id: inuit-qaujimajatuqangit-consensus
title: Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Consensus
description: >-
  An Inuit practice of communal decision-making grounded in
  qaujimajatuqangit (traditional knowledge), where elders and community
  members deliberate until consensus is reached, with attention to the
  four guiding principles of working for the common good, respecting all
  living things, continually learning, and serving the community. The
  Government of Nunavut explicitly incorporates IQ into its decision-making.
source: Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit / Government of Nunavut
source_url: https://www.gov.nu.ca/
tags: [inuit, iq, consensus, arctic, indigenous, governance]
forked_from: null
image: null
steps:
  - headline: Convene with elders
    description: >-
      The community convenes with elders present and honoured. Elders carry
      qaujimajatuqangit — knowledge accumulated across generations — and
      guide the deliberation.
  - headline: Frame for the common good
    description: >-
      The matter is framed in terms of the common good (piliriqatigiingniq)
      — what serves the whole community and its relationship with the
      land and living things.
  - headline: Deliberate to consensus
    description: >-
      The community deliberates until consensus is reached. Dissent is
      heard and addressed; the process is not rushed, as the Inuit
      understand decisions must hold over time.
  - headline: Honour the land and living things
    description: >-
      Throughout, the decision is tested against its effect on the land and
      on living things — animals, future generations, the camp — not on
      human interest alone.
  - headline: Pronounce and live with it
    description: >-
      The consensus is pronounced and the community lives with the
      decision, observing its effects and revisiting it if the
      consequences prove harmful.
outcome: >-
  A decision is reached by consensus, grounded in traditional knowledge,
  with the common good and the land held in view.
practice: >-
  Elders are not symbolic — their knowledge carries the deliberation. If
  the process is rushed, it fails the Inuit understanding that decisions
  must hold over time.