Problématique. La crise du logement qui sévit dans le Nord canadien depuis plus de 50 ans engendre des conséquences sérieuses sur la santé psychologique et le bien-être des Inuit, le peuple autochtone ayant historiquement occupé le territoire aujourd’hui connu comme l’Inuit Nunangat. La situation du logement y est actuellement caractérisée par un manque criant de logements, une large proportion de logements non convenables et les taux de surpeuplement des ménages les plus élevés au Canada. Intervention et question de recherche. Le projet de thèse se déroule dans le contexte d’une intervention de relogement au Nunavut et au Nunavik – deux des quatre régions formant l’Inuit Nunangat – et s’intéresse à son fort potentiel de réduction des inégalités sociales de santé mentale entre les Inuit et les autres Canadiens. En 2014-2015, des investissements publics ont mené à la construction et la rénovation de centaines de logements sociaux, permettant ainsi à des familles inuites de déménager et d’améliorer considérablement leurs conditions de logement. Le cadre de référence de Dunn, qui conceptualise le logement comme déterminant social de la santé des populations, ainsi que la théorie de la sécurité ontologique de Giddens ont été mobilisés pour répondre à la question suivante : comment les conditions de logement influencent-elles la santé psychologique et le bien-être d’adultes inuits et de leur famille, dans le contexte d’une intervention de relogement au Nunavut et au Nunavik ? Plus spécifiquement, la thèse s’intéresse aux mécanismes qui relient le surpeuplement des ménages au sentiment d’avoir un chez-soi et ensuite à la santé psychologique et au bien-être d’adultes inuits et de leur famille. Devis de recherche, principales variables d’intérêt et participants. L’étude s’appuie sur une approche collaborative impliquant des partenaires régionaux. Le devis utilisé est un devis mixte explicatif, par lequel les résultats issus d’une enquête réalisée dans 12 communautés inuites sont ensuite approfondis par une série d’entrevues réalisées dans une de ces communautés. Dans l’enquête, un logement est considéré comme surpeuplé s’il comprend plus d’une personne par pièce (>1 PPP). Le sentiment d’avoir un chez-soi est quant à lui opérationnalisé selon les repères conceptuels de la sécurité ontologique du chez-soi. Les perceptions que les participants entretiennent envers leur environnement domestique sont mesurées selon huit construits : espace, identité, sécurité, contrôle, intimité, relations, satisfaction et localisation. Finalement, la santé psychologique est mesurée à l’aide de l’échelle de détresse psychologique de Kessler à 6 items. Dans les entrevues, le surpeuplement et le sentiment d’avoir un chez-soi sont explorés comme un ensemble de processus socio-psycho-affectifs découlant des expériences et des représentations du chez-soi qui influencent le bien-être des individus et de leur famille. Au total, 102 participants ont complété les questionnaires pré- et post-relogement de l’enquête réalisée au Nunavut et au Nunavik, alors que 25 participants ont été rencontrés pour des entrevues semi-dirigées dans une communauté du Nunavut, parmi lesquels 14 figuraient sur la liste d’attente d’un logement social et 11 autres avaient déménagé dans un nouveau logement social un à trois ans auparavant. Résultats intégrés. La thèse montre que le surpeuplement des logements est associé négativement au sentiment d’avoir un chez-soi puisqu’il crée des contraintes multiples et soutenues au quotidien et qu’il limite le contrôle que les individus ont sur leur vie. La nécessité de partager des ressources essentielles et limitées (nourriture, eau, espace) avec un trop grand nombre de personnes dans le ménage génère des dilemmes moraux et crée des tensions sociales, qui deviennent difficiles à contenir et peuvent donner lieu à des épisodes de violence. Pour plusieurs, la pénurie de logements est source d’instabilité résidentielle puisqu’elle les force à se déplacer d’un logement à l’autre (itinérance cachée). L’ensemble de ces situations génère de l’inquiétude de la part des parents au sujet du bien-être de leurs enfants, en plus de s’accompagner d’un sentiment d’impuissance et d’engendrer de la détresse. À la suite du relogement, la réduction du nombre d’adultes dans le ménage et l’augmentation du sentiment d’avoir un chez-soi sont associées à un déclin cliniquement significatif de la détresse psychologique. Concrètement, le chez-soi que les familles se sont créé offre la stabilité et la sécurité que plusieurs attendaient pour entreprendre des étapes de vie signifiantes, comme se marier ou agrandir la famille, tout en permettant d’éduquer les enfants d’une manière plus autonome et dans un cadre plus sain. L’ensemble de ces processus a permis aux familles (immédiates et élargies) de redéfinir leurs relations en dehors des contraintes du surpeuplement