Research

From the time of first contact — many hundreds of years for some Inuit regions — Inuit have been surveyed and studied by western scientists wanting to gain greater insight into Arctic peoples. “They” studied “us.” And while there was much for us to learn during these interactions, they were almost always one-sided, providing us with little opportunity to contribute to the greater picture of Arctic knowledge being painted.

This situation has changed somewhat over the years, but there is much room for improvement. Inuit, like western scientists, have a system of acquiring knowledge based on observation, hypotheses and experimentation. Inuit knowledge is currently undervalued in Arctic research, but can stand on its own and in many instances can work with the scientific process to provide new depth, perspective and context. In our interest to move forward on bridging the gap between Inuit knowledge and western science, Inuit Qaujisarvingat will work in partnership with organizations and institutions on projects with mutually beneficial goals based on identified research and policy priorities.

Some of the key research themes we may work on are:

• Healthy and Sustainable Communities
• Sustainable Resource Development
• Climate Change
• Environmental Stewardship
• Sovereignty
• Observation and Monitoring
• Research Practices, Processes, and Ethics