Where science meets Inuit stewardship: Saving the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt

The Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt near Inukjuak may well be the oldest accessible volcanic rock formation on Earth, but increased scientific interest in the region is causing irreparable damage to the land.

And that has forced residents to put their foot down to find a solution.

As a place where scientific research meets the will of Inuit as stewards of the land, the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt — 40 kilometres south of Inukjuak — captured interest from researchers around the world after scientists theorized that it could contain some of the oldest rocks on Earth in 2008.

Further research by University of Ottawa professor Jonathan O’Neil in 2017 suggests parts of the rock formation, which includes garnet, quartz and biotite, are 4.3 billion years old.

Scarred land

After that, excitement rose among geologists around the world. They wanted to visit Inukjuak to validate for themselves whether this was truly the oldest rock on Earth, and benefit from the potentially groundbreaking research that could come from that.

But that excitement was to the detriment of Inukjuak residents.

“The amount of rock that was taken throughout the years, drilled and excavated, really made the environment look not appealing anymore,” said Tommy Palliser, president of the Pituvik Landholding Corp., in a phone interview.

Inukjuak residents found some of the excavated rocks for sale online, a few going for as much as $20,000.

“There was no real benefit to us to have geologists come in and just drill, do what they want to the land and take what they want,” Palliser said.

Researchers were bringing power tools and generators to excavate, “doing a lot of damage to the land, without any repercussions.”

“No information was shared with us, no consent given. It left a bad taste in our mouth,” he said.

This prompted Inukjuammiut to take action. In spring 2024, they barred geologists from accessing the community until regulations could be implemented.

“We felt like we wanted to put everything on hold until we proceed with proper policies,” Palliser said. “We don’t want any more destruction to our land, and I guess non-consensual selling of rocks as well.”

For now, the region is closed to researchers, with only visitors allowed.

Protecting the land from research

Currently, Pituvik is looking for ways to protect the land from rock extraction and sampling. It has floated the idea of having Nuvvuagittuq designated as a provincial park.

That way, funding could be secured to establish infrastructure to monitor research within its boundaries, and to hire staff to accommodate tourists and researchers alike.

“We were not organized, we were caught off guard,” Palliser acknowledged.

Closing the region to researchers was a way for Pituvik to buy some time. Currently, it is looking into permits and securing funding so it can make its pitch to the Quebec government to make it a provincial park.

“We were taken advantage of by being so welcoming. We didn’t know that the researchers, the geologists, would take such large amounts, bring in such heavy tools,” he said.

Palliser expects it will take about two years to get everything ready. “Probably by 2027, we should have it formally open again,” he said.

Importance of good scientific practices

Trust needs to be established between Inuit and the scientific community to acquire the best results and build lasting partnerships.

“We are following [the Nuvvuagituq] situation closely because of the precedent it sets,” said Jean-Éric Tremblay, director of the Institut Nordique du Québec, or Centre for Northern Studies, in a French interview.

Building trust in communities is “extremely important, and we work on it a lot,” he said. Founded in 2014 and led by Laval University in Quebec City, the institute has 250 researchers working across the north of Quebec.

What happened in Inukjuak “ just goes to show how important it is to get it right when searching in the North,” Tremblay said.

“It is not just about consultations done at the beginning, it is about real partnership in the research where all parameters of the research are discussed openly beforehand.”

Tremblay said a distinction must be made between university scientists and researchers, and private researchers who might not be led by scientific guidelines.

“There are other organizations that took massive samples that are not scientists as such,” he said, adding no real scientist would sell rocks after sampling them.

Tremblay pointed to the Atanniuvik project — started by Nunavik organizations to establish research governance in the region — as the direction research regulation should take in the North.

According to its latest news release, Atanniuvik will engage with communities across Nunavik to create research review committees in each village.

“This [organization] will help a lot in avoiding these problems” Tremblay said.