Inuit Journey: The Co-operative Adventure in Canada's North

David Quiring teaches history at the University of Saskatchewan.

Edith Iglauer first visited Canadian Inuit communities in 1961,
accompanying Don Snowden, a federal government employee who promoted
cooperative development in the subarctic and arctic. Iglauer next
journeyed north in 1962 and 1964, and subsequently provided a glowing
account of Canadian government efforts to the readers of The New Yorker,
as well as in book form. In 1994, an elderly Iglauer revisited some of
the communities and people she first met in the 1960s.

This engaging updated version of Inuit Journey combines the former text
with the author’s more recent observations. The book’s most notable
achievement is its depiction of a vanished era or stage in Inuit and
Canadian history. Iglauer’s early description of the Inuit communities
and cooperative development shows an acceptance of the value of
cooperatives, movement to permanent settlements, and the irrevocable end
to the traditional Inuit lifestyle. No one appeared to seriously
question the wisdom of the massive changes introduced by government, and
people sincerely believed that good will and cooperation effect a happy
ending. The author looks at Snowden, Paul Godt, and other government
officials who optimistically led the trusting Inuit from the old ways
into an imagined cooperative future, with neither party understanding
the implications of the planned change.

Iglauer’s description of the North skips the 30 years from 1964 to
1994, during which time northern communities underwent great changes.
The names of settlements changed to Inuit designations, while many
acquaintances died. Iglauer describes some of the successes of the
cooperatives and the communities but at the same time acknowledges the
difficulties of the intervening 30 years. The best of intentions had not
overcome the inherent limitations of the northern economy, and some
cooperatives failed while others survived thanks to hefty government
bailouts. Government transfer payments supported much of the population,
dashing hopes for self-reliance. Northern cooperatives continue but no
longer appear up to the task of successfully carrying the Inuit into the
contemporary world.