Kinauvit? - by Norma Dunning (Hardcover)

About the Book

"From the winner of the 2021 Governor General's Award for literature, a revelatory look into an obscured piece of Canadian history: what was then called the Eskimo Identification Tag System. In 2001, Dr. Norma Dunning applied to the Nunavut Beneficiary program, requesting enrolment to legally solidify her existence as an Inuk woman. But in the process, she was faced with a question she could not answer, tied to a colonial institution retired decades ago: "What was your disc number?" Still haunted by this question years later, Dunning took it upon herself to reach out to Inuit community members who experienced the Eskimo Identification Tag System first-hand, providing vital perspective and nuance to the scant records available on the subject. Written with incisive detail and passion, Dunning provides readers with a comprehensive look into a bureaucracy sustained by the Canadian government for over thirty years, neglected by history books but with lasting echoes revealed in Dunning's intimate interviews with affected community members. Not one government has taken responsibility or apologized for the E-number system to date -- a symbol of the blatant dehumanizing treatment of the smallest Indigenous population in Canada. A necessary and timely offering, Kinauvit provides a critical record and response to a significant piece of Canadian history, collecting years of research, interviews."--

Book Synopsis

From the winner of the 2021 Governor General's Award for literature, a revelatory look into an obscured piece of Canadian history: what was then called the Eskimo Identification Tag System

In 2001, Dr. Norma Dunning applied to the Nunavut Beneficiary program, requesting enrolment to legally solidify her existence as an Inuk woman. But in the process, she was faced with a question she could not answer, tied to a colonial institution retired decades ago: "What was your disc number?"

Still haunted by this question years later, Dunning took it upon herself to reach out to Inuit community members who experienced the Eskimo Identification Tag System first-hand, providing vital perspective and nuance to the scant records available on the subject. Written with incisive detail and passion, Dunning provides readers with a comprehensive look into a bureaucracy sustained by the Canadian government for over thirty years, neglected by history books but with lasting echoes revealed in Dunning's intimate interviews with affected community members. Not one government has taken responsibility or apologized for the E-number system to date -- a symbol of the blatant dehumanizing treatment of the smallest Indigenous population in Canada.

A necessary and timely offering, Kinauvit? provides a critical record and response to a significant piece of Canadian history, collecting years of research, interviews and personal stories from an important voice in Canadian literature.

Review Quotes

"Kinauvit? is a fascinating and original work of nonfiction, combining historical research, ethnography, personal memoir, and interviews with Inuit elders...Dunning reaches into the past to understand the story of her life, and assembles a rich and multifaceted history told, at long last, by the Inuit themselves." --Quill & Quire

"To read Kinauvit? is to enjoy an enthralling visit with a gifted storyteller. Norma Dunning brilliantly conveys the story of her quest to reconnect with her culture, language and people. Dunning recounts how oppressive colonial powers brutally disrupted and upended the lives of her family, community, and the Inuit in Canada in general--including the implantation of a degrading disc system of personal identification." --Darrel J McLeod, author of Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age and Peyakow: Reclaiming Cree Dignity