Inuit say yes to Nunavut

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Inuit in the Northwest Territories overwhelmingly supported their land claim in a ratification vote on the agreement which will eventually lead to the creation of an Inuit homeland called Nunavut.

Almost 70 per cent of the largely Inuit populatin voted in favor of the deal, which will give them surface rights to 350,000 square kilometres of land and more than $1 billion in compensation over 14 years.

"There were tears of joy," said Jack Kupena, vice-president of the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut, the organization that negotiated the deal on behalf of the region's 17,000 Inuit. "I've been waiting 17 years for this day."

Indian Affairs Minister Tom Siddon said he hopes to introduce legislation in Parliament to ratify the agreement and establish the new territory.

Nunavut is expected to become a self-governing region by 1999, with a publicly elected legislature holding similar powers to the current territorial government.

But while Inuit and government leaders hailed the deal as a breakthrough, Dene bands in the western Arctic, Saskatchewan and Manitoba say the deal threatens their traditional territories.

In the week leading up to the ratification vote, Denesuline bands from northern Manitoba put advertisements in Arctic newspaper asking voters to call band leaders for information about territorial conflicts.

The Densuline claim, more than half of their traditional territory, lies north of 60 in areas now covered by the Inuit claim. Denesuline leaders fear they will loose their rights on these territories during the creation of Nunavut.

Bands in northern Saskatchewan were recently turned down by the federal court on their request for an injunction blocking implementation of the deal until their traditional land conflicts were resolved.

And Dene in the western Arctic have struggled for years with Inuit leaders over a boundary between Dene and Inuit claims areas. A boundary was imposed by Siddon last year after Dene and Inuit leaders failed to reach a compromise during more than a decade of negotiations.

But Inuit leaders are optimistic about the future. Kupena said the result of the vote leaves the door open for economic developent projects like a $1 billion mine, port and hydro project proposed for Coppermine at the western edge of Nunavut.

N.W.T. Constitutional Affairs Minister Steve Kakfwi, who used to head the Dene Nation, said he was pleased with the settlement and called it a "lesson for all aboriginal people across Canada."