Inuvialuk Language

Inuvialuk Language

Inuvialuktun, or Western Canadian Inuit language, Western Canadian Inuktitut, Western Canadian Inuktun comprises three Inuit dialects spoken in the northern Northwest Territories by those Canadian Inuit who call themselves Inuvialuk (plural Inuvialuit).

Inuvialuktun is spoken by the Inuit of the Mackenzie River delta in the Northwest Territories, Banks Island, part of Victoria Island and the Arctic Ocean coast of the Northwest Territories – the lands of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. The government of the Northwest Territories considers Inuvialuktun distinct from the Inuktitut spoken in Nunavut.

Inuvialuktun is one of the eleven official languages of the Northwest Territories. It is written using a Latin alphabet and has no tradition of Inuktitut syllabics. Rather than a coherent language, Inuvialuktun is a politically motivated grouping of three quite distinct and separate dialects.

Before the 20th century, the Inuvialuit Settlement Region was primarily inhabited by Siglit Inuit who spoke the Siglitun dialect, but in the second half of the 19th century, their numbers were dramatically reduced by the introduction of new diseases. Inuit from Alaska moved into traditionally Siglit areas in the 1910s and 20s, enticed in part by renewed demand for furs from the Hudson's Bay Company. These Inuit are called Uummarmiut – which means people of the green trees – in reference to their settlements near the tree line. Originally, there was an intense dislike between the Siglit and the Uummarmiut, but these differences have faded over the years, and the two communities are thoroughly intermixed these days.