Cultural tourism has now become the “in” thing in Nunavik. In the early 1990s, the first few attempts saw little success, but there is now a “business” will to include tourism as a facet of economic development. As recently as April 2010, cultural tourism was a major topic at an economic summit in Kuujjuaq.
The Avataq Cultural Institute, an IPinCH partner organization, has advocated the development of cultural tourism for some time, but Avataq sees a world’s difference between what it envisions as responsible development and certain economic interests’ vision for cultural tourism. This case study, coordinated by Daniel Gendron of Avataq’s Archaeology Department, aims at identifying the different parties involved and their underlying motivations. Daniel, along with Taqralik Partridge of Avataq’s Department of Communication and Publication, and Nancy Palliser, Avataq’s Executive Director and Local Cultural Committees Supervisor, will work with local communities to answer key questions: What part do the Nunavimmiut really play in this development? Are they silent participants or, on the contrary, the driving force behind this development?
One of the aims of the research is to re-centre the meaning of cultural tourism as a means of protecting Inuit culture, possibly in tension with the Quebec government’s “Plan nord” for Northern economic and tourism development.