et de reprendre contact avec des pratiques culturellement valorisées, rendues possibles par la liberté de choix et l’espace qu’offre le nouveau chez-soi. Discussion. L’intervention a permis aux familles de mettre en place des processus relationnels et identitaires qui correspondent à la définition d’une « personne saine » dans une perspective inuite, c’est-à-dire une personne vivant en harmonie avec sa famille et dans un environnement favorable aux pratiques culturelles. Pour plusieurs, ces pratiques s’inscrivent dans un processus de guérison. L’interprétation des résultats à la lumière de la théorie de la sécurité ontologique révèle que, d’une part, les conditions de logement non convenables contribuent à la perpétuation des traumas intergénérationnels et, d’autre part, que la mise à l’échelle des opportunités que génère le relogement sous la forme de « politiques du chez-soi » pourrait représenter une source de résilience sociale dans la société inuite contemporaine. Toutefois, le contexte socioéconomique et politique de ces régions, largement déterminé par l’histoire coloniale récente, continue d’influencer la situation du logement et limite de plusieurs façons l’ampleur des bénéfices du relogement sur la santé psychologique et le bien-être. Les logements sont encore aujourd’hui construits d’une manière à accommoder un mode de vie occidental et demeurent inadéquats culturellement. Même pour la fraction de la population qui accède à un nouveau logement, la pauvreté, l’insécurité alimentaire et les taux de surpeuplement dans les communautés continuent d’avoir des répercussions sur les relations familiales et les processus de réappropriation culturelle, limitant ainsi la portée de l’intervention. Implications. La thèse appuie les revendications des partenaires de recherche qui militent pour des investissements accrus dans le logement abordable pour atteindre leurs objectifs de promotion de la santé mentale et favoriser le développement des communautés. Les résultats sont appliqués à la Loi sur la stratégie nationale sur le logement, qui reconnaît le droit au logement convenable comme un droit humain fondamental. Sur la base des effets observés et des expériences des participants, la thèse propose de revoir les principes à la base du système d’habitation dans le Nord et de réviser les critères d’acceptabilité du logement en les fondant sur les droits de la personne, pour finalement poser les bases d’un continuum de logement porteur de santé dans l’Inuit Nunangat. Les investissements que de telles propositions exigent sont nécessaires pour rapprocher les Inuit d’un véritable droit au logement convenable et, ce faisant, pour promouvoir des conditions de vie qui favorisent la dignité et le bien-être. / Introduction. The housing crisis that has plagued Northern Canada for over 50 years has led to serious consequences on the psychological health and well-being of the Inuit, the Indigenous group who has historically occupied the territory now known as Inuit Nunangat. The housing situation in this area is characterized by a severe housing shortage, a large proportion of inadequate housing and by rates of household overcrowding that are among the highest in Canada. Intervention and research question. The doctoral project takes place in the context of a rehousing intervention in Nunavut and Nunavik, two of the four Inuit regions within Inuit Nunangat. It focuses on the strong potential of this intervention to reduce social inequalities in mental health that exist between the Inuit and other Canadians. In 2014-2015, governmental investments for this area led to the construction and renovation of hundreds of social housing units. This enabled Inuit families to relocate and significantly improve their housing conditions. Using Dunn's framework of conceptualizing housing as a social determinant of population’s health, as well as Giddens' theory of ontological security, the thesis seeks to answer the following question: how do housing conditions influence the psychological health and well-being of Inuit adults and their families, within the context of a rehousing intervention in Nunavut and Nunavik? Specifically, the thesis investigates the mechanisms that link household overcrowding to the sense of home and to the psychological health and well-being of Inuit adults and their families. Study design, Main Outcomes of Interest, and Participants. The thesis’s project was conducted using an integrated knowledge translation approach involving regional partners. Using a mixedmethods sequential explanatory design, the research collected data from a survey carried out in 12 Inuit communities, followed by a series of interviews conducted in one of these communities to gain a deeper understanding of the survey data. In the survey, household overcrowding is defined as the presence of more than one person per room in a dwelling (>1 PPP), and