Quaqtaq: Modernity and Identity in an Inuit Community

Monika Rohlmann is an environmental/social consultant in Yellowknife,
Northwest Territories.

Quaqtaq is the name of an Inuit community in northern Quebec (Nunavik),
which in 1990 had a population of 225. Louis-Jacques Dorais, professor
of anthropology at Laval University, begins this detailed study with a
look at the ancestors of modern-day Inuit. Anthropology, archeology, and
physical sciences are interwoven in his descriptions of migrations and
lifestyle. Shifting the focus to the land and people in the Quaqtaq area
from the early 1920s to the present, Dorais provides detailed
observations on the changes and trends in lifestyle, wildlife, religion,
language, and culture. In the end, he concludes that Inuit identity can
and does survive in a modern setting, at least in Quaqtaq.

Although a book written from the perspective of an Inuk would have
provided a better view of where the Inuit youth are headed today, this
study provides a useful compilation and analysis/synthesis of field
notes dating back to 1965, when the author began his research on
Quaqtaq.