Does the integration of the Inuit people in the Canadian society imply the lost of their culture ?

Résumé du document

Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate") generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance. Cultures can be "understood as systems of symbols and meanings that lack fixed boundaries, that are constantly in flux, and that interact and compete with one another".

Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture has been called "the way of life for an entire society." As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, games, norms of behaviour such as law and morality, and systems of belief as well as the art.

Regarding the Inuit art, it is fundamental since it allows them to assert their culture and to receive economic fallout. The 1950`s is a period of extreme change in Inuit culture. Inuit are forced by the government to settle into villages close to the trading posts. They develop a new way of living, depending on exported goods for their survival, needing for them and for governments to find new ways to assure their survival.

Extraits

[...] To put it in a nutshell, the Inuit culture and the Canadian culture have some points of contacts which have to exceed their cultural differences which should be seen as a wealth and not as a limit. Let's move on now to the second part, in order to answer to the question : which acculturation are the Inuit undergoing ? Obviously, before going further, it is fundamental to define the term acculturation. The acculturation is the exchange of cultural features that results from foreign immigration; the original cultural patterns of either or both groups may be altered, but the groups remain distinct. [...]

[...] Does the integration of the Inuit people in the Canadian society imply the lost of their culture? Today, I will talk you about the relationship between Canada and Inuit. The question is: Does the integration of the Inuit people imply the lost of their culture? First, I'll present the two cultures and I'll try to highlight the similarities and differences that exist between both. Then, I'll deal with the characteristics of this acculturation, presenting how it has been carried out, what consequences it had had on the Inuit culture and how the Inuit have been reacting. [...]

[...] This is a good illustration of the type of acculturation the Inuit are undergoing: resistance of their traditional culture while adaptation to the modern society. Then, this particular acculturation rises three points of fight between Inuit and Canadians that we will develop now. These three points are three ways to acculturate the Inuit culture, but given their cultural resistance, they are fighting against Canada about these arguments. The first is the education. In the 1960's, the Canadian government funded the establishment of secular, government-operated high schools in Inuit areas along with the residential school system. [...]

[...] Rosemarie Kuptana, Inuit leader, former President of the Circumpolar Council . The Inuit Circumpolar Conference or Inuit Circumpolar Council is a multinational non-governmental organization (NGO) representing the 150,000 Inuit (often referred to as Eskimo) people living in the United States, Canada, Greenland, and Russia. The Conference first met in June 1977, and holds a General Assembly every four years. The Inuit (plural; the singular Inuk means "man" or "person") are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada, Greenland, Russia and Alaska (United States). [...]

[...] Let's look now at the cultural differences which exist between the Inuit culture and the Canadian culture. The first regards their social structure. The Inuit grant a particular attention to the population opinion, and above all to minority's opinions in order to take any kind of decision. As an illustration, the radio is an interpersonal link and a fundamental means of communication between their communities. Instead of inclining towards an option, the leaders chose to study in the same time the different options and strategies expressed by each segment of the population (through the radio). [...]