Everyday Life

Food

• Food is very expensive because it has to be shipped from the south with annual shipments of dry goods.
• Inuit still rely heavily on traditional foods through hunting.  Hunting methods do include modern equipment and common hunted game include: caribou, moose, fish and seal.
• 71% of adults still harvest including: gathering wild berries and catching shellfish, etc.
• Most Inuit families and communities share food among households.

Dress

• Inuit dress similarly to the rest of North American culture on a daily basis (and based on the climate).  However, more clothing is being designed with traditions in mind including using skins and hides, but other modern materials are used as well.

Home

• Inuit people do note live on reserves but in communities, and most communities are municipalities.
• Inuit live in houses, not the stereotypical igloos.  Although, igloos are still occasionally used for hunting purposes.
• For traditional reasons and housing shortages, often there are multi-family groupings living in the same home.
• Because Inuit live in Arctic conditions, their houses undergo extreme weather conditions which can result in much wear and tear on a house.  Inadequate housing has resulted in some health problems including lower respiratory tract infections, and the transmission of infectious diseases.
• Only about 30% of Inuit in Canada owned their home.

Sense of Self: Aboriginal Youth Identity

• Inuit children are faced with a cultural disruption/confusion in a changing world because they are expected to belong to North American culture and Inuit culture at the same time, even though sometimes the two cultures contradict each other.
• Many stereotypes exist which can romanticize Aboriginals such as "Pocahontas" or the "redneck Indian" from Peter Pan, not to mention the stereotype of alcoholics.  These are discriminatory and harmful to the development of a sense of self for Inuit youth.
• Residential schools had a harmful impact on Aboriginals as a whole, and as a result older generations are often very resistant to "white man ways", while the younger generations aren't.  Again this can cause a conflict in developing a cultural identity.
• Inuit youth often miss out on school because of hunting season, meaning they do not develop a sense of self revolved around education like most Canadian children do.
• Sometimes lack a national identity because they belong to Inuit and Canada, but because of violent histories, youth sometimes feel pressure to pick one identity over the other.

One more thing...

Finally, I highly recommend watching the video Inuuvunga: I am Inuk, I am Alive.  It is a documentary from the perspective of Inuit teens and the wide range of issues that face the youth in the community including: communication between generations, difficulty fitting in with non-Aboriginal culture, suicide, etc.  This will help give you an insider's look at the culture and cultural challenges that Inuit students face.