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

by Larry Audlaluk

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Indigenous, Canada, History, Memoir

300 pages, Paperback

Published May 19, 2020

Reviews

[Celia Rheault · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I remember: reading many accounts of Indigenous folks from across the country and how residential schools affected the population.
What I know: this is the first account I read of an Inuk and of the High Arctic.

A moving and candid memoir that sheds light on the Eskimo Rehabilitation Project, in which the Canadian government used the Inuit to pioneer the far North, forced to withstand harsh and unforgiving barren lands in order to survive...and not everyone did. Larry is a gifted storyteller; I was pleasantly surprised at how many times I found I had a hard time putting the book down.

[Ariel Butters]

I feel weird leaving a rating for this because it wasn’t especially well edited, but I think that’s part of what makes it special and important. I didn’t know anything about the High Arctic Exiles, and this book serves as an important piece of record-keeping from a horrible legacy that has very few survivors.

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving story about a native young man whose family was moved by the Canadian government and the repercussions. I always read Canadian First Nations stories with great interest. The author is forthright and honest in his assessment. I learned so many new things I’d never heard about such as German subs coming into northern Quebec so they could seek out Inuit women in 1940. A moving memoir. Thanks to Edelweiss and Inhabit Media for the advance read.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you think of Native Canadians being forcibly moved, you probably think of youngsters being dumped in hellish schools and having their culture and way of life drummed out of them. This wasn't the only way it happened. In the early 1950s several were dumped in hellish nowheres in the far North, the High Arctic, and left to get on with it – the trading was impractical, the driftwood, accommodation and all the bounty of food was completely absent, and there weren't even the boats to get walrus hunted safely. Families that assumed they were due to live with relatives found themselves in different places. The two-year trial never ended. And all for what this author calls "a Canadian sovereignty mission that used us as human flagpoles" – the chance to prove the lands were inhabited and not for the taking by others, perhaps from Greenland. Oh, and the whole thing "proved" the relocated families were perfectly healthy and happy about the whole thing, far from any "handouts" from the white man…

All this must be quite the galling thing to have to write, even if the author was only two when he was forcibly moved. (Toddlers were nothing – there were people in their 80s being packed off.) Far too quickly after that, his father faints away from the stress and the worry that he'd ruined his family's futures by agreeing to move. Copious other dramatic deaths and fatal illnesses continue to feature, as does a mention or two of childhood sexual abuse, and some severe substance abuse. For this is not exactly a book about the relocation, more an autobiography – as the title proves – from one man who faced it. For the ins and outs that eventually led to an end to it, and compensation, there will have to be a separate volume.

And yet it is still all fascinating, although initially I found it a touch clumsy and naively written – but this is probably part of the charm by the end. Here is, for one, an autobiography where the man says his race has perfect dentition – and where he still loses the bulk of his teeth to one dentist in one fell swoop. And also, there is a kind of naivety in the people honoured by these pages – the keeping of an Easter chocolate bunny as an ornament, the self-established swimming lesson in a three-feet deep municipal pond, the mail-order "vitamin" pills sold Charles Atlas-style on the back of comics that actually worked – with the huskies. Naivety also promises to be a good thing with an extended aside regarding the spirit world and Inuit ghosts, which feels like a non sequitur when you start reading it, at least.

Ultimately the author lives still in Grise Fiord – the northernmost village in the Americas, where not even fifty buildings huddle between the icy seas and the blunt sweep of the mountains. A lot of what he must have been through has been swamped by his mind, or alcohol, or just not made these pages, and that's fair. This was a great way to meet this community, and reading these pages are generally a fine experience, however much the bullying, residential school, and culture class after-effects might upset to this day.

[Adam Clost · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting to hear about a man, and a peoples experiences in such a desolate spot in our country, especially when their migration was forced. It was a little disjointed at times, and mostly read like a "stream of consciousness" of thoughts and memories. This was great in one way as it made you feel like Larry was really speaking to you, but it was a little less informative and detailed than I had first anticipated (or hoped), focusing more on anecdotal stories and experiences from him life. Perfect read for understanding the heart of this man's journey (and those of the people he took it with), but not necessarily giving us the bigger picture most of the time.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me feel very nostalgic for the Indigenous style of writing I used to read a lot as a kid, so thank you to the author for reminding me of that. I learned a lot reading Audlaluk’s recount of the Canadian government’s relocation of the Inuit. It was something I knew happened but this book reminded me how recent it actually was, and gave me insight to how it really affected the families involved. In a time where many of us are starting to dissect what it means to be Canadian and deciding how we feel about it, the ending of this book, however simple and to the point, made me further appreciate the nuance of how we interpret citizenship.

[Susan Marrier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moving and candid story of the experience of a boy and his family forced to relocate to the inhospitable North for the sake of establishing Canadian sovereignty. Though I had read many accounts of life in the Arctic before, this was the only first-hand one that told what it felt like to be Inuk: the hunting culture, the confusion of growing up in two different cultures, and the fight for compensation for what they had so unjustly endured. And there were a few surprises: I had not known for example that the Germans during WWII in their u-boats had entered Hudson Bay, in Canadian waters!

[Alexandra Noga · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very personal look at the relocation of the Inuit from northern Quebec to the very remote north. Yet another historical event that Canada should be ashamed of - yet again breaking up families and placing them in terrible circumstances - and yet again causing intergenerational trauma to our native Inuit. It was important to read about it as I knew nothing about it and found this very enlightening.

[Don Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good view on the results of a dark chapter in the history of Canada, when the government decided to move Inuit families from their home communities into the High Arctic where they had to learn from scratch how to survive. This story is told by one of the survivors. Heartfelt and written in the way these stories are told verbally in the community, you feel the importance of story.

[Christine Cazeneuve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true survival story that will not let you put down until finished. The author has a natural gift for storytelling and I am in awe of the courage of all who experienced and endured this falsity of their lives.

[Jodie Siu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illuminating yet another shameful government program of the Canadian government. Not super deep, but still powerful and I learned from it.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a storytelling memoir. What Larry and fam has gone through is an important part of Canadian history. I am happy to have read this book and I hope the healing process continues

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about an injustice done to the Inuit.

[Nordpirat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so angry with the Canadian government and their treatment of the inuit families when I read this book. (And my anger didn't stop with finishing the book.)

[Mary-Esther Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Essential, but slow and meandering.

[Audrey Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting life story of an Inuk.

[Idiosyncratic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am on page 35 of this book and am having a hard time reading it without wanting to cry, from both raging anger and an aching heart. I have read another book on the horrific story that is Grise Fjord, but this story is written by one who lived that nightmare.

The self-righteousness of the RCMP and other white people involved in this terrible time takes me back to my childhood and the mean-spirited, blaming, holier-than-thou attitudes of mainstream society in that period. My parents (and many other adults I knew at that time) were utterly convinced they were right in all things. The fact that so many people suffered as a result of WASP society's imperious hard-heartedness never even dawned on them.

My heart breaks for what our society put Indigenous people through. This is a tough read for me. (I'm not sure why, but I have a special attachment to the history of the Inuit and other northern groups. Although I spent over 17 years working with many First Nations people - and am equally horrified by what was done to them - I find the Inuit stories especially heart-rending, possibly because it seems, by their nature, they were less likely to fight back.)