NUNAVUT - The two monuments dedicated to the families relocated to the High Arctic in the 1950s will not be unveiled this September as was planned, according to Paul Kaludjak, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

Looty Pijamini of Grise Fiord and Simeonie Amagoalik of Resolute are both working on monuments to commemorate the relocation of Inuit families to the High Arctic during the 1950s.

Instead, the carvings will be unveiled in the fall of 2010, Kaludjak said.

"They won't be quite done so we're delaying by another year," he said.

Kaludjak said the delay will allow the carvers time to perfect their work.

"I think to do a good job it takes that long because those things are huge and it takes a lot of time and detail to the carvings," he said.

Kaludjak said the size of the carvings is one of the main reasons for the delay.

"Unfortunately the carvers are not quite done because the monuments are quite large," he said. "They're about six feet or so, I heard."

Kaludjak said the carvers notified NTI that the project would take longer than expected.

"We're in contact with our carvers up there and that’s what they gave us so we decided we should delay for a year," he said.

Kaludjak said everyone involved believed September of this year to be a realistic date until carvers began work.

"That’s what our expectation was until the work began, as I said they're large pieces so they take a long time," he said.

In an interview with Nunavut News/North in May, Pijamini said he is using local granite for his carving of a mother and child looking out towards the ocean.

Though Kaludjak said everyone is a little disappointed, he said patience will pay off.

"It couldn’t be helped. There will be another chance," he said. "There will be another opportunity so we just have to wait for next year."