High Arctic relocation
Encyclopedia
The High Arctic relocation (French
: La délocalisation du Haut-Arctique) took place during the Cold War
in the 1950s, when 87 Inuit
were moved by the Government of Canada
to the High Arctic
.
The relocation has been a source of controversy: on one hand being described as a humanitarian gesture to save the lives of starving native people
and enable them to continue a subsistence
lifestyle; and on the other hand, said to be a forced migration
instigated by the federal government to assert its sovereignty in the Far North by the use of "human flagpoles", in light of both the Cold War and the disputed territorial claims to the Arctic archipelago. Both sides acknowledge that the relocated Inuit were not given sufficient support to prevent extreme privation during their first years after the move.
, northern Quebec
(then known as Port Harrison) were transported to Grise Fiord
on the southern tip of Ellesmere Island
and to Resolute Bay
on Cornwallis Island. The families, who had been receiving welfare payments, were promised better living and hunting opportunities in new communities in the High Arctic. They were joined by three families recruited from the more Northern community of Pond Inlet
(in the then Northwest Territories
, now part of Nunavut
) whose purpose was to teach the Port Harrison Inuit skills for survival in the High Arctic. The methods of recruitment and the reasons for the relocations have been disputed. The government stated that volunteer families had agreed to participate in a program to reduce areas of perceived overpopulation
and poor hunting in Northern Quebec, to reduce their dependency on welfare, and to resume a subsistence lifestyle. In contrast, the Inuit reported that the relocations were forced
and were motivated by a desire to reinforce Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic Archipelago by creating settlements in the area.
The Inuit were taken on the Eastern Arctic Patrolship C.G.S.
C.D. Howe to areas on Cornwallis and Ellesmere Islands (Resolute
and Grise Fiord), both large barren islands in the hostile polar north. While on the boat the families learned that they would not be living together but would be left at three separate locations.
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 two years if they wished, but these promises were not honoured by the government. The relocatees included Inuit who had been involved in the filming of Robert J. Flaherty
's 1922 film Nanook of the North
and Flaherty's unacknowledged illegitimate son. However, Flaherty had died in 1951, prior to the relocation. Eventually, the Inuit learned the local beluga whale migration routes and were able to survive in the area, hunting over a range of 18000 km² (6,950 sq mi) each year. Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP) reports from the time stated that the two colonies were generally successful in terms of morale, housing, and subsistence living.
Following public and media pressure, the federal government created a program to assist the Inuit to return to the south, and in 1989, 40 Inuit returned to their former communities, leading to a break up of families on generational lines, as younger community members often chose to remain in the High Arctic. Those that remained are described as being fiercely committed to their home.
In 1990, the Canadian House of Commons
standing committee on aboriginal affairs asked the government to apologize to the Inuit who had been moved to the high Arctic in 1953, to provide compensation to them, and to formally recognize the residents of Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord for their service to Canada sovereignty. In response, the government commissioned the "Hickling Report" which absolved them of wrongdoing, arguing that the Inuit had volunteered to be moved, and that they had been relocated due to the harsh social and economic conditions in Inukjuak. The report, written by a long-time government official, was strongly criticized by academics and the media.
In contrast, a Canadian Human Rights Commission
report submitted in December 1991 argued that there was evidence that there were government concerns about Arctic sovereignty at the time of the relocations, and an understanding that the settlements would contribute to Canadian sovereignty, but that this was not the primary motivator in the move. It concluded that the Government of Canada had broken its promise to return the relocatees to Inukjuak after two years if they wished.
A further report, written by Trent University
professor Magnus Gunther, examined the various claims of academics disputing what had occurred during the relocations. It concluded that the government had acted with humane intentions, and as a result Tom Siddon
, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, stated that it would be "inappropriate for the government to apologize" or provide compensation.
