History of Nunavut

The region now known as Nunavut has supported a continuous population for approximately 4000 years. Most historians also identify the coast of Baffin Island with the Helluland described in Norse sagas, so it is possible that the inhabitants of the region had occasional contact with Norse sailors.

Beginning of recorded history

The recorded history of Nunavut began in 1576. Martin Frobisher, while leading an expedition to find the Northwest Passage, thought he had discovered gold ore in what is now known as Frobisher Bay on the coast of Baffin Island. [ [http://www.mapleleafweb.com/old/features/nunavut/intro.html Maple Leaf Web: Nunavut] - The Story of Canada's Inuit People] The ore turned out to be worthless, but Frobisher made the first recorded European contact with the Inuit. The contact was hostile, with both sides taking prisoners who subsequently perished; Frobisher captured four Inuit people and brought them back to England.

Other explorers in search of the elusive Northwest Passage followed in the 17th century, including Henry Hudson, William Baffin and Robert Bylot.

Much of islands of Nunavut were formerly the British Arctic Territories.

Cold War forced relocations

Cornwallis and Ellesmere Islands feature in the history of the Cold War in the 1950s. Efforts to assert sovereignty in the High Arctic during the Cold War, i.e. the area's strategic geopolitical position, led the federal government to forcibly relocate Inuit from northern Quebec to Resolute and Grise Fiord. The first group of people were relocated in 1953 from Inukjuak, Quebec (then known as Port Harrison ) and from Pond Inlet, Nunavut. They were promised homes and game to hunt, but the relocated people discovered no buildings and very little familiar wildlife. [ [http://www.grisefiord.ca/eng/history.html Grise Fiord: History] ] They also had to endure weeks of 24 hour darkness during the winter, and 24 hour sunlight during the summer, something that does not occur in northern Quebec. They were told that they would be returned home after a year if they wished, but this offer was later withdrawn as it would damage Canada's claims to sovereignty in the area and the Inuit were forced to stay. Eventually, the Inuit learned the local beluga whale migration routes and were able to survive in the area, hunting over a range of 18,000 km² (6,950 mi²) each year. [McGrath, Melanie. "The Long Exile: A Tale of Inuit Betrayal and Survival in the High Arctic". Alfred A. Knopf, 2006 (268 pages) Hardcover: ISBN 0007157967 Paperback: ISBN 0007157975] .

In 1993, the Canadian government held hearings to investigate the relocation program. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples called the relocation "one of the worst human rights violations in the history of Canada". [ "The High Arctic Relocation: A Report on the 1953-55 Relocation" by René Dussault and George Erasmus, produced by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, published by Canadian Government Publishing, 1994 (190 pages) [http://www.fedpubs.com/subject/aborig/arctic_reloc.htm] ] The government paid $10 million CAD to the survivors and their families, but as of 2007 has yet to apologize. [cite news
last = Royte
first = Elizabeth
coauthors =
title = Trail of Tears
work = The New York Times
pages =
language =
publisher =
date = 2007-04-08
url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/books/review/Royte.t.html?ex=1188964800&en=4b6eb6a89d7e85dd&ei=5070
accessdate = ]

Having lost most traditional skills and purpose, its Inuit residents are now to a large degree dependent on government support. The whole story is told in Melanie McGrath's "The Long Exile: A Tale of Inuit Betrayal and Survival in the High Arctic" [Alfred A. Knopf, 2006 (268 pages) Hardcover: ISBN 0007157967 Paperback: ISBN 0007157975] .

Towards autonomy

Leading up to the 1970s, there was some discussion of splitting the Northwest Territories into two separate jurisdictions in order to better reflect the demographic character of the territory. In 1966, a public commission of inquiry on Northwest Territories government reported, recommending against division of the Northwest Territories at the time.

In 1976 as part of the land claims negotiations between the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (then called the "Inuit Tapirisat of Canada") and the federal government, the division of the Northwest Territories was discussed. On April 14, 1982, a plebiscite on division was held throughout the Northwest Territories with a majority of the residents voting in favour and the federal government gave a conditional agreement seven months later. The land claims agreement was decided in September 1992 and ratified by nearly 85% of the voters in Nunavut. On July 9 1993, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act and the Nunavut Act were passed by the Canadian Parliament, and the transition was completed on April 1 1999. [Cite web| url= http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-73-108/politics_economy/nunavut/ |author= CBC Digital Archives | authorlink= Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | title= Creation of Nunavut | year= 2006 | accessdate= 2007-04-26]

References