Arviat mayor unfazed by criticism
of his Israel hats
Critic has 2nd thoughts about possibly teaching at hamlet’s future university campus if local leaders show support for ‘genocidal ideologies’
Arviat Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr. participates in the Nunavut Association of Municipalities annual general meeting in November 2024. Savikataaq says he’s free to wear what he wants amid online criticism of him being pictured wearing hats representing Israel. (File photo by Arty Sarkisian)
A hat is just a hat, says Arviat Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr., after his choice to wear a Star of David tuque on national news last month drew criticism from Nunavut and across the country.
“To me, it’s just a hat, no different than wearing a hamlet hat or a Nunatsiaq News hat or a Canada hat or American hat,” Savikataaq said in a phone interview.
Savikataaq sported the tuque in an April 25 CBC News story about his hamlet’s celebration for being chosen as the host community of Inuit Nunangat University’s main campus. Savikataaq and his hat appeared on a television broadcast of The National and on the CBC News website.
Dozens of people have posted on social media to both criticize and support Savikitaaq’s choice. The posts have drawn hundreds of comments.
Beth Kotierk, a lawyer originally from Nunavut, is calling on Savikitaaq to apologize and stop wearing the hats.
“It’s showing a political support for a a settler colony that is in active, ongoing genocide,” Kotierk said in an interview.
Israel has been at war with Hamas, a Palestinian militant group in Gaza, for two and a half years, since Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel and took approximately 250 others hostage on Oct. 7, 2023.
Since then, Israel has killed more than 72,000 people in Palestine and injured 172,000 others, according to the World Health Organization.
Human rights organizations have accused Israel of committing genocide, and many pro-Palestian protests have taken place around the world, including in Iqaluit. The United Nations has also concluded that Israel’s war on Palestine is a genocide.
Kotierk said the university announcement was exciting and she was interested in moving to Arviat to teach a law class.
However, seeing a hamlet leader wear symbols representing Israel gives her second thoughts.
“Teaching there would still be ideal, but being exposed to such ideologies, genocidal ideologies and supports for genocide within a small community can be even more isolating than it has already been,” said Kotierk, who converted to Islam in 2023 after a visit to the West Bank.
“It’s been an isolating experience already as a visible Muslim, so it wouldn’t really be a welcoming environment.”
Kotierk resigned from her role on the advisory board for Nutrition North Canada in December 2023, in protest of the Canadian government’s continued support of Israel.
Last month isn’t the first time Savikitaaq has been photographed at a public event in Israel gear, and his green Star of David tuque isn’t the only hat of this type that he owns. The Arviat mayor was photographed at a Nunavut Association of Municipalities event in 2024 wearing a black Star of David ball cap.
When asked, Savikitaaq wouldn’t say what his intention was with his hat selection. He said he has a right to freely wear and express what he wants.
“If people aren’t happy with me, they can contact me directly,” he said. “I’m not concerned about, and I don’t look at, what people wear. It’s up to them.”
To each their own !!!!!!
An opinion coming from someone who has not been invited to teach at the university because the university is not at the point of even trying to find professors. This sounds more like self promotion and grand standing. Plus Beth herself wears a hijab which is her choice and she should be free to make her own choice, although some might question and challenge that choice but it is hers to make.
Weilding the social clout of the position as if it were already hers is wild and entitlted stuff.
At the same time I don’t think she appreciates how fragile this response makes her look.
Poor showing for an aspiring thought leader
Actually, they have been talking to many Inuit about who might be interested in teaching at the university for a while already. This isn’t just another university, it is the first Inuit university. They are approaching education and curriculum that will be incredibly challenging to develop and balance with as many Inuit teachers as possible. It takes years and has taken many already to get to this point. I know Inuit who have already been approached.
A hat is a hat he says, wonder how he feels about a certain kind of red hat
“To me, it’s just a hat, no different than wearing a hamlet hat or a Nunatsiaq News hat or a Canada hat or American hat,” uh-huh, the diaper is overflowing on this guy.
