This study examines long-term Inuit-European and -Euroamerican intersocietal interaction in the central Canadian Arctic. This geographical area encompasses the traditional ranges of the contiguous Copper, Netsilik and Iglulik Inuit societies. Specifically, the study analyzes and discusses changes in intra- and intergroup material trade networks and social relations resulting from indirect and direct contact with the developing capitalist world-system. Through the application of world-system theory and methodology, it is shown that indirect contact in the form of the acquisition of material trade items was a gradual, though constant, process that had a considerable impact on the cultural development of these societies. Both indirect and direct contact were greatly accelerated during the 19th century, increasing the rate of cultural change, and, by the early 20th century, ultimately culminating in the articulation of the Copper, Netsilik and Iglulik Inuit societies within the modern capitalist world-system.

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