inuit and Northern Experience. Montreal: McGill Queen's University Press; 2015.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Canada's Residential Schools: The Metis Experience. Montreal: McGill Queen's University Press; 2015.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Canada's Residential Schools: Missing Children and Unmarked Burials. Montreal: McGill Queen's University Press; 2015.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Canada's Residential Schools: The Legacy. Montreal: McGill Queen's University Press; 2015.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Canada's Residential Schools: Reconciliation. Montreal: McGill Queen's University Press; 2015.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. What We Have Learned: Principles of Truth and Reconciliation. 2015.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action. 2015.

Qikiqtani Inuit Association. QTC Final Report: Achieving Saimaqatigiingniq. Toronto: Inhabit Media; 2013.

Qikiqtani Inuit Association. Qikiqtani Truth Commission Final Report - Recommendations. 2018.

Books

For more information on these titles click on the links below. For access to the full-text please contact us.

Capitain B, Vanthuyne K. Power through testimony: reframing residential schools in the age of reconciliation. Vancouver: UBC Press; 2017.

International Tribunal for the Disappeared of Canada. Murder by decree: the crime of genocide in Canda: a counter report to the "Truth and Reconciliation Commission". Toronto:The International Tribunal for the Disappeared of Canada; (2016).

Land C. Decolonizing solidarity: dilemmas and directions for supporters of indigenous struggles. London: Zed Books; (2015).

Robinson D, Martin K. Arts of engagement: taking aesthetic action and beyond the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Waterloo:Wilfrid Laurier University Press; (2016).