Abstract

The history of translation and the history of standardisation in Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland in Canada, are closely intertwined. As the Inuit language varieties continually adjust to changing circumstances, translation has triggered standardisation; concomitantly, translators have proven active agents in the creation, implementation and rejection of standards. Missionaries used translation as a tool for religious conversion, and this was soon superseded by the assimilative non-translation policy of the federal government. Unfortunately, the exogenous domination over translation by these colonisers was to the detriment of the Inuit culture, inclusive of its language varieties. Now, as the Inuit have been regaining their intrinsic right to autonomy within a federation focused on French-English bilingualism, they are also confronted with a world increasingly dominated by English. To combat diglossia and revitalise their language varieties, the governments in Inuit Nunangat have been implementing demanding translation policies, and standardisation has emerged as central to their execution. The Qallunaat missionaries who first codified the way the Inuit spoke for translation purposes assumed control over the Inuit writing systems as they split the Inuit into orthographic camps along religious boundaries. Now the Inuit are reclaiming authority over their language varieties as they contemplate the possibility of a unified writing system that preserves their valued oral diversity. The relational dynamics inherent in translation studies proves a fruitful ground for considering the implications of translating the diverse Inuit writing systems into the traditionally Qallunaat concept of a written standard.