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What I Remember, What I Know

The Life of a High Arctic Exile

by (author) Larry Audlaluk

Publisher
Inhabit Media
Initial publish date
Apr 2021
Subjects
Social Studies, English Language Arts, English First Peoples, Social Justice
Grade Levels
11 to 12
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781772272376
    Publish Date
    Oct 2020
    List Price
    $25.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781772273823
    Publish Date
    Apr 2021
    List Price
    $13.99
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781772274530
    Publish Date
    Jan 2024
    List Price
    $32.95

Where to buy it

Descriptive Review

Larry Audlaluk’s life story is recounted in this important memoir that outlines the experiences and immense hardships experienced by his family throughout a forced life in the desolate High Arctic. Audlaluk’s family was one of several who were forcibly relocated in the High Arctic Relocation Program to some of the most inhospitable climates on Earth while being severed from the land that they and their ancestors had been living on since time immemorial. Their experiences of being uprooted from their homes and denied ties to their family and cultural practices, paired with extreme circumstances, is a story of survival against all odds. He shares how important reconnection to family, land, and culture has been in order for him to be a whole person despite such obstacles. Larry Audlulak is an Inuit writer and received the Order of Canada in 2007.

Cautions / Content Warnings: Sexual abuse, mature content, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, and death.
Other End Matter: Glossary
Images: Colour photographs, b&w photographs
Contributor Affiliation: Larry Audlaluk (Inuit)
Bibliography: Yes
Index: No

Source: Books BC - Indigenous Books for Schools

About the author

Larry Audlaluk was born in Uugaqsiuvik, a small camp west of Inujjuak in northern Quebec. He was relocated to the High Arctic with his family when he was almost three years old. Larry was inducted into the Order of Canada for his years working as an ambassador for the people of Grise Fiord, Canada’s northernmost civilian settlement, and is the community’s longest-living resident.

Larry Audlaluk's profile page

Excerpt: What I Remember, What I Know: The Life of a High Arctic Exile (by (author) Larry Audlaluk)

Many stories have been written about how Inuit families were relocated to the High Arctic. The one most written about is economic opportunity. The other is sovereignty. The writers are always careful to use the word “claims” when they’re talking about sovereignty, as if to make our claims untrue. The story is long, complicated, and documented by various groups, besides the official records. It has been told from so many angles and moods, from social and political perspectives. I will tell you the story of my family’s relocation from personal experience.

Editorial Reviews

If those interested in the modern history of the Inuit people of eastern Canada were to read just one book on the subject, Larry Audlaluk's What I Remember, What I Know, should be it.