Inuit Circumpolar Group Case Study

How has learning about the Inuit and other circumpolar groups changed your views about the plight of indigenous peoples, particularly in North America?

My father likes to watch television shows about Alaska and Canada. Over the years I have learned much about the Inuit and other circumpolar groups. In light of this, my views have not changed a lot in regards to their plight. I am very sympathetic towards their situation, but the readings in this module have increased my respect for the Inuit resiliency and adaptability. Whenever a more technologically advanced culture comes into contact with an indigenous population for the first time, the result is generally a negative one for the native people. The Inuit have found ways to prosper, though, and have

Unlike many of the other indigenous groups we have studied, the Inuit have rights and a say in the issues that affect them and laws to protect those who wish to live off the land as their ancestors did.

Based on the readings and films you watched, why do you think circumpolar peoples commit suicide at a greater rate than any other group? What factors do you think contribute to this?

I think there are several reasons why circumpolar peoples have high rates of suicide. The most obvious reason is substance abuse. Drugs and alcohol can generate or accelerate depression. Alcohol itself is a depressant. Substance abuse often triggers low self-esteem, withdrawal from the world, hopelessness, loss of friends and family, and a decrease in inhibitions so that suicidal thoughts have a greater chance of evolving into actions. There are usually other causal factors behind drug and alcohol abuse. For the circumpolar peoples it may simply be boredom coupled with the isolated nature of most villages or the fact that the younger Inuit are confused about their identity and in limbo between the traditional and modern worlds. Sometimes