For centuries there has been a disparity in the health of Canadian Aboriginal populations and the colonizers who came to inhabit their territories. In contemporary times, this disparity is translated into a number of growing health concerns that appear at higher rates in circumpolar populations than in many other Canadian communities. Tuberculosis rates in Arctic and circumpolar communities, particularly those with a high Inuit demographic, remain more than 20 times higher than in any other population demographic. Understanding the factors that contribute to the continued prevalence and high incidence of TB in the Arcticcompared to the remainder of Canadian populations demonstrate requires a longitudinal analysis of a number of factors related to overall health. This dissertation explores this disparity through the examination of the immunogenetics and palaeopathology of an archaeological Inuit population. This archaeological cohort was assessed using palaeopathological techniques of to establish the disease burden experienced by the Inuit in the pre-contact and early contact period. The palaeopathologicual inventory also established individuals with possible TB pathologies as candidates for further molecular analysis. Molecular analyses focused on the establishment of Inuit ancestry and the examination of the presence of four polymorphic sites in the promoter regions of IL-6, IL-10, TNFα and IFNγ. Polymorphisms for the Th2 cytokines IL-6 and IL-10 are associated with the down regulation of Th1 cytokines activated to combat TB infection, while the Th1 cytokines TNFα and IFNγ are essential for the effective immune response against TB infection. These analyses resulted in the establishment of genotypes and phenotypes detected utilising a novel molecular method and protocols developed specifically for this research. Osteological observations indicated an increase in risk of disease in early contact populations, particularly those associated with infectious disease or the co-infection of multiple conditions compared to the pre-contact cohort. In contrast pre-mortem tooth loss decreased with contact, and degenerative pathologies maintained a relatively balanced presence. TB pathologies were observed in both pre-contact and contact groups, with an increased level of pathologies observed in contact individuals. Molecular results suggest immunogenetic profiles similar to First Nations groups, with only a single cytokine SNP exhibiting a unique phenotype in comparison. Immunogenetic profiles suggest Inuit have maintained a Th2 immune response for many generations, and this remains unchanged with contact.

This small-scale, qualitative, instructional study examined creative writing, publishing and empowerment of Inuit adult learners in Baker Lake, Nunavut. I studied whether instruction in culturally relevant topics in English and Inuit songs in Inuktitut motivated the learners to write. In addition, I examined whether having their creative writing published led to empowerment for the learners. This was a participatory action research project, and a Project Advisory Committee of community members helped in planning and carrying out the study. I examined concepts of orality and literacy and discussed how Inuit have historically practiced many types of literacy—such as reading snowdrifts and Inuksuit to navigate. The project took place in Baker Lake, an Inuit community that has experienced the colonization of the South. Thus, throughout the project, I examined my positionality in terms of culture, colonialism, disability and its affect on my research. I taught a creative writing workshop at the Nunavut Arctic College, along with the local Elders, who taught songs from the Baker Lake area. In the process of curriculum planning, the Elders asserted their right to teach the songs in Inuktitut, which is the way that they originally composed or learned them. In this context I explore the work of Fanon (1963) concerning the role of storytellers in the decolonization of cultures. After the workshop, in February 2006, The Sound of Songs: Stories by Baker Lake Writers (Utatnaq, 2006), an anthology of the adult learners’ writings, was published. This small book was then launched at the Community Centre in Baker Lake, where community members listened to learners’ readings. In the course of the project, the Project Advisory Committee and I examined the meaning of the term “empowerment” in the context of Inuit culture. Each of the nine learners who took part in the workshop published at least one piece in the book. The majority of the nine learners who took part in the study reported some degree of empowerment, in the area of confidence about their own writing, in gaining the respect of community members, especially the Elders, and also in learning to be a “real Inuk” from the Elders who taught songs from the Baker Lake area. Most of the learners had not heard these songs before and thus this was an opportunity for Elders and younger people in their twenties and thirties to better understand each other. Indeed, the community itself may have been empowered in the process of doing participatory action research for this project and in seeing its young people take an interest in their heritage.

