NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Tags: social sciences, well-being, traditional knowledge, mapping, Inuvialuit, modernization impacts, perception

Objective(s): To gather data about how much Ulukhaktuurmiut do travel outside of their area and to understand how they feel about travelling to other lands and places.

Project Description: The main goal of this project is to gather data about how much Ulukhaktuurmiut do travel outside of their area and to understand how they feel about travelling to other lands and places, in order to: 1- Acknowledge the fact that travelling is as important today as it was in the past. People still travel a lot on the land, to familiar places, but also travel to other lands and places. One outcome of the project will be a series of maps, like an Atlas, representing Ulukhaktuurmiut's travels in contemporary times, in the NWT, in Canada and around the world. 2- Raise awareness on the various issues related to these travels, especially in regard to well-being. Given the importance of travelling in the traditional culture it has obviously something to do with people's sense of well-being and should be considered when designing wellness programs. 3- Provide economic planners with information about how Ulukhaktuurmiut feel and deal with travels to and sojourns in unfamiliar places, as the typical "fly-in / fly-out" mining camps organization is currently being discussed. Data for this research will be gathered following a survey-like methodology. People will be asked if they are willing to answer a short questionnaire of 17 questions (one page), which will take approx. 10 to 15 minutes to complete. The questionnaire will be run by the researcher either at the airport, while people wait before boarding their plane, or in the community itself: at people's workplace or in their homes, as previously arranged with each approached person. In order for the data to be significant, half of the adult population should be surveyed, half male / half female. The research will concentrate on the adult population (born between 1930 and 1990), but some work will also be conducted with the older school students, grade 10 to 12 as part of their "Social studies" and "Northern studies" program. They will be asked reflect on their own travels and to design their own questionnaire. A second trip to the Community will be made to organize a workshop where the first results will be presented and then discussed, in order to benefit from the Community's insight in the final analysis and conclusions. A third trip will take place to present the final results in Ulukhaktok as well as Inuvik and Yellowknife. A short written report, in plain English, will be handed out to the Community at that time. The report will rely heavily on visual information such as simple maps and graphs, in order to make it more accessible for the Ulukhaktuurmiut. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from October 1, 2013 to October 31, 2013.