sense of home is operationalized according to conceptual components of the ontological security from the home. Participants' perceptions of their home environment are measured across eight constructs: space, vii identity, safety, control, privacy, relationships, satisfaction, and location. Lastly, the psychological health is measured using the psychological distress Kessler 6-item scale. In interviews, overcrowding and sense of home are explored as a set of social-psycho-affective processes arising from the experiences and representations of home that influence the well-being of individuals and their families. A total of 102 participants completed pre- and post-rehousing survey questionnaires in 12 communities in Nunavut and Nunavik, and 25 participants were met for semi-structured interviews in a Nunavut community, among whom 14 participants were on a waiting list for social housing, and 11 others had moved to new social housing one to three years prior. Integrated findings. The thesis demonstrates that housing crowding is negatively associated with sense of home as it creates multiple and sustained constraints on daily routines and therefore limits the control that individuals have on their lives. Overcrowding implies sharing essential and limited resources, such as food, water, and space, with many other people in the household, thus creating moral dilemmas and tensions that are difficult to appease, which can escalate into verbal and physical violence. For many, the housing shortage causes residential instability, since it forces people to constantly move from one dwelling to another (hidden homelessness). All of these situations generate concern on the part of parents about the well-being of their children, as well as a sense of powerlessness and distress. Following rehousing, a reduction in the number of adults in a household and an increase in the sense of home are associated with a clinically significant decline in psychological distress. Specifically, the homes that families are able to create for themselves provide stability and security that many need to make significant life decisions, such as getting married or expanding the family, all the while allowing children to be raised more independently and within a healthier environment. Taken together, these processes have allowed families (immediate and extended) to redefine their relationships without the constraints of overcrowding and to reconnect with cultural practices, all of this made possible by freedom of choice and the less constrained space that the new home offered. Discussion. The rehousing intervention allowed the families to set up relational and identity processes that correspond to the definition of a “healthy person” from an Inuit perspective. This includes living in harmony with family members and maintaining an environment that favours cultural connectedness. For many, these practices are part of a healing process. Interpretation of viii the results in light of ontological security theory firstly reveals that unsuitable housing conditions contribute to the perpetuation of intergenerational trauma, and secondly, that scaling up the opportunities brought about by the intervention in the form of "home policies" can act as a source of social resilience in the contemporary Inuit society. However, the socioeconomic and political context of these regions, largely determined by recent colonial history, continues to influence the housing situation, and limits the extent of the rehousing benefits on psychological health and well-being in many ways. Housing today in Inuit Nunangat is still built to accommodate a western lifestyle and remains culturally inadequate. Additionally, even for the fraction of the population that accesses new housing, poverty, food insecurity, and overcrowding rates in communities continue to impact family relationships and cultural reclaiming processes, limiting the scope of the intervention. Implications. The thesis supports research partners who advocate for increased investment in affordable housing, so that existing objectives for mental health promotion and community development can be achieved. The results are applied to the National Housing Strategy Act, which recognizes the right to adequate housing as a fundamental human right. Based on the observed effects and the experiences of the participants, the thesis proposes: i) to revisit the principles underlying the housing system; ii) to revise the criteria for housing acceptability in keeping with the concept that adequate housing is a recognized fundamental human right, and iii) the thesis lays the foundation for what could form a healthy housing continuum in Inuit Nunangat. The investments that the thesis proposes are a necessary element in the establishment of housing rights for the Inuit, ensuring better living conditions that foster dignity and well-being.