For centuries there has been a disparity in the health of Canadian Aboriginal populations and the colonizers who came to inhabit their territories. In contemporary times, this disparity is translated into a number of growing health concerns that appear at higher rates in circumpolar populations than in many other Canadian communities. Tuberculosis rates in Arctic and circumpolar communities, particularly those with a high Inuit demographic, remain more than 20 times higher than in any other population demographic. Understanding the factors that contribute to the continued prevalence and high incidence of TB in the Arcticcompared to the remainder of Canadian populations demonstrate requires a longitudinal analysis of a number of factors related to overall health. This dissertation explores this disparity through the examination of the immunogenetics and palaeopathology of an archaeological Inuit population. This archaeological cohort was assessed using palaeopathological techniques of to establish the disease burden experienced by the Inuit in the pre-contact and early contact period. The palaeopathologicual inventory also established individuals with possible TB pathologies as candidates for further molecular analysis. Molecular analyses focused on the establishment of Inuit ancestry and the examination of the presence of four polymorphic sites in the promoter regions of IL-6, IL-10, TNFα and IFNγ. Polymorphisms for the Th2 cytokines IL-6 and IL-10 are associated with the down regulation of Th1 cytokines activated to combat TB infection, while the Th1 cytokines TNFα and IFNγ are essential for the effective immune response against TB infection. These analyses resulted in the establishment of genotypes and phenotypes detected utilising a novel molecular method and protocols developed specifically for this research. Osteological observations indicated an increase in risk of disease in early contact populations, particularly those associated with infectious disease or the co-infection of multiple conditions compared to the pre-contact cohort. In contrast pre-mortem tooth loss decreased with contact, and degenerative pathologies maintained a relatively balanced presence. TB pathologies were observed in both pre-contact and contact groups, with an increased level of pathologies observed in contact individuals. Molecular results suggest immunogenetic profiles similar to First Nations groups, with only a single cytokine SNP exhibiting a unique phenotype in comparison. Immunogenetic profiles suggest Inuit have maintained a Th2 immune response for many generations, and this remains unchanged with contact.

This small-scale, qualitative, instructional study examined creative writing, publishing and empowerment of Inuit adult learners in Baker Lake, Nunavut. I studied whether instruction in culturally relevant topics in English and Inuit songs in Inuktitut motivated the learners to write. In addition, I examined whether having their creative writing published led to empowerment for the learners. This was a participatory action research project, and a Project Advisory Committee of community members helped in planning and carrying out the study. I examined concepts of orality and literacy and discussed how Inuit have historically practiced many types of literacy—such as reading snowdrifts and Inuksuit to navigate. The project took place in Baker Lake, an Inuit community that has experienced the colonization of the South. Thus, throughout the project, I examined my positionality in terms of culture, colonialism, disability and its affect on my research. I taught a creative writing workshop at the Nunavut Arctic College, along with the local Elders, who taught songs from the Baker Lake area. In the process of curriculum planning, the Elders asserted their right to teach the songs in Inuktitut, which is the way that they originally composed or learned them. In this context I explore the work of Fanon (1963) concerning the role of storytellers in the decolonization of cultures. After the workshop, in February 2006, The Sound of Songs: Stories by Baker Lake Writers (Utatnaq, 2006), an anthology of the adult learners’ writings, was published. This small book was then launched at the Community Centre in Baker Lake, where community members listened to learners’ readings. In the course of the project, the Project Advisory Committee and I examined the meaning of the term “empowerment” in the context of Inuit culture. Each of the nine learners who took part in the workshop published at least one piece in the book. The majority of the nine learners who took part in the study reported some degree of empowerment, in the area of confidence about their own writing, in gaining the respect of community members, especially the Elders, and also in learning to be a “real Inuk” from the Elders who taught songs from the Baker Lake area. Most of the learners had not heard these songs before and thus this was an opportunity for Elders and younger people in their twenties and thirties to better understand each other. Indeed, the community itself may have been empowered in the process of doing participatory action research for this project and in seeing its young people take an interest in their heritage.

Sea ice is essential to the survival of many human settlements in Arctic Canada in that it provides a means for basic sustenance, travel and largely defines the seasons. Northern communities base their livelihoods on these traditionally well established cryogenic cycles. In this work, seasonal sea ice is analyzed off the coast of Cape Dorset, Nunavut. Significant trends are established for earlier sea ice break-up and later freeze up dates for the period 1982 to 2007. The timing of sea ice formation and retreat is significantly changing in the Cape Dorset region, with the ice free season increasing ~40 days since 1982. Relationships are established statistically between the shifting ice free season and temperature, weather types (air masses), precipitation, and wind. The results of this study illustrate the changing nature of sea ice formation and retreat in Cape Dorset and the importance of completing localized studies in the Arctic.

Sea ice is essential to the survival of many human settlements in Arctic Canada in that it provides a means for basic sustenance, travel and largely defines the seasons. Northern communities base their livelihoods on these traditionally well established cryogenic cycles. In this work, seasonal sea ice is analyzed off the coast of Cape Dorset, Nunavut. Significant trends are established for earlier sea ice break-up and later freeze up dates for the period 1982 to 2007. The timing of sea ice formation and retreat is significantly changing in the Cape Dorset region, with the ice free season increasing ~40 days since 1982. Relationships are established statistically between the shifting ice free season and temperature, weather types (air masses), precipitation, and wind. The results of this study illustrate the changing nature of sea ice formation and retreat in Cape Dorset and the importance of completing localized studies in the Arctic.

Thèse (M.Sc._--Université Laval, 2007. / Bibliogr.: f. [74]-82. Publié aussi en version électronique dans la Collection Mémoires et thèses électroniques.

Thèse (M.A.)--Université Laval, 2009. / Bibliogr.: f. [89]-95. Publié aussi en version électronique dans la Collection Mémoires et thèses électroniques.

Thèse (M.Sc.)--Université Laval, 2003. / Bibliogr.: f. [82]-96. Publié aussi en version électronique.

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