Photo: QIA releases the Qikiqtani Truth Commission’s final reports

Joe Attagutaluk, secretary-treasurer of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, speaking at a ceremony in Iqaluit, Oct. 9, to mark the release of a two-volume report by the Qikiqtani Truth Commission, which contains an extensive history — including histories of each Qikiqtani community — of the eastern region of Nunavut from the Inuit perspective over the period 1950 to 1975, when the people experienced sweeping cultural changes. The report compiles more than six years of research by the commission, which concludes that the Canadian government “was the primary agent of the changes that swept the Qikiqtani region.” Federal and territorial government representatives attended the release of the report, which includes recommendations on compensation for injustices suffered during the traumatic years covered by the report. Among them were Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq (left) and QIA president Okalik Eegeesiak. (PHOTO BY PETER VARGA)