Recharting the Courses of History: Mapping Concepts of Community, Archaeology, and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit in the Canadian Territory of Nunavut by Brendan Griebel A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology University of Toronto © Brendan Griebel, 2013 Recharting the Courses of History: Mapping Concepts of Community, Archaeology, and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit in the Canadian Territory of Nunavut Brendan Griebel Doctorate of Philosophy Department of Anthropology University of Toronto 2013 Abstract This dissertation considers the contemporary place of history in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The political evolution of Nunavut has led to a situation in which incoming archaeology projects must justify their research according to standards of benefit and relevance to Inuit people. Archaeology is desired to function within a framework of ‘Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit’—more popularly known as IQ, or Inuit traditional knowledge—so as to foster the survival of Inuit culture and traditions in the modern world. As a result of this mandate, Arctic archaeology has been forced to re-position its research in relation to community engagement, social and political landscapes, and Inuit production of historical meaning. Through a series of interviews and ethnographic case studies in the Nunavut municipality of Cambridge Bay, this research will ask how the application of a community-based approach can help archaeologists and Inuit create a hybridized, or ‘parallel,’ form of archaeological engagement that furthers community wellness and the creation of more nuanced history-based identities. I argue that by shifting the practice of archaeology into local frameworks of experience and learning, resulting research can create new archaeological awareness regarding the nature of Nunavummiut memory and community, while at the same time meeting territorial desires for historical investigation to be conducted in a manner both inspired by, and compatible with, concepts of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. Acknowledgements As will hopefully be evident throughout the following dissertation, the research and projects that form this work represent the cumulative effort of a community dedicated to ensuring that Inuit traditions and history remain strong in the North. These individuals are numerous, and my heartfelt thanks go out to those who donated their time, wisdom and passion to help shape this work. Of foremost note are the tireless contributions of Cambridge Bay’s elders, a group that must be acknowledged as the true pillar of Arctic community and culture. I would especially like to thank Mary Avalak, Mabel Etegik, Mary Kilaodluk, Annie Atighioyak, Anna Nahagolak, Lena Kamoagyok, and Mary Kaniak for their unfailing patience in helping me gain insight into Inuit culture. It is rare that one finds oneself adopted by seven grandmothers, and it is an experience that I will always hold dear. Another special acknowledgement must be made to all the Kitikmeot Heritage Society staff with whom I’ve worked over the years, including Kim Crockatt, Renee Krucas, Kate Collins, Emily Angulalik, Darren Keith, Paul Billowes, Carmen Firlotte, Lisa Bachellier, Trisha Ogina and Monica Egotak. Very special mentions are also in order for Ben Shook, Erin Freeland, Terry Pamplin and Pam Gross for contributing their skills and friendship to this work. I would like to express my gratitude for all the academic support I have received on this project. Foremost, to my supervisor Max Friesen for his unflinching encouragement of my work. His confidence in letting me handle a decade’s worth of his carefully cultivated community partnerships and projects continues to baffle me, and I can only hope my research lives up to the strong precedent he has set for the region. I also thank committee members Michael Chazan and Lena Mortensen for providing thoughtful feedback on my dissertation and challenging me to articulate a very personal story into a more widely readable narrative. Last but not least, I would like to thank my external examiner Stephen Loring for sharing his deep knowledge and empathy of the Arctic. Our forefathers have told us much of the coming of earth, and of men, and it was a long, long while ago. Those who lived before our day, they did not know how to store their words in little black marks, as you do; they could only tell stories. And they told of many things, and therefore we are not without knowledge of these things, which we have heard told many and many a time, since we were little children. Old women do not waste their words idly, and we believe what they say. Old age does not lie. -Arnâluk explaining the nature of Inuit stories to anthropologist Knud Rasmussen, 1903 (Rasmussen 1921:16) Table of Contents Preface: On the Use of Maps……………………………………………..