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Tariurmiutuakun Qanuq Atuutiviksaitlu Ilitchuriyaqput Ingilraan Inuvialuit Qulianginnin Learning About Marine Resources and Their Use Through Inuvialuit Oral History Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre Tariurmiutuakun Qanuq Atuutiviksaitlu Ilitchuriyaqput Ingilraan Inuvialuit Qulianginnin Learning About Marine Resources and Their Use Through Inuvialuit Oral History Wesley Ovayuak stands on the tail of a beluga whale while eating maktak, ca. 1960s, Tuktoyaktuk. (Department of Information/NWT Archives/G-1979-023-1194) Report prepared for the Beaufort Sea Integrated Management Planning Initiative (BSIMPI) Working Group Funding provided by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre By Elisa J. Hart and Beverly Amos, Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre With guidance from Billy Day, Andy Tardiff, Frank Pokiak, and Max Kotokak, members of the Traditional Knowledge Sub-Group of the Beaufort Sea Integrated Management Planning Initiative Working Group. © Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre, 2004 ISUMAGIYAVUT Ukuanik makpiraaliurapta isumagiyavut tamaita COPEkutigun Akuqtuyualuit (Catholic) minisitaitkutigunlu nipiliurmata quliaqlutik ingilraanik qulianik. Ilagilugitlu savaktuat COPEmi, apiqsuqtuatlu, inugiaktuatlu mumiktisiyuat savaqasiqtuatlu. Quyanainniirikputlu Katliit minisitait katitchivakpangmata qulianik Inuvialungnin inuusimiktigun. Quyagiyavut innaaluit inugiaktuat nipiliurmata ukiungani 1950mingaaniin qitiqqanun aglaan 1970it, ilisarvigiyavut savaaptingnun. Quyanainni! DEDICATION This report is dedicated to all of the people who made the COPE and Oblate oral history tapes. That includes COPE staff, interviewers and the many translators who worked on the project. Thanks also to the Oblate priests who knew the importance of gathering Inuvialuit history. We are very grateful to the many elders that were interviewed between the 1950s to mid-1970s, and who we were able to learn from in this project. Thank you! People at East Whitefish Station, ca. 1940s. (Based on photo by Department of Information/NWT Archives/N-1979-050-0001) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We extend our gratitude to the Beaufort Sea Integrated Management Planning Initiative (BSIMPI) Working Group and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) for the opportunity to work on this project. We appreciate the advice and guidance provided by the Inuvialuit members of BSIMPI Traditional Knowledge Sub-Group. They are Billy Day, Frank Pokiak, Andy Tardiff and Max Kotokak. Thank you also to Doug Chiperzak for his assistance with this project. The authors appreciate the help of Agnes Nasogaluak in providing the dual and plural forms of words in Siglitun. We also appreciate the patience and willingness of Edgar Kotokak, David Nasogaluak, Gordon Aknaviak, Frank Cockney, and Noah Felix of Tuktoyaktuk who helped us verify some of the information for this report. A big thank you to Agnes Felix and Mabel Noksana for their great work as interpreters. Thanks also to Persis Gruben for helping identify some people in photographs. Thank you to Dianne Michalak for producing the maps of named places, and to Don Cobb of DFO for making it possible to call upon Dianne's expertise. Richard Vladars of the Inuvialuit Land Administration provided some revised place names data files for the Husky Lakes area. Thanks to Jim Hines of the Canadian Wildlife Service for some feedback on