Monday, November 1, 1999
We received a quick response to last week's editorial on the moratorium placed on Akaitcho Treaty 8 lands.
Yellowknives Ndilo Chief Peter Liske and Dettah Chief Richard Edjericon explained they would have no reason to "regret" the hard line Akaitcho Treaty 8 chiefs had taken on halting development.
Rather than running the risk of jobs being lost, as the editorial predicted, it was more a case of the federal government ignoring the original treaty while allowing resource development to go ahead without the consent of the owners.
In their view, a handful of low-level jobs were the small picture; protecting Akaitcho territory resources for future generations was the big picture.
The federal government's carrot and stick approach is well known. They offer funding and self-government in return for extinguishment of aboriginal rights and acceptance of the territorial government at the table in negotiations. The Yellowknives leaders are choosing the hard road by sticking to their treaty.
We still say jobs are important and resource companies cannot be turned away without long term consequences. But we also understand the only way to get the federal government to act is to wield the big stick of legal action and economic blockade.
Another fact the federal government should take note of - settled land issues are good for business. The sooner ownership and the terms of reference are established within Akaitcho Treaty 8 borders, the better for all Northerners and, consequently, better for all Canadians.
When thieves made off with the safe containing Bern Will Brown's journals, they thought it was filled with money.
To Brown, the safe's contents were much more valuable than money. The journals were more than his priceless private thoughts and memories, they were an irreplaceable chronicle of the development of the Sahtu. Now they are gone forever.
A senseless, barbarous act, to say the least.
Ironically, Brown had kept the journals locked up in case of fire. If they had been on a bookshelf, the thieving punks would have left them alone.
Let's hope that these book-burning vandals are caught and punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Negotiating an Inuit impact benefit agreement with Echo Bay's mothballed Lupin gold mine was identified as a high priority at the leaders forum in Cambridge Bay.
The call for negotiations shows an aggressive approach in securing jobs for the Kitikmeot region.
Presently, Lupin doesn't have to guarantee jobs. When production began in 1986, there was no such agreement such as the impact benefit agreements included in Nunavut's Land Claims Agreement.
But with the agreements struck between Dene groups and BHP mine and the Northern employment targets exceeded at BHP's Ekati mine, both Echo Bay and the Kitikmeot leaders have a framework upon which to base their expectations.
Let's set the record straight.
There will be no less sunlight today than there was yesterday. Our children walked home from school in the dark last year and they will do so this year. The sky will not fall, we won't get less sleep and hunters will continue to bring home food.
As well as bringing to light people's expectations of a bureaucracy, the reaction to the Government of Nunavut's decision to create a single time zone has raised several interesting issues.
Judging by the growing list of Baffin hamlets that insisted they would not set their clocks back over the weekend, it would appear that rather than having a government that would stand up to pressure and make a decision to improve their own effectiveness, some Baffin region residents want a government that will buckle and bend at their command.
A single time zone was unanimously supported by Nunavut Tunngavik's membership last year and mayors around the territory strongly supported the issue at a community conference held prior to division.
And then reality sunk in.
Some Baffin mayors were forced to realize that a single time zone didn't necessarily mean all of Nunavut would operate on Baffin time and they revolted.
Instead of compromising, they've come forward and denounced GN leaders and said they aren't acting like a government of the people or a government for the people. Indeed, some have gone so far as to accuse the elected body of acting like a southern model of government rather than the made-in-Nunavut bureaucracy they had dreamed of.
Some of those accusations might be true. The GN could have hired consultants and struck taskforces and spent thousands of dollars on deciding if and when they should synchronize their watches. Surely they would then have been criticized for that.
Instead, Okalik and his colleagues took the bull by the horns and in the tradition of all great matadors, risked it all. Here's hoping they make it out of the ring.
With all the UFO sightings in the Yukon, it might be wise to beef up security at the legislative assembly building in Yellowknife.
Canadian Geographic included our capital as a "hotspot" of UFO activity.
No wonder. The legislative assembly's distinctive Star Trek design can easily be seen from Mars. And while most earthlings may perceive stacks of complex legislation as a harmless extravagance, aliens may well see something more ominous --an invitation to invade.
Attention MLAs: You've been warned. We just hope it's not too late...
On a stringWhen a group of elders and youth in Pelly Bay set out to create some marionettes, little did they realize that they themselves would become puppets in an absurd situation at the American border.
The marionettes were to be used to recount Inuit legends to a new generation of Nunavummiut.
After being crafted in Nunavut, the puppets were sent to two master puppeteers in the United States for some fine tuning. They were held up by U.S. customs because they were made of materials that are banned in America in contravention of the Marine Mammals Protection Act.
The law was passed with the best of intentions. But its sweeping authority has a real impact on the artisans of Nunavut. The government of Nunavut, in conjunction with Ottawa, must educate the Americans in order to win exemptions from this legislation. Our artists and artisans can't afford to lose that market.