In July 1994, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
held hearings to investigate the relocation program. The Inuit evidence given was that they had been forcibly relocated
, while government officials argued that they had moved voluntarily. The official who had been in charge of the relocation suggested that witnesses had changed their stories in order to claim compensation, and that the move had been a success. The Commission found that the government of Canada had determined to "rehabilitate" the Inuit of Port Harrison, weaning them from dependency and "moral decline" by moving them to better lands with abundant game for hunting, and that inadequate preparations were made for them. The commission recommended an apology and compensation for the survivors, as well as acknowledgment of the role the relocatees played in establishing a Canadian presence in the High Arctic. The federal government refused to apologize, but established a "Reconciliation Agreement" in March 1996, creating a $10 million CAD trust fund for relocated individuals and their families. The government admitted that the Inuit suffered "hardship, suffering and loss in the initial years of these relocations" but required recipients to "acknowledge that they understand that in planning the relocation, the government officials of the time were acting with honourable intentions in what was perceived to be in the best interests of the Inuit at that time.
Two generations on, the term The Relocated remains emotive.
's new film Exile. Currently in production, the film will be produced by Isuma
, who also released Atanarjuat
, the first feature film
ever to be written, directed and acted entirely in Inuktitut
.
The High Arctic relocation is the subject of Marquise Lepage's documentary film (NFB, 2008), Martha of the North (Martha qui vient du froid). This film tells the story of Martha Flaherty, grand daughter of Robert J. Flaherty, who was relocated at 5, along with her family, from Iqaluit to Grise Fjord (Ellesmere Island).
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: La délocalisation du Haut-Arctique) took place during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
in the 1950s, when 87 Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
were moved by the Government of Canada
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
to the High Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
.
The relocation has been a source of controversy: on one hand being described as a humanitarian gesture to save the lives of starving native people
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
and enable them to continue a subsistence
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
lifestyle; and on the other hand, said to be a forced migration
Forced migration
Forced migration refers to the coerced movement of a person or persons away from their home or home region...
instigated by the federal government to assert its sovereignty in the Far North by the use of "human flagpoles", in light of both the Cold War and the disputed territorial claims to the Arctic archipelago. Both sides acknowledge that the relocated Inuit were not given sufficient support to prevent extreme privation during their first years after the move.
The move
In August 1953, seven or eight families from InukjuakInukjuak, Quebec
Inukjuak , alternatively spelled Inoucdjouac, former name and current postal name Port Harrison, is an Inuit settlement located on Hudson Bay at the mouth of the Innuksuak River in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec, Canada. Its population is 1,294...
, northern Quebec
Nunavik
Nunavik comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada. Covering a land area of 443,684.71 km² north of the 55th parallel, it is the homeland of the Inuit of Quebec...
(then known as Port Harrison) were transported to Grise Fiord
Grise Fiord, Nunavut
Grise Fiord, is a small Inuit hamlet in the Qikiqtaaluk Region in the territory of Nunavut, Canada. Despite its low population , it is the largest community on Ellesmere Island...
on the southern tip of Ellesmere Island
Ellesmere Island
Ellesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Lying within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, it is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada...
and to Resolute Bay
Resolute Bay
Resolute Bay is an Arctic waterway in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located in Parry Channel on the southern side of Cornwallis Island. The hamlet of Resolute is located on the northern shore of the bay and Resolute Bay Airport to the northwest...
on Cornwallis Island. The families, who had been receiving welfare payments, were promised better living and hunting opportunities in new communities in the High Arctic. They were joined by three families recruited from the more Northern community of Pond Inlet
Pond Inlet, Nunavut
Pond Inlet is a small, predominantly Inuit community in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada and is located at the top of Baffin Island. As of the 2006 census the population was 1,315, an increase of 7.8% from the 2001 census making it the largest of the four hamlets above the 72nd parallel...
(in the then Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
, now part of Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
) whose purpose was to teach the Port Harrison Inuit skills for survival in the High Arctic. The methods of recruitment and the reasons for the relocations have been disputed. The government stated that volunteer families had agreed to participate in a program to reduce areas of perceived overpopulation
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...
and poor hunting in Northern Quebec, to reduce their dependency on welfare, and to resume a subsistence lifestyle. In contrast, the Inuit reported that the relocations were forced
Population transfer
Population transfer is the movement of a large group of people from one region to another by state policy or international authority, most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion...
and were motivated by a desire to reinforce Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic Archipelago by creating settlements in the area.
The Inuit were taken on the Eastern Arctic Patrolship C.G.S.
