Inuit: Glimpses of an Arctic Past

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.

Directed at a general audience, this book features beautiful photographs
and an attractive design. There is a good range of topics, from material
culture (tools, houses, clothing) to social life and religion. The
authors have also provided some interesting explanations of why certain
customs were uniquely appropriate to life in the Far North. Most topics
are covered in two-page spreads, so the reader can dip into the book at
any point and find an easily digested snack.

The book’s main drawbacks are (i) a lack of in-depth coverage and
(ii) generalizations that are often misleading. The authors tend to
reduce all Inuit culture to a common storyline, glossing over regional
differences. Also, by having each section of the book introduced by a
short story following the adventures of Akuluk and Kahina, they
uncomfortably blur the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction.

Although presented as a historical study, the book is better described
as ethnographic. There is little sense of historical change, and Inuit
culture is described in a so-called traditional stage before the arrival
of Europeans. Nevertheless, Inuit is an attractive book that will appeal
to general readers.