TEXT C
Eskimo villages today are larger and more complex than the traditional nomadic groups of Eskimo kinsmen. Village decision making is organized through community councils and co-operative boards of directors, institutions which the Eskimos were encouraged by the government to adopt. They have been more readily accepted in villages like Fort Chimo where there is an individualistic wage ethos and where ties of kinship are less important than in the rural village such as Port Burwell, where communal sharing between kinsmen is more emphasized. Greater contact with southern Canadians and better educational facilities have shown Fort Chimo Eskimos that it is possible to argue and negotiate with the government rather than to acquiesce passively in its policies.
The old-age paternalism of southern Canadians over the Eskimos has died more slowly in the rural villages where Eskimos have been more reluctant to voice their opinions aggressively. This has been a frustration to government officials trying to develop local leadership amongst the Eskimos, but a blessing to other departments whose plans have been accepted without local obstruction. In rural areas the obligations of kinship often ran counter to the best interests of the village and potential leaders were restrained from making positive contributions to the village council. More recently, however, the educated Eskimos have been voicing the interests of those in the rural areas. They are trying to persuade the government to recognize the rights of full time hunters, by protecting their hunting territories from mining and oil prospector, for example. The efforts of this active minority are percolating through to the remoter villages whose inhabitants are becoming increasingly vocal.
Continuing change is inevitable but future development policy in ungave must recognize that most Eskimos retain much of their traditional outlook on life. New schemes should focus on resources that the Eskimos are used to handling as the Port Burwell projects have done, rather than on enterprises such as mining where effort is all to easily consigned to an unskilled labor force The musk-ox project at Fort Chimo and the tourist lodge at George River are new directions for future development but there are pitfalls.
Since 1967 musk oxen have been reared near Fort Chimo for their finer-than-cashmere undercoat which can be knitted. But the farm lies eight kilometers from the village, across a river, and it has been difficult to secure Eskimo interests in the project. For several months of the year-at the freeze-up and break -- up of the river ice -- the river cannot be crossed easily, and a small number of Eskimo herdsmen become isolated from the amenities and social life of Fort Chimo.
The original herd of fifteen animals is beginning to breed but it will be difficult to attract more herdsmen as long as other employment is available within the village.
The Eskimo-owned tourist lodge near George River has been a success. American fishermen spend large amounts of money to catch trout and Arctic char, plentiful in the port sub-Arctic rivers. The lodge is successful because its small size allows its owner to communicate with his employees, fellow villagers in George River, on a personal basis. This is essential when Eskimos are working together. If the lodge were to expand its operations, the larger number of employees would have to be treated on a more impersonal and authoritarian basis. This could lead to resentment and a withdrawal of labor.
What was the Canadians’ attitude towards Eskimos in the past