Inuit Cyberspace: The Struggle for Access for Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit

Abstract

In the field of cyberspace studies, there has been growing interest in researching the implications of cyberspace on ethnic representations and relations, a subject of particular importance for increasingly diverse societies such as Canada. In this essay, the authors examine the relationship between Internet-based new media technologies, the preservation and promotion of Inuit knowledge, and the evolution of Canada’s national identity. The authors examine whether new media technologies can serve as a means to assert and, perhaps, advance Inuit values, linguistic and cultural legacy, knowledge systems and political philosophy. The case study of the development of the Nanisiniq Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) Adventure Website, a community-based initiative, illustrates how new media technologies support the documentation and integration of a system of cultural resources. The fully bilingual website (Inuktitut and English) guides the learner-user through an online journey about the relationship between Inuit and the land through an exploration of diverse resources, including a searchable database of elders recounting the ancient legend of Kiviuq to filmmaker John Houston. The authors assert that amplifying Inuit voices via the Internet supports new patterns of engagement between Inuit elders and youth, and among their communities. Furthermore, the case study highlights how new media technologies can “push” Inuit culture out into the world and “pull” at the national power centre that continues to ignore Northerners’ policy needs. The case study’s focus on environmental stewardship reveals how online representations of ancient knowledge systems can inspire postcolonial patterns of engagement between humans, and between humans and the environment.

Digital Divides and the 'First Mile': Framing First Nations Broadband Development in Canada

“…It was conducted over a short time frame (three and a half months) that only allowed for a general survey and a snapshot of some current projects. Despite these limits, it supported previous research demonstrating a widespread lack of broadband infrastructure and robust connectivity services in many rural and remote First Nations communities (Alexander, 2001(Alexander, , 2009Fiser, 2010;O'Donnell et al, 2010;Walmark, O'Donnell, & Beaton, 2005). It also supported previous findings that many First Nations are engaged in a range of innovative, community-driven broadband and ICT development projects.…”

“…For rural and remote First Nations, these policy challenges, and efforts to address them, must be accompanied with specific considerations that relate to their unique status as self-governing Aboriginal nations (Alexander, 2009;Fiser & Seibel, 2009;McMahon et al, 2010). First Nations have long argued that centralized government programs and policies preclude the efforts of their own Aboriginal governments to secure self-determination.…”

The Institutional Development of Indigenous Broadband Infrastructure in Canada and the United States: Two Paths to “Digital Self-Determination”

“…Broadband infrastructure can be framed as a component of indigenous self-determination (Mignone & Henley, 2009). the general consensus among government, academics, and industry commentators is that broadband infrastructure plays an important role in community development (see, for example, Alexander, Adamson, Daborn, Houston, & tootoo, 2009). Benkler writes that "high capacity networks are seen as strategic infrastructure, intended to contribute to high and sustainable economic growth and to core aspects of human development" (Benkler, 2010, p. 11;see also Matear, 2002;o'Donnell et al, 2010a).…”

Uploading selves: Inuit digital storytelling on YouTube

“…Of greater interest are the opportunities it currently provides Inuit young people for creatively mediating social relationships and historical consciousness. Recent scholarship on Inuit use of cyberspace (Alexander et al 2009;Christensen 2003;Hot 2010) calls attention to these opportunities and to the fluid connections forged online and offline. Indeed, in our examination of these video snippets of everyday life in the North, and of the dialogue posted in the comment section, we found that most of the input was from family or friends.…”

“…Yet this act of connecting, expressing, creating, recording, and broadcasting oneself on video-sharing sites-what Wesch (2008) calls "YouTubing" oneself-has become increasingly common in Arctic communities. Since the 2005-2007 expansion of broadband Internet access via satellite into remote communities in the Canadian Arctic (Alexander et al 2009;Hot 2010) and the more recent, transnational growth of social networking sites and video-sharing technology (Qualman 2009;Wesch 2008), the digitising and uploading of experience has become part of the "practice of everyday life" (de Certeau 1984) in the Canadian North. Geographically diffuse Inuit young people now create online spaces to post short excerpts from their lives and connect with others (Hot 2010) 3 .…”