Description

Uqalurait, pointed snowdrifts formed by Arctic blizzards, "would tell us which direction to go in," says elder Mariano Aupilarjuk. This oral history, guided by the traditional knowledge of Inuit elders from across Nunavut, also follows the uqalurait. Thousands of quotes from over three hundred Inuit elders about their culture and customs cover all aspects of traditional life, from raising children to hunting, the land, and architecture, to belief systems, cosmology, and the Inuit's remarkable ability to make do with what they had. Given the recent creation of Nunavut and current attention to the Arctic due to climate change, Uqalurait is a timely source of insight from a people whose values of sharing and respect for the environment have helped them to live for centuries at the northern limit of the inhabitable world.