Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Jun 26/00) - The Government of Nunavut is considering options to see what they can do to save a valuable part of Inuit history.

On May 26, a notice of seizure was served to the Inuit Cultural Institute -- which owns a 1,600-piece collection of Inuit artifacts -- by the Bank of Montreal. The ICI owes $52,000 to the bank.

The collection remains in safekeeping at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Museum in Yellowknife.

"Currently, the Government of Nunavut is meeting with the Bank of Montreal and with our Department of Justice," says Annette Bourgeois, press secretary to Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik.

Asked whether the territorial government was looking at buying the collection or paying off its debt, Bourgeois said, "It's my understanding that they're looking at all the possibilities."

In an interview with News/North last week, DIAND Minister Robert Nault said his department is concerned about the situation.

"We've been involved for a number of years in the collection, but we are also aware the territorial government is working with some private sector financial institutions."

Nault said he does not think the Bank of Montreal "is going to take our art work away."

"I doubt very much they would even attempt to do that."

The collection originally came from DIAND, which had been buying Inuit art since the 1950s. In the early 1990s, DIAND divided the collection between the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Canadian Museum of Civilization and ICI.

The cultural institute, whose president was Ollie Ittinuar, had been experiencing financial troubles for several years, including the inability to provide DIAND, a funder, with necessary information.

"We still want and hope to be involved, but we also have necessities. We want to work with the institute so they understand what our needs are. One of our needs is we have not had an ability to get financial audits for some time. If they can give us the information we want, we can certainly be helpful," said Nault.

But ICI, which has lost its funding and the support of most Nunavut communities, no longer seems to exists.

(With files from Kerry McCluskey)