From policies to building: public housing in Canada's Eastern Arctic 1950s to 1980s.

Debicka, Elizabeth ; Friedman, Avi

Abstract

Poor living conditions in the years following World War II gave rise to the involvement of the Canadian government in housing the Inuit of the Eastern Arctic. What was delivered throughout the region was the product of southern values, norms and aspirations. The prototypes were largely unsuited for the local climate, and did not support land-based activities. Furthermore, lack of consideration for the traditional dwelling culture resulted in the delivery of public housing that radically altered indigenous lifestyles. This article reviews the design of the public housing in what is now the Territory of Nunavut between the 1950s and 1980s. The ensuing discussion explores how the historical evolution of well-intentioned, yet culturally inappropriate housing affected both the physical and cultural well being of nordic communities. Before discussing the delivered public housing prototypes, a brief review of traditional dwelling culture of Inuit communities is undertaken.

Keywords: public housing, Inuit, Arctic culture

Resume

Les logements publics ont ete introduits dans las region de l'Arctique de l'est du Canada a la moitie du vingtieme siecle. Avant cette introduction, les Inuits de la region avaient une mode de vie nomade base sur la chasse, la peche et la recolte des plantes aborigenes. Cependant, suite a la deuxieme guerre mondiaie des communautes sedentaires ont pris naissance dans l'Arctique. Uarrivee des services incluant l'administration gouvernementaie, les services de sante et d'education, ainsi que les interets politiques et economiques du gouvernement canadien ont grandement contribue a la sedentarisation de la population Inuit. Maigre ces investissements importants de la part des gouvernements territoriaux federaux, le Nunavut fait face a une crise du logement public. Ce rapport soutien plusieurs conclusions; notamment, il est importam de developper des logements qui sont culturellement appropries.

Mots cles : logement public, Inuit, Arctique culture

Introduction: Traditional Inuit Dwelling Culture

Throughout the first half of the Twentieth Century, permanent settlements began taking root across Canadas Eastern Arctic (Figure 1). Originally populated by Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officers, religious missionaries and the Hudson's Bay fur-trading company, the settlements began to expand as increasing numbers of Inuit families left life on the land to reside permanently in the newly formed communities. Although the settlements offered important opportunities by way of education, health care and in some cases the possibility for wage employment, the dramatic shift from being a semi-nomadic and self-sufficient people, to residing permanently in established communities was to have an irrevocable impact on the indigenous population.

Prior to settlement, the semi-nomadic, subsistence-based culture of the Inuit was reflected in traditional dwellings. The archaeological ancestors of the Inuit--the Thule culture--and their semi-subterranean houses framed using the jawbones of whales confirma deep connection to the land. These structures benefitted from the inherent solidity and strength of a whale's skeleton to serve as shelter from the arctic winter climate. Variations in cladding materials, including sod, wood, stone and animal skins, reflected local resources. Further thermal protection was granted by partially excavating the ground; raised platforms were added to provide warm areas for sleeping and working (Figure 2). In her study of the symbolic potential of these whale bone dwellings, Patton (1996) establishes the entrance hallway as a key element of the Thule culture. These tunnels included extra storage and work space; however, their primary function was to protect inhabitants from the natural environment. A hole or katak at the threshold between entrance hall and main room performed as a cold-trap. An innate understanding about local building science developed from these early prototypes can be observed in the similar dwellings such as the Cumberland Sound qammaq of the early twentieth century.

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The Canadian snow house, better known as the igloo, offers further evidence of acclimatization to the harsh local weather. According to Lee and Reinhardt (2003), four convening and interrelated factors led to the development of the snow house: First, [Inuit] had to be near their food supply (usually seals), which meant they needed to live on or near the sea ice. Second, hunters found it efficient to cooperate in simultaneous hunts and to share the resulting food. Third, due to an easily exhausted food supply, people often had to move every few days to weeks. Finally, snow houses normally required little time and effort to build, which made them easy to abandon when the inevitability of the next move presented itself.

