Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: What Inuit Have Always Known to Be True ed. by Joe Karetak, Frank Tester, and Shirley Tagalik (review)

It might be easy to make the mistake of viewing the process of settler colonialism as a part of a far and distant past. It is commonplace to see Aboriginal 'traditional lifestyles' portrayed in museums as artefacts of another time. Karetak, Tester, and Tagalik have produced a volume which not only is an insistent reminder of the resilience and continuity of Inuit culture, but also provides an intimate and nuanced view of the ongoing relationship between the Inuit and the rest of Canada–from an Inuit perspective. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ), which could be rather incompletely described as 'traditional knowledge', is much more accurately described in this book as 'an ethical framework and detailed plan for having a good life. It is a way of thinking, connecting all aspects of life in a coherent way' (p. 3). The collection of stories, narratives and memories in this collection is a powerful way that this idea is not just communcated to the reader, but illustrated.

This monograph is the impressive product of an ambitious project to collect knowledge from Inuit elders. The importance of this task is underscored by the fact that by the time the book was completed only five of the ten elders were still alive. The result of this project is therefore a unique and indispensable record of Inuit knowledge and world view that will not only be an invaluable resource for academics and other Qallunaat (non-Inuit), but also a critical resource for Inuit 'reconnecting with the past and cultural teachings that were supressed in this colonial period' (p. xi).

In the introduction, Joe Karetak and Frank Tester provide an insightful discussion about the philosophical and epistemological difficulties with the project of writing about something like IQ. In the process of attempting to write down the principles, the concern was that they become a set of 'rules, values and principles' (p. 19) rather than a practised way of thinking and being. This discussion both articulates some of the ongoing tensions and anxieties experienced by Aboriginal communities when sharing their knowledge, and prepares the reader for what may be the somewhat unfamiliar storytelling format of the collection. As a book of stories the collection also represents a comprehensive, yet deeply personal, history of the colonisation of the North, which is a reminder that the process of colonisation in the North was recent and acute, rather than the subject of distant historical works. Indeed, many of the elders who contributed to the book themselves lived through the transition from living off the land to living in housing settlements.

It is likely that Karetak, Tester, and Tagalik have been overseers of a project that may sadly have no future edition. Indeed this is the importance of this book: it captures a moment in Inuit culture that will soon have no more living witnesses. Within this collection, however, also resides understanding and knowledge that could be of assistance to a renaissance of IQ.