Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

INUVIK(Aug 17/98) - Through her very public life, Nellie Cournoyea is known to most Northerners as a very hard-working and dedicated leader who has moved from one valuable role to another while earning trust and instilling confidence.

But beneath her stoic exterior and public image there is far more to the woman.

As a leader of the Committee for Original People's Entitlement (COPE), Cournoyea (left) helped lay the groundwork for the 1984 Inuvialuit land claim. She then became Canada's first aboriginal woman to lead a government.

In January 1996, she was elected by 42 directors of community organizations to head the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, a major enterprise with $305.4 million in assets at the end of 1997.

She also listens to Conway Twitty and, looking out the window of her third floor Inuvik office, she can be entranced by clouds she says that resemble Daffy Duck.

At 58 years old, Cournoyea carries a wonder about the world and her surroundings.

"I can't get excited about (the concept of being) happy," she says.

"Who's ever really happy? I'm seldom cranky, if at all. I enjoy things and can look at art and say, 'I like that,' but, happy? I don't think that state exists."

One state of being Cournoyea is often in is one where she is working -- whether overseeing and contributing ideas to various IRC programs or pushing for the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway.

She stresses she aims to be relevant in her work and in her life. That means focusing on constructive work to ensure her aims are met.

"There's a never-ending list of things I have to do," she says while gingerly toying with her coffee mug handle. "Every day I add more."

Her reputation for logging long hours started long ago.

"She works hard," says long-time friend and Inuvik deputy mayor Vivian Hunter.

"Even when she was working with COPE they would work late at night and then she would pull out one of those muskox rugs and just sleep on that, then continue working first thing in the morning."

Hunter says Cournoyea still has that drive. She still goes to work early in the morning, sometimes to fax material so it will be in Ottawa when government offices open.

"She's in the office at 5 or 6 a.m," Hunter says.

Is Cournoyea a workaholic? Or has she ever thought she was addicted to anything?

"I used to drink too much when I was on the political circuit," Cournoyea admits.

"Now, I don't drink at all. It just makes me sleepy. It used to give me a boost -- a shot of scotch or a beer -- now it's just the reverse."

Though she still has parties, they are not as steeped in alcohol as years ago.

"I don't have time (to party,)" she says.

"Right now, people drink too much and instead of being happy they seem to get miserable."

Still, Cournoyea admits party vibes do depend on who people party with.

When Cournoyea says she wants her work to be relevant, she means something broader than the tasks she completes in her office. As a community leader, she never stops working to help those around her.

"At Christmas time she still has a big 'do' down at her house for all the elders," says Hunter.

"I go there and I help her. She feeds everybody and she picks things up in her travels and then gives them out as prizes for the people who jig or do whatever games are there."

Further, Hunter says Cournoyea knows we have to pay attention to youth because they are the future.

"Whether they show a real interest in carrying on to become a nurse or a receptionist or whatever, she always says, 'as long as you do it to the best of your ability, that's all anyone can ask for.'"

Cournoyea's generosity comes out when she explains why she has no car.

"I did a lot of running people around or lending it out and had bad experiences with that," she says.

"So I decided not to own anything."

Now she walks or takes a cab.

Cournoyea's generosity has become legendary thanks to her many large parties and her willingness to care for friends, travellers and others who might need a roof over their heads or a meal.

Cournoyea is a godmother to several children. She also has two adult children of her own: John Cournoyea, 38, who lives in Inuvik and Maureen Cournoyea, 30, who lives in Lethbridge, Alta.

Maureen is a single mother with two children, 14 year-old Raymond and 13 year-old James. Cournoyea describes them as "very independent."

Cournoyea spent her own childhood on a family trapline near Aklavik, the second of Nels and Maggie Hvatum's 11 children.

Her parents were very different people, not least because they shared an age gap of 22 years.

Nels was very firm, serious and goal-oriented. Cournoyea also calls him "stern and a very regimented person," who focused on finances.

Maggie, who is still alive and lives in Inuvik, is far more jovial according to her daughter.

Cournoyea said her parents had many conflicts because they saw life differently.

In her youth, Cournoyea hunted, trapped and fished. Her schooling came in the form of correspondence courses, with lessons sent up by plane from Alberta.

One tragedy when she was growing up was a fire at the family home -- a fire that burned Nellie but cost two of her siblings their lives.

"To me the affect was on the whole family. It was difficult on my mum and dad."

When Cournoyea was 18 she married a young naval officer stationed in Aklavik -- a marriage she now says "took a lot of work."

She says she does not think she did a very good job in her marriage even though she realizes, "I did everything I was supposed to do but sometimes it doesn't work out."

Why has she not remarried?

"It's not that there hasn't been opportunities," she says.

"But it takes a lot of work, especially on the woman's part. It's always like that."

Cournoyea worked at the hunters and trappers association as young as 11 years old. After working as a volunteer at the CHAK radio station and as a CBC North manager, she entered politics.

First, her political role was that of a COPE founder and activist along with Northerners such as Agnes Semmler and Jim Koe.

COPE helped unite Northern aboriginals, outline common goals and push for land claim settlements.

In 1979 she was elected MLA for Nunakput.

After holding four portfolios, including Energy, Mines and Petroleum, and Health, Cournoyea became Premier in 1991.

The leadership came after the first-ever vote for a government leader from members of the NWT legislative assembly.

Two candidates -- Couronyea and Sahtu MLA Stephen Kakfwi answered many questions from the other MLAs on current issues and their qualifications.

Now people talk of Cournoyea being a likely new senator for the Western Arctic after Nunavut is created April 1, 1999.

At the IRC, a corporation rocked in recent years by allegations of tax evasion and frivolous spending, Cournoyea has shown effective leadership for the past year and a half.

"You don't go to Hong Kong and say 'I'm going to invest money.' Nobody does that," she says before stressing the wonders of tele-conferencing.

Previously, she says people at the IRC had an "irresponsible management style" and she said she is "disappointed" with some of the financial advice IRC advisors forwarded.

"Yes, it was very bad investment planning," Cournyea says.

"Very bad, and there was a lack of respect (with regards) to seeking educated and intelligent counsel."

Policy-wise, though, Cournoyea wants a government that cares for people who need help, she says people also need to help themselves.

Recent IRC history may have helped make her more of a fiscal conservative who watches the bottom line.

In a 1997 essay for the Magna for Canada scholarship program, invitational author Cournyea wrote, "The role of government is to nurture, promise and support effort, but it cannot seek to prevent every failure."

Cournoyea says she supports more power closer to the people, in short--decentralization.

In the essay, she wrote, "Recent moves to devolve powers to the provincial level .... have begun to turn the tide on big government. But I fear the initiative is beginning to lose steam."

Despite her many years in public office, Cournyea has kept a common touch and the respect of many in Northern communities.

"When there's a goal that the people want she usually knows who to call and who to get together and who are the doers and everything to try to get something off the ground," says Hunter who still goes picking yellow berries with Cournoyea at places such as Noel Lake.

"She's got a lot of things done but she doesn't toot her own horn," says Hunter.