115 YEARS OF ARVILIGJUARMIUT DEMOGRAPHY, CENTRAL CANADIAN ARCTIC

Demographic data from 1863 to 1978 on the Arviligjuarmiut Inuit (Central Canadian Arctic) are analyzed to establish the statistical parameters of the full range of biologically and socially relevant variability. Detailed family histories, recorded during the first author's tenure at the Mission in Arviligjuark (Pelly Bay) and later data, transmitted to him by his successor after his departure, have been analyzed. They provided complete observed data from 1938 to 1978, and cross-checked historically reconstructed family histories, based on oral tradition going back as far as 1863. Proceeding from these data, the important changes which took place in Arviligjuarmiut society as a result of Euro-Canadian contact are monitored and evaluated for effects on traditional demographic patterns.