Information/Write-up
Contemporary Inuit are descendants of the Thule people who first settled in Canada in approximately 1000 A.D. and who were the last of the Arctic peoples to migrate from Asia across the Bering Strait. These nomadic folk, sharing North American Arctic lands with other native peoples such as the Dene, have adapted their life style to the severe conditions of the Canadian North. Inuit settlements exist across the land from the Yukon Territory to the Newfoundland and Labrador coast.
Today, the Inuit have safeguarded their traditional language and culture while developing modern educational, political and social institutions. Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit, is spoken by the majority of the 19,000 Canadian Inuit. With the exception of a few linguistic changes, the contemporary spoken language is essentially the same as it was when the first European explorers arrived in search of the Northwest Passage.
In the Northwest Territories and Arctic Quebec, the Inuit make up more than half the population. The census taken in 1976 records 15,750 Inuit in the Northwest Territories (including 3,730 in Arctic Quebec) which represents 3/4 of a total Inuit population of 23,000.
Translation by Anna Paddel
Cover Photo by Mike Bedell
Back Cover Photo by Michael Snook
SIDE ONE
Margaret Ujauperk, Nahaina Ulimanii – Qiapqaa
Elisabeth Nanook, Isumatarjuark – Niaqinaq
Eva Nutaraluk – Jews Harp
Cathy Howmik Arnaraujak – Song of the Wolf
Cathy Howmik Arnaraujak – Song of the Fox
Cathy Howmik Arnaraujak – Song of the Geese
Alice Suluk – The Geese
Alice Suluk, Donald Suluk – Song of the Loon
Alice Suluk, Donald Suluk – Ajajai
Anita Ubluak Watuak, Elisabeth Nanook, Isumatarjuark – Aja Jai
Oonerk – Ajajai
Isumatarjuark – Ajajai
SIDE TWO
Theresa Kimmalardyuk, Nangajuk – Ajajai (Drumdance)
Leo Ussak – Ajajai (Drumdance)
Tautungi Qabluittuq – Ajajai
Collette Nilaula – Ajajai
David Aglukark, Marjorie Tugak – Pentecostal Hymn
Charlie Panigoniak – Modern Song
Theresa Kimmalardyuk – Square Dance Music
Mathew Kurok – Ajajai (Drumdance)
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