Access to formal education among the Canadian Inuit : how increasing Inuit autonomy would benefit education outcomes

• Main Author: Pakenham, Kathryn Tubridy, 1993-
• Other Authors: Háskólinn á Akureyri
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Heimskautaréttur; Meistaraprófsritgerðir; Frumbyggjar; Nýlendustefna; Menningararfur; Polar law; Indigenous people; Colonization; Cultural heritage; Canada; Indian; inuit
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/42488

Indigenous peoples have been residing in Canada for more than five thousand years. In northern Canada, these peoples were mostly nomadic, interacting with one another through trade, marriage and, occasionally, warfare. The education of children was a task borne by all members of the community, and children learned practical skills such as sewing, hunting and cooking, in order to follow in the footsteps of their Elders and serve their community. After colonization, Inuit communities were placed under the governance of the Canadian government, which resulted in them moving to a sedentary lifestyle Their schooling was moved to a governed institutionwhere they learned almost exclusively from Catholic nuns and non-Indigenous teachers, rather than all members of the community. Though these Inuit communities were not formally under the oversight of the Indian Act, they were forced into the residential school system, where many suffered physical, sexual or psychological abuses. These traumas have had echoing effects into the current generation. Moreover, Inuit youth of today have suffered loss of culture and language, and they are, in many cases, unable to complete their formal education. This research elaborates on the effects of this loss of culture and educational challenges, as well as on possible solutions to remedy some of the difficulties created by the residential school system and colonization by increasing autonomy throughout Inuit communities