the list of Siglitun words for birds. We appreciate the assistance of Pete Cott and Andrew Majewski of DFO for identifying some fish that we had Siglitun names for but not scientific ones. We are grateful to Kevin Bill of the Fisheries Joint Management Committee for providing some photographs. Thanks to Peggy Jay for the photographs and to Jill Hart for all the work on the layout. COVER PHOTOGRAPHS Top left hand corner: Wesley Ovayuak of Tuktoyaktuk stands on the tail of a beluga whale while eating maktak, ca. 1960s. (Based on photo by Department of Information/NWT Archives/G-1979-023-1194) Top middle photograph: Robert Kuptana and Peter Esau skinning seals, July 1958. (Based on photo by © R.C. Knights/NWT Archives/N-1993-002-0260) Top right hand photograph: Tim Lennie and Wallace Lucas skinning a polar bear. (Based on photo by © R.C. Knights/NWT Archives/N-1993-002-0335) Background photograph: Water off the coast of Tuktoyaktuk. (Based on photo by John Poirier/Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre) Raddi Koiksak, Felix Nuyaviak and Jim Cockney, ca. 1948-1956. (Based on Terrance Hunt/NWT Archives/N-1979-062-0064) Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre Table of CONTENTS SIVULLIRMI—INTRODUCTION 1 BACKGROUND ON BSIMPI 3 QANUQILIURUTAIT SAVAANGITIGUN—METHOD 5 DESCRIPTION OF THE ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS 5 Committee for Original Peoples' Entitlement (COPE) Oral History Fonds (NWT Archives N-1992-253) 5 The Oblates of Mary Immaculate Fonds (NWT Archives N-1992-007) 6 Material at the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre 6 THE INFORMATION SOUGHT 6 VERIFICATION 7 Verification of the Spelling of Siglitun Words 7 The Spelling of Peoples' Names 7 Verification with Elders 7 THE ROLE OF THE BSIMPI TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE SUB-GROUP 9 First Meeting 9 Additional Meetings 10 QANUQILIURUTAIT NAATDJVINGANI—RESULTS 11 THE NARRATIVES 11 WORKING WITH THE TRANSCRIPTS 11 Challenges in Using the Archival Collections 11 THE USE AND EDITING OF NARRATIVES 13 The Narratives Selected 13 Editing Narratives 13 Variation in the Spelling of the Same Words 13 Spelling of Place Names 14 PLACE NAME MAPS 14 INFORMATION ON MARINE RESOURCES 14 Presenting the Results 15 INUVIALUIT INGILRAAN—BACKGROUND ON INUVIALUIT 17 THE GROUPS OF INUVIALUIT 17 REGIONAL VARIATION IN RESOURCE USE 19 CHANGING TIMES 21 QILALUGAQ—BELUGA WHALE 25 HUNTING AND PROCESSING WHALES 26 Numbers of Whales Needed Per Family 32 Conservation Methods in Hunting 32 BELUGA HUNTING IN OTHER AREAS 33 Whaling from Kendall and Pullen Island 33 Whaling from Tuktoyaktuk 34 Whaling from Baillie Island or Avvaq 34 Whaling at Niaqunnaq 36 Further Verification Required 36 CHANGES IN WHALING TECHNOLOGY 37 Kayaks 37 Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre Whale Boats 37 Engines in Whale Boats and Schooners 39 Small Boats with Outboard Motors 40 The Use of Rifles 41 The Use of Whale Nets 42 SELLING MAKTAK 43 EXCEPTIONAL YEARS FOR BELUGA 43 GWICH'IN WHALING 43 SUMMARY 44 ARVIQ—BOWHEAD WHALE 45 BOWHEAD WHALE HUNTERS 45 THE BOWHEAD HUNT 47 THE USE OF BOWHEAD WHALES 50 THE AMERICAN WHALING FLEET 50 The Use of Drift or Waste Whales 51 Trading Maktak for Caribou 53 INUVIALUIT BOWHEAD WHALING IN THE 1920s 53 SUMMARY 54 TINGMIARYUIT, TINGMILUAQQAT, TINGMILUIT/TINGMILUVIIT—BIRDS, DUCKS, GEESE AND SWANS 55 HUNTING BIRDS 56 The Spring Hunt 56 Collecting Eggs 60 Hunting Moulting Ducks and Geese 60 Using Nets or Snares 62 Hunting Gulls 62 A