Men hunt, women share: gender and contemporary Inuit subsistence relations

• Main Authors: Quintal-Marineau, Magalie, Wenzel, George
• Other Authors: Lavi, Noa, Friesem, David E.
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: McDonald Institute Monographs 2019
• Subjects: chasseurs-cueilleurs; partage; genre; inuits; Nunavut; Canada; Clyde River; Qallunaat; inuit
• Online Access: https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/9687/; https://espace.inrs.ca/id/eprint/9687/1/QMarineau_2019_chap15.pdf

Sharing, as lived by Inuit in Nunavut, Canada, and as depicted in the primary ethnographic literature, is a set of normatively structured and quasi-institutionalized practices that together are as critical to Inuit subsistence culture and its economic relations as is hunting. More-over, as Inuit on numerous occasions have made clear, it is integral to their cultural ethos. According to Inuit, sharing is what sets them apart from Qallunaat; that is, Inuit are generous while non-Inuit behave selfishly. In no small way, ningiqtuq is a core cultural value.The central focus in this paper is not on the transactional aspects of Inuit sharing – whether these are best described as generalized, delayed or balanced reciprocal relations, or a form of gifting, exchange or normatively dictated transfers (see Damas 1969, 1972; Wenzel 1991, 1995; Hunt 2000; Kishigami 2004). The focus here is on how money has affected the normative sharing system and how its antinomical effects on the modern mixed economy adaptation have made women increasingly important in the maintenance of the Inuit subsistence system and the expanded contribution of women within the traditional subsistence system.This paper examines women’s provisioning responsibilities and sharing practices vis à vis men’s hunting in the community of Clyde River, Nunavut, focusing specifically on women’s monetary contri-butions to subsistence practices. It seeks to under-stand how the specific gendered aspects of northern economic transformations, particularly increasing engagement in wage labour, have affected women’s roles, responsibilities and obligations in subsistence practices.