Encyclopedia of
Selected Peaceful Societies
Inuit of Utkuhikhalik and Qipisa Communities
Location. The Utkuhikhalik (or simply Utku) Inuit 
settlement of the Central Canadian Arctic and the Qipisa Inuit of Baffin Island will hereafter be referred to simply as “Inuit.” While that term, on this page, refers to just those two communities, many of the practices and beliefs of those two villages are similar to other Inuit peoples.
Economy. Though they are now integrated into the cash economy, they still practice their traditional hunting, trapping, fishing, and trading.
Beliefs that Foster Peacefulness. Contradictory, opposite beliefs are important and constructive for the Inuit: as a hunting people, killing is essential, but nonviolence is an equally essential value in maintaining society. Self-sufficiency is important for a man in order to be a good hunter, but nurturance is critical for him to be a part of the group. The Inuit clearly enjoy killing--their eyes shine with excitement when they tell hunting stories--yet they react with horror, not only to the idea of killing a human but to any form of interpersonal aggression such as shouting. They associate danger with aggression, such as the animal deaths that they witness around them, their own repressed hostilities toward others, and the realization that others might reciprocate similar feelings.
Avoiding and Resolving Conflicts. The Inuit try to prevent conflicts by being modest, cautious, and reticent about their own accomplishments. In order to avoid directly confronting others, they tend to phrase requests as non-threatening jokes. They do not make invitations or promises, and they hesitate to ask questions to avoid forcing others to give direct answers. When conflicts do arise, people often express their feelings with hints. Anger occasionally erupts, but when it does the angry person simply walks away. The community may ostracize people who develop a tendency to anger, though that would be done subtly, with the people doing the ostracizing acting more nurturing and warmer than ever.
Gender Relations. They exhibit very little tension or conflict between the sexes. In the Inuit home there is a strong sense of human warmth and peacefulness, an attentiveness to the unspoken needs of family members. An important feature of Inuit marriages, however, is the clearness of the roles of husbands and wives. The men do the very dangerous and difficult hunting, while the women do the lighter physical tasks around the camp such as cooking, child care, and sewing. Both spouses generally credit the other for the essential nature of their contributions—neither could live without the hunting skills of the hunter, and the man is convinced he could not hunt without the warm clothing sewn by his wife.
Raising Children.
- Infants. Babies are not disciplined; they are constantly fondled and loved. Normally when the child is three years old, the next one is born, and after a period of emotional adjustment, the child accepts a changed role in the family.
- Benevolent Aggression. The Inuit use a form of “benevolent aggression” to foster positive social relationships. They develop ambivalence in their children toward love and fear by acting aggressively at the same time they are loving them—by overfeeding them, by roughly cleaning them while they nurse, and so on. They believe these approaches strengthen children by making them independent and by inculcating uncertainty and caution in their attitudes toward human relationships.
- Games. They play games with the child's feelings by suggesting hostile and aggressive actions to help create their opposite, the positive, loving emotions. Why don’t you keep a choice piece of food all for yourself, one woman suggested to a three-year old, or “Why don’t you kill your baby brother?”
- Effects. The games create and reinforce an awareness that there is danger in having possessions that others don't have, and that one must love and protect baby brother. They create a sense of the danger in wanting something that clearly violates social law. The child learns that the strong external social controls enforcing correct behavior are reinforced with internal controls.
- Internal Controls. The realization that one might actively enjoy hurting a loved one helps the individual to guard against behavior that might injure; and the guilt feelings that come with any such enjoyment further reinforce loving actions. The games remind children that if they don't conform to social values they are vulnerable to sanctions. The confusion of wanting to be loved and fearing the consequences of ones behavior prompts children to demonstrate their goodness.
Sense of Self. The non-violent traditions of the Inuit may be described by the key words they use to understand themselves and their society.
- Ihuma, their word for reason, humaneness, and maturity, suggests that people must not be interfered with, and their privacy and right of self-determination not abridged.
- Naklik for the Inuit is a balancing value for ihuma: it represents a warm concern for the welfare of others—protection from hunger, cold and danger—and a desire to be with the others. People who possess ihuma should feel naklik; someone who doesn't feel naklik obviously is lacking ihuma.
- Ilira is the fear of being scolded—it represents a sanction for the other values. The feeling of ilira, an undesirable emotion, prompts the countervailing, desirable feeling of naklik.
Social Control. Control of anger, or hostile emotion of any kind, is an imperative for the Inuit. Accidents, inept behavior, and failures result only in murmurs or gentle laughter—people impose strong self control on their emotions.
Strategies for Avoiding Warfare and Violence. The confusion of affection and fear that the Inuit build up in their young people appears to be an important method for insuring the peacefulness of their society. They fuse their hostility toward violence with their strong feelings about fear and affection, developed through their process of teaching their children ambivalent feelings toward both emotions. These beliefs, practices, and emotions allow them to divert aggression into non-threatening channels.
But How Much Violence Do They Really Experience? Violence has, in fact, occurred among the Inuit—they tell stories of murders in their past. As a result of their traditions, they have developed a pervasive fear of aggression.
Sources in this Website. Briggs 1994, Briggs 2000.
Sources in Print (click on links for complete references). Briggs 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1987, 1994, 1998
Sources on the Web. Briggs 1998 (review)
Updates: News and Reviews:
Current
May 8, 2008. Inuit Landscape Art Exhibition Opens in Winnipeg
February 28, 2008. Inuit Views of Climate Change [journal article review]
November 1, 2007. Inuit Language Stability [journal article review]
October 11, 2007. Dumping Garbage in the Arctic Ocean
October 4, 2007. Inuit Name-Souls Confront Modern, Rational Thinkers [anthology chapter review]
August 2, 2007. Atanarjuat: Love, Violence, and Reconciliation in Inuit Myth [DVD and journal article reviews]
Older Stories
All stories in this website about the Inuit are listed in the News and Reviews Subject Listing