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RANKIN INLET
With so many interests at stake in Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.'s Meliadine project, a geography student and a Rankin Inlet resident have teamed up to take a look at the complexities surrounding Northern mining from an independent perspective.

Tara Cater, left, and Pallulaaq Friesen, pictured here at the North Rankin Nickel Mine site, spent 90 days this summer interviewing close to 75 community members, mine workers, and government and Agnico-Eagle officials. They are researching Rankin Inlet's mining history to get a picture of the relationship between Northern mines and Northern communities. - Tim Edwards/NNSL photo

Masters of geography candidate Tara Cater, from Memorial University in St. John's, and Rankin filmmaker Pallulaaq Friesen just wrapped up 90 days of interviewing close to 75 community members, mine workers, and government and Agnico-Eagle officials, and researching the Rankin Inlet's history in mining.

They'd originally aimed for about 25 interviews, but the issue is so complex and touches everybody, so that number quickly grew.

"We've talked to some people who have no experience in mining at all who live in the community, because it will affect everybody," said Friesen.

It's Cater's thesis project, and the interviews aim to look at how historical and contemporary encounters with mining have transformed the people and the landscape of the Kivalliq; how community members are adapting to living and working at mine sites on camp rotation schedules, the training and employment opportunities Meliadine will bring, and the nature of the relationship between Agnico-Eagle and Inuit communities in the region.

"There's a shared risk," said Cater.

Agnico-Eagle has "invested in the community, because they're putting millions of dollars in here ... and Agnico-Eagle is a really responsible company. It's trying to understand, but at the same time it's not their home, so there's tough questions from people trying to manage the risk and what it means to have a mine in their backyard, 25 km from town."

Friesen said there's been a "healthy mixture" of support and opposition to the project from the interviewees, and Cater added even the support has been tinged with trepidation. People recognize the needs for jobs and money in the region, but are also worried about the changes to the land and the health risks associated with mine's operation and closure.

"I don't think there has been one interview where we've sat with people and they've just talked for the whole time about how amazing the mine is going to be," Cater said. "They understand that mining is inherently blowing up the land. You can put it back, but it's going to be that process."

She said many people in the community don't have much faith in the mining industry's dedication to remediating mine sites, and cite the example of the North Rankin Nickel Mine, which Rankin Inlet was built on, and its lingering impacts. Some say there are still bodies of water where one shouldn't eat the seafood, she added.

"The North is no longer this place you can go and rape and pillage," Cater said. "It's now got very strong people that are protecting their homes and they have mediums in order to do this. Mining has to be different."

Now that the fieldwork has ended, Cater and Friesen have a lot of information to sift through and are trying to be creative in how they will distribute it.

"One of the first (projects) is to fix up the (nickel) mine site here in town, clean it up and make it a place where people can sit and check it out," said Friesen, adding that project is being done in conjunction with Kivalliq Tourism.

They are also considering making a film or animation about mining impacts, and will be writing a chapter in a public document produced by the University of Calgary, titled Mining in Northern Communities. They're also considering writing blog posts to Mining Watch or Greenpeace, and Cater has been approached to write something for the Centre of the North.

The thesis results will be provided back to the community after its defence, and Cater's intent is to create community record of the knowledge and history surrounding the effects mining has had on the hamlet.

Her work will fill a niche, she said, that can often be left unfilled - that of an independent researcher, beholden to no one.

"It means going out of your way to find funding because you don't want anyone to touch it," Cater said. "You don't want to speak back to anyone at the end of the day besides the community."

Cater and Friesen are partnered with ArcticNet's research project Adaptation, Industrial Development, and Arctic Communities, and with the Memorial University geography department.

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