Across Time and Tundra: The Inuvialuit of the Western Arctic

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.

The physical appearance of Across Time and Tundra—large format,
beautiful illustrations, colourful pages—might suggest a coffee-table
book. But it is actually a far more substantial historical and cultural
account that was awarded the Canadian Historical Association’s 2004
Clio Prize for the best book on Northern history. Produced under the
auspices of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, it is also available in
French as А travers temps et toundra. In it, we are introduced to the
Inuvialuit (the Inuit of the Mackenzie Delta region in Canada’s
western Arctic) through their history, art, and life ways.

The current fashion in writing northern Aboriginal history is to take a
collaborative approach between southern scholarship and northern
indigenous knowledge. This book represents one type of collaboration,
with separate sections and chapters by each contributor. Archaeologist
David Morrison provides descriptions of pre-contact culture and contact
historical events drawn from published accounts and scholarly secondary
sources. Inuvialuit elder Ishmael Alunik contributes legends, oral
history, and personal reminiscences. Writer and land-claims negotiator
Eddie Kolausok assisted Alunik in transcribing the oral traditions and
contributed two chapters on post-1950s changes and issues. There is also
a brief section on contemporary Inuvialuit art by Maria von
Finckenstein. Throughout, beautifully reproduced photographs, archival
materials, and contemporary works of art complement the text. For those
who would like to learn more, there is a full bibliography.

Aimed at a general readership, the book succeeds admirably as an
introduction to a people who should be better known to Canadians.