Jean-François Savard

A Theoretical Debate on the Social and Political Implications of Internet Implementation for the Inuit of Nunavut

N* atives and technology-two terms that for many people can only be antonyms. To speak of the Inuit and the Internet seems to spell 3 out an irresolvable paradox. Despite all this, the Canadian North is > witnessing important technological developments: deployment of a satellite network for radio and television production, creation of the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation and Television Northern Canada, and construction of computer networks of increasing importance. In 1995, a report by the Nunavut Implementation Commission 3 83 (NIC) declared the benefits of the Internet for this society.1 But are X there really benefits? Does the Internet present certain dangers for Inuit society? The research presented in this essay is premised on these questions. I will try to place in their respective contexts the different theories and hypotheses that claim to explain the effects of the Internet on