Universities are supposed to be places where free thinking, open dialogue, and difficult discussions are encouraged. Not places where people are expected to conform to one political view before they are considered welcome.
Mayor Savikataaq said he has the right to wear what he chooses, and that is part of free expression. Ms. Kotierk is also free to disagree with him. But suggesting that a community would be unwelcoming, or that its leaders support “genocidal ideologies,” because of a hat seems contrary to the spirit of academic debate and open-mindedness that universities should stand for.
If that is her view of dialogue and disagreement, then perhaps it is for the best that she would not be teaching there.
We all know this university will be a landing pad for urban Inuit looking to come visit once in a while and remember why there’s no way they’d want to live back in Nunavut ever again. If they ever did in the first place.
That is a sports cap as in baseball.
A tuque has no visor. Also genocide is based on intent. Palestinian are just unwanted people even by other Arab nations just like some Jew are hated by other ethnic people around the world.
Sad part is nobody would bat an eye if it was a Palestinian flag. I don’t care for either side in this conflict, but I won’t try and defame someone’s reputation l or doxx them online because of their political stance and beliefs. Free will and free speech and what make nunavut and canada great. This is exactly the kind of thinking we need the Nunavut University to be defined by. Thank you Mr. Mayor for standing up and not letting the woke leftists tear you down. Arviat strong!
Any politician should be respectable. A baseball cap/hat/etc should not be allowed when in meetings or in public when on mayor duty. Be more respectable and have common sense to dress appropiately. We dont see the Mayors from the south dress like the mayors in the North at all. You all say North is no different from the south. Then act like it.
Universities used to be all about challenging mainstream narrative. Now this guy challenges the narrative and he people say he shouldn’t get a univetsity in his town? Crazy
Saying a “hat is just a hat” is not challenging any narratives. it’s a cowardly response honestly.
Good man Joe jr, known you and your family for decades, very honourable people, ignore all these hateful racist trolls, and as a northerner, we are all the same, a hat is a hat,and remember True North strong and free.ok trolls let’s go
Holy Anaq! Let’s gave it a rest. Edmonton Eskimos then this? Small group in south of 60 is thinks they that are ALL THAT. Visit Arviat and find out, talk to Edmonton Eskimos fan club in Inuit lands and hear their stories that was unheard. Help your fellow Inuit with high cost of living and high cost of transportation.
Well said.
It was a completely off topic rant with no relevance to the topic at hand. I can see what that would be on point for you though.
Ms. Kotierk has a penchant for resigning in political protest—this time from a position she doesn’t even hold!
Fear of being isolated and “exposed to” ideas” she is uncomfortable with, all over a hat, does not inspire much confidence in her resilience or ability to navigate a difficult institutional environment or a public role.
That said, I agree genocide as an ideology should not be tolerated. But it’s doubtful to me Savikataaq is trying to promote an ideology through this gesture; his support for Israel is most likely grounded in Christian beliefs. Still, support for a regime that has been identified as genocidal is disappointing, but probably grounded in wilful ignorance.
To say “a hat is just a hat” or that the gesture is not political is cowardice. He knows, or should know, the symbol is loaded with political meaning but is too afraid to say what is really motivating him to wear it, hiding instead behind a juvenile deflection in hopes that public scrutiny will fade.
Let’s start by recognizing that protecting free speech is imperative. A quote, “‘You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a person whose words or beliefs make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of their lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.” That is what free speech is about. It is rarely convenient. It simply depends on what side of the argument or position you are on.
In the case of politicians however, a hat is a far different story from “free speech” or “just a hat”. We have seen this magnified 100-fold by a guy we all know south of the Canadian border. The issue with a politician wearing a symbolic hat is that it actually strikes in the face of what a leader is supposed to be. Long has there been partisan politics but not to the degree we see now. Our politics now are divisive, destructive and filled with hate. There was once a day (believe it or not) where a political leader was supposed to represent all of the people, regardless of if they voted for them or not. It was an unwritten rule that you did not intentionally provoke those who opposed you by wearing symbolism but instead used legislative powers to apply believes and values and move your agenda forward.
