Cultural Cruise Vacations, Canada

Learning Inuit Culture, Language and History in Nunavut

Nov 17, 2008
Lori Henry

Clyde River Community on Baffin Island, Nunavut - Lori Henry

Cruise travel on Baffin Island, Canada, is a great way to discover the Inuit people and how they survive in the northern arctic.

Nunavut’s Baffin Island boasts 1,600 miles along the east coast where cruise vacationers can travel. This area of the northern arctic houses fewer than 10 communities (most with populations under 1,000) and is a great destination to learn about the Inuit culture, language and history.

Cultural Cruise Vacations

For communities on Baffin Island, Nunavut, there’s no access accept for air, which is very expensive, or ship. Fortunately, expedition cruise companies like Adventure Canada take travellers into these remote areas to meet the Inuit people and learn about their culture.

Small passenger cruise ships are used to navigate the waters and offer travellers the opportunity to access these small communities. Here, the residents often put on performances, show Inuit games, sell their ware and give visitors a taste of their “Country Food,” like arctic char, caribou meat and whale.

Inuit Language

Another treat of taking these types of expedition cruises is the chance to learn Inuktitut. Culturalists and others who have lived in the north teach classes aboard the ship. Basic words like "ullakkut," which means Good Morning, or "unnukkut," which means Good Evening are quickly learned.

Frequently, guests will also learn a couple of songs in Inuktitut, which they then sing to the communities they visit in Nunavut. Most popular is Frères Jacques, which is fairly easy to remember and most people already know the tune.

Inuit People and Culture

By meeting the Inuit people on Baffin Island, southerners get a sense of the lifestyle and harsh environment that the northerners must endure each year. Their connection to the land is paramount, as is their relationship with animals.

“For them to co-exist in such a harsh environment, Inuit developed so many skills that take a lifetime to learn. For example, if you cut an animal, it’s not yours,” clarifies Aaju Peters, Culturalist and frequent guest of Adventure Canada cruises.

“The animal actually comes to you because the animal can see the light in you, not the darkness; the light is inviting and the animal will give itself to you. So it is not you who is the great hunter, it is actually the desire of the animal to come to you, that causes you to have food.”

This is taught from an early age, as Shari Gearheard, a Canadian researcher living in Clyde River, Nunavut explains: “This is his first bear that he [Colin] got, a good sized bear. Everybody was very proud. I think he was seven at the time. Kids are taught at an early age, so they get to go out with their parents and when you are able to get your first bear or seal, it’s a really proud time for the family.”