Abstract

Although cultural history of the Inuit people depicted a shared power and responsibility of men and women in many different roles of their society, Inuit women are under-represented in the political sphere. The question that arises is “how do women in a society that has a balance of power between the genders come to under-represent women in elite political positions?”. These questions can be answered with an exploration of the cultural history of gender roles in society and how they were affected political and economic influences brought on by the Inuit society as well as Canadian influences.

This research article discusses how women’s limited participation in the government, or elite politics, can be attributed to more a recent transition from traditional, gender roles of the past to a contemporary social context affected by political developments. This phenomenon is also be attributed to women not feeling they have the time to devote to political participation, as well as a reflection on the past involvement of the Euro-Canadian influence on the Inuit tribes. To examine how women became so under-represented, it is necessary to analyze the progression of Inuit men and women in the political and economic spheres over time. The article divides this time into three periods. Interviews were conducted with 375 women to gather their perspectives on the topic.  

The gender roles leading up to the under-representation of women developed over the course of many years, in what can be separated into three different time periods, the first being the traditional time period. This traditional period focuses on when the Inuit lead nomadic lifestyles. Traditional roles of the men and women were considered functional. Women took care of the family and “kept the camps”, while men hunted and were “keepers of the land”, but the responsibility for taking care of the household and tribe was distributed equally among both men and women. Distribution of power in the family as well as the tribes as a whole was valued as equal although their roles in the tribes are different. This was reflected in trade between families in the tribes. The political sphere of the Inuit was flexible in that it was based on concensus of the tribes to choose “weakly established” leadership position or someone to council the tribe when needed. Again, gender was not a factor in deciding who this leader would be; it was based on the contribution of that individual to the tribe. 

This power equality between men and women started to shift with the influence of the Canadian settlements and government. Over time, the tribes started to be pulled into not only the economic structure of the Canadians, but also into their laws and regulations which were influenced by a culture that did not value men and women equally. The Inuit men started working for wages, while women stayed at home. Men’s positions as hunters was still an integral part of their existence while women’s positions as keepers of the camp and seamstresses was not quite as important with availability of goods in the towns. Though both genders could work, they were subject to the gender roles within this wage earning society. This was reflected in the political sphere as well.  It is fair to say that both genders have equal power and authority in a variety of different organizations within the Inui culture, but men had more access to elite leadership positions that related to the involvement with dealings in the Canadian government.

It was apparent that the Canadians did not understand the Inuit culture so the Department of Northern Affairs suggested the Inuit develop a committee to represent the Arctic communities in town meetings, though they didn’t support women being on the committee. This lack of support for women as political decision makers was reflected in the behaviors of the government towards the Inuit. They discouraged women’s involvement and ignored much of their participation in the political sphere. Women as a result tried to participate in other spheres in other organizations where they felt appreciated them. Though this is the case, during the second half of the transitional period, the Inuit started to move away from the unequal gender roles and began involving women in the elite political arenas again.

This lead into the contemporary period where both men and women were wage earners and equal within the economic sphere. Both genders have access to higher paying jobs now, have equal pay for their work and have equal rights in business. Women also started to become more active in the political arena, especially concerning “responsibilities towards family and community”. In addition, both genders have equal value in politics as well. Women are now filling positions of committee members as well as official elected positions at all levels of government. The Inuit government evolved enough to suggest instating the Gender Parity Proposal at the Nunavut territory level, which would require equal representation of both genders in politics. Unfortunately, the proposal didn’t pass, but women are still active none the less.

Though the Inuit have made great strides to include women in the political processes, there are still barriers to women participating in politics. The Inuit culture has returned to women having equal power in politics and the economy, but women’s participation is contingent upon having enough time to care for their family and other responsibilities as well as fulfill political duties. The future women in participation in the political arena will continue to improve over time with the support of the Inuit community.