October 22, 1975

The Yellowknife-based territorial government, the federal government, and most non-aboriginal residents of the western NWT reacted with fear and hostility to Dene and Inuit proposals for self-government. Some aboriginal territorial councilors –as MLAs were then called – tried to bridge the vast gulf that separated the two positions.

Statement: "Political development in the North"

Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — This statement is intended to clarify the position of the undersigned Territorial Councillors on matters concerning political development in the Northwest Territories. We feel that it is our duty to offer some leadership to the people who elected us so that they, the people, can play their proper role in determining their own political future.

The statement made by the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs in Yellowknife on September 18, and the debate in the Territorial Council on September 29, both illustrate what is the great problem facing the people of the Northwest Territories. It is that there is no clear recognition that the Inuit, the Dene, Indians and Metis, have the right to political self-determination. This is the crux of the matter.

The Inuit and Dene, throught their Brotherhoods, have made the claim that they have a right to a homeland of their own in which they are free to develop the political institutions which will ensure their cultural survival. It is essentially the same claim French-speaking Canadians make for themselves in Quebec and English-speaking Canadians make in the other Provinces of Canada. This claim for equality in political self-determination is based firmly on the indisputable fact that the Inuit and the Dene are the aboriginals – the first citizens of the land they claim as their homeland and to this day they constitute the great majority of the people of the Northwest Territories.

Only the Inuit and the Dene have no other place to go but their homeland in the Northwest Territories. All others could, if they chose, feel "at home" in English or French communities either in Canada or elsewhere. The great majority of non-native peoples do not expect to end their days in the Northwest Territories, but nearly all Inuit and Dene do. It seems to us therefore, that our native right to political self-determination should be beyond question for all just and reasonable men.

It is our firm belief that the people of Canada accept the principle that we have put forward. But we do not feel satisfied that the spokesmen of the Federal or Territorial Governments or the non-native members of the Territorial Council are acting on the principle. We do not want to "negotiate" the principle itself.

We want to hear the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, and Northern residents like the Territorial Councillors for Yellowknife and Hay River say categorically: "We hold it as a matter of principle that the Inuit and Dene people of the Northwest Territories have the right, within Canada's constitution, to political self-determination within their homelands."

The paper of "Political Development" discussed in Territorial Council does not state this principle. The Minister did not state this principle. Indeed the only firm statement we have is that the present Governments (Federal and Territorial) are the only ones that will be recognized. Are we to understand from this that the future of the Inuit and the Dene has already been settled? That the Federal Government has already decided that the future of the Northwest Territories is that it will eventually become a single Province just like all the others and it is only a matter of deciding when to transfer Provincial powers to Territorial jurisdiction? If this is so, it is not surprising that the Council members largely representing Canadians of Southern origin should be eager to press for more power now. For they are seeking more of what they know and understand well. But – as Councillor James Wah-Shee of Great Slave Riding said in the Council debate - "What would there be left for the native people to negotiate about if all the powers of a Provincial Government were transferred now to the Territorial Government?"

We did not vote against the "Political Development" proposal in Council. We gave once more an indication of our sincere desire to negotiate the future upon the basis of the principle we have outlined above. We voted to defer a decision upon the proposal until we have had a chance to to discuss with the people – and not merely the native people – to look carefully at the proposal and at other proposals for political development in the Northwest Territories and to let us know their views. We hope that groups and individuals within the Territories will write letters to us or invite us to discussions upon the matter. We think it is high time that the people of the Northwest Territories "got into the act".

Signed by:

Ludy Pudluk, Member High Arctic
Peter Ernerk, Member Keewatin
James Wah-Shee, Member Great Slave Lake
Mark Evaluarjuk, Member Foxe Basin
Ipeelee Kilabuk, Member Central Baffin