A great Nunavut leader passes away in Igloolik

One of Nunavut’s great Inuit leaders, Mark Evaloarjuk of Igloolik, died July 2, leaving three generations of Nunavummiut with enduring memories of a 40-year public service career marked by humility, competence and magnetic strength.

“He was a member of the legislature for so long and was an inspiration for all of us,” Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik said this week. “We had a good relationship. I always called him ‘Maaraaluk,’ in jest.”

Evaloarjuk’s political career, which began in the 1960s when he served as a member of Igloolik’s settlement council, stretches back to a time when the eastern Arctic’s political institutions were in an embryonic state.

Whatever he did, and no matter how hard he had to struggle, Evaloarjuk was known for his calm demeanour and rock-solid stability.

“I worked with him for 25 years. He was always a tower of strength,” said John Amagoalik.

Evaloarjuk served three memorable terms as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, where be became a leading member of the minority Nunavut caucus.

During his first term, from March 1, 1975, until Oct. 1, 1979, Evaloarjuk saw the legislature begin to evolve from an Ottawa-controlled advisory council dominated by the commissioner to a fully elected law-making body.

At the beginning of that term, it was still called the “territorial council”; by 1979, it was called “the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.”

In his second term as MLA, from 1979 to 1983, Evaloarjuk represented the communities of Igloolik, Hall Beach and Pond Inlet in the first NWT legislature where aboriginal members — Inuit, Dene and Métis — were in a majority.

It was also the first legislative assembly to support division of the NWT and the creation of Nunavut. In April 1982, the NWT assembly conducted a historic plebiscite on division — which Nunavut backers won on the strength of an overwhelming turnout in most Nunavut communities.

After 1983, Evaloarjuk was active as a board member for the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut and what was then called the Baffin Region Inuit Association.

“He was a very generous and good-spirited person and always had the best interests of the Inuit at heart. Mark was a great leader. We will miss him,” Thomasie Alikatuktuk, the interim president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, said in a news release last week.

“Mark was with us from the very beginning,” Raymond Ningeocheak said. “He…played a central role in shaping the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.”

Evaloarjuk also served in the late 1980s and early 1990s as speaker of the Baffin Regional Council, an influential body made up of all the mayors and MLAs in the Baffin region.

As chair of the BRC, Evaloarjuk struggled to make the Baffin’s GNWT administrators answerable to the region’s elected mayors, rather than to deputy ministers in far-off Yellowknife.

Although the BRC was not successful in achieving this goal, Evaloarjuk used the organization to ensure that GNWT bureaucrats understood the needs of people living in the Baffin’s small communities.

The organization became a focal point for many regional activities. At one point, regional tourism, business, and hunters’ organizations all came under its wing.

After the territorial government turned its back on regional institutions, the BRC withered away. By 1993, the organization piled up a $250,000 deficit and was taken over and then dissolved by the GNWT.

But this did not deter Evaloarjuk from continuing to work for the public good.

In 1995, he was elected to the 13th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, the last assembly before division.

Although health problems dogged him in the last years of that term, Evaloarjuk spoke out whenever he could on behalf of his constituents.

Iqaluit East MLA Ed Picco, who also served in that assembly, said that although Evaloarjuk was the only unilingual Inuit member, he was a highly effective MLA.

“That never stopped him at all. Nothing got past him. He was a force to be reckoned with,” Picco said.

Evaloarjuk was a pioneer in using Inuktitut as a working language of government, and he read and wrote syllabics with a high degree of skill.

“He was one of the last few unilingual leaders that we had,” John Amagoalik said. “He reminded us all the time of the needs of unilingual people.”

At the time of his death, Evaloarjuk was vice-president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association — a force for stability in an organization that sometimes needed it.

“Every time I saw his name up there it was a good name to see,” Okalik said. “It meant stability.”

Evaloarjuk served Igloolik as a member of local bodies such as the housing association, the recreation committee, and the hunters and trappers association. He also served on the board of Arctic Co-operatives Ltd. and was a lifelong supporter of the co-op movement.

A pioneer in business as well, Evaloarjuk ran a highly regarded hotel in Igloolik for many years.

“I was surprised to discover that he had his own hotel business, because he never discussed his business during his work,” Okalik said. “The only time I learned of his business was during a trip to Igloolik. I would say that he was ahead of his time.”

“Mark’s passing leaves an empty space in all our hearts,” Ningeocheak said.

Evaloarjuk’s funeral service was held July 6 at Igloolik’s school gym. Mourners from all parts of Nunavut chartered planes to attend the gathering.