ABSTRACT
Whenever one culture takes up residence within another and begins to decide “what’s best” for everyone, there is rarely, despite good intentions, any adequate understanding of the effects this cultural takeover has on the lives and land of the inhabited people. Prior to the evacuation policy, women of the Hudson Coast gave birth on their territory, among their own people. Birth was shared in community and celebrated as a significant part of the life cycle. This way of life was lost by the early 1970s, when the prevailing Canadian medical culture and authorities obligated the women of Nunavik, like Indigenous women living in isolated regions elsewhere in Northern Canada, Australia, and other countries, to leave their communities to give birth. Midwifery practice in a remote northern region such as Nunavik requires an expanded role and scope of practice compared to Canadian midwifery outside of Nunavik.
