John Amagoalik

John Amagoalik was born at a seasonal camp near Inukjuak in Northern Quebec. When he was five, his family and 17 others were relocated to the High Arctic communities of Resolute and Grise Fiord. In the 1970s, he became the first of many to call for the creation of an Inuit homeland to be called “Nunavut.” He was Vice-President of the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, and served two terms as President. He was Co-Chair of the Inuit Committee on National Issues and Chair of the Nunavut Constitutional Forum (NCF). 

 

After the ratification of the Nunavut Act in 1993, Amagoalik was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Nunavut Implementation Commission, the organization that oversaw the arrangements leading up to Nunavut's creation on April 1, 1999. He is currently works in the Lands Department at Qikiqtani Inuit Association.