Canadian Coast Guard
The Canadian Coast Guard is the coast guard of Canada. It is a federal agency responsible for providing maritime search and rescue , aids to navigation, marine pollution response, marine radio, and icebreaking...
C.D. Howe to areas on Cornwallis and Ellesmere Islands (Resolute
Resolute, Nunavut
Resolute or Resolute Bay is a small Inuit hamlet on Cornwallis Island in Nunavut, Canada. It is situated at the northern end of Resolute Bay and the Northwest Passage and is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region....
and Grise Fiord), both large barren islands in the hostile polar north. While on the boat the families learned that they would not be living together but would be left at three separate locations.
New communities
The families were left without sufficient supplies of food and caribou skins and other materials for making appropriate clothing and tent. As they had been moved about 2000 km to a very different ecosystem, they were unfamiliar with the wildlife and had to adjust to weeks of 24 hour darknessPolar night
The polar night occurs when the night lasts for more than 24 hours. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnight sun, occurs when the sun stays above the horizon for more than 24 hours.-Description:...
during the winter, and 24 hour sunlight
Midnight sun
The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon occurring in summer months at latitudes north and nearby to the south of the Arctic Circle, and south and nearby to the north of the Antarctic Circle where the sun remains visible at the local midnight. Given fair weather, the sun is visible for a continuous...
during the summer, something that does not occur in northern Quebec. They were told that they would be returned home after two years if they wished, but these promises were not honoured by the government. The relocatees included Inuit who had been involved in the filming of Robert J. Flaherty
Robert J. Flaherty
Robert Joseph Flaherty, F.R.G.S. was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature length documentary film, Nanook of the North...
's 1922 film Nanook of the North
Nanook of the North
Nanook of the North is a 1922 silent documentary film by Robert J. Flaherty. In the tradition of what would later be called salvage ethnography, Flaherty captured the struggles of the Inuk Nanook and his family in the Canadian arctic...
and Flaherty's unacknowledged illegitimate son. However, Flaherty had died in 1951, prior to the relocation. Eventually, the Inuit learned the local beluga whale migration routes and were able to survive in the area, hunting over a range of 18000 km² (6,950 sq mi) each year. Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
(RCMP) reports from the time stated that the two colonies were generally successful in terms of morale, housing, and subsistence living.
Re-evaluation
During the 1980s, the relocated Inuit and their descendants initiated a claim against the Canadian Government arguing that "there is overwhelming evidence to suggest that the central, if not the sole, reasons, for the relocation of Inuit to the High Arctic was the desire by Canada to assert its sovereignty over the Arctic Islands and surrounding area", and in 1987 sought $10 million in compensation from the federal government.Following public and media pressure, the federal government created a program to assist the Inuit to return to the south, and in 1989, 40 Inuit returned to their former communities, leading to a break up of families on generational lines, as younger community members often chose to remain in the High Arctic. Those that remained are described as being fiercely committed to their home.
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
standing committee on aboriginal affairs asked the government to apologize to the Inuit who had been moved to the high Arctic in 1953, to provide compensation to them, and to formally recognize the residents of Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord for their service to Canada sovereignty. In response, the government commissioned the "Hickling Report" which absolved them of wrongdoing, arguing that the Inuit had volunteered to be moved, and that they had been relocated due to the harsh social and economic conditions in Inukjuak. The report, written by a long-time government official, was strongly criticized by academics and the media.
In contrast, a Canadian Human Rights Commission
Canadian Human Rights Commission
The Canadian Human Rights Commission is a quasi-judicial body that was established in 1977 by the government of Canada. It is empowered under the Canadian Human Rights Act to investigate and try to settle complaints of discrimination in employment and in the provision of services within federal...
report submitted in December 1991 argued that there was evidence that there were government concerns about Arctic sovereignty at the time of the relocations, and an understanding that the settlements would contribute to Canadian sovereignty, but that this was not the primary motivator in the move. It concluded that the Government of Canada had broken its promise to return the relocatees to Inukjuak after two years if they wished.
