The comparative life histories of two Inuvialuk women from the Western Arctic

This thesis analyses the understandings of experience that illustrate inherent meaning, both personal and cultural, as expressed through the life stories of two Inuvialuit women from the Canadian Western Arctic. The object is to provide insight into the thinking patterns and beliefs encountered among post-residential school Inuvialuit and to explain how these experiences continue to affect their daily lives. The legitimacy of using the life history approach is well established. Analysis is difficult, however, because anthropologists distinguish and identify personal meaning and cultural meaning from a single observed behaviour that is always a blend of the individual and cultural. I have  attempted to appreciate and affirm the intellect while also valuing and enhancing those other parts of being which Western culture traditionally ignores - concepts, feelings, experiences, intuition, and awareness. I have drawn upon my own experiences as an Inuvialuk woman who has passed through the same residential school system.