Home » » Indigenous Peoples » Nunavut--Canada's Newest Territory

Nunavut--Canada's Newest Territory

© Andy Thomason

On June 25 1969, Jean Chretien, Canada's Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND), issued the Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy, commonly known as the White Paper. The policy called for a repeal of the Indian Act, elimination of federal responsibility for Canada's indigenous peoples and an end to their special status. It sought to terminate treaties, abolish DIAND, and transfer federal responsibility to the provinces. The Policy had the backing of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and the Liberal government. Chrietien and Trudeau argued that eliminating the special status given to indigenous peoples was the only way the could attain "full and equal participation in the cultural, social, economic and political life of Canada." To be against the White Paper policy was to be in favor of discrimination and separation.

However, the reality of the White Paper was to force the assimilation of aboriginal peoples and abrogate the Canadian government's responsibility toward them.

Native Americans immediately rejected the paper as opposed to aboriginal rights and interests, and a government attempt to escape its treaty obligations.

Instead, the paper generated a renewed sense of nativism, cultural reaffirmation, and political activism that culminated on April 1, 1999 when the territory of Nunavut officially split from the Northwest territory and restored to the Inuit their traditional homeland,giving them as much self rule and political independence as is probably possible in today's modern, global world.

The area encompassing Nunavut has been homeland to the Inuit for over 4,000 years. Seventeen thousand, five hundred of Canada's 25,000 Inuit live there. Nunavut covers 1.9 million square km, approximately one-fifth the total area of Canada, bordered by the Northwest Territories to the west, the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan to the south, and Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea to the east. The territory contains the former Keewatin and Franklin districts of the Northwest Territories, includes Baffin Island and seven of Canada's twelve largest islands, two thirds of its coastline, and stretches almost to the North Pole. Most of the territory is flat tundra, snow covered most of the year, above the tree line with stunted vegetation of lichen and grasses. Wildlife includes white fox, caribou, seals, and a wide assortment of birds during the summer. The prominent fish are Whitefish and Arctic char.

Nunavut has a harsh, desert climate, with less than 10 inches of precipitation per year, mostly as snow. Temperatures average -32°C (-25°F) in January and 5°C (41°F) in July. Winter lasts nine months.