Ahiarmiut and federal government look for “common ground” in claim process

Women and children at Ennadai Lake, 1955. The three women (left to right) are Mary Anowtalik, Elizabeth Nutaraluk, and Ookanak. The child on the right could be Tom Owlajoot. (PHOTO BY GEERT VAN STEENHOVEN)

A lawyer representing a group of Inuit seeking redress from the federal government for their 1950s relocations says the two sides have made “real progress.”

In 2013, the Ahiarmiut, who make up the group, the Ennadai Lake Society, filed a special claim against Ottawa, seeking an official apology and other compensation for their relocation from their home at Ennadai Lake, located about 400 kilometres west of Arviat.

That claim would recognize the federal government’s liability for the relocation of the Ahiarmiut—from Ennadai Lake to Nueltin Lake, from Ennadai Lake to Henik Lake and from Henik Lake to Arviat—and the impact this had on the group.

Steven Cooper, the Alberta-based lawyer representing the group, says neither party is talking about settlement just yet, but examining “common ground.” He was in Arviat to meet with Ahiarmiut in late March.

“My sense is that Canada is willing to listen,” Cooper said, noting the discussion remains confidential. “While modest, this represents real progress.”

But those discussions, first initiated in the mid-2000s under the Ennadai Lake Society, aren’t moving fast enough for some.

The sole surviving adult from the period of the relocations, elder Mary Anowtalik, is almost 80 years old, and group members want to ensure she is able to participate fully in discussions.

Other members of the group, whose membership is estimated at about 30, were small children at the time of the relocations and don’t have active memories, Cooper said.

In 1949, the Canadian Army Signal Corps built the radio station at Ennadai Lake, which began a long period of interaction and trade between the Ahiarmiut and station employees, though it eventually triggered the first relocation to Nueltin Lake.

Although the Ahiarmiut drifted back to Ennadai Lake in time, the group continued to be moved around, to Henik Lake and later to the Hudson Bay coast, eventually to Arviat, then known as Eskimo Point. For people who had lived and thrived inland for many generations, adapting to a coastal life proved difficult.

In a paper called Relocating the Ahiarmiut to Ennadai Lake to Arviat (1950-1958), many Ahiarmiut said they never understood the reasons behind the relocation.

“I am wondering what the purpose of the relocation was,” said elder Mary Anowtalik in 2005. “Was it because they wanted our land, because they wanted the land for themselves, or was it because we were just in the way?”

The group has also requested a visit back to Ennadai Lake and plaques to remember the relocations and honour the relocatees.