“Our connection makes us stronger”: Inuit youth’s strategies to feel comfortable in Ottawa

• Published in: Études/Inuit/Studies
• Main Author: Vaudry, Stéphanie
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Association Inuksiutiit Katimajiit Inc. 2016
• Subjects: Études/Inuit/Studies; inuit
• Online Access: http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1040148ar; https://doi.org/10.7202/1040148ar

This paper focuses on challenges young Inuit adults face in everyday life in the city and the coping strategies they have developed. For research participants, being “connected” with the world(s) surrounding them appears to be central to how they feel and orientate themselves in the city. Connectedness, for these young Inuit, translates into close and significant relationships with people, ancestors, future generations, objects, animals, and nature, which are elements of the Inuit universe of meanings and, more broadly, belong to Indigenous universes. Therefore, being comfortable is linked to the maintenance of harmonious relationships with these different agents. As we will see, urban milieus, like Ottawa, belong to a universe of meanings to which Inuit youth are not always accustomed. Nevertheless, through their agency, they develop strategies to establish relationships within the city, enabling themselves to become acquainted with the urban world and its inhabitants. As Ottawa hosts a large Inuit community, the urban challenges that they face can be mitigated as they participate in Inuit worlds. Cet article aborde les défis quotidiens auxquels de jeunes adultes Inuit sont confrontés à Ottawa et les stratégies mises de l’avant pour les dépasser. Être « connecté » au monde qui les entoure a des incidences importantes sur les façons dont les participants à cette recherche se sentent et s’orientent en ville. Cette idée de « connexion » se traduit, pour eux, par des relations de proximité significatives avec des gens, leurs ancêtres, les générations futures, les objets, les animaux et la nature, des éléments qui composent l’univers de sens inuit et, plus largement, autochtone. Leur aisance en ville tient au maintien de relations harmonieuses avec ces différents agents. Comme nous le verrons, les milieux urbains, comme Ottawa, appartiennent à un univers de sens duquel les jeunes Inuit ne sont pas toujours familiers. Par leur force de caractère, les participants à ma recherche élaborent des stratégies afin de ...