1950 Caribou Inuit famine

Famine in Canada in the 1950s January 2022 December 2023 December 2023 Inuit reindeer parka with white chest markings 2.jpg A traditional Inuit caribou parka made from the skin of a caribou with the fur on the outside, which shows one of the ways caribou provided for Inuit Canada District of Keewatin, now Kivalliq Region 1950 ~60 thumb|An Inuk mother and child rubbing their noses together (kunik) in Padlei, Nunavut. Photographed by Richard Harrington in 1950 The 1950 Canadian caribou famine happened when a change in caribou migration patterns caused widespread death in the southern interior of the District of Keewatin, Northwest Territories, now the Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, in the west of Canada's Hudson Bay.Rennie 2015 The resulting famine wiped out half of the impacted Caribou Inuit communities. Historical background The Caribou Inuit were hunters of caribou in these regions and relied on caribou to supply food, shelter and clothing for their communities. The Caribou Inuit used caribou skin to make parkas to keep themselves warm in frigid climates.August 19, 2021 Caribou Skin Clothing https://www.nps.gov/gaar/learn/historyculture/caribou-skin-clothing.htm December 1, 2023 National Park Service live https://web.archive.org/web/20221201043651/https://www.nps.gov/gaar/learn/historyculture/caribou-skin-clothing.htm December 1, 2022 They were very careful to make use of every part of the caribou, which was known to be very durable. Due to overhunting and a combination of changing migration patterns and herd distribution, the population of caribou in this region declined vastly.Usher Peter J. Caribou Crisis or Administrative Crisis? Wildlife and Aboriginal Policies on the Barren Grounds of Canada, 1947–60 https://www.environmentandsociety.org/sites/default/files/key_docs/anderson_chapter_11.pdf live https://web.archive.org/web/20231203041526/https://www.environmentandsociety.org/sites/default/files/key_docs/anderson_chapter_11.pdf December 3, 2023 November 29, 2023 Environment and Society Blaming the victims During this time period, the Caribou Inuit were blamed for the declining caribou population, being faced with allegations of being wasteful and overkilling. In the early 1950s the Canadian media reported the starvation deaths of 60 Caribou Inuit.Bone 2013 412 Government reaction The government was slow to act but in 1959 moved the surviving 60, of around the 120 that were alive in 1950, to settlements such as Baker Lake and Eskimo Point, now Arviat. This set off an Arctic settlement push by the Canadian government where those Inuit living in the north were encouraged to abandon their traditional way of life and settle in villages and outposts of the Canadian North. After being relocated, the Caribou Inuit population never recovered with only a fraction of what once was being alive today. As a result, they have joined movements that call for the protection of their lands against outsiders.Cummins Bryan Faces of the North: The Ethnographic Photography of John Honigmann Natural Heritage May 28, 2004 9781459665569 Featured Toronto, Canada 154 English Photographic record of a starving mother It was this time that in the former community of Padlei Richard Harrington took his iconic photo of a starving Inuk mother, pressing her nose and lips to those of her youngest child.The Associated Press December 5, 2009 https://www.cp24.com/winnipeg-show-exhibits-rarely-seen-images-of-1950s-arctic-famine-1.461570 Winnipeg show exhibits rarely seen images of 1950s Arctic famine December 2, 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20190327223058/https://www.cp24.com/winnipeg-show-exhibits-rarely-seen-images-of-1950s-arctic-famine-1.461570 March 27, 2019 live On February 8, 1950 a few days before Harrington wrote in his journal: Came upon the tiniest igloo yet. Outside lay a single, mangy dog, motionless, starving ... Inside, a small woman in clumsy clothes, large hood, with baby. She sat in darkness, without heat. She speaks to me. I believe she said they were starving. We left some tea, matches, kerosene, biscuits. And went on. Richard Harrington See also St. Lawrence Island famine Bibliography Notes References Bone Robert M. Robert Martin Bone The Regional Geography of Canada 2013 Oxford University Press 9780199002429 - Total pages: 510 Rennie Steve 2015 http://cponline.thecanadianpress.com/graphics/2015/hunger-in-the-arctic/indexm.html Hunger in the Arctic The Canadian Press December 4, 2018 November 8, 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201108091753/http://cponline.thecanadianpress.com/graphics/2015/hunger-in-the-arctic/indexm.html Category:1950 in the Northwest Territories Category:1950 disasters in Canada Category:1950s famines Category:Caribou Inuit Category:Inuit culture Category:Inuit history Category:Environmental racism in Canada Category:Disasters in Nunavut Category:Famines in Canada Category:Disasters in the Northwest Territories