Tuesday 21 April 2009

'Arctic exile' monuments to strengthen Canadian sovereignty claim

'Arctic exile' monuments to strengthen Canadian sovereignty claim
Canada.com - Don Mills,Ontario,Canada
... in the North — Nunavut's land claims agency has announced plans to erect monuments to honour the sacrifice of these "Arctic exiles" and ironically, ...
<http://www.canada.com/news/Arctic+exile+monuments+strengthen+Canadian+sovereignty+claim/1516064/story.html>

"...More than a half-century after the controversial relocation of nearly 100 Inuit from northern Quebec and Baffin Island to two extremely remote sites in the High Arctic — a move partly aimed at bolstering Canadian sovereignty in the North — Nunavut's land claims agency has announced plans to erect monuments to honour the sacrifice of these "Arctic exiles" and ironically, to strengthen Canada's hold on the region.

"At a time when Canadian sovereignty is on the minds of politicians around the world, the media, and opportunistic businesses that look forward to an ice-free Northwest Passage," said James Eetoolook, vice-president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., "there is no better time to issue this reminder: this land belongs to Canada not because of the lines drawn on a map, but because of the Inuit who sacrificed everything to live here."

The historic markers are to be designed by leading Inuit artists from the two relocation communities — Resolute Bay's Simeonie Amagoalik and Grise Fiord's Looty Pijamini — and unveiled at the Cornwallis Island and Ellesmere Island outposts in September.

The monuments — a sculptured male figure in one community and a sculptured female in the other — are intended to symbolize the painful separation some families endured as a result of the relocation, which eventually led the federal government to create a $10-million compensation trust fund for the families in 1996...."

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