Honourable senators, I would like to recognize and acknowledge that we are on the unceded territory of the Algonquin, Anishinabek.

Today, June 5, marks 35 years since the Inuvialuit Final Agreement was signed between the Inuvialuit and Canada at the Mangilaluk School in my hometown of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Terrorities. This historic event is known and celebrated each year as Inuvialuit Day. Inuvialuit Day honours the strength, resilience, vision and self-determination of our Inuvialuit ancestors, elders and communities.

None of this would have been possible without the Committee for Original People’s Entitlement, COPE. On January 28, 1970, in response to increasing oil and gas exploration and other pressures, a group of Inuvialuit elders and youth came together to form COPE. Ultimately, COPE represented the Inuvialuit in negotiating a land claim agreement with the federal government. The Inuvialuit feared that unless action was taken, they would have no input in resource development. They were also concerned that the benefits from any development would flow south.

Negotiations between COPE and the Government of Canada began in 1974 and lasted 10 years. On June 5, 1984, the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, IFA, was signed. Through the agreement, Inuvialuit agreed to give up our exclusive use of our ancestral land in exchange for guaranteed rights and benefits to land, financial compensation, wildlife management, and social and economic development measures, as well as shared responsibility for implementation. It was the first comprehensive land claim agreement signed north of the sixtieth parallel and only the second in Canada at that time.

Today, celebrations are planned in all six communities across the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. This includes Aklavik, Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk and Ulukhaktok, with a large event being held in Inuvik. Inuvialuit Day will include drum dancing, northern games, a BBQ feast to share country foods and the launch of the Inuvialuit Digital Library. A key highlight of this Inuvialuit Day will be the presentation of the Wallace Goose Awards to recipients in recognition of their significant contribution to Inuvialuit culture and language.

Inuvialuit have a long, rich history in what is now referred to as Canada’s Western Arctic. My ancestors stem from the Kitigaaryungmiut, a specific group of Inuvialuit. Historically, the Kitigaaryungmiut gathered at Kitigaaryuit, or Kittigazuit, at the mouth of the East Channel of the Mackenzie River. This is believed to have been the largest permanent Inuvialuit settlement before contact with the Tan’ngit, or others. In the summer, the people of Kittigaaryuit gathered there to hunt beluga whales. In the winter, they gathered again and participated in games and festivities, and discussed issues of governance. Archaeological research has proven that the Kitigaaryungmiut occupied Kitigaaryuit for at least 500 years.

However, as early as the 1890s, colonialism began to leave an indelible mark on the Inuvialuit. The encounters with Tan’ngit, the whalers, Hudson’s Bay Company, fur traders, missionaries, RCMP and the subsequent imposition of government programs and policies have altered our history, land, culture, language, spirituality, water and animals

In Kitigaaryuit, the influx of Tan’ngit exposed the people of Kitigaaryungmiut to a number of epidemics, including measles and tuberculosis. In 1850, the number of Kitigaaryungmiut estimated to be living in Kitigaaryuit was 1,000. This number rose in the summer to as much as 2,100. As a result of epidemics, by 1905, the population was reduced to 259, and by 1910 to only 130. The survivors moved away from Kitigaaryuit, with the majority moving to Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, where I am from.

It is a small hamlet with a population of 900, located on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. Tuktoyaktuk is the anglicized name. The Inuvialuit name is Tuktuyaaqtuuq. It looks like a tuktu, the Inuvialuit name for caribou. It was formerly known as Port Braybant, a trading post.

My daduk, or grandfather, is Joe Nasogaluak; his Inuvialuk names were Nasogaluak, Angupsuk and Mannak. To the government, he was known as W3-776, his disk number. My grandfather lived a nomadic lifestyle and travelled to Smoke River, Mason River, Avvak, Anderson River, Baillie Island, Sachs Harbour, Herschel Island, Kittigazuit and Stanton.

My nanuk, or grandmother, is Susie Anghik Kablusiak Ruben. To the government, she was known as W3-777.

In August 1940, they settled in Tuktuyaaqtuq, Northwest Territories, with their 11 children. Their first language was Inuvialuktun, the Sallirmiutun dialect.

My ammung, or mother, Sarah Nasogaluak Anderson, was born Sanikpiak, Kousalgana and Mamayauk in Baillie Island, or Avvak, Northwest Territories. To the government, she was known as W3-779. She grew up raising her own dog team and having her own trapline, as her family was reliant on hunting, fishing and trapping for survival. She worked as a nursing assistant, substitute teacher and as an Inuvialuktun teacher at the Mangilaluk School for 22 years.

Honourable colleagues, in the space of three generations, the Inuvialuit way of life has been transformed. I have lived through and heard stories of the impact of colonization, and I am still learning about how these changes came about and the role the government played.

I recently learned about the Eskimo Affairs Committee, which operated between 1952 and 1962. Despite its name, there were no Indigenous or Inuit members involved in the EAC until 1959. The committee was established to address major public issues affecting the barren lands of the Northwest Territories, which at the time included Nunavut. The committee was made up of civil servants, the Hudson’s Bay Company and church representatives. While it did not have any executive power, it did influence government policy, which brought about dramatic social change to all Inuit.

