Selling Goods or Services

Cash income is acquired informally by selling handmade items locally.

"People sell some dolls, mitts, kamiks, and wall-hangings by going door to door. More common to make kamiks or mitts - these skills are more widely known. Some of these products are sold to retail stores. A graphic artist sells handsewn items to new RCMP officers and TFN hired her to do some drawing for their office."

"Education and economic development has to be suited to the wants and needs of each community. For example, some women want to start selling bread, crocheted items, duffles, sweaters, and washing windows but they are not getting government support for these sorts of small-scale businesses. Kakivak did a study and found 60% of the income was informal."

"Occasionally amautiqs are sold when requested. Used amautiqs sell for about $200 or more. Duffles are sold in the winter. Kamiks, parkas, and baby clothes are sometimes sold or requested over the radio."

Some people raise money by renting equipment.

"Some people rent skidoos for $100/day and sell fish to outsiders."

Garage, rummage, and bake sales are becoming more common in northern communities.

"Bake sales have caught on in Pond. They used bake sales to get funds to send some of the students to Switzerland. Now some other students have begun to raise money from bake sales and raffles."

"There are lots of rummage sales here in Iqaluit. We have about two to three a week. Sometimes they are private, sometimes church groups, and sometimes team fund raising activities.

They are usually held when people are moving across town or down South. They sell household possessions of all sorts at these sales. People usually list the items for sale at each rummage sale."

"A small group of people, like the Anglican Woman's Auxiliary or a sports group, raise money by going door-to-door collecting clothing. The clothing is brought to one house and sold to everyone who comes."

"Relatives can buy items at sales if they want but usually things are given to relatives freely. At the sale T-shirts sold for 24 cents. If they were given away they might not want it or like it. This way they get the ones they like."

"Raffle tickets, penny sales, lotteries, bingo, and Nevada tickets are used to raise money for sports equipment and community activities."

Sharing housing and meals has become an important service for people travelling to communities for health services or for other reasons. It also brings some revenue to the communities.

"There are two Bed & Breakfasts in Iqaluit and both are owned by non-natives. One operator says that he needs so much insurance, and that there are so many extra costs and government regulations, that it is difficult to stay in business. They all require a licence. Some people in the smaller communities operate official Bed & Breakfasts; others do it unofficially by word of mouth. A visitor to a community can also go to the Hamlet office and locate a place to stay.
"Patients also require a place to stay while they wait in town for their appointments; the hospital pays local residents $50/day to house these out-patients. Foster homes are needed for disabled and healthy children. Foster parents get paid $50/day per child, or $90/day if the child is disabled."

Scientific expeditions and northern research provide some income to northern researchers, research assistants, and local support groups.

"Archaeological expeditions hire locals to help with the dig, rent boats locally, hire local guides, and train locals interested in archaeology.
"Temporary jobs are also available to help tag animals, conduct wildlife surveys, and supply parts to scientists."

Attending meetings and courses provides some cash to northern families.

"People get paid an allowance to go to a meeting or take a course. People get involved in order to receive the honorarium. At BRIA meetings the topic of per diems creates an intense discussion yet the representatives look like they are sleeping through the rest of the meeting. People are paid to take courses. It helps reduce their boredom even though they are not about to get into that discipline as a career option. EATEP (Eastern Arctic Teachers Education Program), Environmental Technology Program, and Management courses are taken by the students who are motivated. Many of the other programs at Arctic College are taken simply out of boredom."

Another source of cash is generated by doing housework and yard chores.

"Some non-natives hire people to clean their homes, do the laundry, shovel snow, especially after a blizzard. I paid $50 to have two boys clean off 8 feet of snow. Some house painting is done. The RCMP and the Northern stores no longer paint the rocks along their paths. Natural rock gardens are used now. Some people who are building their own homes hire people to help them. They pay about $5/hour in cash."

Banking and Lines of Credit

Saving money in a traditional hunting culture which has no concept of financial planning or banking facilities is extremely difficult.

"About five to ten Inuit have bank accounts in Arctic Bay. They call the bank to see how much they have in their accounts."

"Usually only people who can walk into the bank and can speak English or French have accounts; therefore, only English-speaking Inuit who have a reason for being in Iqaluit fairly regularly, such as doing committee work, have bank accounts.
" Some people just write cheques until the cheques are all gone, no idea where the money comes from. The Northern sometimes call it fraud when people who know they don't have enough money still write cheques.
" Because mail is shipped from Arctic Bay to Montreal to Iqaluit, and cheques may be sent to southern suppliers and then up to the bank in Iqaluit. A pay-cheque may take about one month to get deposited in Iqaluit. Food takes priority over mail on the flights.

"The Northern won't cash pay-cheques, if they do they will first deduct what the person owes on their credit account.

" The Co-op doesn't deduct either the loans or the credit lines from cheques cashed, but they often run out of cash.
"At the Northern, if a person has a wage job they can apply for an account. The credit limit is $500. If a person has no problem with running into debt, then at the Northern manager's discretion, the Northern will allow the person to have a loan of up to half the price of the item the person wishes to purchase (such as a skidoo or boat).
"The Co-op gave full loans on skidoos. Young men thought they'd pay back the loan if they had the money. If the skidoo was damaged there didn't seem to be a reason to pay back the loan. For example, one of the best carvers bought a quad, his wage earning brother was expected to keep it up and pay for the gas. When it got run down, the carver sold the machine to someone else for $50. The carver still owes several thousand dollars on the machine, but finds it difficult to get motivated to pay for it now that he doesn't own it."

