DIGITAL
APPROACHES
While we promote traditional forms of Inuit learning, we live in a rapidly changing world. Cultural knowledge is disappearing with the loss of Elder generations, and the breakdown of oral strategies for knowledge transmission. This coincides with an era in which Inuit are increasingly choosing to interact through virtual means. Digital strategies have become an opportunity for us to communicate and maintain our culture, language and knowledge through social networks, online databases, and software developed specifically for this purpose.
We are dedicated to merging the ‘digital’ and ‘traditional’ to change how cultural knowledge is learned, stored, and transmitted throughout the Arctic. We are committed to developing digital platforms capable of meaningfully integrating cultural knowledge.
We have been developing digital applications for the preservation and transmission of Inuinnait knowledge for over a decade. Working in partnership with the Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre at Carleton University, we have produced a series of Inuit Knowledge Atlases. These atlases are built with a flexible open-source platform called Nunaliit and are designed specifically for use in the North.
Since 2020, we have been working to centralize Inuinnaqtun content and resources through the creation of a single digital portal at www.inuinnaqtun.ca.
Mapping Inuinnaqtun: The Role of Digital Technology in the Revival of Traditional Inuit Knowledge Ecosystems
In this paper, we look at the decade-long use and development of digital mapping to document traditional forms of engagement between Inuinnait, language and land. We examine the successes and challenges, and question whether digital technology is really able to digitally represent Inuinnaqtun ontology. Can digital technologies play a role in the revival of traditional Inuit knowledge ecosystems?
Read the full article.