Qallunaaq knowledge rears its ugly head

This is in response to your editorial in the Nov. 30, 2001, edition. From reading your editorial, it seems as if your misunderstanding of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is that it is inferior to that of your own background.

Perhaps, you and I cannot comprehend the term “Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit” because we are still at the stage where we have not attained the wisdom of our respective elders. Part of the problem is the idea that the current parliamentary system is the only way to go and that trying to implement other ideologies, which may be philosophically opposite to that of the mainstream, is going to take some doing. To me, “qaujimajaujutuqaq,” this inherited knowledge, something learned from experience, sometimes, by trial and error.

The concept of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit says that animals decrease in number because they move to different locations in cycles. Therefore there are less polar bear today in western Nunavut and more in eastern Nunavut. The scientific concept says that animals decrease because they are close to extinction. If Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit were in place within our government’s policies and guidelines, the polar bear quotas taken away from the Qitirmiut communities would now be used to increase quotas in the more eastern communities.

The concept of a round world was not always the case, until 1492, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Now a round globe is the norm and is considered “Qallunaat Qaujimajatuqangat.”

Now, when Qallunaaq came to the Arctic, he considered himself more educated and civilized than the savage he encountered. He tried to impose his sophistication and knowledge on the savage who had survived for millennia in this harsh environment, using his own qaujimajarilirtaq handed down from his forebears. This is where Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit comes from. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is as alive today as it was the day before Qallunaaq came to the Arctic.

The other side of the coin, the superiority complex of the Qallunaaq, is entrenched and can be considered Qallunaat Qaujimajatuqangat. It still rears its ugly head all too often, sometimes in well-meaning editorials like yours.

Another aspect is that Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is holistic and positive, whereas science is fragmented and negative. If I say that a cup of coffee is half full, you’re liable to say that it is half empty. We’re both right, but there is still something wrong with the picture. What is wrong is the approach, one positive and one negative. When I say that it is half full, I’m thinking of what is still in the can. Whereas, when you say that it is half empty, you’re thinking of what is no longer in there.

Then again, we both may be wrong since anything seemingly empty of liquid is always full of air. If we keep approaching Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit negatively, it is going to be very hard for the poor deputy minister to use in his or her department. To the deputy minister, I say, “Shed that superiority complex and keep an open mind.”

If the deputy minister is going to go about his or her business with the idea that Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit is inferior to that of Qallunaat Qaujimajatuqangit, she or he is not going to get any richer. He or she may be getting richer materially with the pay he or she is getting, but he or she is still very poor intellectually.

Therefore, the idea of CLEY, being a small department with huge responsibilities that it cannot handle is a misnomer. If CLEY had the right people running it, it could be the best tool that our Nunavut government can use. Remember David and Goliath or in this case, Atanaarjuat and Uqi.

John Illupalik
Igloolik