Frozen in Place: European American Ideologies and the Inuit

• Main Author: Buege, Douglas J.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: VCU Scholars Compass 1994
• Subjects: European American Ideologies and the Inuit; Race and Ethnicity; Arctic; inuit
• Online Access: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/ees/vol17/iss2/5; https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1498&context=ees

It has been claimed by Hugh Brody that European Americans maintain strong ideological connections between Inuit people and the Arctic environments they inhabit. I expand upon this claim, giving three primary ideological connections that tie the Inuit directly to their environments. These are termed the natural, temporal, and material connections. Textual examples are given to illustrate each type of connection. I also show how each ideological connection serves to disempower the Inuit by situating them within the confines of "nature" while empowering European American patriarchs who conceive themselves as existing "outside of" or "beyond" nature. These three connections, working together with other ideological tools, serve to subordinate the Inuit and other Arctic peoples to larger political and economic powers. In the conclusion, I suggest that these ideological connections must be examined, understood, and abandoned in order to improve the quality of life of the Inuit.