Hopedale, November 26, 2008

Thank you for that warm welcome, and for inviting me to the opening of your session.

I am honoured to be here, in your Nunatsiavut Government Assembly as you continue the important work of building your new government.

It is always a joy for me to be invited to Nunatsiavut… this time, to your wonderful community of Hopedale.
I had the great pleasure of visiting Nain last summer to speak at the Sivuppialautta language conference, so I am delighted to return again, just as your winter begins to settle in.

Since I was last here, Inuit have witnessed some remarkable events.

Canada has its first Inuk Federal Minister of Health – Leona Aglukkaq, who was formerly Nunavut’s Minister of Finance and Minister of Health.

And Canada’s First Minister’s table will now include its first woman Inuk Premier – Eva Aariak from Nunavut, who was formerly Nunavut’s Language Commissioner.

And of course, in the United States we have witnessed the historic election of the first African American – Barack Obama – as President.

All of these events speak to the great promise of our countries to embrace and reflect the strength and diversity of its citizens.

To think that Canada now has, as it’s Minister of Health, someone who was born, less than 40 years ago, in an outpost camp at Thom Bay along the Arctic Coast, speaking Inuktitut as her first language… sends an extraordinary message to our young people… that Inuit have every right and opportunity to stand alongside other Canadians in the highest offices in our land.

And so it gives me great pride to stand in this, our newest House of Assembly in Inuit Nunaat, and imagine the promise your deliberations and decisions will hold for the people of Nunatsiavut.

You have joined the great chain of regional Inuit land claims agreements and governments that stretch, unbroken from the Alaska border to the Atlantic Ocean…Inuit Nunaat.

In the 25 or more years I have been involved in the negotiation of Inuit land claims, I have come to view our land claims agreements as our 21^st century tools…tools to regain our lives and build healthy communities …and we must make the most of this opportunity.

These tools …our rights to hunt, and rights to land ownership… our rights to benefit from resource development…the establishment of capital funds… our new governments…these are powerful tools… that we must use wisely… and to their full potential.

As you have discovered through your land claims negotiations, land claims agreements are… by definition… compromises.

The rights and responsibilities we negotiated within our land claims agreements must be exercised within our identities and loyalties as citizens of Canada…and residents of our provinces or territories.

The new tools that we have secured through our land claims agreements are only as good as the life we breathe into them and the use we make of them.

The power to make laws that we have negotiated…is necessary to make good laws…but it is not a guarantee. We must exercise our imagination, and our creativity, and work hard to create good laws for our citizens.

The power to make public expenditures that we have negotiated …is necessary to spending public money wisely…but it is not a guarantee.

We must be diligent in gathering good information so we can identify and challenge the threats to our well-being. We must set priorities, and ensure our decisions are sound, and transparent.

The power to make our laws and to allocate our public funds is necessary for ensuring our government reflects and respects the values that have sustained our families and our communities…but it is not a guarantee. We must work hard at seeking out and reflecting the values of our citizens in our decision-making.

We will make mistakes….and we will learn from them…and our decisions will be smarter and better because of our mistakes.

To many other Canadians, including other Aboriginal Canadians, Inuit have appeared as consistent and conspicuous over achievers over the last 30 years.Why do I say this?

• Inuit helped patriate the Canadian Constitution.
• Inuit signed Canada’s largest land claims agreements.
• We created a new territory, Nunavut, changing the map of Canada for the first time since the entry of your province, Newfoundland and Labrador to the Confederation in 1949.
• We have set a bold new precedent in land claims negotiations by combining Inuit Property Rights and Inuit self-government structures, right here in Nunatsiavut.
• And we are in the process of working out a further precedent for regional self-government in Nunavik.

Whatever the frustrations that played out in the day-to-day grind of land claims and other complex negotiations…and many of you here today will know all about those frustrations…Inuit have…for several generations, set a pace, unparalleled in Canada, for redefining our fundamental political and legal circumstances.

These negotiations drew on the skills of our parents and grandparents, by showing patience and determination, and putting the long-term interests of our communities and our people ahead of short term fixes.

In recent weeks I have had occasion to reflect a great deal on the legacy of our parents.

Each generation must decide if it wants to settle for the world of their parents, or if they want to improve upon the past.

In Canada, through no fault or intention of our parents they were part of a generation of national policies that had catastrophic consequences for our language, for our education, for our communities and for our self-worth as Inuit.

With the completion of the negotiations of all our land claims, I believe Inuit are standing at the doorstep of creating a new narrative for Inuit in Canada…

Through our tools of making laws, and allocating resources and creating polices for our communities, we have the ability to create education systems that honour our culture, honour our language, honour our heritage ….and graduate our children.

Through our new tools we can set our own priorities and approaches to addressing the issues that most undermine the health of our citizens– issues of housing, education, employment and nutrition.

Through our new tools of governance, we can design social policies for the well-being of Inuit that reflect our values… and our practices…the values and practices that lie at the essence of our proven strength as one of Canada’s first peoples.

Through our new tools, we can seize the opportunities of the 21^st century and the knowledge economy so that our young people are inspired to become great community citizens, and citizens of the world, proud of their Inuit heritage and excited by the opportunities that have been generated by our innovative and progressive decisions.

As President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami I have had the privilege of travelling across Inuit Nunaat, across Canada and sometimes outside of Canada, to speak on behalf of Inuit…on behalf of you.

And I am always moved by the sincere interest and concern that Canadians and people outside of Canada, have in the well-being of Inuit.

We hold a very special place in the national consciousness of Canadians and we are models of survival to citizens of countries outside of Canada.

We are looked upon as leaders among indigenous people and as people with tremendous ability to adapt to changing circumstances and thrive. We are viewed as perseverant and successful negotiators, who set and achieve our goals.

And so as it is inspiring for me to stand before you in this, our newest House of Assembly knowing that you are embarking on a journey to chart a new course for the people of Nunatsiavut… knowing that the quality of your children’s lives will be the ultimate measuring stick of the wisdom and success of your decisions.

If our children inherit a world of choice and opportunity, grounded in a confidence of who they are as Inuit and as Canadians, then our decisions… our politics…will be worthy of the sacrifices that our parents and grandparents made, and worthy of the struggles that our leaders made…who negotiated this opportunity to reclaim our place in Canada.

Nakurmiik.