Across Time and Tundra: The Inuvialuit of the Western Arctic

This is the definitive, illustrated history of one of North America’s most interesting and least known Native peoples: the Inuvialuit, the Inuit of the Mackenzie Delta. For hundreds of years they enjoyed a rich and secure lifestyle, augmented by great annual hunts of beluga and bowhead whales. All that changed with the arrival of Europeans, and particularly American whalers, in the late 19th century. Decimated by diseases and cultural dislocation, the Inuvialuit have successfully rebounded in the last fifty years. They signed a major land claim in 1984 and have since pursued a political path distinct from the Inuit of Nunavut.

Across Time and Tundra includes many rare archival photographs from the collections of the Smithsonian Institution, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and the McCord Museum of Canadian History. The rich text includes contributions by elder Ishmael Alunik, who tells traditional stories and tales of life in the Mackenzie Delta, and Inuviuluit writer Eddie Dean Kolausok.