FAQs

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Tamalik & Associates offers professional social science research services, team development, facilitation, mentorships and academic supports. Their approach is based on community and organizational capacity building. Skills are employed for transference to our community group clients. Indigenous methodologies are paramount. Teams are carefully assembled around a specific need. Other services include language coaching (currently English and Inuktut, spoken, written), Indigenous language revitalization programs, arts-based methods, and multimedia technologies.

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Send an email to info@tamalik.com

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There are many long-term and some new associates. Details will be uploaded to the website at a later date.

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Since 1994.

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We are now located virtually, and offer all services, supports and projects through distance and online means. However, travel by partners and associates can be requested for specific kinds of activities.

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Professional social science research services through team development, facilitation, mentorships, academic supports; language coaching (currently English and Inuktut, spoken, written); Indigenous language revitalization programs, arts-based methods, and multimedia technologies.

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Individuals, communities, agencies, organizations with interests in: Arctic research, community well-being, Inuktut language revitalization, Inuktut and Inuk-centered research methodologies, cross-cultural communication, Indigenous-centered economic development models.

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Email info@tamalik.com, your query will normally be responded to within 48 hours, based on business workweek.

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The term Inuit (pronounced een-weet) refers to the largest grouping of Indigenous people of the polar north, which covers coasts and lands of Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Chukotka (Russian). The somewhat historical post-contact term is/was “Eskimo” (see FAQ below). According to the international organization - Inuit Circumpolar Council, there are approximately 160,000 Inuit worldwide. Inuit also live as diasporas outside of Inuit nunait (Inuit traditional lands). Inuit Indigenous rights in Canada are protected, though not well-defined, by the Constitution Act, 1982, Section 35 (along with two other Indigenous groupings: First Nations and Metis). In Greenland, Inuit have established home rule and self-governance through legislative means in relation to their colonial ties with Denmark.
Covering such a vast territory, while the umbrella reference ‘Inuit’ has been used in English, in Inuit language/Inuktut, self-referencing varies. Some Inuit are self-referenced as Inuinnait, Kalaalliit, Yu’pik, Inupiaq, and others. Also the practice of groupings by land use is still common, Kangirjuarmiut, people of the bay, Nattilingmiut, people of the seal, Quttikturmiut, people of the high up, Utkuhiksalingmiut, people of the soap stone quarries, Kinngarmiut, people of the hilly area. So even Inuit who self-reference within a certain regional grouping, may also have a sub-grouping reference that is significant to them.

http://www.arctic-council.org/index.php/en/about-us/permanent-participants/icc
https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/institutions/polar-knowledge/pdf/arctic_map.pdf

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The term “Inuit” is plural for “Inuk”, which is the word “human”, in Inuit language/Inuktut. Sometimes translated as “the people”, the term “Inuit” commonly replaced the word Eskimos in the 1970s with the Inuit rights movement in Canada. Many Inuit prefer the reference of Inuk/Inuit, and some have argued that they’d like to own and use the historical reference Eskimo too. If in doubt, always ask your Inuit friends what they prefer.
Given that Inuk is singular and Inuit is plural, an individual is referred to as an Inuk: She’s an Inuk artist; There’s an Inuk singer in the line up; I met an Inuk elder yesterday. The plural versions of these examples: They are Inuit artists; There are Inuit singers in the line up; I met with some Inuit elders yesterday. Also be aware that in Inuktut, there is a dual form for every noun – and two Inuit (as opposed to 3 or more) are Inuuk. Most Inuktut speakers are content if you just get the singular and plural straight. It may be unrealistic to expect the English language to accommodate the dual form.

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No, there were some shared or overlapping territories with other distinct Indigenous groups, particularly near tree-lines. For example, in Labrador, McKenzie Delta, Hudson Bay, Alaska and Chukotka there are various other autonomous Indigenous groups. This point is also important: in Labrador there is a First Nations group called Innu – this term gets confused with Inuit, but they Innu are distinct by culture, language and history, they are not Inuit. To the south of Labrador, there are also the L’nu, again a similar sounding term. Interesting that though differing cultures, the words for “the people” “the humans” sound similar. There was no traditional land use of Iceland by Inuit, nor of Northern Scandinavia, both considered Arctic regions so the peoples of those regions are considered Arctic peoples as well. Icelanders are an early resettlement group and Sami in Scandinavia are Indigenous peoples, like Inuit and First Nations, with land appropriation issues and rights concerns.

