In Canada's far north, on the western coast of Victoria Island, the Copper Inuit people of Holman (the Ulukhaktokmiut) have experienced a rate of social and economic change rarely matched in human history. Owing to their isolated, inaccessible location, three hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle, they were one of the last Inuit groups to be contacted by Western explorers, missionaries, and fur traders. Since contact, however, they have been transformed from a nomadic and independent, hunting-based society to one dependent upon southern material goods such as televisions, radios, snowmobiles, ATVs, and permanent residential housing provided by the Government of the Northwest Territories.Anthropologist Richard G. Condon witnessed many of these social, economic, and material changes during his eighteen years of research in the Holman community. With translator/research associate Julia Ogina and the elders of Holman, Condon vividly chronicles the history of the Holman region by combining observations of community change with extensive archival research and oral history interviews with community elders. This chronicle begins with a discussion of the prehistory of the Holman region, moves to the early and late contact periods, and concludes with a description of modern community life.The dramatic transformation of the Northern Copper Inuit is also reflected through nearly one hundred photographs and drawings that complement the text. Each chapter opens with a reproduction of one of the striking Holman prints, depicting scenes from traditional Copper Inuit life.

"An excellent example of applied anthropology. Condon avoids the pitfalls of technical jargon . . . an enjoyable reading experience for all."--Arctic "A substantial contribution to our cross-cultural understanding of adolescence. It contains complete and up-to-date ethnographic descriptions of adolescence among the Inuit, written by an anthropologist who has considerable experience and rapport in this area."--Nelson Graburn, University of California at Berkeley "Until the 1980s no cross-cultural monograph on adolescence had supplemented Margaret Mead's 1928 classic Coming of Age in Samoa. . . . Now we have the first product of the Harvard Adolescence Project. Condon . . . tells of . . . loud and demanding preteens [who], through peer and community pressures (though almost without parental supervision) change into quiet, child-producing couples who later marry. . . . will assist teenagers and their elders in broadening their views on adolescence."--Choice Richard G. Condon's ethnography of Inuit adolescence describes the life of young people between the ages of nine and twenty in the small, isolated Inuit community of Holman Island, located in the Northwest Territories of the Canadian Arctic. He begins with an overview of the historical development and contemporary situation of the community, covering social organization, economic adaptations, and recent changes in population structure. Condon details the rapid social, material, and political changes taking place, and the impact of these changes on the behaviors, attitudes, and aspirations of the new generation of Inuit. The author vividly describes the day-to-day activities of Inuit youth, their time playing sports and games, attending school, engaging in sexual play, and simply "hanging out" with their peers. Throughout the book, Condon communicates the young people's perspectives on their own social worlds. (view table of contents)