Iqaluit is the largest community in Nunavut, with a population of 3,600, located approximately 2,000 kilometers from Ottawa.
The northernmost community in Nunavut is Grise Fiord. It has a population of 130 people. Grise Fiord experiences 24 hours of daylight per day in June, and round-the-clock darkness in December.
Although Nunavut is a public government, open to and representing all of its residents, because the Inuits comprise 85 per cent of the population it is effectively self governed by the Inuit, reflecting their culture and heritage. The official government language of Nunavut is Inukitut, the Inuit language, although government services will also be available in French and English Nunavut itself is an Inuit word meaning "our land".
The new government will administer an area that covers approximately 20% of Canada, with powers equivalent to those of existing territorial governments. An elected Legislative Assembly, a Cabinet and a territorial court will be the primary institutions of public government.
The Government of Nunavut has begun to assume responsibilities once exercised by the Government of the Northwest Territories. By 2009 Nunavut should have powers and responsibilities equivalent to Canada's other territorial governments.
Although a division of the huge northwestern territory has generally been regarded as inevitable and legislation actually introduced to divide it as early as 1963, the push toward Nunavut as a territory under Inuit self rule began in earnest in 1973 when the Canadian government established its first Comprehensive Land Claims Policy. The aim of the policy was to clearly define Aboriginal rights and benefits in a land claim settlement. That same year, the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITC), the national political organization representing Inuit, began a study of Inuit land use and occupancy that showed the extent of Inuit Aboriginal title in the Arctic.
In 1976 the ITC called for the creation of a Nunavut territory as part of a comprehensive land settlement with the Inuit. The following year the Northwest Territory Inuit Lands Commission proposed that a new territory, similar to Nunavut, be established with a government consistent with Inuit political designs.
In 1979 a second seat for the Northwest Territories was created in Canada's House of Commons, with the new parliamentary seat, called Nunatsiaq, encompassing approximately the same territory as Nunavut.
Territorial and federal governments, along with the Inuit people agreed in principle in 1990 that the creation of the territory Nunavut happen "as soon as possible", and in 1993 the Nunavut Final Land Claim Agreement is signed by the Inuit, the Government of Canada, and the Government of the Northwest Territories. The Act gave the Inuit control of 350,000 square kilometers of land, including mineral rights on 36,000 square kilometers, and guaranteed their participation in decisions concerning land and resource management. It also granted the Inuit $1 billion over 14 years, and provided for the establishment of the Inuit Heritage Trust to regulate the activities of archaeologists in Nunavut. Archaeological excavation's removal of Inuit artifacts, including bones, to museums and universities had been a serious affront and to Inuit. The trust also works to preserve Inuit oral history and culture.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Andy Thomason's Indigenous Peoples topic, please visit the Discussions page.