Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit

Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (/inuit qaujimanituqaŋit/, Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᑐᖃᖏᑦ; sometimes Inuit Qaujimanituqangit - ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᑐᖃᖏᑦ) is an Inuktitut phrase that is often translated as "Inuit traditional knowledge", "Inuit traditional institutions" or even "Inuit traditional technology". It is often abbreviated as "IQ". It comes from the verb root "qaujima-" meaning "to know" and could be literally translated as "that which has long been known by Inuit".

Traditional knowledge

Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is a body of knowledge and unique cultural insights of Inuit into the workings of nature, humans and animals. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, then, has both practical and epistemological aspects that branch out from a fundamental principle that human beings are learning, rational beings with an infinite potential for problem-solving within the dictates of nature and technology. According to the government of Nunavut in 2013 Incorporating Inuit Societal Values, Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit has the following components:

• Inuuqatigiitsiarniq (respecting others, relationships and caring for people)
• Tunnganarniq (fostering good spirit by being open, welcoming and inclusive)
• Pijitsirniq (serving and providing for family or community, or both)
• Aajiiqatigiinniq (decision making through discussion and consensus)
• Pilimmaksarniq or Pijariuqsarniq (development of skills through practice, effort and action)
• Piliriqatigiinniq or Ikajuqtigiinniq (working together for a common cause)
• Qanuqtuurniq (being innovative and resourceful)
• Avatittinnik Kamatsiarniq (respect and care for the land, animals and the environment)

The Inuit Language Protection Act of 2008 ILPA establishes the rights of parents to receive instruction in Inuktitut; see also Education Framework.

Similarly, Inuit intergenerational (from elder to youth) and experiential (learning through participation) knowledge has also been called "Inuit ecological knowledge" or "IEK"

Studies of traditional knowledge

The Igloolik Research Centre in Igloolik, Nunavut focuses on documenting Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, as well as climatology and seismic data research.

Politics

It has recently become something of a political slogan in Nunavut, as the government attempts to integrate the traditional culture of the Inuit more into their modern governance structure in order to combat disempowerment. Its critics , however, tend to view it as little more than window dressing for more conventional politics.

See also

• Traditional ecological knowledge

References

Citations

• Eyegetok, Sandra, and Natasha Thorpe. The Hiukitak River Elder-Youth Camp, August 7-14, 1998. Nunavut?: s.n, 1998.

Further reading

• Kassam, K.-A. S. 2002. "Thunder on the Tundra: Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit of the Bathurst Caribou, by Natasha Thorpe, Naikak Hakongak, Sandra Eyegetok, and the Kitikmeot Elders". Arctic. 55: 395.
• Oosten, Jarich, Frédéric Laugrand, and Mariano Aupilaarjuk. Inuit qaujimajatuqangit shamanism and reintegrating wrongdoers into the community. Inuit perspectives on the 20th century, v. 4. Iqaluit: Nunavut Arctic College, Language and Culture Program, 2002. ISBN 1-896204-56-2
• Wenzel, George W. 2004. "From TEK to IQ: Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit and Inuit Cultural Ecology". Arctic Anthropology. 41, no. 2: 238.

External links

• What is Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit?- Canku Ota, An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America, January 13, 2001 - Issue 27.
• Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ)- Department of Human Resources, Government of Nunavut, 2005
• Inuit Qaujimajatuqangita Isumaksaqsiurtingit (IQI) Committee- Nunavut Department of Economic Development & Transportation, 2006
• Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Katimajiit Established- Nunavut Department of Culture, Language, Edlers and Youth, September 8, 2003
• Qaujimajatuqangit and social problems in modern Inuit society. An elders workshop on angakkuuniq- by Jarich Oosten and Frédéric Laugrand, 2002