Ethnobotany of the Kiluhikturmiut Inuinnait of Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Canada

Research Communicaon Ethnobotany of the Kiluhikturmiut Inuinnait of Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Canada Jonathan Duffy Davis1, Sandra Anne Banack2 Author address: 1Fullerton Arboretum, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92831, 2Instute for Ethnomedicine, P.O. Box 3464, Jackson, WY 83001 Received: September 24, 2012 Volume: 3:78‐90 Published: December 29, 2012 © 2012 Society of Ethnobiology Abstract: The disparity in floral diversity between tropical and arcc regions is reflected in a paucity of ethnobotanical research among arcc cultures. The Kiluhikturmiut Inuinnait are an Inuit subpopulaon who inhabit the Kikmeot Region of the Territory of Nunavut in Canada’s Arcc. We conducted an ethnobotanical survey in the Inuinnait hamlet of Kugluktuk to document the tradional uses of plants as food, materials, and medicine. Data were gathered through unstructured interviews, parcipant observaon, purposive sampling, and voucher‐specimen collecon of all plants used. Uses were documented for 23 plant species/types contained in 14 families. Nine species/types were eaten, six species/types were used as materials, and 12 species were used for medicine. Villagers shared common knowledge of plants used for food and materials; however, knowledge of medicinal plants was restricted to a single healer. We argue that specialized knowledge such as the use of medicinal plants is important to document especially when the number individuals using this knowledge is dwindling. Abstract: Pitquhiigut piruqhimayut qauyihaivluk qanuq inuit atuqtauvagait atungauyanik niqiuvluk, hanayauvagaillu, uumingalu havaurniillu. Pitquhiit piruqhimayut ihivgiuqtauanngiuni Ukiuqtartumi avangnit. Kiluhikturmiut Inuinnait huli anguniayuktuuvluk atuqpagait ublumi. Atuqtauangiuni haffuminga Ukiuqtartup pitquhiit piruqhimayut uumingalu huli atuqaaqhuk nunamiunnit taimaa pitquhiita arlingnaqhivakhunilu haffumingat pitquhiigut piruqhimayunit qauyi‐ harnirnit. Hamna atuqtauyumayunut ihivgiuqhiyainnit nalunaitkuhiutauvluni qanurmi atuqtauvagait atungauyait ilitquhiigut niriyauvagainullu, pitquhiigut, havauturnigullu Kiluhikturmiunnut Inuinnait. Hamna pitquhiigut piruqhi‐ mayut naunaiqhiniq aqtauvakhuk Kiluhikturmiunut Inuinnait pivalliahimavluni Qurluqturmi, Nunavunmi (67º47.881’ Kangangnaa; 115º 13.845’ Uataa). Nalunaiqhiyut qqagut kavagait unipkaaliuqhuk tautukpakhugillu ilauqatauyunut. Atuqtauvluk raqhimayait 23 nik uumayuit aadjikiingningit/qanuriunik atungauyainnit. Arvinilik pingahuanik niriyauhi‐ mavluk, arvinilik atauhirmik aadjikiingningit/qanuriunik atuqtauvagaillu pitquhiigut mikhaanut, uvvalu tualunik uumayuit aadjikiingningit atuqtauvagait havaukhainnit. Key words: ethnobiology, Coronaon Gulf , Arcc, specialized knowledge Introduction clothing. Families lived in shelters made from blocks The Inuit are aboriginal people indigenous to arctic of snow and traveled by dogsled (Jenness 1916; regions. Contemporary Inuit communities are Stefánsson 1913). When the ice receded in summer, dispersed from Siberia east to Greenland. Ancestors many groups turned inland to hunt caribou on the of the Inuit are believed to have migrated across the tundra, traveling on foot and sheltering in tents of Bering Strait from northeast Asia onto North animal hide (Stefánsson 1913). America approximately 4,500 years ago. Archaeologi- cal evidence indicates that populations radiated across The Inuinnait the continent, reaching Greenland within 500 years The Inuinnait are a subpopulation of Canadian Inuit (Helgason et al. 2006). who inhabit the Kitikmeot region in Nunavut, Traditionally, the Inuit migrated across ice and Canada. The relative isolation and inaccessibility of tundra to exploit seasonally available prey popula- the central Canadian Arctic protected the Inuinnait tions. In winter, the frozen ocean provided access to from the contact with Europeans experienced much seals and other marine mammals that were hunted for earlier by Inuit groups closer to the Atlantic and their ample supplies of fat to be used for food and Pacific Oceans. Prior to the early twentieth-century, fuel, and waterproof skins for the construction of contact with non-indigenous peoples was limited to 78 Research Communicaon brief and sporadic encounters with explorers and Inuinnait have identified and retained knowledge of Royal Navy sailors (Condon 1996). After spending useful and biologically active plants for food, materi- seven months with a group of Inuinnait on Victoria als, and the treatment of disease. Island, Jenness (1916) reported the sustained use of stone-age technology and regarded the Inuinnait as Methods the only remaining Inuit group still living a traditional Kugluktuk began as the Inuinnait settlement of lifestyle. The sustained presence of European