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Introduction
Caribou are embedded in northern life and culture, especially for the Indigenous peoples of the tundra and taiga regions (Anderson & Nuttall, 2004; Hummel & Ray, 2008; Nirlungayuk, 2012; Pokiak, 2012; Sangris, 2012; Thorpe, Eyegetok, Hakongak, & Qitirmiut Elders, 2001b; Zoe, 2012). Caribou were once an essential component of survival for life on the land, and today they remain an important part of seasonal cycles, hunting culture, diet and health that extends far beyond physical consumption and material culture. Caribou are part of the interconnected web of relationships between people, land and all living beings, as reflected in diverse Indigenous cosmologies, oral histories and values (Bayha, 2012; Beaulieu, 2012; Bennett & Rowley, 2004; Polfus et al., 2017; Sangris, 2012; Thorpe, 2004; Thorpe et al., 2001b; Zoe, 2012). Hunting caribou is an enactment of cultural identity and self-determination, and occurs according to diverse cultural practices across northern homelands.
Inuit are the Indigenous peoples of Arctic regions, and in Canada Inuit Nunangat (Inuit homelands) are represented today by the four land claim regions of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (Northwest Territories), Nunavut, Nunavik (Northern Québec) and Nunatsiavut (Northern Labrador) (Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, 2018). In Inuktut (the Inuit language), caribou are called tuktuit (plural of tuktu), and they have been an important part of seasonal rounds and material culture of Inuit families for generations (Bennett & Rowley, 2004; Freeman, 1976). Indeed, tuktuit remain the country food that is consumed in greatest prevalence and quantity across Inuit Nunangat today (Kenny & Chan, 2017). Country foods are generally defined as traditional foods including wild game or plants, obtained through hunting, fishing or harvesting, and their value goes beyond economic, nutritional and physical health benefits; they are part of maintaining Inuit cultural continuity, identity and well-being (Donaldson et al., 2010). As such, tuktuit are also highly interconnected with Inuit values, beliefs and practices, which are passed on through language, land-based learning, and inter-generational knowledge sharing (Bennett & Rowley, 2004; Government of Nunavut, 2011; Kendrick & Manseau, 2008; Mearns, 2017; Thorpe, 1998; Thorpe, Eyegetok, Hakongak, & Qitirmiut Elders, 2001a). Through oral histories, hunting culture, careful observation and personal experience, Inuit gain deep knowledge of and connections with tuktuit. This includes understanding of habitat, health and movements of tuktuit