Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Feb 18/02) - Jack Anawak's political career spans 25 years. But the minister of culture, elders, language and youth is more than just a political leader.

He is a survivor of abuse at residential school and instrumental in getting the Roman Catholic Church to acknowledge abuse at the school in Chesterfield Inlet.

Jack Anawak: "I think the role of a politician is to make life better for the people he or she represents." - Jennifer McPhee/NNSL photo

How do you feel about Christianity given what happened at Chesterfield Inlet?

I think it's good that people have religion to fall back on in terms of the problems we have today. But I think there has been too much made of the positive effects of Christianity. Before Christianity came along, we were surviving quite well. The world would still have gone on without Christianity.

Christianity thrived on people's ignorance. When I was growing up, I thought there were only Protestant and Roman Catholics in the world. The priests never bothered to tell us that there's Muslim, Hindu, all those different religions. They taught us about love and tolerance, all the while the majority of residential schools have cases of emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

It has done a lot to break up the fabric of the Inuit way of life.

How were you involved? (in making people aware of residential school abuse)

When I was a Member of Parliament, the protestant church apologized for the abuse. As a result, I wrote a letter to the bishop. At first, it was really quite a struggle to have them accept the abuse at Chesterfield Inlet.

It was only in 1993 when we (former students) got together that all the details started coming out. It took on a totally different role by the time we were finished. In the end, the plan was to discuss the sexual, physical and emotional abuse at Chesterfield Inlet.

...Granted, we had a very good education at Chesterfield Inlet. Just think of the talent that was there that could have been at the forefront of business and politics if it was not for the other side effects, abuse. I have classmates who haven't fared as well as I.

When were you there?

I went to Chesterfield Inlet for four years. Then I went to Rankin for one year and to Churchill for two years. In 1966, I was supposed to go back to school. But the priests in Repulse Bay told my parents that I should stay home and help out. They had that much influence over my parents that I couldn't go back to Grade 9. So I never went back to school. It didn't endear me to any priests.

You succeeded anyway. How?

I'm only 51 years old so I don't consider myself a success yet. But I think it was an ability to look at things and think there's something wrong. It started off in 1966. I was 16 years old and the government came along and said you won't be able to catch any more than 16 polar bears in Repulse. And then they said you're only allowed to catch so many narwhals. I remember thinking -- there's no way I'll ever not hunt as a result of the government. I guess it was determination.

It was always with questions though. There's a good book called the Imposter Phenomenon. Some successful people have feelings of 'I'm only here because I happened to be here at the right time.' You are always making excuses for your success. But (eventually) you start to accept that not everything that happens to you is by chance. Some of it is because you have capabilities.

I have only a Grade 8 education. In Repulse Bay, there was no library, no school. But, for some reason, the priest or the nurse used to get Harlequin Romance novels. So I picked up my reading skills from reading Harlequins when I was 16. I'm a fast reader now -- to the point where I finish a paperback between here and Rankin.

Were you abused at Chesterfield Inlet?

I was sexually abused. I didn't quite come to grips with that fact until 1994 or 1995. Before that, it was an embarrassment to even think about it. I remember when we were going to have a conference in Chesterfield Inlet over this whole issue, I asked one of the leaders about it (the abuse). He said he didn't want people to think he was a homosexual. This was a very telling comment because this person obviously wasn't ready to deal with the abuse he suffered at Chesterfield Inlet. The attitude was also a homophobic attitude, thinking that there's something wrong with being homosexual.

Did your feelings of inferiority come from your residential school experience?

Part of it. Part of it was just the contact with Qallunaat. When Qallunaat started coming to live in Nunavut, usually it was either a priest, Hudson's Bay, the RCMP or teachers -- all professionals. And they all had special expertise. So they all knew what the hell they were doing. We just seemed dumb compared to them because we didn't have their expertise. And what we realized was that we had our own expertise. So, we never met the ordinary Qallunaat for a long time because they never came up. So we thought Qallunaat were rich, could do anything.

I never really met any ordinary Qallunaat until 1985. I was at the Alcoholism Foundation of Manitoba sitting around with people who had the same kinds of problems in the home, or even worse, than I did. So you start dealing with the real people, not just the professionals. You start to think, I'm as smart as some of those people.

One of the things that contributed to the inferiority complex was that we learned all about the world, except Nunavut. We learned about the British Parliament, we cried when John F. Kennedy died, but we never learned who helped out John Rae when he wintered in Repulse.

I'm glad for the young people today because they don't have any such hang-ups.

But they still have problems.

But those problems don't stem from the same things as ours did. Their problem is more of an identity complex, whereas ours is an inferiority complex.

What do young people need?

I think pride in their heritage. I think they need more role models. We haven't had such a great history of having great role models in politics. More often than not, our politicians were in trouble. So the most visible component of a way of life in Nunavut was the politicians and they weren't such great role models.

Why is that?

Again, those people were seduced by the system.

I don't have a problem being called minister at times. But I'd prefer to be Jack. But too often -- because the way politics was introduced up here -- it was always with an attitude that the minister is a very important man. And usually it was Qallunaaq minister. There were no Inuit ministers.

All of a sudden, we've placed that person a little bit above everyone else. I have a problem with that. So when our own people became politicians, all of a sudden they started becoming legends in their own minds, thinking they are more important than the others. It's that walking-a-few- inches-above-the-ground sort of attitude.

I'm not in any danger of thinking my position is that important. Look at this office, it's about 10 feet by 12 feet.

How do you stay that way?

I always think of myself as Jack first before I think of my title or position. One of the things I do is volunteer for the crisis line. It's the kind of thing where, unless a call comes in, nobody knows you're there. That keeps things in perspective too -- that you're not so important that you can't do what regular folks do.

I go back to Repulse Bay a fair bit. That's where I put my feet on the ground. You take a snowmobile or boat out there and you're just part of the landscape.

Never take it for granted that you're going to be where you are. Ever.

You seem like a good role model.

I guess we never see ourselves as role models. In terms of public life, I might look at my life if I was a kid and say 'yeah that might be...'

But it's also knowing your limitations. You can only do so much.

There's a problem out there today, people think that any older person is an elder. It's like knowing the difference between a statesman and a politician. The statesman would never think of him or herself as important necessarily, whereas a politician thinks of himself as important all the time.

What's new at CLEY?

We're going to be pushing for more Inuktitut in the workplace and Inuktitut signs. We're pushing for the creation of an elders council and a youth council. The message has to be that Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit cannot be defined in a box. It's a way of life. People are going to have to understand that.

Sometimes it's not good to rush. If the department that people expected the most from is going to have an impact, then we're going to have to do it in a proper way.

As a politician, how do you think people will describe you?

I don't know. As a politician, I think I'm a square peg in a round hole. I don't quite fit. Nonconformist.

What do you consider your biggest accomplishment?

I think it's kind of foolish for us to list our accomplishments. I'll let the others judge. I may have broken some ground, but if I hadn't been there, someone else would have.

One thing I've always done is tried to have common sense about issues rather than just react ... If you're entering politics, have a vision, know why you're going into politics.

What's your vision?

My vision is to have the territory of Nunavut be a better place to live, where Inuit can have more control over their lives, where the government is more responsive to their needs than the Government of the Northwest Territories ever was. And where we can stand just as tall as the other provinces and territories.

I think the role of a politician is to make life better for the people he or she represents.