Igloolik is an Inuit hamlet in the Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, northern Canada. It is located on a small island in Foxe-Basin that has been occupied by the Inuit for thousands of years with archeological sites on the island dating back over 4000 years. This video series interviews various members of the Igloolik community on their opinions of the Baffinland Iron Mine Corporation’s Mary River iron mine proposal. The interviews talk about the planning and construction phases of the Mary River mine and the effects that other mines have had on Inuit communities in Nunavut.
The community was consulted during the planning phase but the community feels their opinions and suggestions were not listened to by the planning committee. The Inuit are concerned about the environmental impact, especially of the shipping lane which threatens their traditional walrus hunting grounds. As Madeline Ivalu says “The plan consists of destroying the environment, the wildlife, therefore the Inuit.” Atuat Akkirtiq worries about the affects the mining jobs will have on families and the community. Terry Uyarak is concerned with the pollution the mine will create and that this is only the beginning of future mines and development in the area.
The story told by these community members draws similiar connections to other Canadian mining projects in other countries. As we read about in “The Profits of Extermination” by Francisco Ramírez Cuellar in Colombia the mining corporations are concerned first with capital gain and are seemingly unconcerned with the environmental and human impacts of their mining projects. Canadian laws do not allow for the kind of mass displacement and massacres that are connected to Columbian mining but the Inuit are right to worry about the future loss of their land as more development connected to mining occurs. Even though the proposed shipping lane goes through their traditional hunting grounds, and they voted against the mine they don’t legally own the land and the mine construction is going forward. As Madeline discusses in her interview, it feels like they are planning (if indirectly) to clear the land of Inuit and wildlife so they can mine without resistance.
The voices of the Inuit of Igloolik have been silenced by the mining company. Their knowledge and voices hold less importance in development and mining politics because they have been placed in the position of the subaltern due to a history of oppression and racism starting in colonial times in Canada. The colonial British government and after independence the Canadian government has continued to discriminate against First Nation communities through policies of displacement, segregation and assimilation. These policies were originally tied to notions of barbarism which constructs First Nations cultures as primitive, that is, lacking signs of economic development or modernity. When Western explorers wrote of these primitive cultures they described them as being comparable to early human cultures, and backwards in that they had not progressed. The policies have left First Nations communities outside the Center politically, geographically and socially.
These videos are part of a video blog called “Show me on the map: discussions on mining in Igloolik” by Arnait Video Productions on isuma.tv which hosts mainly Inuit blogs, videos and audio recordings. Igloolik Isuma Productions, Inc. was incorporated in January 1990 as Canada’s first Inuit independent production company. Isuma is 75% Inuit-owned. The company is giving a voice to the Inuit, allowing them to speak to the broader world in their own language on issues of importance to them. There is another series of videos on the site about how Inuit knowledge can be applied to help reduce climate change which may be of interest to readers of this blog.