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Each grouping has organizations and advocacy groups within a national context. International advocacy provided by the Inuit Circumpolar Council that works to support collective global rights and to address concerns of the collective whole.

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In recent decades, the majority of Inuit have insisted on the term “Inuit” when referencing their collectivities in English. In Inuit dialects, a variety of other Inuktut terms are used, descriptive to place and land, or other historical factors. The rejection of the term “Eskimo” came partly because of racist, derogatory connotations that became associated with the term “Eskimo”, along with hurtful negative stereotypes. Linguists cannot agree on the origins of the word, but in Canadian Cree it is similar to the word for ‘eats raw meat’. However, most importantly the term “Inuit” was pushed for by many Inuit because it is an ancient self-referencing word which carries deep meaning and feeling about what it means to be human to the highest capacity. Indigenous self-determination includes determining how one’s collectivities are referenced. That said, some Inuit actually embrace the term “Eskimo” too. If you use the term “Eskimo” in that context, just be aware also of the notes mentioned above, it’s not a positive term for many others. Most importantly, simply ask Inuit. The answer will differ across generation, region and country. So, is it okay to use the term “Eskimo”? We’d advise you that the answer will be mostly, no, but also…it depends.

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This is an example of a misconception of the term “Inuit”, because it is already plural! This double plural is awkward, jarring and misinformed. Inuk (person) is singular, Inuit (people) plural. Also in Inuktut there is a dual form, so one can express that there are two people: inuuk (2 people).

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Inuit are among the Indigenous peoples of North America, as are Native Americans in the USA and First Nations and Metis in Canada. However, they are entirely distinct as a cultural, linguistic and political group from Native American, First Nations and Metis. How that distinction is maintained differs between the States and Canada, though. In Canada, for example, Inuit, along with First Nations and Metis are named as the three founding Indigenous groups of Canada under Section 35, Constitution Act of Canada 1982. It should be noted that the umbrella term “First Nations” covers a vast number of Indigenous nations that do not include Inuit. Also in Canada, the term “Aboriginal” is used in the legal documents as an umbrella term to reference all three groups. The terms Aboriginal and Indigenous are similar but the latter is often preferred especially in the “forth world” context, Indigenous peoples globally. In Alaska, Inuit (for example Inupiaq, Yu’pik, Cup’ik, Sugpiaq, Alutiiq, Koniag, Chugach) are referenced to be among the Native Alaskan groups – referred to as Native Alaskan over Native American. The Alaskan native land claim agreement signed by Nixon in 1971 included all the Indigenous groups of Alaska - the Act establishing 13 Native Alaskan Corporations, which includes Inuit groups and other distinct Native Alaskan groups, allowing for cultural autonomy. The corporations are based on geographical regions, so more than one corporation is owned by Inuit in Alaska. In the United States, because the Alaskan settlement was so much later than that of other states, and due to unique geographical factors, the term Native Alaskan is used in Alaska over Native American, based on the unique features of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).

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How many dialects of Inuit language/Inuktut are there?
It depends. It depends on region, language grouping, and sub-grouping. And…what is being counted? That said, Inuit language/Inuktut across the circumpolar region is remarkably consistent in structure, grammar and sound. The departure between dialects is often a question of geminated consonants (st becoming tt) or diphthongs (ai becoming aa), or differences in a range of vocabulary, and pronunciation. Also, in Canada, for example, beginning in the West the dialects are slower and consonant clusters are highly articulated. As one moves east, the articulation gets faster and the blending or dropping of consonants becomes more common, enabling faster speech patterns. How many dialects, you say? It depends! Let’s say, there are many variances and distinctions, most are mutually intelligible with some insider negotiation of meaning. Important also to this question is the fact that Inuit worldwide are gathering to the work of creating a unified writing system; the differences that divide are limited. See the online references to Atausiq Inuktut Titirausiq, lead by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.

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Three vowel sounds i-u-a and 15 consonants (p,t,k,g,m,n,s,h,l,j,v,r,q,ng,&) on the ICI chart. The & is not a typo, it sounds like ‘dsl’, as in Welch language. The vowels and be doubled or paired (ii, uu, aa, iu, ia, ui, ua, ai, au) There are two consonant phonemes yet unaccounted for, from Nattilingmiutut and Utkuhiksalingmiutut dialects, a reflexive r (in addition to the guttural r) and an ‘s’ that sounds like shr. In Inuktut there’s a general rule that there are not more than two consonants or two vowels in a phrase string. The ng is one sound, one phoneme and counted as one consonant.