New Way to Trap Geese and Swans 63 Other Uses for Birds 63 SUMMARY 63 NANUQ—POLAR BEAR 65 POLAR BEAR HUNTING 66 Hunting with Dogs 67 Hunting Denning Bears 69 Using Bait to Catch Bears 71 KNOWING WHERE TO FIND BEARS 71 FLUCTUATING NUMBERS OF BEARS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF POLAR BEAR MEAT 72 HARVEST NUMBERS 75 LOCATIONS OF POLAR BEAR HUNTS 76 THE USE OF POLAR BEARS 77 NON-HUNTING ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN HUMANS AND POLAR BEARS 78 Bears and Food Caches 81 Bears Taking a Hunter's Kill 82 SUMMARY 83 NATCHIQ, UGYUK AND AIVIQ —RINGED SEAL, BEARDED SEAL AND WALRUS 85 NATCHIQ—RINGED SEAL 85 UGYUK—BEARDED SEAL 87 AIVIQ—WALRUS 87 THE USE OF SEALS 88 Food and Fuel for People 88 Non-Food Uses for Seals 89 Trading or Selling Seal Skins 90 Non-Inuvialuit Use of Seals 91 Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre SEAL HUNTING 92 Breathing Hole Sealing 92 Hunting at Open Water in Winter 94 Using Seal Nets 96 The Unpredictable Nature of Seal Hunting 97 Locations of Seal Hunts 97 SUMMARY 100 IQALUIT—FISH 103 FISHING THROUGH THE YEAR 105 FISH RUNS 107 FISHING TECHNIQUES 108 Net Fishing 108 Sweep Netting 111 Hook and Line 111 Other Methods of Catching Fish 112 PREPARING AND STORING FISH 113 Preparing Fish 113 Storage in Seal Skin Bags 113 Fish Pits 114 Loss of Cached Fish 114 NON-FOOD USES FOR FISH 115 FISH FOR DOG FOOD 115 SELLING FISH 116 Catching Fish for a Mink Ranch 116 PLACES TO FISH 117 Avvaq and Utqaluk 117 Maitland Point 117 Mason River 118 Anderson River 119 Tom Cod Bay 119 The Coast between Atkinson Point and Tuktoyaktuk 120 Fishing at Kangianiq 121 Fishing near Kitigaaryuit 122 Fishing at Singiryuaq 122 Fishing at Shingle Point 123 Uncertain Location 123 SUMMARY 124 NAIGLILAARUTAIT—SUMMARY 127 SOME KEY POINTS PRESENTED IN THE TRANSCRIPTS 127 Limitations in Geographical Coverage within the Study Area 127 The Shifting Use of Marine Resources in Changing Times 127 The Importance and Unpredictability of Open Water Areas in Winter 128 Fluctuating Numbers of Polar Bears, Seals and Whales 128 Polar Bears as Food 128 Harvesting Locations 128 RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 128 The Importance of Translation 129 Developing Terminology Lists in Inuvialuktun 129 Further Research to Determine the Years that Events Took Place 129 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK WITH THE COPE AND OBLATE ORAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS 130 CONCLUSION 130 Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre REFERENCES CITED 131 APPENDIX A TOPICS OF INTEREST PROVIDED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS 137 APPENDIX B A SELECTION OF SIGLITUN WORDS RELATED TO MARINE RESOURCES AND THEIR USE 139 APPENDIX C LIST OF TRANSCRIPTS REVIEWED IN THE COPE AND OBLATE ORAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS 153 APPENDIX D MAPS OF TRADITIONALLY NAMED PLACES IN THE STUDY AREA 163 SIVULLIRMI—INTRODUCTION When people gathered together they told stories about the people before them. To hear them tell these stories one would think our ancestors were rich people never going hungry. Every bit of food they caught was stored away and nothing was wasted. Even the fish they caught, every bit of it they saved. They were scaled and dried into dryfish. The liver, eggs and gizzards were all cleaned, dried, and stored in bags of fish oil. This was very delicious and one could not stop eating once he started.

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