When one says a “hat is just a hat” does not speak truth to power. Imagine for one moment that an elected official anywhere in Nunavut showed up in public meetings wearing a hat that had a picture of let’s say a certain priest we all know, who did horrific things to Inuit children. Would that be acceptable? Would it be acceptable if a politician showed up at the Nunavut Legislative Assembly wearing a hat that celebrated residential schools? When one talks about “free speech” there needs to be context. In the examples above, the anger and disgust would be loud, very loud, as it should be. Those “symbols” would trigger people and justifiably so. It is no different in the case with the hat Joe Jr. has been wearing. That battle has two sides and has a terrible past dating back 130+ years and long before if you trace it biblically. Depending on what side you are on, a hat with any symbolism that shows support for one or the other is seen as destructive. Especially in a political context. So, you see, a hat stops being “just a hat” rather quickly.
I believe Joe Jr. Is a solid human being, with strong values, a good family man, a good politician (in an era where we desperately need more) who has tried and is successfully growing Arviat. His family has suffered terrible tragedy like many families in Nunavut. However, to lose sight of the fact that he is in fact an elected official who is there to represent all citizens of Arviat and to do so neutrally is a misjudgment on his part. It erodes his successes and brings controversy for no valuable reason.
Joe Jr. is entitled to his beliefs as we all are, but as an elected official he should leave the symbolism at home and focus on the task at hand. Continuing to grow and make the community and all the people of Arviat better.
Okay, we aren’t talking sports teams here. There is no Montreal Israeli Defence League in the NHL. Wearing this hat is a political statement originating from hysteria based on far-right Christian evangelism. The holy rollers need to roll over on this one.
Or maybe Joe just appreciates the only democracy in the middle east? Either way, who cares?
The auditor general is onto their sixth review of GN family services who keep losing track of vulnerable Inuit kids and here we are discussing hats and a conflict a million miles away. Ridiculous!
The divide between the have nots and the privileged have-no-brains is frightening.
Hi Joe! Hope your family and you are holding up despite everything.
Israel calls itself a democracy yet around 5 million Palestinians live under its occupation with no right to vote or any say in how their lives are governed. This, more accurately, is an illiberal ethnocracy.
Did you know that Amnesty International, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, The International Association of Genocide Scholars, The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, and even Israel’s own Human Rights organization B’Tselem have called what is happening in Palestine a genocide?
But who cares right? That’s a million miles away! Not our problem!
The generous interpretation for both you and Joe is that you know absolutely nothing about what is happening in Israel and Palestine and have no interest in knowing.
When you talk about the privileged who “have-no-brains” I wonder who you mean? Is this a confession, a projection? I think you might want to ask yourself that.
Let’s pass around Pass around the peace pipe and sing kumbaiya
There Will Never Be Peace in the Middle East.
You can thank the United States and Israel for that.
Whats the big deal. Its not a swastika. And don’t ever purchase a volks wagon vehicle. V.W . Brand was Hitlers company.
Does it have to be a swastika to represent the genocidal actions of a state? Of course that was not original meaning of the Star of David.
Similairly, the swastika was an ancient symbol represented by religions all over the globe before it was perverted by a murderous death cult.
Interesting, even ironic parallel here.
People seem to get the problem of the middle east. Hamas and other middle eastern countries are at war with Israel. If they didn’t have terrorists abducting and harassing Israel then there wouldn’t be a war. All Israel wants is peace and if they would leave them alone there would be peace.
Iran was enriching uranium to target Israel. The middle east has a long history of wars, much longer than any current western and eastern countries.
All Israel wants is land, and it keeps stealing it from its neighbors. You are clearly not paying attention to anything but propaganda.
The bible thumpers are big on all things Israel while not having experienced life in the country. I am guessing the mayor is in that group to some degree, however it clearly is a poor show of judgement when considering current affairs in Lebanon and Gaza, and the West Bank regions.
Ignorance is the choice in this.
Quvianakuni, Joe is expressing his thoughts absolutely.
In Kivalliq we are free to express this choice. Yet there are some folks up here deeply influenced by HAMAS mind-set.