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Nunavut, Canada
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Nunavut (Inuktitut syllabics: ) is the largest and newest territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1 1999 via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries were established in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's map since the incorporation of the new province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1949.
The capital Iqaluit (formerly "Frobisher Bay") on Baffin Island, in the east, was chosen by the 1995 capital plebiscite. Other major communities include the regional centres of Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay. Nunavut also includes Ellesmere Island to the north, as well as the eastern and southern portions of Victoria Island in the west. Nunavut is both the least populated and the largest of the provinces and territories of Canada. It has a population of only 29,474
Nunavut means 'our land' in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit. Its inhabitants are called Nunavummiut, singular Nunavummiuq.
The capital Iqaluit (formerly "Frobisher Bay") on Baffin Island, in the east, was chosen by the 1995 capital plebiscite. Other major communities include the regional centres of Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay. Nunavut also includes Ellesmere Island to the north, as well as the eastern and southern portions of Victoria Island in the west. Nunavut is both the least populated and the largest of the provinces and territories of Canada. It has a population of only 29,474
Nunavut means 'our land' in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit. Its inhabitants are called Nunavummiut, singular Nunavummiuq.
HistoryThe region now known as Nunavut has supported a continuous population for approximately 4000 years. Most historians also identify the coast of Baffin Island with the Helluland described in Norse sagas, so it is possible that the inhabitants of the region had occasional contact with Norse sailors.
, Eskimo
The written history of Nunavut begins in 1576. Martin Frobisher, while leading an expedition to find the Northwest Passage, thought he had discovered gold ore around the body of water now known as Frobisher Bay on the coast of Baffin Island. The ore turned out to be worthless, but Frobisher made the first recorded European contact with the Inuit. The contact was hostile, with Frobisher capturing four Inuit people and bringing them back to England, where they quickly perished.
Other explorers in search of the elusive Northwest Passage followed in the 17th century, including Henry Hudson, William Baffin and Robert Bylot.
In 1976 as part of the land claims negotiations between the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (then called the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada) and the federal government the division of the Northwest Territories was discussed. On the 14 April 1982, a plebiscite on division was held throughout the Northwest Territories with a majority of the residents voting in favour and the federal government gave a conditional agreement seven months later. A land claims agreement was decided in September 1992 and ratified by nearly 85% of the voters in Nunavut. On July 9 1993, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act
GeographyThe Territory covers about 1.9 million km² (750,000 sq mi) of land and water in Northern Canada including part of the mainland, most of the Arctic Archipelago, and all of the islands in Hudson Bay, James Bay, and Ungava Bay (including the Belcher Islands) which belonged to the Northwest Territories. This makes it the fifth largest subnational entity (statoid) in the world. If Nunavut were a country, it would rank 13th in area, after the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nunavut has land borders with the Northwest Territories on several islands as well as the mainland, a border with Manitoba to the south of the Nunavut mainland, and a tiny land border with Newfoundland and Labrador on Killiniq Island. It also shares aquatic borders with the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba and with Greenland.
The creation of Nunavut created Canada's only "four corners", at the intersection of the boundaries of Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan at , on the southern shore of Kasba Lake. This is not the tourist spot it might be, as it is extremely remote and inaccessible. Nevertheless there is a marker (albeit an out-of-date one) at the point, and some have made the trek. Nunavut's highest point is Barbeau Peak.
Nunavut's small and sparse population makes it unlikely the territory will be granted provincial status in the foreseeable future, although this may change if the Yukon, which is only marginally more populous, becomes a province.
It is a commonly-held misconception that Nunavut is made up of some of the former regions of the NWT, separated in their entirety. This is not the case; the dividing line did not follow region boundaries, although boundaries have been subsequently finessed so that three former NWT regions collectively constitute Nunavut. They serve (under different names) as census divisions, but have no autonomous governments:
Qikiqtaaluk RegionBaffin Region (census division)Kivalliq RegionKeewatin Region (census division)Kitikmeot RegionKitikmeot Region (census division)
The former NWT's Baffin Region was entirely transferred to Nunavut. The former Kitikmeot Region is mostly in Nunavut, except two southwestern areas and the northwest corner of Victoria Island. Likewise, the former Keewatin Region is largely in Nunavut, except a southwestern rectangle.
Fort Smith region and Inuvik region remain census divisions of the Northwest Territories. A small right triangle of the former Fort Smith region is in Nunavut now, while none of the Inuvik region was transferred to Nunavut.
The aforementioned regional divisions are distinct from the district system of dividing the Northwest Territories that dated to 1876 and was abolished when Nunavut was created. Nunavut encompasses the entirety of the old District of Keewatin (which had differing boundaries from the Keewatin/Kivalliq regions), the majority of the District of Franklin and a small portion of the District of Mackenzie.
GovernmentNunavut's head of state is a Commissioner appointed by the federal Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. As in the other territories, the commissioner's role is symbolic and is analogous to that of a Lieutenant Governor. While the Commissioner is not formally a representative of the Queen of Canada, a role roughly analogous to representing The Crown has accrued to the position.
The members of the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Nunavut are elected individually; there are no parties and the legislature is consensus-based. The head of government, the premier of Nunavut, is elected by, and from the members of the legislative assembly.
The territory's first legislature was dissolved on January 16 2004, with an election shortly thereafter. See Nunavut general election, 2004. As of 2007, Nunavut is in its second government.
Faced by criticism of his policies, Premier Paul Okalik set up an advisory council of eleven elders, whose function it is to help incorporate "Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit" (Inuit culture and traditional knowledge, often referred to in English as "IQ") into the territory's political and governmental decisions.
