Rhythm of the Tides: my arctic experience

The Father of Nunavut

In 1970, the territory of Nunavut didn't exist. It was still just a dream and the dreamer was John Amagoalik. His dream was Nunavut, which means our land in the Inuktitut language. His mission was to save the Inuit language, culture, philosophy and way of life.

He was born in 1947, in the small village of Inukjuaq located in Nunavik, in northern Quebec. At the age of five, the federal government forced his family, and seventeen others, to move to Resolute. They were herded into a ship and transported over one thousand kilometres north. Immoral as it was, it was part of the government's plan for defending our sovereign rights to the arctic. Once they were on shore, the ship set sail and they were left behind to defend the high arctic, but with nothing to defend themselves from it. Many of his family and friends didn't survive, dying from exposure and starvation.

As a survivor, he was sent to residential school in Churchill, Manitoba, and later in Iqaluit. The treatment he and his people received at the hands of the Canadian government was something he couldn't forget; and it drove him to push for a government apology and compensation for all displaced Inuit. More importantly, it drove him to push for recognition of the Inuit as legal owners of their own land. This was at a time when Canada saw itself as a country built by two founding nations, completely ignoring the indigenous people who preceded both the French and the English by thousands of years.

The national film board made a documentary entitled, Arctic Defenders, in which the plight of the Inuit is discussed as well as the work of Amagoalik and others in building the Inuit nation. I had viewed this movie before coming to Iqaluit and one of my objectives was to try and meet the person who was born the same year as me, but had accomplished so much more.

When Don and I visited the Nunavut legislature, I enquired about him and was told that he's still in town and could be found at the Navigator Bar having a drink with friends and family most days of the week. To our surprise and excitement, we found him there just as we had been told. He was in discussion with others and I apologized for the interruption. I told him that it had been my desire to meet him and shake his hand for his monumental accomplishment.

For his tireless efforts to get the attention of Canadians and politicians at all levels; for having fought so hard in what he believed; and for having achieved much more than any other indigenous people in the world, John Amagoalik was awarded the honour of The Father of Nunavut.

He is now retired and no longer actively involved in shaping Inuit policy. There's a new generation doing that now, but it seems that they don't have the same drive he had because, although Nunavut is up and running, things are still not where they should be.

It took a lot of effort to get the machinery in place, and the people to run it to become comfortable with the job, but the biggest obstacle by far is still the federal government. It still reneges on the promises made in the Land Claim Agreement. As a result, there is a serious shortage of affordable houses; and this, in turn, leads to social problems such as substance addictions, domestic violence, crime and suicide. Nunavut has the highest suicide rate in all of Canada.

What is wrong with Canada? It wants to be the beauty poster-girl on the global scene, while hiding its warts of immoral behaviour at home.

Is this the Canada we want?

For the federal and provincial governments, Inuit and First Nations people are simply a nuisance that just won't go away. They have no intention of solving indigenous problems and righting the wrongs of the past. All we've seen to date is just window dressing that embellishes our image internationally: nothing more! Sadly, this is the Canada we have had and still have. Nothing has changed when it comes to dealing with indigenous people. We can only hope that the current government will live up to its promises.

Inuit at the margins of society need more housing and better education, and they're getting neither. I'm proud of my adopted country, but ashamed of its treatment of indigenous people! We have done more for refugees than for our own underprivileged people who were the first founding nations of this great country.

Numerous people each year are invested in the Order of Canada for service rendered to the country. On this sesquicentennial year, in the true spirit of reconciliation, the government of Canada could have named John Amagoalik to the Order of Canada, but it didn't. In my opinion, it was a missed opportunity!

At least John A. hasn't suffered the same fate of another visionary who preceded him by a century. Who was he?

Louis Riel was the leader of the Metis Nation, in Manitoba, and a member of parliament. But he could not take his rightful place in Canada's Parliament because the government had put a price on his head. Eventually, he was executed for a fabricated crime; and aAlthough history has vindicated him, the racist policies of the time haven't changed. Average Canadians are not racists: far from it. But the ruling classes still maintain their bloodlines pure. I wonder why?

While the provinces of Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta celebrate Family Day on the third Monday of February, Manitoba celebrates Louis Riel Day. Perhaps Nunavut should join in with John Amagoalik Day!

Another dreamer and Inuk leader is Tagak Curley, a strong advocate of the Inuit and their culture. He was a founding member and first president of what is now the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national organization protecting and advancing the rights and interests of Inuit in Canada. It is the voice for 60,000 Inuit living in fifty-three communities across northern Canada.

Tagak grew up in a hunting camp on Southampton Island, at the mouth of Hudson Bay, and learned about the traditional way of life. When he was eight years old his family moved to the village of Coral Harbour so that he and his siblings could attend school. His education allowed him to advocate for his people and he has worked tirelessly both in and out of government to fight for Inuit rights.

One of his early achievements was to get the government of Canada to eradicate the word Eskimo from all official documents and replace it with Inuit.

Interestingly, Tagak was also the president of the Nunavut Construction Corporation, which builds and leases government offices and houses in Nunavut. This is the same corporation that provided Habitat for Humanity the van that was used by all the teams for transportation to and from the house that we helped to build. In all likelihood, it's the same corporation that owns the apartments that were leased by HfH to accommodate the teams. NNC is 100% owned by the Inuit of Nunavut, through a rather Byzantine organizational structure.

Why is there such a critical shortage of low-income housing throughout Nunavut, when the major construction company is Inuit owned?

Both John and Tagak are retired, but the leaders that replaced them haven't shared the same passion and commitment to the Inuit culture and homeland! At least that's the way it appears to me. A lot of work remains to be done, and Nunavut cries out for new leaders like John and Tagak. Perhaps they're already hard at work and soon they will make their mark on the territory, just as the other two did.

I sincerely hope so!

I see so many possibilities to improve the life of the Inuit here and throughout the north that it saddens me to see how very little has been done to develop them.