Many Inuit feel they are not benefitting from research activities that come from colonial research licensing practices and laws enabling state control over research. In Nunavut, research licensing also helped to increase community engagement in research. The Nunavut Research Institute (NRI), based in Iqaluit, Nunavut manages research and issues physical/natural, health, and social science research licenses in the Territory. In partnership with the NRI, we examined social science and Inuit knowledge research licensed between 2004-2019, to understand the scope of research trends in Nunavut. Using the 568 project summaries from social science research licenses, thematic content analysis was conducted to: i) identify research topics in social science and Inuit knowledge projects; ii) determine frequency and diversity of topics according to leadership, location, and timeframe; iii) develop new metrics to improve tracking of research topics; and, iv) contribute to the development of a Nunavut research portal making NRI research applications/reports public. Through this analysis we learned that social science research in Nunavut increased over time. Research projects are predominantly led by Canadian academics, with the highest concentration of research being in Iqaluit. Social science research is mainly focused on cultural topics, conducted using interviews, and shared in peer-reviewed journal articles. Community engagement has also increased over time in Nunavut, and research intensity appears to be connected to the availability of research-related capacity and infrastructure in a community. This research is an important starting point in making research trends more accessible to Nunavummiut (people of Nunavut), and more useable by decision-makers regarding research intensity and potential fatigue in some Nunavut communities. Long term, improving tracking of metrics such as funding sources and reporting mechanisms can contribute to policy reform and to advancing the NRI licensing database. This is an initial step contributing to Nunavut-specific approaches to Inuit self-determination in research. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / Many Inuit feel they are not involved in the research process or seeing benefits from research outcomes. For my MA research, I am working with the Nunavut Research Institute (NRI) licensing database analyzing summaries of social science research applications from 2004-2019. The objectives are to: 1) Identify research topics addressed in social science projects; 2) Determine the variation of research topics across Nunavut over the past 16 years; 3) Develop new metrics to improve tracking of research topics; 4) Contribute to the development of a Nunavut research database making NRI research applications publicly accessible Through this analysis we learned that social science research in Nunavut has increased over time. Research projects are mainly led by Canadian academics, focused on cultural topics, and concentrated in Iqaluit. Community engagement has also increased over time in Nunavut and appears to be linked with the availability of research-related capacity and infrastructure in a community. This research is an important starting point in making research trends more accessible to Nunavummiut (people of Nunavut). This work is also an initial step contributing to Nunavut-specific approaches to Inuit self-determination in research.

This dissertation examines a series of catalogues for Inuit art exhibitions held at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG), spanning from 1967 to 2017. I argue that the discursive conventions of settler-Canadian art appreciation, especially those geared towards Inuit creative production, have resonances with the political strategies that Canada uses to prove effective occupation—a term from international law—of the Arctic. My work intervenes in this context by showing how art appreciation encourages modes of effective occupation that are not obviously political, insofar as these modes operate in the realm of affect. I first develop a critical framework inspired by Glen Coulthard’s concept of colonial recognition politics, to demonstrate that there is an affirmative recognition politics at work in the WAG catalogues. I then theorize that catalogues’ tendency to oscillate between an ethnographic (contextualist) analysis and an aesthetic (non-contextualist) analysis produces a tension that orients patrons towards the North accordance with Canada’s position on Arctic geopolitics. Building on the work of Eva Mackey, I argue that a mixed ethnographic-aesthetic view of Inuit art activates a particularly expedient form of belonging from afar in settler patron-readers, whereby they are encouraged to feel as if they are of the North, while never having to be there. My third chapter attends to how the WAG narrates the dramatic social transformations that Inuit experienced in the mid-20th century. The catalogues implicitly invalidate many Inuit’s experience of settler-colonial intervention by suggesting that the move to sedentary communities, often at the hands of the settler state, was inevitable and even desirable. This work provides strategies for critiquing instances of settler benevolence that are unique to the art world, and offers a template for how to approach exhibition catalogues as a genre—both of which are areas of scholarship that have been hitherto neglected. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / In this dissertation, I look at a series of catalogues for Inuit art exhibitions held at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG), spanning from 1967 to 2017. I argue that the discursive conventions of settler-Canadian art appreciation, especially those geared towards Inuit creative production, have resonances with the political strategies that Canada uses to prove effective occupation—a term from international law—of the Arctic. My research intervenes in this context by showing how art appreciation encourages modes of effective occupation that are not obviously political, insofar as these modes operate in the realm of affect. The resulting work models some strategies for critiquing forms of settler benevolence that are unique to the art world, and offers a template for how to approach exhibition catalogues as a genre—both of which are underdeveloped areas of scholarship.

