Inuit Have Become Self-Ruling Body

Henry Srebrnik, [Summerside, PEI] Journal-Pioneer

There are a number of jurisdictions in the world that are, to all intents and purposes, virtually self-governing, even when embedded in larger countries. Often these are the preserve of ethnic groups.

In the Arctic regions of the world, inhabited mainly by various Inuit peoples, there are two such entities, Nunavut and Greenland.

Nunavut, carved out of the Northwest Territories of Canada on April 1, 1999, while not technically an ethnic entity, has many features similar to such polities, as it is recognized as an Inuit homeland. The word means “Our Land” in Inuktitut.

Of the 32,000 residents in the huge territory, which has an area of 2,093,190 square kilometres, more than 90 percent are ethnically Inuit.

Inuinnaqtun and Inuktitut are official languages in Nunavut and about 70 percent of the population speak Inuktitut.

On July 9, 1993, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act and the Nunavut Act were passed by Parliament, and led to the formation of the new territory six years later. The Land Claims Agreement was the largest Aboriginal land claim settlement in Canadian history.

The agreement gave title to the Inuit of lands measuring about 350,000 square kilometres, of which about 35,000 square kilometres include mineral rights.

It also specified that the number of Inuit employed in the public service be directly proportional to the number of Inuit in Nunavut society.

To make it clear that this is an Inuit jurisdiction, many place names have been changed – for example, Iqaluit, the capital, was once called Frobisher Bay.

Across the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay from Nunavut lies Greenland, the world’s largest island, with an area of 2,166,086 square kilometres. Of its population of 58,000 people, some 88 percent are Inuit, and their name for the country is Kalaallit Nunaat, “Land of the People.”

First a Norwegian, and later a Danish colony, Greenland became an equal part of the Kingdom of Denmark in 1953. It was granted home rule by Denmark on May 1, 1979.

On June 21, 2009, Greenland assumed responsibility for judicial affairs, policing, and natural resources. Greenlanders were recognized as a separate people under international law, as a step towards eventual full independence. Copenhagen now controls mainly foreign affairs and defense.

Greenlandic, spoken by almost all the inhabitants of the island, is closely related to Inuktitut. The main dialect, Kalaallisut, also known as East Inuit or West Greenlandic, has been the official language since June 2009.

In these two jurisdictions, Inuit peoples have now gained self-rule and control over their own institutions. While these territories are not, and may never be, economically self-sufficient, creating Inuit homelands has provided the residents of this harsh northern region “a place of their own.”

This is something that cannot be measured by economic criteria alone – or at least half the countries in the world would have to give up their independence.