Furthermore, despite its simple appearance, the snow house was a highly sophisticated shelter, which could be expanded according to the spatial requirements of the families. Although Inuit kinship structures were not homogenous throughout the Arctic, Peter Dawson's study, Space Syntax Analysis of Central Inuit Snow Houses (2002), examines the built adaptations that resulted from complex social composition. According to Dawson, "variation in family structure and the behavioral directives present in indigenous kinship systems are reflected in the spatial configurations of snow house architecture." Notably, while the nuclear family unit did exist in Inuit communities prior to settlement, it was common for extended kin groups to share a dwelling given the highly co-dependant nature of Inuit society. Snow houses were adapted accordingly, and reflected the cohabitation common in winter villages.

Clusters of snow houses consisted of one or more sleeping domes, in which children lived with their parents and their own children. A hunter with several wives and all of his offspring, or multiple families resided so as to share food and to cooperate fully in subsistence activities. Divorce was permissible in Inuit culture, adoptions common, and gender roles were relatively fluid (for example, a woman could become a hunter if she chose) and dwelling typology adapted accordingly. As such, one or more sleeping domes were connected to a main dome, which could be as large as 12 feet to 14 feet in diameter (3.7 meters to 4.3 meters) (Lee and Reinhardt 2003). As described by Peter Dawson (2002), Composite snow houses [also] consisted of living areas, and dog rooms, others were built around special function spaces such as festival or dance houses which were used for communal activities such as singing, dancing, drumming and competitive games.

Given the adaptive nature of the igloo, the rigidity of Euro-Canadian style housing delivered in Inuit communities after World War II had important effects on communal living arrangements and dwelling culture.

Public Housing After World War II

In the years immediately after World War II, the Government of Canada (GoC) was motivated, by humanitarian and political concerns, to improve the conditions of the Inuit. With lack of formal housing, those residing within the expanding settlements were living in increasingly abject conditions. Shacks made of scrap lumber and discarded packing crates replaced the traditional snow houses and the portable skin tents that allowed Inuit to follow the migrating caribou herds throughout the summer. These new dwellings were characterized by lack of ventilation, absence of sanitation facilities, prevalence of respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia, and extremely crowded living conditions (Department of National Health and Welfare, 1960). Observations made by Tester (2006) during this time suggested that these informal dwellings may have warranted a more open-minded assessment; however, most were considered substandard due to their drastic departure from southern construction methods. Consequently, the Government of Canada deemed the living conditions of settled Inuit unacceptable, and responded by developing a mass housing project.

Another major factor contributing to government interest in developing a housing policy for the eastern Arctic was the federal government's "northern vision." In his survey of early housing policies, "Housing in the Northwest Territories: The Post-War Vision," Robert Robson explains how the federal government's need to exert arctic sovereignty during the Cold War Era and its interest in expanding its influence in the north was a major influencing factor in the decision to invest in housing in the arctic: Housing as introduced during the post-World War II era of northern expansion was a multi-faceted tool of government. Not only did it provide a form of shelter for northern residents, it also reinforced the agenda of government as defined by the northern vision [...] housing became a vehicle through which government re-affirmed its position in the north.

In the early 20th century, the legal status of the Inuit had yet to be determined (Tester and Kulchyski, 1994). The "northern vision," as described by Robson, was "undertaken to capitalize on the resources potential of the Canadian north, to address the sovereignty issues of the post-war era, to rationalize northern administration, to modernize northern infrastructure and perhaps, most pointedly, to reinforce the metropolitan relationship so typical of the north-south experience."

The suppression of a foreign culture through architectural policies whether intentional or not--supports Anthony Ward's (1996) theories on "social" architecture. In "The Suppression of the Social in Design: Architecture as War," Ward claims that architecture is still "nothing but social." From the earliest interventions, the prescription of ill-suited housing prototypes provided a mechanism of assimilation for the governing bodies.

An interest in creating a typology of housing suitable to northern climate and to the economic restrictions of Inuit households led to what was perhaps the most innovative period in the history of public housing in the Arctic. According to the Department of National Health and Welfare (1960): The houses would probably be very small by southern standards (although not necessarily by Eskimo standards) in order that heating costs remain within the average Eskimo's ability to pay. It was felt that a government subsidy covering capitalization or heating of the houses would be undesirable since it would enhance the Eskimos' dependence on the white man and hinder his development in the increasingly complex society of the modern Arctic.

Ironically, in the effort to design housing that was reflective of indigenous dwellings, architects and government officials failed to capture the factors that made the igloo suited to the Arctic environment and culture.