"At the Northern store people often charge on each other's accounts. They give permission to each other. One woman asked the Northern store to say "NO" for her as she can't say no when people ask for money or ask to charge on her account.

 

" They don't usually abuse the permission to charge on each other's accounts. They usually charge small amounts of about $20. Neither do they use the $500 credit limit allowed by the store. They ask their credit limit to be reduced to $100."

Gambling

Gambling is an activity frequently enjoyed by the Inuit, as the element of chance in gambling is similar to the element of chance in the hunt. Not only is gambling one way to an adrenal rush, it is also a way of passing time, and perhaps more importantly, a means of redistributing the resources throughout the community.

"Patiq and Blackjack are played every night in Dorset. There are big stakes of $3,000 to $5,000 per night. Some of the best carvers are poor gamblers, which benefits everyone else."

"People in Clyde gamble on anything from throwing pebbles to $40,000 at a Patiq game. They play for cash, gamblers without cash may sell their canoe, a carving, a gun, or anything else for cash so they can continue in the game."

"Gamblers sit down with the intent to win, they never refer to their losses and rarely mention they gambled if they lost, only is they won. When they lose they give up their money begrudgingly, they are not freely redistributing the wealth. They don't give up cash easily."

Sharing Hunting Equipment

In the past hunting equipment was often shared among the hunters. Today equipment is still shared. However, there are complications that disrupt the generalized reciprocity. Most of the hunting gear, unfortunately, can no longer be fabricated by the hunters, it must now be purchased with white man's money. It is usually very difficult to obtain sufficient cash to purchase the necessary equipment. The cost of equipment is often prohibitive to an aspiring young hunter.

"Everyone needs money to get equipment. It is expensive to buy everything we need to go hunting."

"In 1983, it cost about $3,000 for a skidoo. Now the cost has more than tripled to $10,000. On the other hand, welfare payments that are often used today to support hunting have not even doubled during the same time period."

"Full-time hunters in Arctic Bay are often subsidized by family members working at the mine. The cost of hunting equipment in Arctic Bay is about $15,000 to outfit a hunter in the spring, when they are using skidoos. For the summer season, it is more expensive because of the cost of boats. It runs from $20,000 to $30,000 for open-water hunting. The number of boats recently has declined by 40% because of the recession and the high cost of boats and outboards."

"Men need $40,000 to $50,000 worth of gear to be equipped to hunt and trap. The gear they require includes a 24' fibreglass boat, which costs $9,000 and last for about fifteen years; two outboard motors, a 7 hp and a 115 hp, which costs $15,000 and lasts for two to three years; a quad for $6,900, which last for one to two years; a snowmobile for $7,000, which is good for only one to three years (it is difficult to find parts for old machines); traps cost $12 each; a rifle $800; skidoo boots $1000; and on and on it goes."

"If there is a wage earner in a family, the rest of the extended family bums money off them or takes equipment without asking permission, if the equipment is broken the relative doesn't expect to pay for the damages.
" You can only give something to a relative, you can't sell them something; therefore, if you want to get a better piece of equipment you must keep it from your relatives."

Repayment is expected on some items but not on others.

"Spare parts are exchanged, even though they are expensive to replenish. If I need a skidoo part that isn't on the store shelf and someone has the part, the person will give the part free to me, knowing that he'll be repaid in the future."

Possession Trading

Due to the lack of cash, hunters are often forced to sell or trade the equipment they are not using at the moment for gear that they do require.

"Inuit in Dorset who want money and are not able to get it are angry and frustrated, people who have the money are at ease. "Where can I get money?" When the money is located there is a temporary euphoria experienced. Money is obtained by selling personal possessions, drugs, temporary employment, and stealing. If a person is in a long-term employment position, they take care of their gear and possessions."

Possession trading, anything that is not useful, other than knick-knacks, are sold. This tendency relates back to their previous nomadic lifestyle when excess material goods were a burden to carry from one camp to the next.
It also relates to their cash flow problems, they are forced to sell off their possessions when they are strapped for cash, rather than keep the assets until they are needed later.

Gifts

Gift-giving is an important activity in Inuit families. Gifts range from inexpensive items, such as a small piece of bannock, to expensive equipment.

"The Christmas season is a big sharing time. Someone may buy a skidoo in spring, use it for a couple of months, then give it to someone in their extended family who needs one."

"One well-known carver made about twenty carvings worth about $250-$300 each, he completed about 80% of the work. Then he asked others to do the final sanding on the carvings. They finished the work and brought them to the Co-op. The Co-op gave money to the persons who brought in the carvings, so the money went to different families; the carvings had names other than the initial carver scratched into them."

"People give their children money and it seems it is very important for them to do that."

"I think it is perhaps a feeling that the government stressed that the Baby Bonus must be "given" (used) for the children. The older people feared the government/police if they did not do so."

"Money is not being shared happily. It may be given grudgingly. Basically parents often give to their children but the children don't give in return. The parents probably wish their children would return the money at sometime. A few people expect people to give them money as they expect food from a hunter."

"Parents give money to their children in front of the store. One father avoids requests for money from his children by hiding in his office after the children get out of school each day."