Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

An initial exploration of whether ‘female flight’ is a demographic problem in Eastern Canadian Arctic Inuit communities

2017; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 40; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1088937x.2016.1272647

1939-0513

Martha Dowsley, Chris Southcott,

Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights

Emigration of indigenous women from small, isolated communities in Alaska and Greenland is seen as a pattern of female flight that results from modernization. As women see more options for a satisfying life, many are leaving remote northern communities. Female flight can result in social, cultural and economic problems for small communities and decrease the sustainability of such locales. We conducted an initial review of census data and found little evidence of female flight across the Canadian Territorial North, in Nunavut specifically, nor in any Nunavut communities. Two study communities in Nunavut, Clyde River and Qikiqtarjuaq were surveyed in an attempt to better understand the factors that affect movement decisions of Canadian Inuit women. Two explanations for the apparent lack of female flight were examined. First, that Nunavut is in an early phase of the demographic transition and thus could expect high migration as it modernizes. The second is that Nunavut communities are modernizing in such a way that young women are choosing to remain at home, and thus the territory is experiencing a unique path to modernity that does not fit the demographic transition model. The evidence more strongly supports the second explanation, although further research is recommended.