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No / Irregular residues of a yellow deposit that was assumed to be seal fat used for waterproofing were observed in the creases of the outer surface of a pair of Inuit boots from Arctic Canada. A sample of this deposit detached from one of these areas on these boots was examined initially by FT-Raman microscopy, from which interesting and rather surprising results demanded further analysis using FT-IR and GC-MS. The non-destructive Raman spectroscopic analysis yielded spectra which indicated the presence of a tree resin from the Pinaceae sp. The Raman spectra were also characteristic of a well-preserved keratotic protein and indicative of adherent skin. Subsequent FT-IR spectroscopic analysis supported the attribution of a Pinaceae resin to the yellow deposit. GC-MS analysis of the same deposits identified the presence of pimaric, sandaracopimaric, dehydroabietic and abietic acids, all indicative of an aged Pinaceae resin. These results confirmed that the Inuit people had access to tree resins which they probably used as a waterproofing agent.

Cette thèse a pour but de déterminer les espèces séléniées (spéciation) issues du métabolisme du poisson (truite) suite à l’enrichissement en sélénium, organique ou inorganique, des aliments piscicoles. Ces informations, complémentaires à celles utilisées en nutrition, sont nécessaires pour juger de la nécessité et de l’adéquation d’une supplémentation en sélénium des aliments végétaux afin de garantir les fonctions biologiques dépendantes de Se, ainsi que la qualité nutritionnelle des poissons. δa capacité équivalente d’un apport en sélénium inorganique ou organique à relever les niveaux de sélénoprotéines en cas de carence a ainsi été mise en évidence, ce qui diffère des conclusions habituellement obtenues sur la base de mesures du sélénium total. δ’utilisation de traceurs mono-spécifiques et mono-isotopiqueslors de la préparation d’échantillons (sang/plasma de truite) a montré l’existence de réactions co-précipitation et/ou d’interactions entre analytes séléniés et protéines démontrant l’attention particulière qui doit être portée à l’étape de préparation d’échantillon. / This PhD aims at the determination of selenium species (speciation) of fish metabolism after inorganic or organic selenium enrichment of aquaculture feeds. This information, complementary to the one obtained in the nutrition field, is necessary to assess the requirement and the suitability of the selenium supplementation of plant based feed in order toensure selenium dependent biological functions, as well as the nutritional quality of fish. The equivalent ability of inorganic and organic selenium to raise selenoproteins levels in case of deficiency was revealed, which differs with conclusion usually obtained based on total selenium measurements. The use of monospecific and monoisotopic tracers during sample preparation (trout plasma/blood) showed the existence of co-precipitation reactions and interactions between selenized analytes and proteins demonstrating thus that attention has to be paid to the sample preparation step.

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This thesis seeks to identify the mosaic, rather than the monolithic, nature of culture contact by integrating historical and archaeological sources relating to the concept of gender roles, as they influence response within a contact situation. Specifically, I examine how the Inuit gender system structured artifact patterning in Inuit-European contact situations through the investigation of three Inuit sites in Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island. These date from the 16th, 19th and early 20th centuries and represent a variety of seasonal occupations and dwelling forms. / The ethnographic data suggest that Inuit gender relations were egalitarian and complementary. On this basis I hypothesize that European goods and materials were used equally by men and women. Within each gendered set of tasks, European goods and materials were differently used, according to empirically functional criteria such as the nature of the tasks. / Opportunities for and responses to European contact differed depending on the types of tasks in which Inuit women and men engaged and the social roles they played. Seasonality of occupation bears upon the archaeological visibility of gender activities. / Sixteenth-century Elizabethan contact did not alter Nugumiut gender roles, tasks, authority or status but served primarily as a source of raw material, namely wood and iron. Based on the analysis of slotted tools I suggest a refinement to take account of the overlap in blade thickness that occurs for metal and slate, and which depends on the function of the tool. I conclude that there was much more metal use by Thule Inuit than previously believed. However, during Elizabethan contact and shortly afterwards there was actually less metal use by the Nugumiut than in the prehistoric era. / Little archaeological evidence was recovered for 19th-century commercial whaling contact, (suggesting geographic marginality to European influence), or for 19th century Inuit occupation in the area. This is partly because of immigration to Cumberland Sound and because of subsequent structural remodelling of the dwellings by later occupants. / By the early 20th century, the archaeological record showed not only equal use of European material across gender but a near-ubiquitous distribution across most activity classes, even though commercial trapping never replaced traditional subsistence pursuits but only supplemented them.

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