Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

CANADA #61:The Social History of the Canadian Arctic: an abstracted, digitised, on-line database.  (The Social History of the Canadian Arctic: an abstracted, digitised, on-line database.)

Outline
This project builds on an existing project that has abstracted and is currently placing on line, over 10,000 documents detailing the social history of the Canadian Arctic. This material has been collected over the past 15 years, primarily from the National Archives of Canada. It includes documents detailing the management of wildlife, the development of health care, housing, social services, cooperatives, settlements and settlement councils, the DEW line, matters of sovereignty, Inuit relocation, education, legal systems, child and family welfare, policing, the activities of the Hudson’s Bay Company, etc. It has involved input from social workers, political scientists, law students, Inuit elders, Inuit youth, geographers and health care professionals. Over 200 words have been identified as key to indexing the collection. A preliminary search engine has been developed. Documents are identified by archive, author, and date. It is organized chronologically. The material has been used to write two books dealing with social change in the Canadian Arctic (Tammarniit (Mistakes) [UBC Press, 1984] and Kiumajuk (Talking Back) [in press]. It is emerging as an invaluable resource for the development of policy, for resolving legal and historically contentious matters, and for purposes of curriculum development in the education system of Nunavut, etc. We propose to expand it by including material from other archives and collections. Currently, approximately 80% of the documents are from the NAC. The project has the enthusiastic support of the NAC and some funds from SSHRC. What we propose requires more substantial funding. We wish to enlarge the database by abstracting material from a other sources including: the McCord Foundation collection, Montreal; the Archives of the GNWT; the Scott Polar Institute, Cambridge UK; church archives; the Canadian Nursing Association, Calgary; the library and archives of DIAND and Environment Canada, etc. We envision a resource that will encourage and be invaluable for the development of curricular materials for northern and Inuit students, that can be used to ground the development of northern social policy in the historical record, etc. To ensure maximum use and exposure, we propose a committee to oversee the work, comprised of northern and Inuit educators, civil servants, students, historians, and researchers. We are seeking funds to support students – Qallunaat and Inuit – a future generation of Arctic social scientists and practitioners, in doing the research, as well as funding for the considerable travel, duplication of material, processing and technical support required to greatly expand this valuable resource.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
The project materials detail social and, to some extent, environmental change and highlight considerations relevant to contemporary policy formation. It links to other resources, primarily in the UK, France and Norway. The materials deal with cultural, historical and social processes shaping the Arctic, especially Nunavut, and that document the historical concern for sovereignty and the activities of foreign interests in the north. The record, relevant to the struggles of decolonising states elsewhere (especially Africa), details how community development unfolded in relation to Inuit, their culture and concerns. It contains valuable insights and lessons with international relevance to community development practice.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
The project will involve work at Scott Polar Institute, archival records in Aberdeen and Edinburgh and possibly the records of the Revillon Freres trading company, located in Paris. It will require consultation with archivists and we anticipate will facilitate linking Canadian archivists with those in other countries with northern collections.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Locations include: Ottawa, Calgary, Regina, Yellowknife, Rankin Inlet, Iqaluit, Toronto, Winnipeg, Montreal, Cambridge, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Paris. In addition, archival sources may take us to Boston, Washington, and Oslo, Norway.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 03/07 – 03/09            
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
none

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
yes. The legacy will be a comprehensive database detailing the social (broadly defined) history of the development of the Canadian Arctic.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?

What is required is funding for travel and accommodations at sites where significant archival resources are located - as well as funds for duplicating materials at the sites in question.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
This pre-proposal has been reviewed and is being submitted by the Canadian Steering Committee (CSC). Ongoing discussions will integrate this pre-proposal into a larger network of related national and international initiatives. The CSC has initially sorted this pre-proposal into: Healthy and Sustainable Communities: Social Context of Research

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
Expansion

The project builds on a project that has been primarily retrieving and abstracting key documents from the NAC detailing the social history of the Canadian Arctic. A database for this material is currently under construction. The project is well-known to staff of the NAC and has their enthusiastic support and some in-kind funding from them, as well as SSHRC.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The project will be managed by Dr. Frank Tester, School of Social Work and the Institute for Resources and Environment, UBC. In order to ensure maximum use of the resource and to network it with potential users, it will be overseen by a management committee with representation from Inuit organizations, the Ministries of CLEY and Education, GN, Inuit youth, archive staff from NAC and Prince of Wales, Yellowknife, and other Arctic social scientists.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
This will ultimately be a web-based database. It will be networked with as many Aboriginal – especially Inuit – organizations as possible, as well as key archives and universities/college across the country and possibly, internationally.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
To some extent, this has been indicated above. The Canadian Polar Commission, Inuit Studies Journal and many other organizations have all expressed and interest in this database and providing links through their websites to the database. We have not, at this stage, decided where to locate the database – at the University of British Columbia or to make it available through a private provider. q3_5_Funding : To date, funding has been received from SSHRC ($40,000) although it has primarily made possible research in record groups of the NAC. Other possible sources include National Aboriginal Health, the Department of Canadian Heritage. We estimate that the work we wish to undertake would cost approximately $250,000.

How is it proposed to fund the project?

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
None

PROPOSER DETAILS

Prof Frank Tester
2080 West Mall, Vancouver, B.C.


V6T 1Z2
Canada

Tel: 604 822-2255
Mobile: no
Fax: 604 822-8656
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation