Inuvialuit

The Inuvialuit (ɪnˈuviˌaluət) (sing. Inuvialuk; the real people) or Western Canadian Inuit are Inuit people who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. They, like all other Inuit, are descendants of the Thule who migrated eastward from Alaska. Their homeland - the Inuvialuit Settlement Region - covers the Arctic Ocean coastline area from the Alaskan border, east through the Beaufort Sea and beyond the Amundsen Gulf which includes some of the western Canadian Arctic Islands, as well as the inland community of Aklavik and part of the Yukon. The land was demarked in 1984 by the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.

History and migration

Before the 20th century. the Inuvialuit Settlement Region was primarily inhabited by Siglit Inuit, but in the second half of the 19th century, their numbers were decimated by the introduction of new diseases. Nunatamiut, Alaskan Inuit, moved into traditional Siglit areas in the 1910s and 20s, enticed in part by renewed demand for furs from the Hudson's Bay Company and European markets. The Nunatamiut who settled in the Siglit area became known as Uummarmiut. Originally, there was an intense dislike between the Siglit and the Uummarmiut, but these differences faded over the years, and the two aboriginal peoples intermarried. With improved healthcare and Nunatamiut intermarriage, the Inuvialuit now number approximately 3,100.

Northwest Territories (electoral district)

Northwest Territories (French: Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada.

This riding was created in 1962 from Mackenzie River riding. It was composed of the entire territory of the Northwest Territories. In 1979, the riding was divided into the ridings of Western Arctic and Nunatsiaq (later Nunavut). Following the creation of the territory of Nunavut in 1999, the riding of Western Arctic was made coterminous with the new Northwest Territories.

After 1999, Western Arctic was an anomaly in that, unlike Nunavut and Yukon, it did not share the name of the territory with which it was coterminous. This did not change with subsequent representation orders because the electoral boundaries revision process did not affect the territories and the territorial riding names were specified in law. In 2014, at the behest of Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington, the riding name was changed to Northwest Territories by Bill C-37, which also changed the names of several other ridings scheduled to come into effect with the representation order for the next election. Unlike those names, the change to Northwest Territories came into effect immediately as it involved amending the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act itself.

Turkey Tailfeather Woman

Turkey Tailfeather Woman was a Dakota woman who is said to have given the Drum Dance to the Anishinaabe people. The Drum Dance is a set of spiritual beliefs that center on Turkey Tailfeather Woman and her escape from the American military, after which she built a large drum while in hiding. The religion spread throughout a large swathe of North America after about 1877. The drum used in the Drum Dance is the forerunner of the large drum used in modern powwows.

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