It is important to note that the issues currently facing the Inuit and discussed in the Senate today are the same issues discussed by the EAC in the 1950s. At the time, areas of concern included housing, language, education, food insecurity, decline of the caribou, employment, health and well-being, and income assistance. These issues have been compounded by government policies and legislation over the last 100 years.

Through reading the minutes of the committee, I was introduced to The Book of Wisdom for Eskimo, which was distributed to all Inuit in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut and in circulation right through to 1962. It came from Canada, the Department of Mines and Resources, the Bureau of Northwest Territories and Yukon Affairs, Ottawa. I would like to share an excerpt from the book on family allowance:

The King is helping all the children in his lands. He is giving aid to the Eskimo children also and has instructed His servants the Police to proceed in this way.

All parents and foster parents must register with the Police all children up to 16 years old giving their names, identification numbers, ages and relationship to the head of the household such as son, daughter, adopted, et cetera. The Police will then arrange that every child will receive help from the trader when it is needed.

In the past you have had years of scarcity and this has caused much hunger and sickness to the children. Now the King is giving a monthly allowance to each child under 16 years old. But this is to be controlled and only when in real need must an Eskimo mother or father ask to draw this allowance that year and it will be saved for you and issued only when there is a dire need for it. When you do not use all the allowance it will be saved for the child who will receive it at the age of 16 years.

The traders are working with the Police to help you and your families and the King has instructed them to issue goods only when it is necessary. He does not wish you to become lazy and expect to receive goods anytime. You are to continue to work hard at hunting and trapping, teaching your children to be good hunters and workers. . . .

Every Eskimo should have a disc bearing his identification number. Do not lose your disc. You will need it to obtain the King’s help.

Within my culture, naming of a child is a complex tradition. Names are given to a newborn child usually through an elder. The name or names a child is given hold special meanings and is tied to spiritual belief and customs. It could be the name of a family member, or someone that has held desirable traits that the child would emulate. Gender does not figure into the naming of a child. The child in turn is treated like their namesake, being called or honoured as their namesake. For example, my eldest son’s name is Angupsuk. He was given it by my daduk. My mother referred to him as father or as dad, always. A child’s identity, therefore, is shaped by a meaningful process that connects the child directly with their ancestors. This practice remained intact and unbroken until the Eskimo identification process.

The Eskimo identification numbers were a government policy stemming from the 1930s. Inuit identity across Canada was erased and names were replaced with numbers — a small reddish-brown tag, with a crown, laden with the words “Eskimo Identification,” and their unique identifier number. Inuit were made to wear, sew on and/or carry this tag with them at all times. W3-776, W3-777, and W3-779 — my daduk, Joe Nasogaluak, my nanuk, Susie Anghik Ruben, and my mother, Sarah Nasogaluak Anderson were a part of this policy, as well as countless Inuit across Canada. They experienced an erasure of their identity and disregard for their culture, traditions and language — replaced by what was commonly referred to as a dog tag. Eskimo Identification continued until the 1970s.

In 1968, the Northwest Territories initiated Project Surname to reinstate Inuit names. While a step in the right direction, this has not fully rectified the problem. When we were given Christian first names, our Inuit names became anglicized surnames. This caused confusion about family connections. Birth certificates, marriage certificates and other government documentation, which were made out at different times, contain different names. This makes it difficult for individuals and especially elders to obtain proper identification. Another unintended result of this is that immediate family members now have different last names. For example, my daduk and his brothers became Joe Nasogaluak, Paul Ettagiak, Sam Anikina, and Kelly Ovayuak.

Undoubtedly, colonialism has had a huge impact on not just Inuit, but all Indigenous people — including First Nations and Metis within Canada. It will continue to shape our future in unforeseen ways. Our elders knew this to be true long before the IFA was signed.

According to Inuvialuk Elder Randal Pokiak:

The elders, the ones that speak Inuvialuktun, said “What’s going to happen? I don’t have much longer to live. What am I leaving behind?” Oil companies were just going offshore, they went from the Delta to the mainland, and into the Mackenzie Basin, building artificial islands, and then the government gave them rights in the deep-water seas. COPE was trying to help get what they wanted for their children and grandchildren. The elders had so much hope, they were going after a dream.

Today, as we celebrate the IFA, we continue to chase this dream.

I would like to congratulate and send my warm wishes to the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation on this historic anniversary as well to all ISR communities and all Inuvialuit outside the ISR.

Since I cannot be home in Tuktoyaktuk to celebrate with family and friends, I rise today to ask you, honourable colleagues, to carefully consider the decisions we take in this chamber. The active recognition of the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples and the full implementation of our land claims agreements, self-government agreements and historic treaties is the foundation of reconciliation. This requires meaningful consultation, participation, and consent of Indigenous peoples in the legislation, policies and processes that affect us. The policies we help put in motion in this chamber will resonate into future generations in ways we cannot predict but we hope we can be proud of.

Quyanainni. Thank you.