Aboriginal land claims and cultural preservation: a cultural geography of the Mackenzie Delta Inuvialuit
Date
1996
Authors
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ORCID
Type
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
The lnuvialuit Final Agreement (IFA) is a comprehensive land claim that
was finalized in 1984 by the inuvialuit of the Western Arctic. One of the principal
motives for the land claim was the preservation of lnuvialuit culture. This thesis
attempts to determine if the lnuvialuit have been successful in their bid to
preserve their culture in a rapidly changing Northern society, and what role, if
any, the IFA has played in those efforts. It also addresses the potential for
employing postmodern theory in examining Aboriginal land claims such as the
IFA.
The research revealed that the culture highly spatial and place oriented
and that lnuvialuit culture identity is closely tied to land-based activities, such as
hunting and fishing, and specific locations. The redevelopment of Shingle Point
on the Yukon coast of the Beaufort Sea, since the signing of the IFA, is a
positive indicator of the culture's survival. This historical location has been used
by the lnuvialuit for hunting, trapping and fishing for over a thousand years, and
has recently experienced a resurgence as a summer community for lnuvialuit
from lnuvik and Aklavik. While Shingle Point was always used by the lnuvialuit,
there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of cabins built there since
the signing of the IF A, and especially since the reinstatement of the bowhead
whale hunt. The redevelopment of Shingle Point as a location for harvesting
and preparing country food, its traditional spatial groupings, and social
practices suggests that the efforts to preserve the culture have been successful.
The research reveals that the IFA has played and important in role in achieving
that success.
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Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
Geography
Program
Geography