Arctic people seek common alphabet

Canada's Inuit homeland, Nunavut, was created in 1999

By Mike Fox BBC correspondent in Quebec

Inuit aboriginal people from the Chukotka region of Russia, Canada, Greenland and Alaska are gathering for a conference in Quebec where they will discuss whether they can make a common alphabet for their Inuktitut language and make communication among them easier.

The 100,000 speakers of Inuktitut currently use three different alphabets - one based on the Roman one used for English, one on Cyrillic, and another representing Inuktitut syllables.

It also has six regional variations.

The general assembly of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference is held every four years.

The meeting is taking place in northern Quebec

The five-day meeting will also discuss environmental issues, including the impact of climate change on Inuit activities.

Although Inuit people live in four different countries, they share a common ancestry, culture and the Inuktitut language, which is thought to have developed around 7,000 years ago.

Yet even in Canada, there are wide variations in the alphabet used for writing what until recently was only a spoken language.

Improving communication

The alphabets in Canada were introduced by missionaries.

The distinctive syllabic system was developed by Anglicans, but Inuit in Greenland, Alaska and Chukotka developed different alphabets, making it very difficult for them to communicate with each other, especially in the age of the Internet.

The importance of this is highlighted by another item being discussed at the conference: how to improve the exchange of news between the communities.

Organisers say Inuit in each country are much better informed on affairs to the south of them than they are on what is happening among their own people elsewhere.

The assembly being held in Kuujjuaq, in the far north of Quebec, will also discuss trade, human rights and land claims issues.

It will be the first time they have met since the territory of Nunavut was formed in Canada in 1999, where uniquely, Inuit people are running their own government.

It is a sign that despite the many years of suffering caused by contact with the outside world, the Inuit are at least partly successful in keeping their traditions alive in the twenty-first century.