Out in the cold: Canada's experimental Inuit relocation to Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay

Abstract In 1953–55 the Canadian government experimentally relocated Inuit (Eskimo) families from the region of Port Harrison (Inukjuak), on Quebec's Ungava peninsula, to Ellesmere and Cornwallis Islands in the Arctic Archipelago. Today Inuit relocatees allege that they were deceived by the gov...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Record
Main Author: Marcus, Alan R.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1991
Subjects:
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Ecology
Geography, Planning and Development
Arctic
Resolute Bay
Cornwallis
Ungava Peninsula
Inukjuak
Grise Fiord
Arctic Archipelago
eskimo*
inuit
Polar Record
Ungava peninsula
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400013048
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400013048
Description
Summary:Abstract In 1953–55 the Canadian government experimentally relocated Inuit (Eskimo) families from the region of Port Harrison (Inukjuak), on Quebec's Ungava peninsula, to Ellesmere and Cornwallis Islands in the Arctic Archipelago. Today Inuit relocatees allege that they were deceived by the government and suffered greatly as a result of the experiment. The government asserts that the relocation was undertaken for humanitarian reasons. The controversy has recently resulted in hearings before a Canadian parliamentary committee on aboriginal affairs and the Human Rights Commission. A study of the relocation issue prepared for the government, known as the ‘Hickling Report’, rejects Inuit claims of mistreatment. In this paper the Hickling report's findings are assessed. Contrary to the report's conclusions, documentation suggests that one of the government's motives for undertaking the relocation pertained to Canadian sovereignty and exercising ‘effective occupation’ of the islands.

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