POISONED FOOD - CULTURAL RESISTANCE TO THE CONTAMINANTS DISCOURSE IN NUNAVIK

The discourse on contaminants in arctic communities, at first glance, appears to be specifically grounded in the scientific assessment of ex ternal threats to a traditional way of life. Scientific research sugge sts that traditional foods harvested by the Inuit, although contaminat ed, continue to provide nutritional value, but require ongoing monitor ing and, if need be, limits on what can be consumed. This discursive f ormation is what we call a form of ''contaminant'' bio-power; that is, it limits the total understanding of risks and benefits of Inuit coun try food to the purview of science alone. Thus, Inuit perceptions of r isks and benefits generated by traditional knowledge have been exclude d. This paper illustrates the Inuit discourse on ''poisoned food,'' wh ich they use to resist the totalizing effects of scientific discourse. Our analysis suggests that environmental health risk communication st rategies cannot be grounded in a public health system strictly dominat ed by scientific discourses. Counter-knowledge, as a form of resistanc e, will eventually minimize or exclude any risk communication activity that causes a person to worry too much or creates problems over which one has no control. Informants from three Inuit villages in Nunavik, Quebec (Canada) participated in a risk perception study which forms on e component of a much larger contaminants project conducted in the Can adian Eastern Arctic.