Tester, Frank J., Peter Irniq, Pat Bermel, and Ardent Group Media (2008) Our New Houses, An Inuit Documentary, Kinetic Video, Toronto (21 min. video)
Keywords: mental health, Naujat (Repulse Bay), resettlement
Short documentary video narrated by University of British Columbia professor, Frank J. Tester, and including interviews with Peter Irniq; Father Louis Fournier, OMI; a non-Native social worker; and Inuit elders from Naujat. In addition to the interviews the video presents a large number of historic photographs from around Nunavut (and possibly Nunavik).
The majority of the video concerns the stress and trauma Inuit experienced moving from Inuit-led camps to government administered permanent settlements in the 1950s and 60s. The filmmakers present government supplied housing as a critical feature in the transformation of Inuit lives. The key argument is that previously self-sufficient Inuit were disabled by the neo-colonial administration of settlements, generally, and of housing, in particular. Irniq briefly describes his employment by the government to “teach” Inuit how to live in the new houses.