Ihalmiut
Encyclopedia
The Ihalmiut or Ahiarmiut ("the Out-of-the-Way Dwellers") are a group of inland Inuit
who lived along the banks of the Kazan River, Ennadai Lake
Little Dubawnt Lake
(renamed Kamilikuak), and north of Thlewiaza ("Big River") in northern Canada
's Keewatin Region
of the Northwest Territories
, now the Kivalliq Region ("Barren Lands") of present-day Nunavut
. Ihalmiut were Caribou Inuit
, inland-dwelling people in the Barren Lands region whose subsistence centered around hunting caribou ("deer"). Ihalmiut survival through dark Arctic
winters on a diet centered on dried caribou meat, and when it was gone, hunting for ptarmigan (Nunavut's official bird), until the spring return of caribou.
.
's post managers, at the company's Windy Post, located in 1936 on a portion of Windy River called Simmons Lake, and later moved to Nueltin Lake
. Ihalmiut traded their outer parkas, deerskin boots, and fur pelts at the post for guns, ammunition, and tea. Chipewyan
and Metis
traded here, too.
visited and lived among them in the 1940s. At the time, they were located between Lake Yathkyed and Lake Ennadai, in the area of the Padlermiut.
Mowat wrote several books about his experiences and the subsequent fate of the Ihalmiut people including People of the Deer
and The Desperate People. Based on the oral histories of the people, he estimated that the Ihalmiut had numbered 7,000 in 1886, down to 40 by 1947-48, and by 1950, only 30 remained. Their destruction was due to changes in their hunting dynamics (from hunting for food to hunting for furs), introduction of flour and sugar into their diet (through fur trader contact), disease (probably diphtheria
), the failure of their primary food source (barren-ground caribou), and sickened sled dogs (possibly rabies
).
and his wives appeared in Life
magazine, in October 1937. An Ennadai Lake family were on the cover of the February 27, 1956 issue of Life magazine, with the caption
"Stone Age Survivors", selected by the magazine as representing the most primitive of the Canadian Inuit. (King, 1998).
Decades later, Ihalmiut again gained attention in Ihalmio Elisapee (née Nurrahaq) Karetak's 2000 (English language
) and 2002 (Inuktitut language) documentaries about her people's struggle and starvation during their 1950s relocation and the story of her mother Kikkik
at Henik Lake.
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
who lived along the banks of the Kazan River, Ennadai Lake
Ennadai Lake
Ennadai Lake is a lake in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is long, and wide. It is drained to the north by the Kazan River.-Geography:The lake is within the Hearne Domain.-Flora:...
Little Dubawnt Lake
Dubawnt Lake
Dubawnt Lake is a lake in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is in size and has several islands. It is about 200 miles north of the point where Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nunavut come together, about 300 miles west of Hudson Bay and about 250 miles south of the arctic circle. To the northwest is...
(renamed Kamilikuak), and north of Thlewiaza ("Big River") in northern Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
's Keewatin Region
Keewatin Region, Northwest Territories
The Keewatin Region was a region of the Northwest Territories, in use as an administrative and statistical division until the creation of Nunavut in 1999...
of the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
, now the Kivalliq Region ("Barren Lands") of present-day Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
. Ihalmiut were Caribou Inuit
Caribou Inuit
Caribou Inuit, Barren-ground Caribou hunters, are bands of inland Inuit who lived west of Hudson Bay in northern Canada's Keewatin Region of the Northwest Territories, now the Kivalliq Region of present-day Nunavut between 61° and 65° N and 90° and 102° W...
, inland-dwelling people in the Barren Lands region whose subsistence centered around hunting caribou ("deer"). Ihalmiut survival through dark Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
winters on a diet centered on dried caribou meat, and when it was gone, hunting for ptarmigan (Nunavut's official bird), until the spring return of caribou.
Tyrrell
The Ihalmiut's first encounter with Kablunait (or Qablunaat) ("caucasians") occurred during the Barren Lands expeditions of 1893 and 1894 by the Geological Survey of Canada, led by Joseph TyrrellJoseph Tyrrell
Joseph Burr Tyrrell was a Canadian geologist, cartographer, and mining consultant. He discovered dinosaur bones in Alberta's Badlands and coal around Drumheller in 1884....
.
Hudson's Bay Company
By 1934, Ihalmiut numbered 80, with 11 considered as heads of families. Their contact with Europeans was limited, but included Hudson's Bay CompanyHudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
's post managers, at the company's Windy Post, located in 1936 on a portion of Windy River called Simmons Lake, and later moved to Nueltin Lake
Nueltin Lake
Nueltin Lake straddles the Manitoba-Nunavut border in Canada. The lake, which has an area of , is predominantly in Nunavut's Kivalliq Region, and on the Manitoba side there is the Nueltin Lake Airport which serves the fishing lodge...
. Ihalmiut traded their outer parkas, deerskin boots, and fur pelts at the post for guns, ammunition, and tea. Chipewyan
Chipewyan
The Chipewyan are a Dene Aboriginal people in Canada, whose ancestors were the Taltheilei...
and Metis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
traded here, too.
