Polar Tourism: A Tool for Regional Development

Chapter 4. Must We Put Dogsleds on Wheels for the Tourist Season?: Inuit Heritage, Tourism, and Respecting the Community in Kangiqsujuaq

We could welcome tourists to this community. I do not believe that this would constitute a threat to our culture if we are able to show them our way of life and make them­ understand that we don’t want to lose it. Resident of Nunavik quoted by Thibault Martin, De la banquise au congélateur: mondialisation et culture au Nunavik (2003: 160) 1. The author wishes to thank the Fonds de recherche sur la société et la culture, the Institut du patrimoine, Professors Daniel Arsenault and Alain A. Grenier of Université du Québec à Montréal, curator Louis Gagnon of the Avataq Cultural Institute, and members of the DIALOG network of the Institut national de la recherche scientifique, as well as anthropologist Olivier Maligne. CHAPTER 4 Must We Put Dogsleds on Wheels for the Tourist Season? Inuit Heritage, Tourism, and Respecting the Community in Kangiqsujuaq Annie d’Amours1 Doctoral student Programme international de Muséologie, Médiation, Patrimoine, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada, Université d’Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse, France 24303.indb 109 11-10-12 10:49 AM 110 Polar Tourism: A Tool for Regional Development 1. Introduction The opening in November 2007 of the permanent exhibition at the­ Pingualuit National Park Interpretation Centre in Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik, represents an important stage in the development of northern museums. The product of a network of partners from the North and the South, this centre reflects an approach to sharing knowledge among the various communities concerned. By integrating traditional Inuit knowledge and expertise , the centre displays local cultural products in a context of elements unique to the cultural and natural environment of the Ungava Peninsula. Among these elements is a special geographical feature dubbed not so long ago “Nouveau-Québec Crater” and now referred to as ­ “Pingualuit Crater.” The Pingualuit National Park Interpretation Centre is now an addition to other tourist attractions of the village of Kangiqsujuaq (northern landscape, Arctic flora and fauna, and petroglyphs on Qajartalik Island). What is the genesis of this new institution? What are the current issues at stake? For example, could a balance emerge between the recognition and preservation of material and intangible cultural heritages and economic and touristic development? The goal of this chapter is first to briefly present the history of the development of museum-type institutions in Arctic Canada, and then to discuss more specifically some questions relative to patrimonialization , sustainable development, and ethical tourism through the study of the context of the Kangiqsujuaq Interpretation Centre. Figure 4.1 The Pingualuit National Park Interpretation Centre in Kangiqsujuaq Photo:Alain A. Grenier 24303.indb 110 11-10-12 10:49 AM Must We Put Dogsleds on Wheels for the Tourist Season? 111 In the early decades of the twentieth century, Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic underwent radical transformations entailing major cultural upheavals as well as dramatic changes in traditional lifestyles, social organization, and language (Simard 1982: 57; Crowe 1979: 188). Some contend that they have since demonstrated resilience in attempting to maintain, if not recover, these various aspects of their culture which are under threat, through adapting ancestral know-how to new institutions , sometimes making use of social and cultural programs – one might think here of the development of modern Inuit sculpture – and economic, indeed legislative, measures put at their disposal by federal and provincial governments (Martin 2003: 150; Dacks 1990: 337). The area of heritage is indeed affected by the general trend towards cultural assertiveness and renewed recognition of culture, despite the fact that the establishment of museum institutions has been mostly based on conceptions originating from the South. Nonetheless, the growing involvement of the Inuit communities of Nunavut, Nunavik, and Labrador within these institutions reveals a definite willingness to take control of their own tangible and intangible cultural heritage’s patrimonialization process (Issenman 1991: 1). It then becomes interesting to learn about the common or divergent objectives of the various actors who will have to work together for the protection, management, and promotion of the natural and cultural heritage of the Canadian Arctic (Inuit communities, cultural organizations, regional administrations, government departments, etc.). Similarly, it seems appropriate to consider the strategies adopted by these institutions to reconcile the needs of local communities (cultural assertiveness, social, economic, and touristic development) and the expectations of outsider visitors (sociocultural experience, recreational and educational activities, etc.). Indeed, Arctic museum institutions are now attempting to take part in the...