Inuit E-tags System (jan 1, 1940 – jan 1, 1980)

Description:

Photo Caption:
“Under the Eskimo Identification Tag System, each Inuit person was issued an individual number that was used to identify them in place of their given name.” (CBC)

Summary:
From the 1940s to the 1970s, Inuit people (inappropriately called Eskimos at the time) were given identification tags by the government, which included a number specific to a person and their region, for census purposes. The government and non-Inuit people did not understand Inuktitut, so they felt doing their work this way instead of finding a way to communicate would be easier.

Grading: -1

Grading Justification:
Using a number to identify a human and treating them as just another piece, while not doing the same for another group of people, is very dehumanizing. The government could have looked for a different way to communicate with Inuit people, but they instead chose what would be easiest for themselves. Though Inuit e-tags aren’t known to have caused harm to Inuit people, they serve as an example of the continuous discrimination and mistreatment that Indigenous people face in Canada.

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