Words of the Inuit is an important compendium of Inuit culture illustrated through Inuit words. It brings the sum of the author’s decades of experience and engagement with Inuit and Inuktitut to bear on what he fashions as an amiable, leisurely stroll through words and meanings.

Inuit words are often more complex than English words and frequently contain small units of meaning that add up to convey a larger sensibility. Dorais’ lexical and semantic analyses and reconstructions are not overly technical, yet they reliably evince connections and underlying significations that allow for an in-depth reflection on the richness of Inuit linguistic and cultural heritage and identity. An appendix on the polysynthetic character of Inuit languages includes more detailed grammatical description of interest to more specialist readers.

Organized thematically, the book tours the histories and meanings of the words to illuminate numerous aspects of Inuit culture, including environment and the land; animals and subsistence activities; humans and spirits; family, kinship, and naming; the human body; and socializing with other people in the contemporary world. It concludes with a reflection on the usefulness for modern Inuit—especially youth and others looking to strengthen their cultural identity—to know about the underlying meanings embedded in their language and culture.

With recent reports alerting us to the declining use of the Inuit language in the North, Words of the Inuit is a timely contribution to understanding one of the world’s most resilient Indigenous languages.

Louis-Jacques Dorais has researched Inuit culture, language, and society since 1965. From 1972 to 2011, he taught anthropology at

Université Laval in Quebec City, and is now Professor Emeritus. In 1991, he and Leah Otak conducted interviews on knowledge and identity in Igloolik for a project on the social role of Inuit teachers. Among other titles, Dorais has published a linguistic description of Inuktitut as it is spoken in Igloolik (Iglulingmiut Uqausingit: The Inuit Language of Igloolik NWT, 1978), as well as a general introduction to the Inuit language (The Language of the Inuit: Syntax, Semantics, and Society in the Arctic, 2010).

Louis-Jacques Dorais' profile page

Lisa Koperqualuk is Curator and Mediator of Inuit Art at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. She has worked with Inuit organizations and committees at the provincial, federal and national levels since becoming Vice President of International Affairs at the Inuit Circumpolar Council. A trilingual speaker and trained anthropologist, she has worked as an Inuktitut teacher at John Abbot College, an educational councillor for the Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, and as Director of Communications and Public Relations at the Fédération des coopératives du Nouveau-Québec.

Lisa Koperqualuk's profile page