Kinship Practices and Relational Knowledge Transmission
The expansion and systematic use of online networks in the Canadian Arctic regions since the early 2000s open up a new field of observation and analysis in anthropology. Following field researches conducted in Sanikiluaq (Nunavut, Canada) between 2007 and 2010, this paper explores the discourses and practices related to Inuit kinship on social networking websites. Based on the analysis of personal profiles from Bebo and Facebook pages, it especially deals with the Qikirtamiut (i.e. Islanders) relational knowledge and its practices and diffusion on the Internet. The question of the parental use of the Internet in Sanikiluaq is all the more relevant as some young parents describe the context of intergenerational transmission as problematic – both in terms of circulation of knowledge, and family and community settings changes.