Well-being and Mining in Baker Lake, Nunavut: Inuit Values, Practices and Strategies in the Transition to an Industrial Economy

Rapid expansion of mining across Northern Canada carries huge implications for Aboriginal communities that have limited prior experience with development on this scale. The Hamlet of Baker Lake, Nunavut has experienced unprecedented development with the construction and opening of Agnico-Eagle’s Meadowbank gold mine, located 100 km away by all-weather road. This research explores the values, practices and conditions that shape individual, family and community well-being in the context of mining in Baker Lake. Findings from 45 semi-structured interviews and 2 focus groups reveal that Inuit well-being is primarily defined through relationships to the land, family and community and shaped by historical processes of colonization and socioeconomic transition. Baker Lake’s mineral economy significantly shapes Inuit relationships and hence well-being as defined by and through these relationships. This research further reveals individual and community responses to this transition, as defined through practices and strategies of cultural continuity, moderation, adaptation, and self-determination. Living well in Baker Lake today requires the maintenance of traditional practices but also a transition of values in coping with rapid changes from ongoing processes of modernity.