John Amagoalik
{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = John Amagoalik
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| office1 = Chairman of the Nunavut Implementation Commission
| monarch1 =
| lieutenant_governor1 =
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| term_start1 = 1993
| term_end1 = 1999
| office2 = President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
| predecessor2 = Micheal Amarook
| successor2 = Rhoda Inukshuk
| term_start2 = 1981
| term_end2 = 1985, again from 1988-1991
| office3 = Executive director of Nunavut Land Claims Project
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 =
| term_start3 = 1974
| term_end3 = 1975
| birth_date = November 26, 1947
| birth_place = Nunavik, Quebec
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| office4 = Baffin Regional Information Officer
| term_start4 = 1971
| term_end4 = 1974
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}}
John Amagoalik {{post-nominals|country=CAN|OC|ONu}} (born November 26, 1947) is an Inuk politician{{Cite web|title=Amagoalik, John {{!}} Inuit Literatures ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓪᓚᒍᓯᖏᑦ Littératures inuites|url=https://inuit.uqam.ca/en/person/amagoalik-john|access-date=2021-06-02|website=inuit.uqam.ca}} from Nunavik (Québec). He campaigned for Inuit rights and made a significant contribution to the founding of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. He was Chairman of the Nunavut Implementation Commission and is widely regarded as the "Father of Nunavut".
Early life and education
Amagoalik was born on November 26, 1947, near Inukjuaq in Nunavik in northern Québec.{{cite web |title=John Amagoalik (November 26, 1947 - ) |url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/politics-government/canadian-confederation/Pages/john-amagoalik.aspx?wbdisable=true |website=bac-lac.gc.ca |accessdate=February 5, 2020}} In 1953, his family was relocated to Resolute Bay by the Canadian Government and he was educated in residential schools in Resolute Bay, Churchill and Iqaluit.{{cite web |title=John Amagoalik |url=https://smu.ca/academics/archives/john-amagoalik.html |website=smu.ca |accessdate=February 5, 2020}} However, Amagoalik stopped his formal education after grade 9 to support his father who had fallen ill with tuberculosis.{{cite web |title=John Amagoalik |url=https://www.qtcommission.ca/en/qtiq31 |website=qtcommission.ca |accessdate=February 5, 2020}} His families living conditions after their forced relocation to Resolute was poor, with no vegetation or fish.{{cite news |last1=Farnsworth |first1=Clyde H. |title=Iqaluit Journal; The Day the Eskimos Were Cast Into Darkness |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/10/world/iqaluit-journal-the-day-the-eskimos-were-cast-into-darkness.html |accessdate=February 5, 2020 |work=New York Times |date=April 10, 1992}} Years later, Amagoalik and other relocated Inuit identifying themselves as "High Arctic exiles" petitioned for Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper to apologize for the relocation.{{cite news |last1=Byers |first1=Michael |title=Mr. Harper, apologize to the 'High Arctic exiles' |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/mr-harper-apologize-to-the-high-arctic-exiles/article18451801/ |accessdate=February 5, 2020 |publisher=Globe and Mail |date=June 12, 2008}}
Career
Amagoalik began his political career as the Baffin Regional Information Officer with the Northwest Territories territorial government from 1971 to 1974. In 1974, Amagoalik was appointed executive director of Nunavut Land Claims Project to claim Inuit land.{{cite book |last1=Nuttall |first1=Mark |title=Encyclopedia of the Arctic |date=September 23, 2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136786808 |pages=74–75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Swr9BTI_2FEC&pg=PA74 |accessdate=February 5, 2020}} The following year, he succeeded Tagak E.C. Curley as director of Land Claims for the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.{{cite news|title=Amagoalik succeeds|date=October 22, 1975|newspaper=Fairbanks Tundra Times|location=Alaska|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/politics-clipping-oct-22-1975-1538748/}}{{free access}}
Amagoalik served two terms as President of the Inuit Tapiriit of Canada before becoming a political adviser to the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut. He was also a member of the Executive Council of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference from 1980 to 1983.
After the ratification of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act and Nunavut Act in 1993, Amagoalik led the land-claims settlement process with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.{{cite web |last1=Kikkert |first1=Peter |title=Nunavut |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/nunavut |website=thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |accessdate=February 5, 2020 |date=August 9, 2007}} From 1993 to 1999, Amagoalik served as chair of the Nunavut Implementation Commission, which was a 10-member body that designed Nunavut's public government.{{cite web |last1=Bell |first1=Jim |title=Five people with ties to Nunavut, Nunavik named to Order of Canada |url=https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/five-people-with-ties-to-nunavut-nunavik-named-to-order-of-canada/ |website=nunatsiaq.com |accessdate=February 5, 2020 |date=December 30, 2019}} He recommended that Nunavut elect a "public government with democratically elected Legislative Assembly [which] will respect individual and collective rights as defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms."{{cite book |title=Nunavut: Inuit Regain Control of Their Lands and Their Lives |date=2000 |publisher=IWGIA |isbn=9788790730345 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wm-yttszFTMC&pg=PA64 |accessdate=February 5, 2020}} He was given the nickname "Father of Nunavut" for his efforts in founding the Canadian territory of Nunavut.{{cite web |title=ARCHIVED - Annual Report for 2004-2006 - The Implementation of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement |url=https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100030973/1542914627289?wbdisable=true |website=rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca |accessdate=February 5, 2020}}{{cite news |last1=O'Neill |first1=Katherine |title=Nunavut's birthday sparks debate about future |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/nunavuts-birthday-sparks-debate-about-future/article20446249/ |accessdate=February 5, 2020 |publisher=Globe and Mail |date=April 1, 2009}}
In 2014, Amagoalik was honoured with the Order of Nunavut.{{cite web |title=John Amagoalik, 'Father of Nunavut,' honoured in Iqaluit |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/john-amagoalik-father-of-nunavut-honoured-in-iqaluit-1.2816676 |website=cbc.ca |accessdate=February 5, 2020 |date=October 29, 2014}} He later received the Order of Canada for his “leadership in Canada’s North, notably for his integral role in the creation of Nunavut.”{{cite web |last1=Neary |first1=Derek |title=Amagoalik, Issaluk, Nicklen and Svoboda named to Order of Canada |url=https://nunavutnews.com/nunavut-news/amagoalik-issaluk-nicklen-named-to-order-of-canada/ |website=nunavutnews.com |accessdate=February 5, 2020 |date=December 27, 2019}}
References
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Category:20th-century Inuit people
Category:21st-century Inuit people
Category:Members of the Order of Nunavut
Category:Officers of the Order of Canada
Category:Politicians in Nunavut
Category:Canadian people of Inuit descent