The Land We Call Home

Student Name: Crystal Yung

School: Carleton University

Degree Program: M.Arch

Location of Project: Igloolik

Year of Project: 2019

Brief Description of Project:

Movement was vital to the nomadic lifestyle of Inuit people. Knowing the way around land and water could mean the difference between life and death. Indigenous place-names are their ways of navigational aids and mnemonic devices because they are descriptive, of either local knowledge about topographical features, the presence of seasonal resources or history of the landscape itself. My proposal is to reinforce these place-names so that not just Inuit youth, but anybody who is curious to learn about the Inuit heritage, can rely on a formalized network of tools to discover the history of place names, to understand what they mean, and to learn what they can about the environment. A map of existing routes and trails taken previously by Inuit communities have two different shelters: for short term or overnight activities. Both derive its shapes directly from vernacular Inuit housing and can be built and assembled by the community, encouraging the continuance of finding and immortalizing place-names. In the end, these routes will become permanent features of the landscape that can be shared and retrieved across generations. The place-names become immersive and interactive time-capsules that keep the longstanding relationship between Inuit people and their connection to the land alive.