……………1 Chapter 1 Introduction Introduction……………………………………………..…………………………9 A New Path to History...……………………………………………..………....10 “Why archaeology?”……………………………………………..…………….. 12 The Potential of Community Archaeology……………………………………17 Creating an IQ-Situated Framework…………………..….…………………...20 Dissertation Overview……………………………………………..……………23 Dissertation Layout….……………………………..……………………………26 Chapter 2 Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: Tradition as Identity and Survival in the Canadian Arctic Introduction……………………………………………..…………………….….32 The Rise of Nunavut………………………………..…………………………...35 Inuit Identity and Historical Consciousness………………………………….39 Nunavut: A New Place for Inuit History……………………………………...45 Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and the Politicization of History………………..…47 Building Identity and IQ through Archaeology……………………………...55 Conclusion……………………..…………………………………………………58 Chapter 3 Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and the Mapping of History, Heritage and Time Introduction……………………………………………..………………….…….63 Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit as Inuit Epistemology.……….……………………..66 Inuit Perceptions of Landscape and Temporality…………………………….69 A Brief History of Inuit Mapping………………………………………………74 Navigating Time…………………………………...…………………………….79 Conclusion……………………………………………..…………………………81 Chapter 4 Mapping (and Counter-mapping) the History of Nunavut Introduction……………………………………………..………………….….…86 Pre-Contact Inuit Archaeology……………………………………………..…..88 The Pioneers of Arctic Archaeology…………………………………………...91 World War Two and the Cultural Dislocation of History…………………...96 Inuit Land Use and Occupancy……………………………………………….100 The Arctic Permit Crisis…………..……………………………………………108 Mapping and Re-mapping: What has Changed in Arctic Archaeology?....112 Conclusion……………………………………………..………………………..122 Chapter 5 Looking Forward: Contemporary Voices on the Future of Nunavut’s Past Introduction……………………………………………..………………………126 Interview Methodology………………………..………………………………127 Research Relationships in Nunavut…………..………………………………130 The Place of Archaeology...……………………………………………………134 The Benefit of Archaeology……………………………………………………138 Education and Remembering…………………………………………………140 An Interview with Three Emerging Inuit Archaeologists…….……………143 Discussion……………………………………………………………………….151 Conclusion……………………………………………..…………..……………152 Chapter 6 The Research Lens of Community Archaeology Introduction: The Human Face of History….………………………….….…157 The Rise of Community Archaeology………………………………….….…160 Community Archaeology as a Coherent Approach…………………..….…166 Mapping Community Archaeology: Guidelines and Explicit Practice...…169 Collective Identity, Democracy, and Relevance: Defining the Core Themes of Community Archaeology……………………………………………….….173 Conclusion……………………………………………..……………………..…183 Chapter 7 Community Archaeology in Practice: Ethnography and the Establishment of Local Partnerships and Perspectives Introduction……………………………………………..………………………188 The New Ethnography………………………………………………………...191 Cambridge Bay: A Social History in Street Signs………………………..….194 Project Methodology: On Building and Re-building……………………….207 Learning in Cambridge Bay…………………………………………………...210 A Partnership Formed: The Kitikmeot Heritage Society…………………...214 Defining Community in Cambridge Bay…………………………………….218 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………220 Chapter 8 The Pembroke Site: Community Archaeology as Excavation Introduction………..……………………..………………..……………………225 The Pembroke Site: an overview……….……………………………………..227 Pembroke as Community Excavation…..……………………………………231 Assessing the Impact and Challenges…..……………………………………234 Looking Beyond Excavation…………….…………………………………….239 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………247 Chapter 9 Artifacts and Exhibits: Building History from ‘Things’ Introduction……………………………………………..………………………253 On Histories and Objects………………………………………………………254 The Cambridge Bay Casting Program: Artifacts as Replicas………………260 Widening the Circle: Artifacts as Mediums of Personal, Societal and Temporal Reflection……………………………………………………………264 The Kayak Program: Artifacts as Cultural Revitalization……..…...………267 Lessons learned from the Land: Artifacts and Environment………………276 Bringing the Land Indoors: Artifacts as Museum Exhibits………...………279 Conclusion……………………………………………..………………..………283 Chapter 10 Building From the Ground Up: The Community Qalgiq Project Introduction……………………………………………..………………………288 Qalgiq Structures in the Archaeological and Ethnographic Record………290 Qalgiq Use and Ritual………………………………………………………….294 Qalgiq Reconstruction…………………………………………………………295 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………308 Chapter 11 Living History, Archaeology and the Importance of Memory in Nunavut Introduction……………………………………………..………………………314 On the Importance of Memory………………………………………………..316 Memory,