Inuit Land Use and Occupation Project

Inuit Land Use and Occupation Project (ILUOP) was a series of studies to record Inuit land use and occupancy in the Canadian north, initiated by the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) in 1973 and funded by Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. The final three-volume report, edited by Milton Freeman Research Limited, was published in 1976. The project provided a foundational basis for the Nunavut land claim, documenting Inuit use and occupancy of an area exceeding 2.8 million square kilometres. It also established the "map biography" methodology that became a standard approach for land use and occupancy studies across Canada.[1][2][3][4][5]

The ILUOP emerged from political pressures building across the western Arctic as oil and gas exploration opened up the Mackenzie Delta in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Committee of Original Peoples Entitlement (COPE), headquartered in Inuvik, united Inuvialuit, Dene, Métis and non-Indigenous trappers in resistance to large-scale industrial development that treated the region as uninhabited wilderness. From 1971, under the political leadership of COPE President Nellie Cournoyea, the organization proposed creating maps to document the extent of hunting and trapping across the region. Canadian geographer Peter Usher worked with COPE on the initial design of this mapping approach, making the ILUOP the first large-scale cultural mapping project of its kind.[6]

Citations

  1. ↑ Soublière 1999.
  2. ↑ Freeman 1976.
  3. ↑ Freeman 1976a.
  4. ↑ Freeman 1976b.
  5. ↑ Milton M. R. Freeman. "Looking back—and looking ahead—35 Years after the Inuit land use and occupancy project". Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe canadien. 55(1):20 - 31 · February 2011. DOI: 10.1111/j.1541-0064.2010.00341. University of Alberta.
  6. ↑ Brody n.d.

References

  • Hugh Brody (n.d.). "Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project". Retrieved 18 April 2026.
  • Soublière, Marion; Coleman, Greg, eds. (1999). Nunavut '99: Changing the Map of Canada. Iqaluit, Northwest Territories: Nortext Multimedia Inc. and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated. p. 27. ISBN 1550366297.
  • Freeman, Milton M. R. Land Use and Occupancy (PDF). Minister of Supply and Services Canada (Report). Inuit Land Use and Occupation Project. Vol. 1. Ottawa, Ontario. p. 263. ISBN 0660003996. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  • Freeman, Milton M. R. Supporting Studies. Minister of Supply and Services Canada (Report). Inuit Land Use and Occupation Project. Vol. 2. Ottawa, Ontario. p. 287. ISBN 0660004003.
  • Freeman, Milton M. R. Inuit Land Use and Occupation Project. Minister of Supply and Services Canada via (Report). Vol. 3. Ottawa, Ontario. ISBN 0660004011.
  • Milton M. R. Freeman. "Looking back—and looking ahead—35 Years after the Inuit land use and occupancy project". Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe canadien. 55(1):20 - 31 · February 2011. DOI: 10.1111/j.1541-0064.2010.00341. University of Alberta.
  • Bonesteel, Sarah, and Erik Anderson. 2008. Canada’s Relationship with Inuit: a History of Policy and Program Development. Ottawa: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada : 108 
  • M. P. Robinson and , M. M. Ross. "Traditional land use and occupancy studies and their impact on forest planning and management in Alberta." The Forestry Chronicle. 1997. 73(5): 596-605, https://doi.org/10.5558/tfc73596-5
  • Barrett, Kelsey, ed. (2011). Melting Boundaries: Rethinking Arctic Governance (PDF). Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies University of Washington Arctic Governance Task Force 2011 (Report). p. 209.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
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