A series of experimental units were designed in keeping with the mandate to create cheap housing suitable for the Arctic climate which included a styrofoam igloo, a quonset style styrofoam house, a double-walled tent, and a "shanty-type" frame house. Despite good intentions, however, structural issues, including the rapid deterioration of materials, high costs associated with production and poor ventilation, were cited as reasons for abandoning these designs. For example, the blue styrofoam used in the quonset style house "was susceptible to ultra-violet rays and thus required painting or other protection" (Dept. of National Health and Welfare, 1960) (Figure 3). Of the seven units constructed in Povungnituk, Northern Quebec, "without exception, there was high condensation on the inside walls, causing extreme discomfort and possibly ill-health. [...] The houses were deplorably deficient in insulation, proper heating and ventilation." Considering the design flaws associated with these units, it is difficult to conceive that Inuit families lived in these "houses" as part of the process to determine whether they were suitable for mass production.

Abandoning the experimental units developed in the early 1950s largely because they did not meet structural requirements, the GoC settled on a less experimental, clap-board square house.

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One of the logistical challenges that the Government of Canada faced was a short delivery and construction season. The sea was ice-free only two months a year. In addition, all building materials had to be shipped from the south in prefabricated sections. The construction period was also short, lasting two to three months. The prototypes were therefore selected because of their affordability and ease of construction, as well as a genuine belief that they would improve living conditions. The first housing prototype delivered under the Eskimo Housing Loan Program was quickly dubbed the "Matchbox" due to its small size. These one-room shacks, which were heated with oil base elements, compounded the problems that they were designed to address, such as overcrowding, lack of servicing and inadequate ventilation. To make matters worse, due to the seasonal nature of the fur trade and their continued engagement in land-based activities for subsistence as opposed to wage employment, very few Inuit families could afford to purchase and to heat these very small dwellings throughout the winter (Robson, 1995; Thomas and Thompson, 1972).

Subsequently, the Matchbox unit was replaced by the "Rigid Frame," a 16 feet by 16 feet (4.88 meters by 4.88 meters) unit of slightly improved quality and constructed for a capital cost of $420 (Figure 4). According to the Department of National Health and Welfare (1960), The rigid flame unit was tested in the field at Frobisher Bay [Iqaluit] during the winter of 1958-1959. Several units were erected and these were lived in with perfectly satisfactory results. In view of this, the rigid frame plywood house was adopted for the first leg of the major low-cost housing construction program, which began in the summer of 1959.

In 1960, 125 units were constructed in fourteen different Arctic communities. Unlike the snow house the dwellings designed as part of the northern housing initiative whether they be the incongruous styrofoam igloo or subsequent, Euro-Canadian types of housing--were finite in size and restricted to a given location. Inuit could no longer determine their household composition, as dwellings could not be expanded to accommodate extended families. Furthermore, Inuit households had no control over the location of their "home." The advent of public housing in the Eastern Arctic, while improving the living conditions within the settlements, was to irreversibly change local dwelling culture and lifestyle.

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Although at the time of its original construction the space provided would have been an improvement to some of the small shacks inhabited by Inuit who lived in the early settlements, the living conditions within the units were poor. Unlike the traditional snow house, the Rigid Frame units allow little light to infiltrate through their small windows. Furthermore, lack of appropriate ventilation was a serious issue, leading to the proliferation of respiratory diseases. Although they were efficient to heat, many Inuit families did not have the means to purchase fuel throughout the winter and/or were unable to make the yearly payments required to purchase the units. Consequently, the majority of the 1,200 housing units distributed across the north under the Eskimo Housing Loan Program would remain rental units (Robson 1995).

Recognizing that the Rigid Frame units delivered under the Eskimo Housing Loan Program were inadequate, "in October 1965, approval was given by the Federal Government to the Eskimo Rental Housing Program and 12.5 millions dollars allotted for the construction of three-bedroom houses over a five year period" (Report on the Housing Education Program for Canadian Eskimos, 2). The units originally delivered under the Eskimo Housing Loan Program were re-introduced as rental stock, and a number of larger, three-bedroom units were built.

The three-bedroom units helped to alleviate the housing shortage and were better suited to meet the needs of the large Inuit families and that often included extended family members. These units, however, were also designed with little regard for the families' social organization and the cultural activities in which they engaged. In 'Wage Labour, Housing Policy, and the Nucleation of Inuit Households' (2005), Pamela Stern suggests that "with the assignment of the government supplied houses, the autonomy of nuclear families was taken for granted by northern administrators."