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The term “Inuktut” has become recently popular as many dialects never used the term “Inuktitut” and some Inuit linguists have argued that the extra “ti” is grammatically incorrect, an anomaly, suspected to have occurred in early contact period, coming from the newcomer’s confusion. This theory makes sense, as when Inuktut was the only language that every Inuk spoke, in Inuktut there was no popular reference to Inuktut language specifically, in comparison to another language like English or French. There is more background to explain on the usage and history, but as it is, we at Tamalik & Associates use the term “Inuktut”, while also understanding that “Inuktitut” was in popular usage for so long that it is still used widely, and also accepted. The term “Inuit language” was used by the Government of Nunavut to include all dialects and variations of Inuktut, including Inuit Sign Language, all with legislative protection under their official languages act. Some people use the term Inuit Language to reference all circumpolar dialects of Inuktut as a whole, i.e. the language and dialects of all Inuit.

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In most of the Circumpolar area a form of Roman orthography is used, but not yet united as a system. With that, there are many ways that Inuktut language is expressed in writing. All of these systems are phonetic, and were developed and introduced by missionaries, mostly at the turn of the last century, about 100 years. In the Eastern Arctic in Canada, syllabics are used along with Roman orthography, and this was adapted by missionaries from the system they used among Cree First Nations successfully. The syllabics system has characters that represent both a consonant and a vowel (a syllable), so therefore it is called syllabics. See this link for more on Inuktut syllabics: http://www.tusaalanga.ca/node/2516

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It was developed and introduced by missionaries, though embraced by Inuit. Many ancient narrative and story forms now have their expression in writing in Inuktut because of the writing systems that were adopted.

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Some say it is among the most difficult in the world to learn. Primarily, whether it is difficult or not depends upon the learner’s language acquisition skills and their motivation levels for learning. It is quite possible to work on a few phrases to show respect and effort and a desire to connect. It is a big commitment to work towards proficiency and fluency. Yet, the effort is worthwhile as second language learning has been scientifically shown to benefit overall functioning in surprising ways: https://www.actfl.org/advocacy/what-the-research-shows

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There is. It is called Inuit Sign Language. It is named and protected under the Official Languages Act of Nunavut. There are two forms of sign language in Nunavut, one is traditional and one is based on American Sign Language acquired by deaf children who were taught ASL in institutions far away from home in Southern Canada: https://vimeo.com/39295979

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This is a myth for sure. Also, how does one count words in a polysynthetic language structure? For example qanniqtuq (it is snowing) is based on the verb qanniq- (snow fall) and this verb cannot be without a verb ending – which makes it a full sentence. So all the verbs are actually sentences. Even if we counted all the verbs for snow as words, along with nouns, like: aput (snow), masak (soft snow), igluksaq (iglu snow) and possibly include frost crystals (patuk) and the like, it is clear that the count of 100 or 50 is entirely arbitrary and highly subjective. Remembering though, a whole world-view is encoded in the language, and relationships to environment (snow, Arctic weather patterns, ice) are highly refined in Inuktut – just not in the way that an average English speaker can appreciate, thus a modern myth takes flight. The “land of snow” is a common romantic view of the north. Instead, if we counted kinship terminology, or double verb endings, both highly relational in terms of human interaction and interdependence in the Arctic, there would be lots of count and to boggle the mind. When the North American mindset is less on conquering and extracting from lands and more on human connection and responsibility, the words for snow myth may be substituted for something of significance to Inuit and to global human survival.

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That is about the most common language question we receive about Inuktut! The intent of course, is that people want to know how to connect. In fact, there is no word for hello, although “ai” is used among many dialects for drawing attention (either to acknowledge, greet or advise). Also, a longer version “aingai” (ai + ngai) is popular in the Canadian Eastern Arctic – as a double form, a little strong than “ai” and has developed in recent decades as a greeting, but used in parting too and many other situations. We translate it on our website here as “there you are” – acknowledgement of another. So, really the most common and trans-arctic greeting, “hello” is light eye contact and a smile and/or a warm nod, very non-invasive.

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There are a few good resources on the web that are free, for example our Canadian favorite is Nunavut, Canada: www.tusaalanga.ca). It really depends on your motivation for learning, which dialect grouping you’d like to commit to, and to what depth of ability you’d like to go to. One key factor for all people learning Inuktut is a solid understanding of one’s own learning style and needs. Because of this, our online coaching includes a learning plan document that is tailored specifically to a learner’s individual needs as coupled with their goals.