Go! Diversity Event - Inuit Culture

Inuit Culture of North Canada, 7pm on Sep. 21, Great Hall, Memorial Union
"Nunavut: My Land" by Peter Irniq

Last Wednesday, I made my way to the Memorial Union with my friend and fellow Shelby Co Hixson scholar, Jonna Anderson. I was kind of expecting a lot. After all, I didn't know a whole lot about the Inuit culture aside from the fact that I was pretty sure it was the politically correct term for 'eskimos'.

When Peter Irniq - the speaker - was young his tribe lived in small groups in igloos in the winter and in movable tents during the summer. He was actually born in an igloo in 1941. Out of his five siblings, only he and his sister survived the harsh conditions. It was a society based on hunting, travelled by dog teams, hunted caribou, and had a nature-based religion. When he was about six years old he was taken to a boarding school and not allowed to speak his own Inuit language. All of the students were forced to learn and speak English.

Nowadays, his tribe lives in houses, drive cars, is Christianized, and do the things normal Americans (and Canadians, I suppose, too) do. In less than fifty years, his tribe went from igloos to internet. Young people in his tribe now have a much better opportunity to reach out to the rest of the world. Tourism is becoming a very big part of Nunavut's economy. There's also a very big mining industry in the Arctic.

My favorite part of the presentation was about the Inuit artwork. Inuits, in general, are very great artists according to the speaker. There are many talented carvers of stone and bone. Inuit crafts are in high demand. Arts and crafts promote Inuit culture, environment, and animals. Peter Irniq is in the process of installing artwork in Ames parks. He stated that the purpose of the artwork is the survival of Inuit. He has done over twenty similar pieces in cities like Chicago and Santa Fe. These pieces are called An inuksuk (plural inuksuit), and is a stone landmark or cairn built by human In the old days. There wasn't glue to hold together the stones of the inuksuit in the old days, but the ones being built in Ames will have cement to hold them in place. Its said that if you knock them down, you're destined to have bad luck.

The presentation featured a slideshow of pictures from Nunavut and Peter Irniq's Inuit tribe. I found it very educational, especially under the circumstances that it only lasted an hour. It was one of those few presentations that didn't seem to just drag on, and I really liked it :)