For thousands of years, humans have shown their memories, struggles, and successes through artwork. For Inuviat artist Jaco Ishulutak, when he is not helping his community as a leader and hunter, he shows his concerns for the future. In an interview for KP Studios in cooperation with the Center for Indigenous People’s Nutrition and Environment, Ishulutak is seen explaining a gray bone sculpture of a walrus. When asked what the structure represents, he describes, “The walrus head represents the universe, and we all live on the earth with the sea connected” (“The Inuit and their Indigenous Foods”) For Jaco, he is telling a story of climate change occurring in the Arctic North — how it is affecting the animals, the environment, and his community. While this ecological style may only look like a carving, it depicts the long lasting lifestyle of the Inuit people, one of the over 5,000 Indigenous groups worldwide (United Nations). Although there is no universally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, due to their heterogeneity, they are commonly described as descendants of those who inhabited a region when people of different ethnic origins or cultures arrived (United Nations, n.d.). While there is great diversity among Indigenous Canadians, many have shared experiences including lack of political representation and unprotected rights. Problems arise when looking at the most Northern communities in Greenland, eastern Russia, and, most noticeably, the Inuit populations in Northern Canada. For generations, the 1.67 million Inuit people have lived on traditional hunting in Canada’s coldest climate. Their food sources are called “country food” and include sea mammals, seals, polar bears, and caribou — often consumed raw or frozen. However, having to adapt to a Eurocentric way of living has never been easy for Inuit. Communities in Nunavut have no roads to connect, and freezing temperatures make growing crops impractical. Furthermore, the toll that the government is having on the Inuit, a community already susceptible to the impacts of climate change, is declining the physical and mental health of all demographics. According to a 2020 Canadian study, 57% of households in the Nunavut territory dealt with food insecurity in 2018, yet this percentage is only increasing (Nickel). Therefore, though it is commonly said that Northern Canada is a food desert, Inuit are at an increased risk for medical and mental conditions due to the continuation of colonial patterns. The Canadian government attempts to curb food malnutrition by importing items, but nutritious foods are simultaneously left out of indigenous diets due to a lack of food sovereignty. By including Inuit communities in dialogue, Canadian officials will gain a better understanding of approaches to maintaining and revitalizing Indigenous food systems and culture.

The Canadian government’s response to the Inuit, both to accommodate Inuit interests and their personal goals, has had a significant impact on generations of Inuit lifestyles. In the early sixteenth century, intensive whaling practices by Europeans began to have an impact on Inuit lives. Europeans took the whales in large pods, eventually transforming their practices to yearlong shore stations, encroaching on Indigenous peoples' methods. By the nineteenth century, the overharvesting of whales finally surpassed the limits of sustainability. The ultimate lack of harvest opportunities turned this job unprofitable for whalers, and these same workers shifted to new mammals. However, this still meant that an important Inuit food source had become severely endangered. Shortly after Canada became established as a nation in 1867, the Canadian government forcibly relocated Inuit populations to isolated regions north of their traditional homelands, introduced a wage economy, and established semi-permanent settlements. These factors led to a loss of cultural identity and decreased the transmission of indigenous knowledge from generation to generation. Subsistence practices changed drastically as snowmobiles and powerboats replaced dogsleds and kayaks, and foreign food shipments replaced local food sources (Robinson 2018). The move from traditional to modern lifestyles came with a rapid rise in diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mental disorders, to name a few (Lamb et al.). Nonetheless, the only way to gain compensation for purchasing expensive store foods was to work more hours, simultaneously reverting away from hunter-gatherer methods of obtaining nutritional country foods (Nickel). The impact in the 21st century is that this lack of food sovereignty has continued. The Canadian government has tried to make amends, implementing the Northern Canada Nutrition North Program which offers a food subsidy program through retail grocery stores. However, a new study published in the Journal for Public Economics discovered that while retailers are obligated to pass along the full amount of the subsidy to consumers, that was simply not happening (Kaye). Instead, for every dollar in subsidy that the retail companies received through this program, “the average price for the consumer has gone down by 67 cents,” says study co-author Tracey Galloway (Kay). Wherever the extra money ended up, it did not go to consumers, and the ripple effects of such economic insecurity play a significant role in the nutritious foods families can afford.