A further report, written by Trent University
Trent University
Trent University is a liberal arts and science-oriented institution located along the Otonabee River in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.The enabling legislation is the Trent University Act, 1962-63. The University was founded through the efforts of a citizens' committee interested in creating a...
professor Magnus Gunther, examined the various claims of academics disputing what had occurred during the relocations. It concluded that the government had acted with humane intentions, and as a result Tom Siddon
Tom Siddon
Thomas Edward "Tom" Siddon, PC is a Canadian politician.Born in Drumheller, Alberta Siddon pursued engineering, eventually earning a doctorate in aeroacoustics. He became a professor at the University of British Columbia and founded a successful aero-acoustics firm, Siddon-Harford & Associates...
, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, stated that it would be "inappropriate for the government to apologize" or provide compensation.
In July 1994, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples was a Canadian Royal Commission established in 1991 to address many issues of aboriginal status that had come to light with recent events such as the Oka Crisis and the Meech Lake Accord. The commission culminated in a final report of 4000 pages,...
held hearings to investigate the relocation program. The Inuit evidence given was that they had been forcibly relocated
Population transfer
Population transfer is the movement of a large group of people from one region to another by state policy or international authority, most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion...
, while government officials argued that they had moved voluntarily. The official who had been in charge of the relocation suggested that witnesses had changed their stories in order to claim compensation, and that the move had been a success. The Commission found that the government of Canada had determined to "rehabilitate" the Inuit of Port Harrison, weaning them from dependency and "moral decline" by moving them to better lands with abundant game for hunting, and that inadequate preparations were made for them. The commission recommended an apology and compensation for the survivors, as well as acknowledgment of the role the relocatees played in establishing a Canadian presence in the High Arctic. The federal government refused to apologize, but established a "Reconciliation Agreement" in March 1996, creating a $10 million CAD trust fund for relocated individuals and their families. The government admitted that the Inuit suffered "hardship, suffering and loss in the initial years of these relocations" but required recipients to "acknowledge that they understand that in planning the relocation, the government officials of the time were acting with honourable intentions in what was perceived to be in the best interests of the Inuit at that time.
Two generations on, the term The Relocated remains emotive.
In the media
The High Arctic relocation is the subject of Zacharias KunukZacharias Kunuk
Zacharias Kunuk, is a Canadian Inuk producer and director most notable for his film Atanarjuat, the first Canadian dramatic feature film produced completely in Inuktitut...
's new film Exile. Currently in production, the film will be produced by Isuma
Isuma
Isuma is Canada's first Inuit production company co-founded by Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn in Igloolik, Nunavut in 1990...
, who also released Atanarjuat
Atanarjuat
Atanarjuat is a 2001 Canadian film directed by Zacharias Kunuk. It was the first feature film ever to be written, directed and acted entirely in Inuktitut...
, the first feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
ever to be written, directed and acted entirely in Inuktitut
Inuktitut
Inuktitut or Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, Eastern Canadian Inuit language is the name of some of the Inuit languages spoken in Canada...
.
The High Arctic relocation is the subject of Marquise Lepage's documentary film (NFB, 2008), Martha of the North (Martha qui vient du froid). This film tells the story of Martha Flaherty, grand daughter of Robert J. Flaherty, who was relocated at 5, along with her family, from Iqaluit to Grise Fjord (Ellesmere Island).
See also
- Human rights in CanadaHuman rights in CanadaSince signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the Canadian government has attempted to make universal human rights a part of Canadian law...
- Territorial claims in the ArcticTerritorial claims in the ArcticUnder international law, no country currently owns the North Pole or the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it. The five surrounding Arctic states, Russia, the United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark , are limited to an exclusive economic zone of adjacent to their coasts.Upon ratification...
- Population transferPopulation transferPopulation transfer is the movement of a large group of people from one region to another by state policy or international authority, most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion...
- Forced migrationForced migrationForced migration refers to the coerced movement of a person or persons away from their home or home region...
- Political migration
- Colonization
- Dislocation of Sami peopleDislocation of Sami peopleThe Dislocation of Sami people refers to the ordered movement of 300-400 Sami peoples from Jukkasjärvi and Karesuando in 1920s to 1940s.-Background:This was outermost a result of political nature between Norway and Russia....