Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the potential futures for Inuit tourism, and queries the notion of "selling out" considering the Inuit and non-Inuit cooperation in the mixed economy that characterizes Canada's far north.

Paper long abstract:

Tourism in the Eastern Canadian Arctic has been operating sporadically for

half a century with an attractive combination of hunting, fishing, and Inuit art and crafts. The earliest organized efforts to the Eastern Canadian arctic were made by Austin Airways and the Povungnituk Inuit Cooperative spearheaded by Father Steinmann and NSO Pat Furneaux, and on Baffin Island by the West Baffin Island Coop originally led by Jim Houston. In the 60's, American sportsman Bobby May, married to an Inuit woman, ran a hunting lodge at Kangirjjualukjuak flying his own plane. These operations can be considered in terms of intimate collaborations between Inuit and non-Inuit entrepreneurs working side by side to accommodate (intermittent) guests.

Since Inuit gained control of available capital resources through land claims and the creation of Nunavut and Nunavik, tourism has re-emerged as a tool for economic vitalization. This has been realized through the controversial licensing of Polar Bear sport hunting by many villages, scattered lodges providing hunting, fishing, and excursions (by ATV and sled dog), and artist coops. Many businesses are self-financed and subsidized and follow a cross-cultural pattern of operation and ownership characterized by intimate Inuit/non-Inuit ties. This paper explores the potential futures for Inuit tourism, and queries the notion of "selling out" considering the Inuit and non-Inuit cooperation in the mixed economy that characterizes Canada's far north. The common form of ethnic tourism: Inuit "acting" their culture for a passive audience only emerges with Inuit artists and the rare arrival of cruise ships.