What I Remember, What I Know: The Life of a High Arctic Exile

by Larry Audlaluk

Overview

Larry Audlaluk was born in Uugaqsiuvik, a traditional settlement west of Inujjuak in northern Quebec, or Nunavik. He was almost three years old when his family was chosen by the government to be one of seven Inuit families relocated from Nunavik to the High Arctic in the early 1950s.They were promised a land of plenty. They were given an inhospitable polar desert.

Larry tells of loss, illness, and his family’s struggle to survive, juxtaposed with excerpts from official reports that conveyed the relocatees’ plight as a successful experiment. With refreshing candour and an unbreakable sense of humour, Larry leads the reader through his life as a High Arctic Exile—through broken promises, a decades-long fight to return home, and a life between two worlds as southern culture begins to encroach on Inuit traditions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781772272376
Publisher:	Inhabit Media
Publication date:	04/06/2021
Edition description:	English Edition
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Larry Audlaluk was born in Uugaqsiuvik, a small camp west of Inukjuak in northern Quebec. He was relocated to the High Arctic with his family when he was two years old. Larry was inducted into the Order of Canada for his years working as an ambassador for the people of Grise Fiord, Canada's northernmost civilian settlement, and is the community's longest-living resident.

Read an Excerpt

Many stories have been written about how Inuit families were relocated to the High Arctic. The one most written about is economic opportunity. The other is sovereignty. The writers are always careful to use the word “claims” when they’re talking about sovereignty, as if to make our claims untrue. The story is long, complicated, and documented by various groups, besides the official records. It has been told from so many angles and moods, from social and political perspectives. I will tell you the story of my family’s relocation from personal experience.

Editorial Reviews

Larry Audlaluk’s life story is recounted in this important memoir that outlines the experiences and immense hardships experienced by his family throughout a forced life in the desolate High Arctic. Audlaluk’s family was one of several who were forcibly relocated in the High Arctic Relocation Program to some of the most inhospitable climates on Earth while being severed from the land that they and their ancestors had been living on since time immemorial. Their experiences of being uprooted from their homes and denied ties to their family and cultural practices, paired with extreme circumstances, is a story of survival against all odds. He shares how important reconnection to family, land, and culture has been in order for him to be a whole person despite such obstacles.

Books BC - Indigenous Books for Schools

"Amid some terrible histories, Audlaluk offers moments of unexpected tenderness and beauty."—Literary Review of Canada

"Weaving together his own memories and interviews with family and friends, Audlaluk writes like a storyteller...This book will be eye-opening for southern Canadians who are just now realizing the depth of the history they were never taught."—Broadview Magazine

"If those interested in the modern history of the Inuit people of eastern Canada were to read just one book on the subject, Larry Audlaluk's What I Remember, What I Know, should be it."—Arctic Book Review

From the Publisher