Building forward, looking back: Gjoa Haven mayor reflects on past 70 years

Gjoa Haven Mayor Raymond Quqshuun says he is focused on building — housing, infrastructure, opportunity and cultural pride — before too much of the past is lost.

Quqshuun, who will turn 70 in August, was born on King William Island and raised in Gjoa Haven his “entire life.”

Sitting in the meeting room at the Nunavut Water Board June 9, wearing a “Canada is not for sale” ball cap and a “Built in the Fifties” T-shirt, the mayor remembers a time when there weren’t any houses in the hamlet at all.

“I’ve seen Gjoa Haven grow from nothing to all these buildings here,” he said, looking out to the harbour. The only buildings in the community at the time were the Hudson’s Bay Co. trading post, established in 1927, and the church.

Gjoa Haven’s population grew from 110 people in 1961 to 1,324 in 2021, with Mayor Quqshuun estimating it’s now closer to 1,500.

Life back then was entirely on the land, he said, with his family living in igloos until the first government school brought families into town in 1972.

Quqshuun’s family history ties closely to Gjoa Haven’s early settlement and the Franklin expedition shipwrecks.

His maternal grandfather was William “Paddy” Gibson, an Irish Hudson’s Bay Co. trader on King William Island.

Gibson played a role in Arctic exploration history in 1927 when he discovered and reburied the skulls of members of the Franklin expedition. Quqshuun’s late brother was renowned oral historian Louie Kamookak, who accompanied searchers looking for the Franklin wreckage throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

With the hamlet’s expanded heritage centre opening this month, including a new Franklin exhibit, Quqshuun said he hopes “tourism will increase as a result for the benefit of the community,” especially for local artists and carvers featured in the gift shop.

“Now we have to see how we can get younger children to be interested in our history and learn too,” he said.

A former language teacher at the Qiqirtaq Illihakvik High School, Quqshuun has noticed that Inuktitut has become a “second language for young children.”

“It’s up to us parents and older people to get that back to our children,” he said, adding that he now teaches adults Inuktitut every Friday.

For Quqshuun, who has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Aurora College in Yellowknife, education is important in Inuit life.

“Young people need post-secondary education, especially in management and finance, as we’re lacking Inuit people with that knowledge in town,” he said.

The hamlet is training two recreation co-ordinators and has an SAO-in-training whom Quqshuun hopes will take over someday.

There is also an urgent need for a new Arctic College building, he said.

“Upgrading our adult education programs is important for our young people. We want to lobby with the government to get a new building, and get that going again.”

Quqshuun has worked in various managerial and finance roles within the community, including with the Nunavut Housing Corp. and Hamlet of Gjoa Haven for 20 years. He eventually joined the Nunavut Water Board in 2007 as director of corporate services.

He then briefly retired, before deciding to run for mayor in 2023.

Quqshuun compares being mayor to his 1985 role as senior administrative officer, noting that his work continues to involve administration, accounting and management.

Addressing other community challenges, like snow buildup and flooding, is also on the mayor’s agenda.

“We have erosion issues as our ground is all sand, which is not the same as other communities,” he said. “These ravines are getting deeper, and deeper.”

His priority this summer is to fix the roads and get the hamlet’s quarry program running to provide gravel for the Nunavut 3000 housing initiative in Gjoa Haven.

An eight-unit complex and 12-unit complex are currently under construction in the hamlet’s uptown area.

Quqshuun is also focused on a long-term dream for the community: a new community complex.

The existing arena and community hall are too small and are aging. Community consultations are in progress, and plans are underway to hire a consultant to develop a blueprint.

It’s shaping up to be a busy summer for Quqshuun, who splits his nine-to-five day between his office in the hamlet building and Nunavut Water Board.

“Some days I get tired, but I try to keep positive as times are flying by so fast,” he said.