Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Gjoa Haven (June 03/02) - As hunters and trappers in Iqaluit struggle to come up with a policy for transferring Inuit harvesting rights, their colleagues in western Nunavut have plunged into the issue.

Louis Kamookak, chair of the Gjoa Haven Hunters and Trappers Association, said last week his board is already involved with the assignment of harvesting rights.

Assignment, as outlined in the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, is a means of allowing Inuit elders and others unable to hunt for themselves to transfer their harvesting rights to another Inuk or a non-Inuk spouse to keep food on the table.

Responsibility for managing assignment was delegated to HTAs and regional wildlife organizations.

The issue arose in Gjoa Haven last month when hunters learned they'd been given three tags to hunt bears in the Gulf of Boothia.

Interested hunters put their names into a hat and HTA officials drew three winners.

But one was unable to go because his snowmobile broke down. The second of the three winners is a woman unfamiliar with bear hunting.

"Her husband couldn't go so she assigned the tag to her brother and the other guy gave it to his brother," said Kamookak.

Working within their authority, Kamookak said the board agreed to let the residents assign their rights and that it was done verbally, rather than using paper forms.

"They had a choice to give it back and redraw or to give it to someone," said Kamookak.

He said until Gjoa Haven has more polar bear tags of its own, he expects to see the number of bear assignments in the community increase.

Rights to non-Inuk spouse

The HTA has also been involved in the assignment of Inuit harvesting rights to a non-Inuk spouse.

Kamookak said Lorna Porter and her non-Inuk fiance asked the HTA for permission to assign half of Porter's harvesting rights to her common-law partner.

"We had a meeting and we made a motion to accept it," said Kamookak.

Because the HTA has not drawn up its own assignment form, they used one from the Department of Sustainable Development.

While the generic form is regarded by some as outdated and inappropriate for Nunavummiut, Kamookak said they considered it usable. He said HTA board members are pleased the form left a space for input and conditions, such as which species the fiance can hunt.

Porter said she was determined as a land-claim beneficiary to give her rights to her husband so he can hunt for the family.

"Just because he's white and doesn't eat raw native foods doesn't mean he can't hunt for me and my daughter," said Porter. "We eat this kind of food on a regular basis. Are we supposed to stop eating it because I'm marrying someone who is white?"

Assignment has not been an easy subject for the HTA, though. Kamookak said interpreting the legal language of the land claims agreement is extremely difficult and he is frustrated Nunavut Tunngavik isn't doing more to help beneficiaries understand the claim.

"Nobody ever came to our community to explain this," said Kamookak. "NTI has to educate people on the agreement."

NTI president Cathy Towtongie said a $1.6-million strategy to do just that has been in the works for four months.

Community liaison officers will be hired in all hamlets and will act as the first point of contact between beneficiaries and the land claims organizations. Tasked with multiple responsibilities, the officers will help residents interpret the claim.

Towtongie also said a simpler version of the agreement will be available in Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun and English this fall. It will summarize the history of the agreement and explain each article in understandable language.

"We were aware Inuit were not informed," said Towtongie. "I apologize to beneficiaries this has not taken place sooner."