Peter Collings

If you got everything, it's good enough: Perspectives on successful aging in a Canadian Inuit community

Structured interviews with 38 Inuit in thecommunity of Holman were conducted to examineInuit definitions of successful andunsuccessful aging. Qualitative analysis ofthe interview data suggests that (1) contraryto much of the literature about culture changein the Canadian North, there appear to be noperceivable differences in the ways Inuit ofdifferent age cohorts view aging and elderhood;(2) a successful old age is not one necessarilycharacterized by individual good health, butrather by the ability of the individual tosuccessfully manage declining health; and (3)for Inuit, the most important determinants of asuccessful elderhood are not material butideological. That is, an individualsattitudes in late life, and in particular theirwillingness to transmit their accumulatedwisdom and knowledge to their juniors, are thecritical determinants of whether an elder isviewed as having a successful old age.

Participant Observation and Phased Assertion as Research Strategies in the Canadian Arctic

Participant observation is the basic and defining research strategy for cultural anthropologists, a useful tool for building rapport, establishing trust, and gaining an understanding of culture as experienced by its members. This article uses the authors experience working in an Inuit community in Canada to explore another use of participant observation: the acquisition of communicative competence. In small, bounded communities such as those in the Canadian Arctic, the development and display of cultural and communicative competence is necessary to overcome apathy and sometimes hostility toward researchers. Furthermore, establishment of these abilities allows for the use of phased assertion as an interview probe. Phased assertion works not only as a data collection technique, it reinforces communicative competence and improves informant rapport.

Housing policy, aging, and life course construction in a Canadian Inuit community.

The provisioning and administration of social housing has been a continuous problem in the Canadian North since the 1960s, when the Canadian government began taking an active role in the welfare of Inuit. Some of these problems are quite basic and include high costs for construction and maintenance of units. An examination of the development and evolution of Canadian housing policy in the North demonstrates that changes to the administration of social housing programs and, since the mid-1980s, development of formal privatization schemes have steadily shifted housing costs onto local residents. These shifting costs, however, are borne unequally, with Inuit born and raised in the context of permanent communities (the Settlement Generation) facing the greatest burdens.

Country food sharing networks, household structure, and implications for understanding food insecurity in Arctic Canada

ABSTRACT We examine the cultural context of food insecurity among Inuit in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada. An analysis of the social network of country food exchanges among 122 households in the settlement reveals that a household’s betweenness centrality—a measure of brokerage—in the country food network is predicted by the age of the household. The households of married couples were better positioned within the sharing network than were the households of single females or single males. Households with an active hunter or elder were also better positioned in the network. The households of single men and women appear to experience limited access to country food, a considerable problem given the increasing number of single-adult households over time. We conclude that the differences between how single women and single men experience constrained access to country foods may partially account for previous findings that single women in arctic settlements appear to be at particular risk for food insecurity.

“We Don't Know anything about Whales:” Ecological Knowledge and Ways of Knowing in Ulukhaktok, NT, Canada

This paper reports on interviews conducted during June and July, 2015, to document ecological knowledge of beluga whales in Ulukhaktok, NT. Beluga whales are not a traditionally available or important species for Ulukhaktomiut, but they have appeared in increasing numbers in the waters around the community, and hunters have actively pursed and taken them. We conducted interviews in English with 31 Inuit about their beluga knowledge. A Key Words in Context (KWIC) analysis of the word “know” in the narratives reveals different conceptions of what it means to know something about whales. “Know” variously references practical skill, concern and empathy for others, or the developing awareness of one’s place in the world. Each of these meanings is coded uniquely in Inuinnaqtun, providing insights about the important differences between researchers and Inuit in how “ecological knowledge” is understood and activated.;This paper reports on interviews conducted during June and July 2015 to document ecological knowledge of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories. Beluga whales are not a traditionally available or important species for Ulukhaktomiut, but they have appeared in increasing numbers in the waters around the community, and hunters have actively pursued and taken them. We conducted interviews in English with 31 Inuit about their beluga knowledge. A Key Words in Context (KWIC) analysis of the word “know” in the narratives reveals different conceptions of what it means to know something about whales. “Know” variously references practical skill, concern and empathy for others, or the developing awareness of one’s place in the world. Each of these meanings is coded uniquely in Inuinnaqtun, providing insights about the important differences between researchers and Inuit in how “ecological knowledge” is understood and activated.