The purpose of the research was to identify barriers to employment, other than literacy, and to understand to what extent literacy is a barrier. This section of the report identifies and discusses each of the following barriers, referring to the literature and the findings from the focus groups and key informant interviews:
Inuit and First Nations peoples in Nunavut and the NWT have experienced racial discrimination throughout their history of contact with people of western European descent. Colonization and racial discrimination have been and continue to be factors that undermine people and destroy traditional languages and ways of life and learning.
People of European descent exploited the land’s natural resources and sought to ‘civilize’ or, more accurately, Europeanize Inuit and Aboriginal peoples. The dominant culture actively worked to displace Inuit languages and has contributed to the loss or potential loss of those languages.
Inuit were a minority among Aboriginal peoples in the Northwest Territories (NWT) and far removed from its capital in Yellowknife. As the NWT gained more authority over time, the minority status continued, exacerbating a long history of colonization.
Increased Inuit autonomy through the Nunavut land claims and self-government is a fact of 21st century life in Nunavut. But the effects of colonization and racism are entrenched and may take generations to overcome.
Focus group participants, government reports and key informant interviews all identified persistent reminders of colonial governance and racism by non-Inuit and non-northerners. These reminders include emotional scars associated with the relocation of young Inuit to residential schools and on-going battles for community wellness. People struggle to deal with the results of historical abuse, exposure to alcohol and the resulting addictions and illnesses that have scarred many families and communities, and the changes in family structures and economic activity forced by a colonial power and oppression.
People from southern Canada hold many government positions as teachers, nurses and with many other government/ community services. They may not be familiar with the Inuit culture or language; they may have lower expectations of the skills and abilities of Inuit students and employees; they may not know how to best support Inuit youth in the classroom and in the workplace.