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Nunavimmiut Sea Ice Terminology

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Nunavimmiut Sea Ice Terminology Appendix A Nunavimmiut Sea Ice Terminology Chris Furgal, Martin Tremblay, and Eli Angiyou Contributors: Annie Baron, Tuumasi Annanack, Sarah Tukkiapik, Peter Tookalook, Annie Kasudluak, Michael Barrett, Laina Grey and Agata Durkalec. Inuit knowledge constitutes an important tool for adaptation to climate change among Nunavimmiut (Inuit of Nunavik) in Northern Quebec (Nunavik). Since 2003 the Kativik Regional Government (KRG) has been conducting research with the communities of the region on the topic of climate change, impacts, and adaptation with a specific focus on ice and ice safety for community travel and access to land- and sea-based resources (hunting, fishing, and gathering activities). Within the framework of this project, researchers from KRG and Trent University have been working with Nunavik communities to establish local ice monitoring programs as well as document Inuit knowledge. Since 2006, this project has been conducted as part of a larger Inuit sea ice research project called the “Inuit Sea Ice Use and Occupancy Project (ISIUOP)” funded under the International Polar Year Program. Between 2006 and 2008 the Nunavik project team carried out a series of semi-directed interviews with experienced hunters and elders from four Nunavik communities – Umiujaq, Akulivik, Kangiqsualujjuaq, and Kuujjuaq. In addition, supplementary interviews were also conducted as part of cooperative projects in Ivujivik, Nunavik and Sanikiluaq, Nunavut. The interviews were conducted to document and understand changes in sea and lake ice dynamics taking place in the region and to document local knowledge on strategies and approaches to adaptation to these changes. Through a review of the interview transcripts a lexicon of Inuttitut terms used in the communities to describe the various ice formations and related processes of ice formation and breakup was also developed. The initial list of ice terminology was then verified and further developed during return trips to the communities and follow-up interviews with the local ice experts. The list was then enhanced by the addition of terms gathered and included in research interviews done in Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, as part of the Voices From The Bay project (McDonald et al., 1997). The impressive terminological richness presented in the list below results from the great knowledge of elders and experienced hunters of the ice-covered land and ocean and of the physical processes structuring their environment. This list of lexicon used in the four Nunavik communities, including additions from Sanikiluaq as presented in McDonald et al. (1997), is one of the many products of the Nunavik research project underway on this topic. The vocabulary presented in the attached list used to describe the ice varies according to the dialects across the region of Nunavik. Within region differences I. Krupnik et al. (eds.), SIKU: Knowing Our Ice, 453 DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-8587-0, C Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 454 Appendix A can be observed between the terms used by Nunavimmiut from southern and north- ern areas of Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Ungava Bay. For example, the term allanuk that means “mobile ice” among Umiujamiut is replaced by the term aulaniq among Ivujivimiut. There are also synonyms used within the same community. The term pirtutak used by Akulivimiut to mean ice formed by a fine layer of snow deposited on water can also be called tuktuyaq by members of the same community. The Inuttitut terminology of the ice is rich and precise. Certain words, in addi- tion to describing the actual forms of ice, relate to the processes of their formation. An interesting example comes from the Hudson Bay area where local ice experts use, among others, three Inuttitut terms to describe the process of sea ice melting in spring, upingasak, upingaak, and akunaagiq. Upingasak indicates the stage of melting at the beginning of spring, the first phase of the melt. During this phase, the ice, which is white at the end of the winter, adopts a blue color from the snowmelt and eventually turns white once again after the snow has melted on top of it, and the water it forms has drained from its surface. Akunaagiq refers to the second phase of melting that follows upingasak. From the accumulation of water related to the melting of the ice, the ice adopts a white, blue, and then black color. It is considered not safe to travel on when it is black in appearance. Upingaak refers to the third and last phase of melting in spring. During this phase, the ice is not safe to travel or walk-on. Inuit knowledge of the ice, in particular the terminology of sea ice, formations, and processes, provides valuable insights into the processes of ice formation and breakup in these communities. The value of this knowledge in protecting individu- als in the community from unsafe travel or hunting conditions related to ice stability cannot be underestimated. Local ice terminology constitutes a set of structured terms passed down from generation to generation describing a dynamic environment