Inuit perceptions of contaminants and environmental knowledge in Salluit, Nunavik

As part of a multidisciplinary research project on the food chain contamina nts in Canada's Eastern Arctic, the authors conducted research in the summe r of 1995 in Salluit, an Inuit community of approximately 1000 located in N unavik. The first objective of the research effort was to seek a better und erstanding of Inuit perceptions of contaminants, their related environmenta l knowledge, and the resulting effects, if any, on patterns of harvesting a nd consumption of country food. The second objective was to contribute to t he growing interest in developing a cross-cultural discourse between wester n science and the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples. The authors concluded that the possible presence of contaminants was not appreciably mo difying the methods used by Inuit to hunt, prepare and eat their food. Some short-term changes were reported, but did not persist. Sallumiut remain co nfident in their ability to distinguish what is edible. The authors further concluded that, while the discourse with western scientists had changed, I nuit remained somewhat skeptical about the degree to which their knowledge and values are taken into account. Finally it is noted, that since this wor k was undertaken, new programs for working on contamination issues with nor thern Aboriginal peoples are being implemented, focusing on many of the iss ues identified through this project.