Mowat
The Ihalmiut were largely ignored until author/explorer Farley MowatFarley Mowat
Farley McGill Mowat, , born May 12, 1921 is a conservationist and one of Canada's most widely-read authors.His works have been translated into 52 languages and he has sold more than 14 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Canadian North, such as People of the...
visited and lived among them in the 1940s. At the time, they were located between Lake Yathkyed and Lake Ennadai, in the area of the Padlermiut.
Mowat wrote several books about his experiences and the subsequent fate of the Ihalmiut people including People of the Deer
People of the Deer
People of the Deer is Canadian author Farley Mowat's first book, which brought him literary recognition....
and The Desperate People. Based on the oral histories of the people, he estimated that the Ihalmiut had numbered 7,000 in 1886, down to 40 by 1947-48, and by 1950, only 30 remained. Their destruction was due to changes in their hunting dynamics (from hunting for food to hunting for furs), introduction of flour and sugar into their diet (through fur trader contact), disease (probably diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
), the failure of their primary food source (barren-ground caribou), and sickened sled dogs (possibly rabies
Rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic , most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms...
).
Relocation
In the late mid-20th century, the starving Ihalmiut began a series of federal government sponsored relocations.- 1949, Ihalmiut were relocated from Ennadai Lake to Nueltin LakeNueltin LakeNueltin Lake straddles the Manitoba-Nunavut border in Canada. The lake, which has an area of , is predominantly in Nunavut's Kivalliq Region, and on the Manitoba side there is the Nueltin Lake Airport which serves the fishing lodge...
, but the relocation did not last as hunting was poor, precipitating the band's return to Ennadai Lake. - May 1957, Ihalmiut were airlifted from Ennadai Lake to Henik LakeHenik LakeHenik Lake is located in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut, Canada. The lake is made up of two lakes, North Henik and South Henik with a narrows separating them...
, 45 miles from the PadleiPadlei, NunavutPadlei is a former community in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located on the mainland on the north shore of Kinga Lake at the juncture of the Maguse River. Whale Cove is to the east, while the Henik Lakes are to the southwest....
trading post, a distance considered reasonable by the Government of CanadaGovernment of CanadaThe Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
. Many Ihalmiut starved. (Damas, 2002) - Later in 1957, Ihalmiut were moved to Whale CoveWhale Cove, NunavutWhale Cove , is a hamlet located south of Rankin Inlet, north of Arviat, in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada, on the western shore of Hudson Bay....
where some began carving figurines for income. - In 1958, 29 Ihalmiut went to Padlei because of its trading post, 39 were at Yathkyed Lake, and the majority were brought to Eskimo Point by the Royal Canadian Mounted PoliceRoyal Canadian Mounted PoliceThe Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
. (Damas, 2002) - In 1959, the Padlei trading post closed, and the remaining Ihalmiut was relocated. (Damas, 2002) Mowat's 1959 revisit to the Ihalmiut inspired the follow-up book "Walking on the Land", a depiction of the effects of the federal government, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Catholic missionaries, and big business upon the people.
Publicity
A photo of Stephen AngulalikStephen Angulalik
Stephen Angulalik was an internationally known Ahiarmiut Inuit from northern Canada notable as a Kitikmeot fur trader and trading post operator at Kuugjuaq , Northwest Territories...
and his wives appeared in Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine, in October 1937. An Ennadai Lake family were on the cover of the February 27, 1956 issue of Life magazine, with the caption
"Stone Age Survivors", selected by the magazine as representing the most primitive of the Canadian Inuit. (King, 1998).
Decades later, Ihalmiut again gained attention in Ihalmio Elisapee (née Nurrahaq) Karetak's 2000 (English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
) and 2002 (Inuktitut language) documentaries about her people's struggle and starvation during their 1950s relocation and the story of her mother Kikkik
Kikkik
Kikkik was an Inuit woman who, in 1958, was charged with but acquitted of murder, child neglect and causing the death of one of her children. Her story was told by Farley Mowat.- Relocation :...
at Henik Lake.
Further reading
- Mowat, Farley. Death of a People-the Ihalmiut. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1975.
- Mowat, Farley. Walking on the Land. South Royalton, Vt: Steerforth Press, 2001. ISBN 1586420240 (Excerpt)
- Mowat, Farley. No Man's River. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2004. ISBN 1552636240 .html text
- Tester, Frank James & Peter Kulchyski. Tammarnit (Mistakes): Inuit relocation in the Eastern Arctic 1939-63. Vancouver:UBCPress, 1994. ISBN 0774804947
External links
- (21 June 2002) "Remembering Kikkik" Nunatsiaq News
- (30 July 1996) "Ihalmiut Unwritten Laws of Life" Randy's Books
- 1956 Life Magazine photos King, J. C. H., and Henrietta Lidchi. Imaging the Arctic. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998. ISBN 0774806729