Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

IQALUIT (Jun 07/99) - The Qikiqtani Inuit Association took another step towards tackling the issue of dog-team slaughters last week.

Following their board of directors meeting in Resolute Bay, QIA president Pauloosie Keyootak announced that the association planned to form a committee to research and document the stories of Inuit who were harmed by the past actions of the RCMP. While the complaints of the mistreatments vary, the one that has received the greatest amount of press recently involves the slaughter of dog-teams by the RCMP in the 1950s and '60s.

"At this point we're focusing on the slaughtering of dogs. There's been some cases where there have been other wrongs done to the Inuit, but the slaughtering of dogs is more universal and that's what we want to start with," said Keeyootak.

From Qikiqtarjuaq originally, Keeyootak said Inuit across Canada have told him stories of their dog teams being killed by police and that, while his organization was not actively soliciting the stories from Nunavut residents, he had received several phone calls from people who want to bring the issue into the open so they can begin to correct it.

By video and audiotaping the testimony, the QIA, in conjunction with Nunavik's Makivik Corp., said they planned to build a legal case to secure an apology and compensation from the RCMP because, as Keeyootak explained it, when the dogs were killed to force people to relocate, it also destroyed traditional Inuit means of livelihood.

"From the stories I've been told from elders who have gone through this experience, it was mainly when people came in from outlying camps that their dogs were being killed so they didn't have a means of returning to their camp. Even when they just came in for supplies to the community, they killed off the dogs to prevent the family from returning to the outpost camp," said Keeyootak.

Inuit were then forced to reside within the government developed communities and started to become dependent upon the government for sustenance.

Sgt. Glen Siegersma, the media relations officer for the RCMP's V division, said the police are pleased that QIA is collecting evidence and that they hoped the Inuit organization will share the material or make a presentation to the RCMP.

"It's a great idea. I just wish we had the resources to go out and do it as well," said Sgt. Siegersma.

The RCMP have been in the process of conducting their own community consultations over the last several months in response to requests that came out of a Nunavut-wide meeting in Iqaluit. Sgt. Siegersma said that once they have gathered all of the relevant information, the police would decide the most appropriate way to respond.