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The 'Inuvialuit' (in Inuvialuktun: the real people) are Inuit people who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. They are descendants of the Thule people of which other descendants inhabit Russia. Their homeland - the Inuvialuit Settlement Region - covers the Arctic Ocean coastline area from the Alaskan border east to Amundsen Gulf and includes the western Canadian Arctic Islands. The land, which largely belongs to the canadian Northwest Territories, was demarked in 1984 by the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.

Contents

Communities

History/Migration

Lifestyle

References

External links

See also

Communities

'Inuvialuit Communities'[1]
'Community'		'Place name in English'	'2006 Population'	'Inuvaluit'	'First Nations'	'Métis'	'Other Aboriginal'	'non-Aboriginal'
Aklavik		barren-ground grizzly place	594	375	140	35	25	50
Inuvik		place of man	3,484	1,050	440	140	60	1,165
Paulatuk		place of coal	294	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Sachs Harbour		traditionally called Ikahuak meaning "where you go across to"	122	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Tuktoyaktuk		resembling a caribou	870	840	20	0	10	55
Ulukhaktok		a large bluff where we used to collect raw material to make ulus, formerly Holman	398	375	0	0	0	20

The area of the land is . Some of these communities are shared with the Gwich’in people.

History/Migration

Before the 20th century. the Inuvialuit Settlement Region was primarily inhabited by ''Siglit'' Inuit, but in the second half of the 19th century, their numbers were dramatically reduced by the introduction of new diseases. Inuit from Alaska moved into traditionally Siglit areas in the 1910s and 20s, enticed in part by renewed demand for furs from the Hudson Bay Company. These Inuit are called ''Uummarmiut'' - which means ''people of the green trees'' - in reference to their settlements near the tree line. Originally, there was an intense dislike between the Siglit and the Uummarmiut, but these differences have faded over the years, and the two communities are thoroughly intermixed these days. The Inuit of Ulukhaktok are neither Siglit nor Uummarmiut but are Copper Inuit and refer to themselves as ''Ulukhaktokmuit'' after ''Ulukhaktok'', the native name for what used to be called Holman.

Lifestyle

The Inuvialuit have traditionally hunted caribou from the Cape Bathurst and Bluenose herds, and have also shared the Porcupine herd with the Gwich’in. There has been some tension between the Inuvialuit and the Gwich’in over caribou hunting.^[2] The proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline would pass through both Inuvialuit and Gwich'in territory.

References

1. Population from the Canada 2006 Census, all other figures from the Canada 2001 Census, Aklavik, Inuvik, Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk and Ulukhaktok.
2.

External links

★ History of the Inuvialuit

★ Inuvialuit Development Corporation

See also

★ Inuvialuktun language