The territory has an annual budget of C$700 million, provided almost entirely by the federal government. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin designated support for Northern Canada as one of his priorities for 2004, with an extra $500 million to be divided among the three territories.
In 2005, the government of Nunavut collaborated with the federal government and the technology firm SSI Micro to launch Qiniq, a unique network which uses satellite delivery to provide broadband Internet access to 25 communities in Nunavut. As a result, the territory was named one of the world's "Smart 21 Communities" in 2005 by the Intelligent Community Forum, a worldwide organization which honours innovation in broadband technologies.
LanguageAlong with Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English, and French are also official languages.
In his 2000 commissioned report (Aajiiqatigiingniq Language of Instruction Research Paper) to the Nunavut Department of Education, Ian Martin of York University states that a "long-term threat to Inuit language from English is found everywhere, and current school language policies and practices on language are contributing to that threat" if Nunavut schools follow the Northwest Territories model. He provides a 20 year language plan to create a "fully functional bilingual society, in Inuktitut and English" by 2020. The plan provides different models, including:
"Qulliq Model", for most Nunavut communities, with Inuktitut as the main language of instruction. "Inuinnaqtun Immersion" model, for language reclamation and immersion to revitalize Inuinnaqtun as a living language. "Mixed Population Model", mainly for Iqaluit (possibly for Rankin Inlet), as the 40% Qallunaat population (pronounced "howl-u-naat" in the kivaliq region)("Qaa-loo-naat" by the Iqaluitmuit) the Inuit term for Caucasians, may have different requirements.
The 2006 Canadian census showed a population of 29,474. Of the 29,025 singular responses to the census question concerning 'mother tongue' the most commonly reported languages were:
There were also 260 responses of both English and a 'non-official language' (mainly Inuktitut); 20 of both French and a 'non-official language; 20 of both English and French; and about 140 people who either did not respond to the question, or reported multiple non-official languages, or else gave some other unenumerated response. Only English and French were counted as official languages in the census. Nunavut's official languages are shown in bold. Figures shown are for the number of single-language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.
Major mines Lupin Mine - 1982-2005 - gold (located near the Northwest Territories boundary near Contwoyto Lake) Polaris Mine - 1982-2002 - lead and zinc (located on Little Cornwallis Island, not far from Resolute) Nanisivik Mine at Nanisivik - 1976-2002 - lead and zinc (near Arctic Bay) Rankin Inlet Mine - 1957-1962 - nickel and copper Jericho Diamond Mine - 2006-present - diamonds (located 400 km, 250 mi, northeast of Yellowknife)
Several mining projects are in the works; as of January 2006 Miramar Mining Corporation's Doris gold project and Cumberland Resources's Meadowbank gold project were in the process of review for approval.
In popular cultureThree Dead Trolls in a Baggie wrote a song about the birth of this territory. The theme of the song is along the lines of "We'll keep Canada," he said, "and you can have Nunavut!" (pronouncing it "None-of-it").
External links Map showing regions of Nunavut (from Nunavut Government website) Legislative Assembly of Nunavut Nunavut Kavamat / Government of Nunavut- Official site
Nunavut Planning Commission Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.- Nunavut Land Claims website
The Nunavut Act of 1993 at Canadian Legal Information Institute Nunavut K-12 bilingual language instruction plan- Martin, Ian. Aajiiqatigiingniq Language of Instruction Research Paper. Nunavut: Dept. of Education, 2000.
Tourism
Explore Nunavut: Travel information and community guides Nunavut Parks Nunavut TourismJournalism
CBC North Radio- hear Inuktitut and English radio from Nunavut
Territorial newspaper reporting in Inuktitut and English
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Visitors to this city will find a wealth of touring options in two main modes—by land or by water. Greyhound Canada and Grey Goose Bus Lines both offer charters and are located in the same building downtown. Handi-Transit is available locally (986 5722), so those with disabilities can see all they wish to see. Packages are available from major tour companies like Canada Tours and Leisure Tours; as well as more affordable tours, or tours to more obscure locations, through smaller outfits like Wayne's Tours or Adventure Junkie Tours. For the especially adventurous, Winnipeg is a main departure point for tours to the far north—Hudson's Bay and Nunavut (Wayne's), for example. Theme tours and camps are also available; Bob's Wild West Adventures and International Wildlife Adventures are two good examples.
Custom tours can be developed through most of Winnipeg's tour companies, as well as through the government tourism offices. For assistance call Tourism Winnipeg at 1 800 665 0204 (local 943 1970); e-mail wpginfo@tourismwpg.mb.ca or visit www.tourism.winnipeg.mb.ca. Travel Manitoba, located in the Explore Manitoba Centre in The Forks Market, is a favorite first stop for many travelers here. Contact numbers here are 1 800 665 0040 (local 945 3777, 24hr line 942 2535), or visit www.travelmanitoba.com. Winnipeg also has a general Visitor Information line at 1 800 214 6497 (local 945 6784).
Boat excursions are widely available here, too. Paddlewheel River Rouge Tours offers scheduled cruises as well as custom charters, and also operates a fleet of double-decker buses with a wide range of tours available. Splash Dash Water Services operates out of The Forks; they offer regular water transit departing every 15 minutes, a many tours, as well as custom charters and boat rentals. Everything from peddle-boats to outboards can be rented. Serious boaters will find a variety of rental services 20 minutes north of the city in Selkirk. This town, the home of the historical Lower Fort Garry, is the base for most of the areas fly-in services. Prospective boaters will need to be aware of Manitoba's new boating regulations; call the Visitor Info line for details.
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