that has always been in a state of change. However, the transmission of this knowl- edge to younger generations appears to be challenged and perhaps hindered by a number of other changes going on within many Inuit communities. We recommend that this type of traditional knowledge be included in the local school curriculum via the involvement of elders and experienced hunters and the use of student trips or other processes for experiential knowledge transmission. To support the use of traditional Nunavik ice terminology and facilitate its use in schools and other pub- lic programs, the research team leading this project produced a color poster with some (50) Inuttitut ice terms and their associated English explanations (see attached Table for complete list of terms). We hope that this form of documentation and dis- semination will be of some assistance in raising awareness about the importance of this living dictionary of the environment present in the collective knowledge of many Inuit elders and experienced travelers and the value of this knowledge for fac- ing future changes in these regions including those related to climate change and environmental variability. Appendix A 455 Acknowledgments The information presented in this document is the knowledge shared by Elders and other experts in the communities of Akulivik, Ivujivik, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Kangiqsujuaq, Kuujjuaq, Sanikiluaq, and Umiujuaq. We are grateful to them for their willingness to participate in the project and share their knowledge of the land and sea with the project team. We also thank the Kativik Regional Government, ArcticNet, Consortium Ouranos, Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the International Polar Year Program (through the ISIUOP Project), the Nasivvik Centre, Transport Québec, Centre d’études nordiques, Laval University, Trent University, and the Makivik Corporation for financial and in-kind support for this project. 456 Term Synonym (community of (community of Kangiqsua specific use) specific use) Description Season Umiujaq Akulivik Kuujjuaq lujjuaq Sanikiluaq √ Akgutitak Qinuarq • Slushy mixture of ice and snow that freezes into Winter X Qinuarq (Akulivik) flexible ice and moves with the waves Akimmitavinirk • Was against the head wind X • Aggiqakkuit Were lifted onto the ice by sea currents or waves X √ • Aggiraqtavining Ice broken by strong currents or high winds Winter X √ Akgitkuit • Forms when ice is broken up by strong currents or Winter X waves colliding against the floe edge and the broken ice is submerged, allowing new ice to form on top √ Apputainaq • Thin layer of “false ice” covering open water; a crack covered with snow, without any ice beneath the snow √ Aqiqakuit Akitkuit • Piled ice formed on top of the submerged ice; see Winter akgitkuit √ Aulaning Allanuk • Moving ice; formed ice continuously moving in Winter X currents beyond the floe edge; pack ice often moving near the shore Ikiarik • Piece of solid ice pushed on top of another during Winter X X a wind storm or by spring tides. Evidently from ikiaq – between two surfaces that adhere to each other √ Ikiqtiniq Immatiniq, • Water in lakes between ice and land during the Spring Tungirliniq spring thaw in the west √ Iktaniq Milutsinik • Snow-soaked water that freezes at the floe edge. Appendix A Unsafe due to sea currents it is avoided by hunters and animals Appendix A Term Synonym (community of (community of Kangiqsua specific use) specific use) Description Season Umiujaq Akulivik Kuujjuaq lujjuaq Sanikiluaq Immatinning • A pool of melted ice in the tidal area (Ungava) Spring X X Iniruvik – ice crack (joint) that opens and closes continuously like a hinge during high and low tides, but does not shift sideways. Ivunik – rough, scrambled ice of varying thickness formed when moving ice collides with the floe edge and piles up Iniruvik • Ice fissured by changes in the tide and frozen Winter X again by cold temperatures. Safe to walk-on except when it is newly formed Ittiniq (Umiujaq), • Calf ice that piles on the edge of the landfast ice WinterXXX Ittinirq (tuvaq) at the tidal line. This ice grows (Akulivik, continuously above the rocks, lifted by the sea Kuujjuaq) beneath. This ice can be observed in rivers where a tide exists Ittiniviniit • Remains of pack ice at the tidal line between the Spring X X X land and the solid shore ice. Can be observed in spring when shore ice is carried off by winds or tides √ Ivujialik Sikuttigutjaq • Someone who is a victim of ice pressure ridges Spring X • Ivujiarivait The moving ice floes crush him in rough weather Winter X√ X Ivujiarivait • Ice flows that claim a life as they breakup Winter Ivujut • The piling up of ice flows under pressure out at Winter X X sea √ Ivusijuq • Strong winds or currents that are forcing ice floes Winter X to pile up √ Killinigursituq • (Killinigusiqtuq) there are ice floes forming 457 458 Term Synonym (community of (community of Kangiqsua specific use) specific use) Description Season Umiujaq Akulivik Kuujjuaq lujjuaq Sanikiluaq Killiniq • Side of ice closest to open water and furthest from XX X mainland Kiviniq • A depression usually formed near shorelines and XX created by the weight of high-tide water that has risen through the cracks.
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