Abstract

Copper usage, heavy caribou and fish subsistence, extensive inland knowledge and mythology suggested inland origins for Copper and Caribou Inuit to Jenness and Birket-Smith. This was widely accepted until the mid-20th century when archaeologists suggested Thule coastal origins instead. The archaeological site of Nadlok in extreme southeast Copper Inuit territory is on the traditional Bathurst Inlet trade route to the Caribou Inuit. The Barrenland distribution of copper tools, winter houses, radiocarbon-dated floors, and trees are used to determine whether Nadlok was simply a trade center or whether it and related sites were formative to both Inuit groups.