NUNAVUT - Inuit groups want Prime Minister Stephen Harper to clarify what he meant at a G20 press conference last month in the U.S. when he said that Canada has no history of colonialism.

"I don't know in what context he was saying this," said Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Mary Simon. "We were wondering if it's in the context of Canada not colonizing another country, but it's not clear."

In a letter to the prime minister on Oct. 1, Simon called the comment "historically inaccurate," and wrote it could "undermine future progress in the reconciliation of aboriginal and other Canadians."

“The prime minister needs to clarify what he means," stated Nunavut Tunngavik first vice-president James Eetoolook. "We took his apology on residential schools as genuine and sincere, but to say that Canada has no colonial history is to go in the opposite direction. This kind of statement arouses questions in our dealing with the federal government."

The Prime Minister's Office sent a prepared statement in response to an inquiry by Nunavut News/North. It said Harper's comment was specifically in regards to Canada's foreign relations.

“The marginalization, mistreatment and racism toward aboriginal people in the context of Canada’s domestic history, including of colonialism within Canada, has never been denied or minimized by our government," the statement reads.

Simon responded, "He has to make that public. If he says that publicly, people will understand that's what he's talking about.

"If he does clarify, the anger should go away. He needs to be clear that he recognizes the colonialism within Canada."