Inuit in Northern Canada are experiencing a drastic nutrition transition: younger generations are increasingly dependent on supermarket-bought items high in fat, sugar, and carbohydrates. These trends can connect the government’s response to the increase in obesity and chronic disease. The basis for this claim is a study done for the Healthy Foods North Project from different communities across Nunavut. In 2018, the age-standardized percentage of obesity, an intermediate risk factor for chronic disease, in the territory was higher than the national average. This data revealed that 23% of participants were overweight, 47% were obese, and 71% were smokers. (Pakseresht et al.) According to a 2009 Inuit Health Survey, chronic heart disease was five times more likely to be found in Inuit people than the rest of the Canadian population (Earle). This relationship between chronic disease, obesity, and poverty is only exacerbated by the low cost of foods that are energy-dense and usually high in fat and sugar. Increased cost of fuel and hunting equipment, as well as reduced availability of land and sea resources, such as caribou, Arctic char, and geese, are all potential reasons that traditional meat expenditure is lower and the percentage of medical problems in Inuit is increasing exponentially. 

Beyond the physical implications of food insecurity, the government’s response has led to an increase in psychological concerns. There is a continuous lower quality of life for Indigenous Canadiansas evidenced by greater rates of psychological distress than non-Indigenous Canadians. In the spring of 2016, the rash of suicide attempts in the remote northern First Nation of Attawapiskat prompted a state of emergency. Yet it did not end there. Inuit people have suicide rates six to eleven times the national rate. Furthermore, the Inuit have been largely influenced by the alcohol and drinking patterns of arriving European traders and whalers. A study by Professor Mylene Riva, the Canada research chair at McGill University, examined the association between alcoholism and psychological health in a remote Canadian community and found a possible negative association between the two. This problem was largely rooted in boredom, marginalization, and economic insecurity factors. As Inuit are forced to manage hunger through colonial food systems and rely on the government, they are sacrificing their best sense of who they are and their cultural connectivity (Worthington and Smart). Hence, policies created to tackle economic success will directly impact psychological well-being.

Inuit communities rely on water, ice, and snow for a large proportion of country foods. Therefore, changing paths towards investing in marine infrastructure will benefit Indigenous communities. As for marine life, the Inuit food system includes large quantities of marine species that are accessible along the coastline. More infrastructure needs to be improved upon for Nunavut residences as most bulk goods brought to Nunavut come through yearly marine resupply operations. These trips bring ships to communities at most two to three times a year as sea ice and weather conditions allow, but they lack even basic docking systems. Action must be taken to facilitate major marine infrastructure investments, prioritizing deepwater ports for larger ships. These investments will be the key to bridging the divide between Southern Canada and Nunavut, connecting opportunities for trade and marine research.

“Hunting is what saved the Inuit from starvation…For this reason, the Inuit never forget the value of food.” These are the words of Inuit activist Lessee Papatsie. However, considering how Canadian Inuit experience the highest rates of food insecurity of any Indigenous population in an industrialized nation, this conundrum is only the outcome of “forced poverty” (Malek). Without including Inuit communities in the dialogue around implemented policy and investing in marine infrastructure, the impacts of climate change and current food insecurity will only worsen living conditions. Therefore, the best strategy needs to create a self-determined and sustainable food system in Inuit Nunavut that reflects their values, supports Inuit well-being, and ensures Inuit access to affordable, culturally significant foods for every individual

Works Cited

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Kaye, Marcia. "Grocers fail to pass along full Nutrition North food subsidy to shoppers, study shows." University of Toronto Mississauga, 14 Sept. 2023, www.utm.utoronto.ca/main-news/grocers-fail-pass-along-full-nutrition-north-food-subsidy-shoppers-study-shows. 

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The Oceans That We Share. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, www.itk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/20230322-Marine-Policy-Paper-FINAL-SIGNED.pdf. 

Pakseresht,, M., and S. Sharma. Validation of a culturally appropriate quantitative food frequency questionnaire for Inuvialuit population in the Northwest Territories, Canada. 7 Sept. 2010. Wiley Online Library, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-277X.2010.01105.x. 

Pakseresht, M., and S. Sharma. Validation of a quantitative food frequency questionnaire for Inuit population in Nunavut, Canada. 7 Sept. 2010, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-277X.2010.01104.x. 

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