“Coming up Jesusie" : Theologies of Inuit Self-Conversion

FRCT Jesuit Centre Lunch-hour Lecture Series

 

  • Pencil drawing of Inuit praying near a cross

    Elisapee Ishulutaq. 2003. Inuit praying at Ummanarjuat (stencil drawing). Pangnirtung, Nunavut. (C. Trott, photo).

  • October 25, 2022
    220 St. Paul's College

    Speaker: Dr. Christopher Trott

    Dr. Christopher Trott is now retired from the positions of Warden of St. John’s College and Associate Professor in Indigenous Studies. Since 1979 he has worked with Inuit on Baffin Island, especially in Arctic Bay and Pangnirtung. Initially his work looked at kinship and social organization, especially the system of naming, but broadened out to include the history of religious in North Baffin Island after his experiences there.

     

ABOUT THE LECTURE: 

Through a series of remarkable events, Inuit in the North Baffin region converted themselves to Christianity around 1921. Through an analysis of these events, this paper asks what did the Inuit understand of Christianity, and how does that understanding differ from “orthodox” understandings of Christianity? How can these approaches to the Christian message open up new ways of seeing and understanding the faith for ourselves in the modern context? 

The YouTube video of this presentation is now available. You may also reference the accompanying power point presentation here.