New Communities
The families were left without sufficient supplies of food and caribou skins and other materials for making appropriate clothing and tent. As they had been moved about 2,000 km (1,200 mi) to a very different ecosystem, they were unfamiliar with the wildlife and had to adjust to months of 24 hour darkness during the winter, and 24 hour sunlight during the summer, something that does not occur in northern Quebec. They were told that they would be returned home after two years if they wished, but these promises were not honoured by the government. The relocatees included Inuit who had been involved in the filming of Robert J. Flaherty's 1922 film Nanook of the North and Flaherty's unacknowledged illegitimate son. However, Flaherty had died in 1951, prior to the relocation. Eventually, the Inuit learned the local beluga whale migration routes and were able to survive in the area, hunting over a range of 18,000 km2 (6,950 sq mi) each year. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) reports from the time stated that the two colonies were generally successful in terms of morale, housing, and subsistence living.
Read more about this topic: High Arctic Relocation
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