SELECTED THESES ON THE CIRCUMPOLAR ARCTIC

This thesis deals with change in Cumberland Sound, Northwest Territories, focussing on the period 1953-73. The study analyses the relationship between government policy, its implementation, and its results as these apply to the study region. The argument is developed that the westernisation of the Inuit has been intentional. Although this process was erratic in the whaling and fur trading periods, the federal government formalised westernisation as policy after World War II. The implementation of policy in Cumberland Sound was carried out in an inflexible way by relatively unimaginative local administrators. The effect of government action has been to urbanise and to improve the standard of living of the population, but only perhaps to improve their quality of life. The overall result is that the population is partially westernised. The suggestion is put forth that this in-between condition of partial westernisation is likely to be enduring.