Out In The Cold: The Legacy of Canada’s Inuit Relocation Experiment in the High Arctic, by Alan R. Marcus

Abstract

This study analyses reasons given by the Canadian government for undertaking and administering relocations of Inuit (Eskimos) in 1953-55. The study, based on interviews and a review of government files, corroborates oral testimony by surviving Inuit, who said they suffered years of neglect following their resettlement from Quebec to the High Arctic. Chapter 1 examines the planning of the relocation: how "recruits" were selected or induced to relocate, the separation of Inuit families, program problems, opposition, and responses from the press. Chapter 2 compares the climates of the new and old territories, describing a lack of resources that made it necessary for Inuit to scavenge for food and shelter. Also examined are economic mismanagement, social problems among the Inuit, and the reneging on government promises to return them to the south. Chapter 3 focuses on government motives, largely based on "moral" (paternalistic) concerns, which became translated into economic terms. Also examined is the contention that the government used the Inuit to extend its sovereignty in the North Arctic. Chapter 4 examines political claims of success and the Inuits' ongoing campaign for a government apology and compensation. The document includes 162 resources. Appendices identify the relocated families and show four government documents. (TES)