Inuvialuit

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The Inuvialuit (in Inuvialuktun: the real people) are Inuit people who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. They are descendants of the Thule people, other descendants who inhabit Russia. Their homeland - the Inuvialuit Settlement Region - covers the Arctic Ocean coastline area from the Alaskan border east to Amundsen Gulf and includes the western Canadian Arctic Islands. The land, which largely belongs to the Canadian Northwest Territories, was demarked in 1984 by the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.

1 Communities
2 History/Migration
3 Lifestyle
4 References
5 External links
6 See also

[edit] Communities

Inuvialuit Communities^[1]
Community	Place name in English	2006 Population	Inuvaluit	First Nations	Métis	Other Aboriginal	non-Aboriginal
Aklavik	barren-ground grizzly place	594	375	140	35	25	50
Inuvik	place of man	3,484	1,050	440	140	60	1,165
Paulatuk	place of coal	294	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Sachs Harbour	traditionally called Ikahuak meaning "where you go across to"	122	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Tuktoyaktuk	resembling a caribou	870	840	20	0	10	55
Ulukhaktok	a large bluff where we used to collect raw material to make ulus, formerly Holman	398	375	0	0	0	20

The area of the land is 91,000 square kilometres (35,135 square miles). Some of these communities are shared with the Gwich’in people.

[edit] History/Migration

Before the 20th century. the Inuvialuit Settlement Region was primarily inhabited by Siglit Inuit, but in the second half of the 19th century, their numbers were dramatically reduced by the introduction of new diseases. Nunatamiut, Alaskan Inuit, moved into traditionally Siglit areas in the 1910s and 20s, enticed in part by renewed demand for furs from the Hudson's Bay Company. The Nunatamiut who settled in the Siglit area became known as Uummarmiut. Originally, there was an intense dislike between the Siglit and the Uummarmiut, but these differences faded over the years, and the two aboriginal peoples intermarried. With improved healthcare and Nunatamiut intermarriage, the Inuvialuit now number approximately 3,000.^[2]

The Inuit of Ulukhaktok are neither Siglit nor Uummarmiut but are Copper Inuit and refer to themselves as Ulukhaktokmuit after Ulukhaktok, the native name for what used to be called Holman.

[edit] Lifestyle

The Inuvialuit have traditionally hunted caribou from the Cape Bathurst and Bluenose herds, and have also shared the Porcupine herd with the Gwich’in. There has been some tension between the Inuvialuit and the Gwich’in over caribou hunting.^[3] The proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline would pass through both Inuvialuit and Gwich'in territory.