Inuit and Newcomers: Trade and Animal Resources in the Kivalliq, 1900-1945

Congratulations to Andrew Goodwin for successfully defending his MA thesis, "Inuit and Newcomers: Trade and Animal Resources in the Kivalliq, 1900-1945", on 7 July 2022. His committee members included George Colpitts (Supervisor), David Marshall, and Scott McLean.

We asked Andrew to provide us some insight into his thesis, and his Graduate studies experience in the Department of History at the University of Calgary.

Tell us about your thesis topic:

My thesis examines how Inuit in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut worked with the traders and whalers that became an increasingly prominent presence during the early twentieth century, and how they were able to incorporate elements of the traders’ technology and economies into their own hunting lifestyle. Whalers were the main European presence in the Kivalliq at the beginning of the twentieth century, but as they hunted the bowhead whales to near extinction, they had to shift their trade more towards other animals like Arctic fox, and were largely superceded by fox fur traders, mostly from the Hudson’s Bay Company. Both the whalers and the traders were heavily dependent on Inuit communities, as they needed Inuit skills not only to hunt the foxes and whales essential to their profits, but they also relied on Inuit knowledge to survive in the Arctic environment. Because of this, Inuit were able to maintain a great deal of control over their own participation in the trade, and were able to benefit from useful tools like guns and metal knives. I seek to understand how Inuit managed their relationships with these newcomers, and how they were able to balance their subsistence hunting lifeways with the capitalist systems of the traders.

What was the most valuable outcome of the Graduate program for you?

For me, learning how to manage a long-term research project from start to finish was a very valuable outcome. Taking the project from an initial idea, through the research stage, and into forming conclusions, and then turning this into a complete and coherent thesis has really helped me to think more deeply about my own writing, and will be great skills to have going forward.

What are the next steps/plans for you?

I will be starting a PhD program with the University of Calgary in September, studying the environmental history of Arctic Canada and Alaska. I would also like to turn elements of my MA thesis into a journal article or two at some point going forward.