Looks at development of two complementary governance structures: self-rule and shared rule. The Inuit approach has involved negotiating land claims agreements and in some cases, establishing amalgamated regional governments to administer programs; the Sámi approach has involved establishment of Sámediggi national parliament.
Presentation of the political, symbolic and geographical reasons for establishing Nunavut; formally established within the Northwest Territories, April 1, 1999.
IWGIA [International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs] ; document 71
Documents & Presentations
Author/Creator
Alan R. Marcus
Description
Examines the government's decision to move families to the High Arctic where they found conditions very different from their traditional territory, as well as its refusal to move them back at the of end two years as promised. Government claims it was done for humanitarian reasons, while others assert that it was carried out to establish sovereignty over the area.
Makes recommendations under four themes: traditional foods, local food production, Federal subsidy and support programs, and project funding coordination and promotion.
RCAP 25 contains files from the sitting of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples at Pangnirtung, Northwest Territories [Nunavut]. This sitting of the Commission contains presentations by on a variety of subjects such as land claims and self-government, Inuit education, employment, pollution, and the arts. Each presentation can be viewed individually on this site.
File contains an individual presentation by David Akpalialuk, resident of Pangnirtung, who expresses frustration with the application of Unemployment Insurance and the Canada Pension Plan and would like documents in both Inuktitut and English. Following the presentation is a question-and-answer session with the Commissioners.
File contains an individual presentation by Tommy Evik, resident of Pangnirtung, relating to the difficulty that Inuit people have in dealing with Canadian government documents written in English. He states that the government sought to abolish Inuktitut in the past but "our parents and ourselves have hung on to our own language and we teach it to our children every day." He urges provincial and federal politicians representing Pangnirtung and area to also visit the smaller communities, not just the larger centres.
File contains an opening prayer and opening remarks from the sitting of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples at the Singituq Complex, Rankin Inlet, NWT (now Nunavut), on Thursday, November 19, 1992. Following an introduction by Facilitator Paul Kaludjak, and an opening prayer by Rhoda Karetak, Commissioner Viola Robinson commences the days proceedings by giving an overview of the Commission, its composition, and its work to this date.
File contains a presentation by Bryan Pearson. Pearson discusses problems faced by Inuit communities in the fields of health and education. Pearson also discusses the cultural gap between Inuit and Euro-Canadians and the problems that can cause in implementing social policy. Following this presentation the Commission's sitting for the day is officially ended with a closing prayer.
File contains a presentation by Luzarus Arreak. Arreak asks the Commission for "Inuit to be defined separatley and individually as Inuit." She asks for a seperate definiton in the Constitution and "anywhere else." Arreak relates some of her personal history as a Inuit, as well as much of the history of her people, celebrating how they have "progressed rapidly" in 30 to 40 years, and their accomplishments in the political realm. Arreak also highlights some of the problems they have faced with regards to resource development, and adjustement to new realities while emphasizing a positive future.
File contains a presentation by Roger Cousins. Cousins speaks on the topic of land claims in the Eastern arctic. He discusses Aboriginal land claims in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, and then the Nunavut claim in the Eastern arctic. In answerance to Commissioner Dussault's earlier question on where the Commission should start Cousins states "a good place to start would be to make sure that the Inuit have a land base in their home communities." Following the presentation Commmissioner Dussault discusses the topic with Cousins.
File contains a presentation by Mayor Paul Kaludjak. He is also facilitator of the day's proceedings, gives a brief overview of the communities history and discusses its economic and social composition. Kaludjak also discusses his hopes for the creation of Nunavut, Rankin Inlet's role as an administrative centre, and the possibility of it becoming capital of the new territory. Following his presentation, he introduces the next presenter.
File contains a presentation by Irene Tiktaalaaq and Joan Scottie of the Concerned Citizens of Baker Lake. Tiktaalaq discusses unemployment and poverty among the people of Baker Lake, and her efforts with others to establish a community food bank without any government assistance to alleviate these problems. She concludes by recommending that the government raise welfare and pension levels to the amount that northerners do not run out of food money before the end of the month.
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples - Transcriptions of Public Hearings and Round Table Discussions
Documents & Presentations
Author/Creator
Peter Katuk
Description
File contains opening remarks by Peter Katuk(via a translator) regarding the situation for Inuit people in the Northwest Territories: the struggle for survival, his own birth in an igloo in 1921, how life is a learning experience, how the Inuit people have been left out of Canada, how the Cree and the Hudson Bay Company were condescending and bossy to the Inuit, an incident between his father and the RCMP who made his father relocate his home from Repulse Bay, the need to amend what Katuk describes as the defeat of Aboriginal people in Canada, how his people assisted southerners who came to th