Becoming Inummarik: Men's Lives in an Inuit Community

Collings, a professor of anthropology at the University of Florida, offers an ethnographic study of a group of Inuit men who are part of the first generation to live their full lives in a settlement, in the community of Ulukhaktok in Canada's Northwest Territories. He argues that "the nature of secular changes in the settlement has prolonged the process by which men become fully competent adults, genuine people, or inummariit." The author spent about 48 months over 20 years in the settlement and claims that he "tangentially belongs" to the group he studies. Collings, however, is very conscientious about his relationship to those he studies and his perspective. For this and other reasons, he has kept himself central in the narrative. Indeed, the book reads more like a series of vignettes that are heavily contextualized and historicized. This approach, however, feels appropriate for the subject. Collings takes a while to get to the meat of his argument, spending that time thoughtfully clearing ground, making clear on what his argument is based and why he has written this study the way he has. This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the ethics and process of anthropology or wants insight into Northern life. (Apr.)