Units constructed across the Arctic in the 1960s were designed according to Euro-Canadian notions and included partitioning between rooms for the first time. Kitchens were ill-equipped for the preparation of country foods and the interior did not accommodate land-based activities. As described by Robson (1995), The houses were inferior, expensive, small, often not provided with services and above all else, clearly not constructed with a view to meet the housing needs of the local population. In this regard, the living space was compartmentalized, there was no work space within the unit to clean or prepare meat or fix snow machines, [and] little thought was given to storage areas [...].

Culturally inappropriate designs, accompanied by poor construction practices, were major problems associated with public housing in the North. As described by Peter Collings (2005), throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, "not only were materials used in house construction poor, but the design of the houses was ill-suited, both physically and culturally, for the Arctic." In their 1972 critique of the early housing prototypes and policies, Thomas and Thompson (1972) write: House models have followed architectural precedents from the southern world, to be built with construction materials imported into the north, and they often show little recognition of Eskimo cultural patterns and values. They have been designed and field tested in Ottawa, apparently by men who have had little experience in Arctic living. Each house type has been placed in the North in large quantities, at high cost, without first determining if it is truly adequate--not only for the climate but for the people.

The lack of success of both the Education Program and of the Rental Housing Program was not lost on policy makers, particularly as housing developed for the Arctic drew growing criticism for failing to address the poor living conditions of the Inuit.

According to Robson, a shift in the delivery of public housing took place in the latter part of the 1960s and early 1970s, largely galvanized by criticisms similar to those voiced by Thomas and Thompson. Robson indicates that in 1967, the Eskimo Housing Rental Program was revamped by the Government of the Northwest Territories in response to "the broader issues of community well-being" (Robson 1995). As such, the Territorial Purchase Program and the Rental Purchase Program were introduced in 1968, with the goal of "improv[ing] the living conditions of the Inuit" and "provid[ing] adequate affordable accommodation to all northerners" (Robson 1995). The next major policy change to take place in the discipline of public housing in the Arctic was the establishment of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation in 1972, which also lay the foundation for housing policies in the Eastern Arctic.

The Dawn of the "Modern Era"

With the inauguration of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation (NWTHC), a series of programs were initiated to provide public housing to lowincome residents of the Canadian North. Robson's analysis of what he terms the "Modern Era" provides a comprehensive description of the policies administered by the NWTHC throughout the nineteen seventies and eighties. According to the author, "the objectives of the NWTHC [...] were to ensure that NWT residents had access to an adequate supply of reasonably priced housing."

The establishment of the North West Territories Housing Corporation led to a reorganization of the delivery of public housing throughout the Northwest Territories (note that the Territory of Nunavut in the eastern arctic was not yet established at the time). A combination of rental and home ownership policies were devised, with relatively distinct objectives. Consequently, the Low Rental Housing Program saw large numbers of bachelor-style apartments constructed in selected locations where employment was readily available. As such, economic hubs including Frobisher Bay (Iqaluit) and Baker Lake saw the highest levels of housing construction. Not surprisingly, these units failed to address the housing needs of low-income families (Robson 1995). In addition, the emphasis on the construction of single-bedroom units for Inuit with wage employment meant that public housing remained out of reach for Inuit who resided in smaller communities that did not experience economic growth. As such, many were faced with difficult choices: either they could stay in the smaller communities where hunting was more sustainable given the smaller populations, or they could move to the larger centres in search of employment and housing.

According to Peter Collings (2005), the transition from a semi-nomadic culture to one which emphasizes permanent home ownership has had a profound effect on the ability of the Settlement Generation Inuit to continue to engage in traditional activities. Pressures to participate in the wage-based economy and to own and maintain a home meant that many Inuit have had to give up hunting, which requires important commitments of both time and money. Collings suggests that: [...] housing policy has a considerable influence over both the economics of the North and the social structure of Inuit communities. One result of the Housing's effort to encourage home ownership has been to reorganize the Inuit life course so that the Inuit men born after 1960 no longer expect to become productive hunters and trappers until middle age. Additionally, the influence of housing policy, seemingly far removed from a cultural domain as subsistence hunting, suggests that young men are not active hunters like their parents not because they are culturally disconnected from the subsistence economy, but rather because they cannot afford it.

