Kitikmeot should have own land claim agreement

It’s been a while since we got our Nunavut land claims agreement and Nunavut government in place and I thought this would solve our problems for Kitikmeot region. Things looked very optimistic on the July 9, 1993 proclamation of the Nunavut land claims agreement for a while, but it has not come to fruition.

Today, we’ve just celebrated Nunavut’s birthday recently, but things aren’t always what they seem to be. We hear many good things going on for Nunavut in the eastern regions, but I have yet to see any positive things happening for Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Bay Chimo, Bathurst, Gjoa Haven, Talokyoak and Kuugardjuk.

Most of the money is being spent for the eastern communities and very little for our region. I’ve had an opportunity visit Kugluktuk a couple of times and people are very disappointed and frustrated with the way the Kitikmeot is being treated by the Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

So far, very little is being done to help the region, but most of the money is being spent in the eastern Arctic. For this, I don’t see we are getting our fair share of Nunavut development and money on Nunavut land claims agreement.

We’ve had our majority share in getting the Nunavut land claims agreement settled by Bob Kadlun, Simon Taipana, Jack Kupeuna, and Allen Maghagak who worked very hard on settling the land claim. I feel that they too must feel betrayed by the way our region is being treated by the NTI and Nunavut government.

If the trend is to continue in avoiding the Kitikmeot region’s requests and indifferences remain by the eastern communities, we, in the Kitikmeot should start our own Kitikmeot land claims agreement, separate from the NTI agreement and have our own government.

This would alleviate any poor treatment and indifference from the NTI and Nunavut governments. We could ask for one-third of the one billion dollars from the NTI for our own settlement for the Kitikmeot region. Also, get any royalty money returned to Kitikmeot collected from the mining companies in the Kitikmeot region by NTI.

The Kitikmeot region is rich in natural resources and we can tap the resources through agreements with mining companies and get our fair share of royalties from the mineral resources. The Kitikmeot region is rich in mineral deposits and has been barely scratched today.

Our region is very pretty and we could tap into tourism too and this could generate wealth for the region for years to come. Kitikmeot is very rich in renewable resources, caribou, muskox, fur-bearing animals, it’s fishery, and this could sustain the economy itself while protecting the wildlife and it’s habitat.

If things continue the way they are today and no plans are in place to help develop our Kitikmeot region, the Kitikmeot MLA’s, Kitikmeot NTI board members, Kitikmeot Inuit Associations, hamlets, HTO’s and Inuit organizations should seriously start considering our own Kitikmeot land claims.

This way, we have a better chance of getting our future endeavors and aspirations done in a timely manner. Never mind this indifference attitude we are experiencing today. We have the people with talent and resources to accomplish our goals, and it’s high time that our voices be heard, and have our Kitikmeot land claims agreement!

John Komak
Cambridge Bay