Structured interviews with 38 Inuit in thecommunity of Holman were conducted to examineInuit definitions of successful andunsuccessful aging. Qualitative analysis ofthe interview data suggests that (1) contraryto much of the literature about culture changein the Canadian North, there appear to be noperceivable differences in the ways Inuit ofdifferent age cohorts view aging and elderhood;(2) a successful old age is not one necessarilycharacterized by individual good health, butrather by the ability of the individual tosuccessfully manage declining health; and (3)for Inuit, the most important determinants of asuccessful elderhood are not material butideological. That is, an individual'sattitudes in late life, and in particular theirwillingness to transmit their accumulatedwisdom and knowledge to their juniors, are thecritical determinants of whether an elder isviewed as having a successful old age.