Arctic Hunters: The Inuit and Diamond Jenness

Kerry Abel is a professor of history at Carleton University. She is the author of Drum Songs: Glimpses of Dene History, co-editor of Aboriginal Resource Use in Canada: Historical and Legal Aspects, and co-editor of Northern Visions: New Perspectives on the North in Canadian History.

In this little book, readers are introduced to Diamond Jenness’s
perspectives on the history and ethnology of the people of the Arctic.
Jenness, who enjoyed a long career as one of Canada’s best-known
anthropologists, was fascinated by the indigenous peoples of North
America. He served as chief anthropologist at the National Museum of
Canada from 1926 to 1947, and was one of the pioneers in conducting
Arctic fieldwork, particularly among the people whom he called the
Copper Eskimo. While this book is intended as a tribute to his work, it
is also a useful introduction to northern archeology, ethnology, and, to
a lesser extent, history.

The book is divided into three sections: observations on the Copper
Inuit, the search for Inuit origins in the Bering Strait region, and the
search for the vanished Dorset people. The text is illustrated with
maps, photographs taken by Jenness himself, and samples of tools and
other specimens that he collected.

The content is well-pitched for the general reader. Basic terminology
is clearly defined, and Jenness’s place in the history of anthropology
is well laid out. The author succeeds in sorting through often
inscrutable archeological jargon to provide a clear and direct
explanation of techniques and the ways in which archeological theories
are developed. The list of suggested readings, although brief, will be
useful to those who wish to investigate further.

While the author does not idealize Jenness, the controversies
engendered by his work and theories are very much underplayed and
readers are given no explanation of the basis of his opponents’
challenges. Perhaps the author wanted to avoid controversy, but many
readers would be interested in the issues associated with it. Historians
will also be unhappy with the frequent references to “traditional
culture” (as if nothing had ever changed before Europeans arrived) and
“prehistory” (as if there had been no history before contact). The
subtitle suggests that the book is about “the Inuit and Diamond
Jenness,” whereas it would more accurately be called “Diamond
Jenness on the Inuit.”

These quibbles aside, the book is a good, clear introduction for
readers wishing to know more about the archeology and ethnology of the
Arctic.