the knowledge and vision of their communities. The resulting community-led, research-based doc- umentary morphed into director David Borish’s Ph.D. thesis at the University of Guelph. Dozens of Indigenous people, from elders to young adults, were interviewed in the film, including Flowers and Voisey. The film and the peer-reviewed articles that were published later as a result represent a slowly growing collaborative research trend in which the people who are the focus of a study are also full par- ticipants in its creation. A theme frequently expressed in the film is the
palpable sense of loss among the Inuit when recall- ing the caribou that were once a central part of their lives. One Inuit elder, Sarah Baikie, says, “It’s not only the loss of a source of food. When you think of your grandchildren, part of their heritage is gone. The younger generations will never be able to enjoy that. It’s up to us older people to explain, but it’s not the same as being there and doing it yourself. The decline of the herd and the hunting ban
have left a swirl of stress in their wake, something that Cunsolo has called ecological grief: “A rational
response to changes in the land, it is the grief expe- rienced due to endured or anticipated ecological losses, the disruption of environmental knowledge and the loss of place-based identity due to envi- ronmental changes.” Shiwak, a co-producer on the film, said “When you’re out on the land you feel free. . . . You still have problems, but you come back with a new perspective.” If the bond between Inuit and caribou was
strained by scarcity and government edict, the ban created other strains as well. “Some Indigenous groups believe that hunting is their right and have taken the risk to harvest caribou, but most others fear violating the law,” said Snook. Surreptitious hunting is also a loss to research, he said. Informa- tion like an animal’s size, weight, condition and location won’t be recorded, undermining work for their conservation and restoration. In the wake of the hunting ban, the governments
of Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Nunat- siavut survey the George River Caribou herd every two years. In July 2022, they reported that the herd population remains at a vulnerable low, with an
Inuit communities such as Nain in Nunatsiavut (below) are often isolated, so inhabitants would strengthen bonds by traveling many hours to visit relatives and friends in other communities during the hunting season.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
WINTER 2022
23
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