traders Coppermine. Today it is a hamlet of approximately in the Coronation Gulf region began at the beginning 1,300 people situated on the southwestern shore of of the twentieth century (Condon 1996). the Coronation Gulf in the Kitikmeot Region of The fur-trade influenced Inuinnait culture and Nunavut (67˚49.3’ N; 115˚04.8’ W). Field research had a long-lasting impact on hunting practices, was conducted in June and July of 2006 while living in economy, and migration patterns: the arctic fox was Kugluktuk. hunted for its fur which was traded for novel goods Data were gathered through daily participant such as rifles, tobacco, sugar, flour, and tea. This new observation and unstructured ethnographic inter- economy spurred settlements around trading posts views. Opportunities for participant observation (Condon 1996). The first two trading posts were included hunting and fishing trips, walks around the constructed in Coronation Gulf region in the summer periphery of town, and other excursions. Purposive of 1916. By 1963 72% of the Inuinnait population sampling methods were used as a tool to select lived in the two main settlements of Coppermine and community participants (Tongco 2007). Interviews Holman (Usher 1965). were conducted according to guidelines presented by Inuinnait life has changed considerably since the Spradley (1979). Five male traditional hunters, four early twentieth century. The Inuinnait now live in community elders (female=3 ; male=1), and a single modular homes. Travel is often accomplished female traditional healer were interviewed in depth. through all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles. These individuals were chosen based on recommenda- Kugluktuk has a health clinic, a school that provides tions of community leaders, active hunting and elementary and secondary education, several church- gathering during the period of study, ability to identify es, and offices of the municipal and territorial plants in the field, and availability. A hunter was government. Food and other supplies arrive regularly considered to be someone who remained actively by plane and once or twice each summer by ocean engaged in hunting. An elder was an older person freighter. These supplemental freight charges greatly who had grown up on the land and experienced a inflate the cost of goods in Arctic communities. The reasonably traditional life; the current Inuinnait exorbitant cost of market foods is offset by subsist- settlements did not exist during the childhood of ence hunting, a culturally salient practice that contin- these elders. Only one traditional healer was identi- ues today. Kuhnlein et al. (2004) estimated that 28% fied by community members as residing within of the calories in the average Inuit diet was still Kugluktuk during the period of fieldwork. derived from wild-harvested foods. Caribou (Rangifer A local-government native speaking interpreter tarandus C.H. Smith Cervidae) and arctic char was contracted for interviews with two of the commu- (Salvelinus alpinus L. Salmonidae) remain integral to the nity elders. Other participants were bilingual or spoke Inuinnait culture and livelihood. Both are actively English as their primary language. No material sought and relished. compensation was provided to study participants. Carl Linnaeus pioneered ethnobotanical methods Informed consent was obtained from each participant. in 1732 while living among the Sami of Lapland. Documentation of traditional knowledge was ap- Since this notable beginning, ethnobotanical research proved by the Nunavut Research Institute. Interview has remained relatively uncommon among arctic methods were approved by California State Universi- cultures. The objective of this study was to document ty, Fullerton IRB. the traditional and contemporary uses for plants Each plant species mentioned during interviews among the Kiluhikturmiut Inuinnait of Kugluktuk, was collected, identified using Porsild and Cody Nunavut, Canada. It was predicted that even within (1980) by Davis, and deposited at four herbaria the depauperate flora of the Coronation Gulf region (California State University Fullerton (MACF), Gray of the central Canadian Arctic, the Kiluhikturmiut Herbarium at Harvard (GH), University of Guelph (OAC), and the Canadian Museum of Nature (CAN). 79 Research Communicaon Table 1. Contemporary Use of Plants by the Kiluhikturmiut Inuinnait Plants used by the Kiluhikturmiut Inuinnait for food. Name Family Uses Mentions (n=10) Arctostaphylos spp. Ericaceae leaves, infusion 2 (kablaq) Empetrum nigrum Empetraceae raw fruit, mixed with fat 7 (paun’ngaq) Hedysarum alpinum Fabaceae raw root, boiled 8 (mahuk) Oxyria digyna Polygonaceae raw leaves and flowers, prepared in a concoction 9* (qunguliit) Pedicularis capitata Scrophulariaceae raw nectar 1* Rubus chamaemorus Rosaceae raw

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