People have high expectations for territory
KerryMcCluskey
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Apr 02/01) - The land doesn't tell time the way humans do. We mark the passage of years with anniversaries, days to remember. Now, as the Arctic winter gives way to spring...
Tapisa Pitseolak is typical of many two year olds.
Her independence is blossoming. She's walking and talking and beginning to exert authority over her surroundings.
Her birthday was Sunday, April 1, the same day Nunavut turned two.
While the anniversary has become a focal point in the identity of many Inuit in Nunavut, for Mona Enooagak Pitseolak, the day is even more special. April 1, 1999 was the day the Pond Inlet resident gave birth to Tapisa, her first daughter.
When contacted last week -- amid plans for what she hoped would be a big birthday party -- Pitseolak said it was impossible not to make comparisons between the growth of her daughter and her territory.
"She's walking a lot and learning words. She's growing and Nunavut is growing up too," said Pitseolak.
"That's the way I see it," she said.
However, where Nunavut falls short and Tapisa pulls ahead is in that rate of growth. Pitseolak said she could see real changes in her daughter, but had yet to see many changes to life in Nunavut.
"They promised there were going to be a lot of jobs, but there isn't yet," said Pitseolak, who's hoping to attend Algonquin College in Ottawa this fall. That will give her the leg up she needs to take advantage of the positions she still hopes will develop.
She said impatience for change was widespread and people in Pond Inlet largely felt the dream had not yet come true.
"A lot of people are saying (Nunavut) hasn't had any impact on their life yet. They say it hasn't happened yet," she said.
But, Pitseolak also said more Inuit were working and talking about their place in the workforce. She further added that she was proud of the strong links to culture still found in her community.
"One thing I'm really proud of is that we're still using our language here. Most people speak Inuktitut," she said.
A show of help
While Gjoa Haven resident Elizabeth Hiqiniq would like to see the government beef up the amount they pay for income support, she said the recent territorial fuel subsidy restored her faith in Nunavut.
It also filled her furnace tank full of oil and eased her mind for a few weeks.
"Some people have already noticed that we're getting a little help. Some people are quite happy. I am." said Hiqiniq.
She said if the government continued to help low income residents in similar ways, it would make for a less stressful way of life.
"That way, people wouldn't be starving. People here sometimes don't have anything to eat and the animals, you have to go so far away to get to them," she said.
"If (the government) would add a little more, people wouldn't always have such a hard time," she said.
Bigger than money
Johnny Issaluk of Chesterfield Inlet said building Nunavut and achieving independence has been a struggle over the last two years, but a necessary one.
"It's in the process of happening," he said.
"Nothing comes cheap. A good thing is never easy to get and I think they're doing a pretty good job," he said.
Issaluk said he believes the wrong people were consulted on what Nunavummiut needed or where the answers could be found.
"The people who have no jobs or money are never asked what they think. They should be asked how to improve things. They could give more ideas than the rich politicians."
