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Inupiatun : In the Manner of The Eskimo

Accession number: 
1981.0015
Production Years: 
1981

Languages:

Film Properties: 
Length (minutes): 
55
Holding Institutions: 

University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario: 16mm.
"As the film begins, we are introduced to the Archie family—Inuit of the Mackenzie Delta. It is the early autumn fishing season, or Iqalugniagvic, and the family is camped at Shingle Point. The film shows the fish being netted near the shore, and shows Elizabeth Archie cleaning and smoking the daily catch. Driftwood on the shore is used as firewood, tentpoles and windbreaks. The land is ruled by the weather, and the Archies must travel all year to move with the seasons of animals. As the season moves into Ukaiq, or late autumn, the family moves to a camp at Blow River to hunt for geese and caribou. But it is not a good year. Jacob sees no caribou and very few geese. Only the berries are plentiful, and the family subsists on the dried fish from Shingle Point. The Archies move again to their Six Mile camp for Qaaikkak, the first snow. The trapping season opens on November 1st, and Jacob and Elizabeth trap mink and fox. They have two snowmobiles to make their rounds on the trapline. The furs are taken to Vancouver for auction. The film shows Jacob's reactions during his first visit to a big city. When spring (Apunmauanikka) arrives, the family moves camp to Neetqulurut for a few weeks' muskrat hunting. On a good night, Jacob and his young son Bobby can bring home 50 rats for skinning. An undamaged pelt will bring them ten dollars. The next camp is Birds Camp, where several families do their summer whaling. White whales are shot and harpooned in a shallow bay. The film shows the butchering of the whale and the preparation of blubber. The family stays here for three weeks before moving once more, back to Shingle Point for fishing."

Library and Archives Canada: 3/4", VHS.
"Jacob Archie, son of Head Point Archie Erogaktoak, the Great Hunter, was born in a tent at King Point as the family was travelling from Alaska to Aklavik. Today, Jacob is a hunter and the best trapper in the Mackenzie Delta region. It is a very hard living, continually frustrated by the vicissitudes of the game and the weather, and by the ever-changing market for furs. But it is an honourable life, which has its roots in the age-old way of the Eskimo. Jacob says, "
'Old ways, new ways, makes no difference - always the animals are the same'. Jacob and his wife, Elizabeth, are some of the last Inuit prepared to face the vast, unyielding land and the predatory weather to preserve tradition of which Inupiatin may be a final document."

Bibliography: 

Internet Movie Database.
"A social documentary that details the traditional Inuit (Eskimo) life on the land in the Mackenzie Delta of Canada's Northwest Territories. Traveling with a traditional Inuit family, the filmmakers depict the full variety of activities during the yearly rounds from camp to camp through all seasons."