The generational disconnect with the land continues to have profound negative effects on Inuit communities throughout the Arctic, and has been identified as playing a key role in the proliferation of social problems present in Inuit communities.

Studying the spatial considerations of the daily lives of several Inuit families living in Arviat, Nunavut, Dawson (2003) concludes that the spatial configuration of Euro-Canadian style housing design--and the emphasis on private space in particular--fails to meet the needs of Inuit families: Inuit families and Euro-Canadian architecture would seem to be moving in opposite directions, with the former emphasizing social integration while the latter the cultural well-being of Inuit is inescapable: the effect of this is that the spatial configuration of Euro Canadian houses often makes Inuit household activities difficult to organize, execute and complete.

Throughout the late 1970s and into the 1980s, the shortage of affordable and adequate housing continued. For example, under the Rural and Remote Housing Program (1977-1983), "approximately 70% of the RRHP clientele were in arrears of payment" (Robson 17). In addition, the existing housing stock--the initial construction of which was poor to begin with--was already in dire need of refurbishment. Ethnographic observations of Inuit households in operation, analyzed by Peter Dawson (2006), reveal that many Inuit families continued to use their houses in traditional ways. Attempts to adapt to dwellings designed around another culture often accelerated their deterioration as they had not been designed to accommodate the preparation of traditional foods or communal sleeping arrangements. A number of maintenance programs were initiated by the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation and as much as a quarter of the Corporation's budget was allocated to the maintenance of public housing. Robson (1995) notes, however, that "total expenditures, when broken down to a per-unit cost, were only a nominal amount. For the year 1974 to 1975, for example, the per-unit repair expenditures amounted to $225."

Efforts were made to address the issues related to culturally inappropriate housing, small dwelling size, inadequate ventilation, substandard construction materials and the overall inadequacies of early social housing prototypes. Nevertheless, serious concerns related to housing quality persisted. For example, Collings (2005) describes some of the concerns related to housing in the Inuit community of Holman circa 1978: Walls of the public housing units were only four inches thick and poorly insulated and sealed against the weather. A typical problem of these units was the separation of siding from the frame of the house, a problem attributed to extreme cold and high winds. [...] poor insulation meant that the forced air furnaces in the houses were running constantly during the winter. Continually running furnaces contributed to the exceptionally dry air of residences, which in turn exacerbated respiratory and ear problems among residents.

Substandard public housing represents a significant proportion of the existing housing stock in Arctic communities. The sense of urgency born from initial investigations into existing northern housing caused the southern governing bodies to fast track critical design decisions with little consultation with the Inuit population. In Unfriendly Architecture, Dawson (2008) refers to Tester's (2006) theories on the exclusion of Inuit housing precedence: At first glance, the introduction of Euro Canadian architecture in the Canadian Arctic could be viewed as an example of high modernism gone awry. Many Canadian government administrators, including northern service officers, were committed to the basic tenets of modernity, in part due to their experiences living through two world wars and a great depression. Consequently, the modernist schemes they implemented were not about acculturation, as they were about alleviation of poverty, and the dangers many Euro-Canadians associated with traditional Inuit life.

He goes on to describe how the restraints associated with Northern Housings, namely high cost of labor and shipping materials, required that planners opt for "universal" over "culturally specific" designs. Consequently, the effects of poor housing quality continue to adversely affect the well-being of the Inuit. Although the local government attempted to redress the lack of appropriate housing in the Arctic, units delivered throughout the 1970s continuously failed to meet the climatic conditions and to truly respond to the cultural needs of the Inuit population.

Conclusion

As a result of constructing poor quality public housing that fails to withstand the harsh Arctic climate, in the 1960s and the 1970s there was dire need of refurbishment and replacement of dwellings. Given the lack of financial resources, many Inuit families continue to live in housing that does not meet their needs. Consequently, over-crowding, high rates of infectious diseases and stresses related to living in sub-standard housing are linked to the struggles facing Inuit communities to this day. Furthermore, housing that inadequately supports land-based activities is sited as having a profound impact on the cultural well-being of Inuit.

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Elizabeth Debicka

Avi Friedman

School of Architecture

McGill University