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Monuments unveiled to honour High Arctic exiles
last update: Sep 07, 2010 01:35 PM
From a "CBC News" article: This week, two monuments will be unveiled in the High Arctic to recognize Inuit who were forced to live in Canada's most northerly settlements in the 1950s.
John Duncan, Indian and Northern Affairs Minister, is expected to join about 40 government officials and Inuit leaders in the Nunavut communities of Resolute and Grise Fiord for the monument unveilings, slated for Wednesday and Friday, respectively.
The monuments were commissioned by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., an Inuit land-claims organization, to "commemorate the sacrifices made by Inuit who were relocated to these communities." James Eetoolook, acting president of the organization, told CBC News "They had to compromise a lot with leaving their loved ones because of unfulfilled promises by the federal government."
In 1953 and 1956, under the federal government's High Arctic relocation program, 87 Inuit from Inukjuak, Que., were transported by ship about 1,200 kilometres to Resolute and Grise Fiord. Three other families, from Pond Inlet, Nunavut, were also moved north to help the Inukjuak families adjust to their new environments.
Many believe the Inuit, commonly dubbed the High Arctic Exiles, were transplanted in the High Arctic to help bolster Canada's sovereignty over the North during the Cold War. Since then, the federal government has acknowledged that it failed to give the settlers adequate shelter and supplies during their first winter and they also has admitted it did not act on its promise to move the Inuit back to Quebec if they did not want to stay in the High Arctic after one or two years.
Last month,Duncan made a formal apology to the relocated families during a ceremony in Inukjuak, saying the government had made "significant promises" that were not kept.
Local sculptors in Grise Fiord and Resolute were commissioned by Nunavut Tunngavik to work on the stone monuments.
Read more:
CBC News, 6th September 2010
