Ottawa apologizes to Inuit for using them as ‘human flagpoles’
Federal government says sorry for moving Inuit to the High Arctic in the 1950s.
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OTTAWA – They were moved 2,000 kilometres north from their homes, from a land of lush tundra to a harsh Arctic desert and left to fend for themselves.
They became known as the “High Arctic exiles” and for the Inuit, the move in the 1950s has remained a source of anger and anguish.
On Wednesday, Ottawa abandoned years of resistance and formally apologized to Inuit families for what it calls a “tragic chapter” in the country’s history.
“The Government of Canada deeply regrets the mistakes and broken promises of this dark chapter of our history and apologizes for the High Arctic relocation having taken place,” said John Duncan, the newly appointed Minister of Indian Affairs.
It was the apology the community had been waiting decades to hear, along with the acknowledgement that the relocation was a sad saga of deception and undue difficulty.
“We would like to express our deepest sorrow for the extreme hardship and suffering caused by the relocation,” Duncan said during an event in Inukjuak in northern Quebec.
It was from this community on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay that some 87 Inuit from about 19 families were moved to what is now Resolute and Grise Fiord between 1953 and 1956.
The move was made ostensibly to enable the families to get off welfare and return to a traditional lifestyle living off the land. But many suspected that the federal government was trying to use the families to help enforce Canadian sovereignty in a barren and unforgiving patch of territory.
The Inuit knew little of the land where they were resettled. They had to adapt to the constant darkness of the winter months and temperatures 20 degrees colder than the community they left. And they struggled for food while trying to learn about the local wildlife.
Duncan conceded the Inuit were left ill-prepared for the harsh conditions and cut off from families left behind.
“They were not provided with adequate shelter and supplies. They were not properly informed of how far away and how different from Inukjuak their new homes would be, and they were not aware that they would be separated into two communities once they arrived in the High Arctic,” Duncan said.
And he said that the government failed to live up to its promise to return anyone who didn’t want to stay.
Still, he paid tribute to the families who were moved, saying that despite the suffering and hardships they were successful in building what he called vibrant communities in Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay.
“The Government of Canada recognizes that these communities have contributed to a strong Canadian presence in the High Arctic,” he said.
Duncan called the apology an “important step towards healing and reconciliation.”
There’s no doubt it caps a remarkable shift in Ottawa’s views on the issue. In 1992, then Indian Affairs Minister Tom Siddon rejected any apology, saying the move was done “with the express intention of improving the relocatees’ situation.”
“The relocation was initiated with humane intentions, based on the government’s perception of the need to assist the Inuit to maintain their livelihood through hunting and trapping,” he said at the time.
On Wednesday, however, Duncan couldn’t have been more contrite as he told Inuit leaders and community members he was hoping Ottawa’s apology would help “turn the page.”
He later said he didn’t know what the government’s motivation was for moving the families.
“Mistakes were made in the 1950s . . . We sincerely hope this apology will help to heal the wounds,” he said.
“We are apologizing for promises that were made and not kept. They were promised they were going to a more abundant place. They were promised they would remain in one community. They were promised they could leave and return,” Duncan said.
“And we’re apologizing for the relocation itself. We just think that it was an inappropriate thing to do, to remove them from their ancestral lands,” Duncan told reporters after the event.
In 1996, the government set aside a $10 million fund for families of the Inuit who made the move.
Duncan will help unveil monuments made by Inuit sculptors in Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord next month to commemorate the relocation.
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