Our connection makes us stronger

Inuit youth's strategies to feel comfortable in Ottawa

Bibliographic Data

ID3801148
AuthorsStéphanie Vaudry (Université Laval, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume40
Issue1
Pages127-146
Publication date2017-06-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueÉtudes/Inuit/Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0701-1008 • E-ISSN: 1708-5268
PublisherConsortium Erudit (PUBLISHER • CA)
DOI10.7202/1040148ar
OpenAlexW2708676233
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited24

This paper focuses on challenges young Inuit adults face in everyday life in the city and the coping strategies they have developed. For research participants, being "connected" with the world(s) surrounding them appears to be central to how they feel and orientate themselves in the city. Connectedness, for these young Inuit, translates into close and significant relationships with people, ancestors, future generations, objects, animals, and nature, which are elements of the Inuit universe of meanings and, more broadly, belong to Indigenous universes. Therefore, being comfortable is linked to the maintenance of harmonious relationships with these different agents. As we will see, urban milieus, like Ottawa, belong to a universe of meanings to which Inuit youth are not always accustomed. Nevertheless, through their agency, they develop strategies to establish relationships within the city, enabling themselves to become acquainted with the urban world and its inhabitants. As Ottawa hosts a large Inuit community, the urban challenges that they face can be mitigated as they participate in Inuit worlds

Agency (philosophy · Everyday life · Face (sociological concept · Geography · Indigenous · Political science · Social connectedness · Social science · Sociology · Arctic and Russian Policy Studies · Gender Studies · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Psychology · Social Psychology · Ecology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access