Table of Contents

  1. Quick facts
  2. Report and Data Downloads
  3. Authors

How do Inuit-serving institutional research and education centers such as Nunavut Arctic College (NAC) and the Nunavut Research Institute (NRI) impact regional research? How do they foster Inuit ways of knowing, expertise, and ethics–Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ)– in Nunavut research? 

This Inuit-led, multi-year project involved an extensive review of over three and a half thousand research documents and articles relating to Nunavut and Nunavummiut between 1996 and 2022.

We found the NRI’s role as a research regulator that provides permits under the Scientists Act to be the most prominent one expressed in the literature. However, we also found that the NAC and NRI facilitate research processes through its research infrastructure and the provision of several essential support services. They play substantial roles as purveyors of research resources and are directly involved in the dissemination and mobilization of research outcomes. In addition, the literature also makes clear NAC/NRI’s direct role in leading and conducting research and increasing capacity among Nunavummiut researchers and collaborators.

We identified 41 themes that enabled us to detail how ‘Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit’ is represented, engaged, or mobilized in Nunavut research. Several of these themes specified how Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is brought into research and research processes. We gathered representative examples that speak to the various desires to incorporate IQ into research and the necessary accommodations being made within existing Western structures and institutions.

The Nunavut research literature shows an important shift over time. Since 1996, Inuit ways of knowing, expertise, and ethics in research and research mobilization have been gradually displacing harmful practices. Although the NAC/NRI’s roles are underacknowledged, the literature tethers this transition to the NAC/NRI’s involvement in education and research. Combined with the ongoing efforts of the Nunavut Government, licensing authorities, research collaborators, communities, and institutional partners, the NAC/NRI’s involvement has increased the potential of the Nunavut institutional research literature to become a viable pathway for the transmission of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.

Since 1996, the IQ has gained momentum in the Nunavut research literature in both content and application. The advancement of Inuit ways of knowing, expertise, and ethics in research and research mobilization has made the Nunavut research literature an increasingly viable pathway for the transmission of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.

Quick facts

  • We read and coded 3,638 research texts, some of which were not accessible in digital databases or library resources
  • The appearance of ‘Nunavut Arctic College’ and ‘Nunavut Research Institute’ in Nunavut research has increased over time, yet only 61.5% of research records contain either or both terms in any context, including 55.7% of records that mention an NRI research license.
  • NRI/NAC published/associated materials are cited by 21.6% (n=794) of Nunavut research records.
  • 55 records indicated that NAC students contributed to research outcomes
  • About 38% of the Nunavut research literature contains the phrase ‘Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit’. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is increasingly being discussed in the context of research methods and methodology. 415 (11.3%) of the 3,681 records we examined had IQ in this context.
  • The overall appearance of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit in the research literature is increasing, but research authors are twice as likely to rely on brief ‘tagline’ descriptions to explain Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.
  • Many research collaborators share a desire to include Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit in research and research processes. The research literature shows that, although this desire emerges from differing ambitions, it is typically satisfied by the increased representation of Inuit in research and the perpetuation of Inuit knowledges, values, and perspectives.
  • The Nunavut research literature provides a growing list of examples that show how the meaningful inclusion and application of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit can change the focus and outcomes of research work. These examples represent the inclusion of IQ in the research work of institutions and in that of individuals.

Report and Data Downloads

Authors

  • Tapisa Kilabuk (Nunavummiuq)
  • Darlene Jacque (Nunatsiavummiuk)
  • Tuttu Hunter (Nunatsiavummiuk)
  • Christine Qillasiq Lussier (Nunavimmiuq)
  • Edward Allen (Nunatsiavummiuk) – contact author

Funded by ArcticNet, a Network of Centres of Excellence Canada, through the North by North program. Supported by CLEAR lab.

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