Nunavut is Created

Nunavut was created on April 1, 1999. It

was not a part of the traditional Confederation,

but was carved out of the existing territories.

The Inuit people of Canada had a one of

the largest aboriginal land claims with the gov-

ernment which resulted in the creation of Nu-

navut. Nunavut is a victory for self government

for the Inuit people. The Inuit made the Canadi-

an government put forth a plebiscite in the

Northwest Territories to create Nunavut. They

won with 56% in favor.

The Nunavut People

The word Inuit means "the people who

are alive at this time." Their ancestry comes from

the inhabitants of northern Canada. Eskimo trans-

lated to people who “eat raw meat” in Cree Indi-

an and is not used anymore. The term Eskimo use

to be used but is considered derogatory.

Traditionally Nunavut people were

Figure 1.1 Is a map of the boundaries of Nunavut. It

shows the different regions within the territory.

nomadic because

they went were the

food was. They use

to follow seal, cari-

bou and fish. But

now they have

small communities

and rely on trapping Figure 1.2 Is the official Nu-

navut Flag.

and mining for their economy. The main lan-

guages in Nunavut are Inuktitut, English, and

French.

Land Claims Agreement

The fight for Nunavut started in

1976 when the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITC)

proposed a plan to the government for the crea-

tion. This stemmed from the 1973 study of the

land use of the Inuit in the north done by the ITC.

This proposal was a part of the larger comprehen-

sive settlement of the land claim in the Northwest

territories.

In 1900, Tunga-

vik Federation of Nu-

navut (TFN) and repre-

sentatives of the federal

and territorial govern

ments sign a land claims

agreement-in-principle.

1992 An overall majority

of voters in the Northwest Territories and the

Nunavut area approved the proposed boundary

for division in a May plebiscite. It was not until

May of 1993 that the agreement received royal

accent. An office was set up in 1997 to star t

the creation of Nunavut. In April, 1999 the ter-

ritory and its government were in existence.

Nunavut Government

The population is slightly over 24, 000.

Roughly 83% of the population in Nunavut is

Inuit, hence the government represents Inuit

values and traditions. For example, workers can

plebiscite: a public

opinion vote on an im-

portant issue

nomadic: roaming about

from place to place

royal accent:

the formal signing of an

act of Parliament by the

sovereign, by which it

becomes law.

get time off to do traditional activities like seal hunts.

In 1993, the structure was finalized of the govern-

ment. It has the primary institutions of public govern-

ment that are the elected Legislative Assembly, a

Cabinet, and a territorial court, all operating on the

three official languages of English, French, and Inuk-

tituk. The departments and government agencies are

spread throughout in twenty eight different regions

within Nunavut. This allows for the needs at a local

level to be served causing it to have a less centralized

government structure. The capital city of Nunavut is

Iqaluit and many new buildings were created there.

“Progress” backfires

The capital city was transformed with the new

buildings. But these progressive and modern build-

ings brought with them new issues for the people of

Nunavut. The new buildings include commercial

buildings, apartments, and new igloo-shaped legisla-

tive buildings. The new capital is bringing in new

commercial places like two tanning salons, a Chinese

restaurant, cell phone provider and fast food like

Kentucky Fried Chicken.

These new services seemed like a step toward

a progressive and modern capital city. However, it

brought along with it negative side effects. The town

dump grew in larger numbers of waste which caused

an increase of ravens. More severe was seven new

town houses being destroyed by a fire set by Inuit

teenagers sniffing gasoline. Only time will tell

whether the recurrent problems of alcoholism, teen-

age suicides, and spousal abuse will be ameliorated

by the new government.

1. Why was Nunavut created?

2. What are the main languages? Why

do you think they chose those?

3. What makes the Nunavut govern-

ment different ?

4. What does the coat of arms represent

and how is it an important symbol?

5. What social issues are occurring in

Activities

Figure 1.3 This is a coat of arms of Nunavut. The colors of blue and gold symbolizes the riches of the land, sea and sky, nuksuk symbolizes the stone monu-ments which guide the people. The stone lamp, repre-sents light and the warm of family and community. The concave arc of the five gold circles refers to the life-giving properties of the sun. part of the Nunavut year. The star is the Niqirtsuituq, the North Star and the tra-ditional guide for navigation and forever remains un-changed as the leadership of the elders. In the crest, the iglu represents the traditional life and the means of sur-vival. The Royal Crown symbolizes public government for all people of Nunavut and equivalent status of Nu-navut with other territories and provinces in Canadian Confederation. The tuktu (caribou) and qilalugaq tugaa-lik (narwhal) refer to land and sea animals which are part of the natural heritage of Nunavut and provide sus-tenance for people. The compartment at the base is composed of land and sea and features three important species of Arctic wild flowers. The motto in Inuktitut – Nunavut Sanginivut – means Nunavut, our strength. The Coat of Arms was designed by Andrew Karpik from Pangnirtung.