Nellie Kusugak
{{Short description|Canadian educator and regional commissioner}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=April 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Nellie Kusugak, 2016 (cropped).jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Kusugak in 2016
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable
| name = Nellie Kusugak
| honorific_suffix = ONu
| nationality = Canadian
| order = 5th
| office = Commissioner of Nunavut
| term_start = 23 June 2015
| term_end = 22 June 2020
| primeminister = {{Unbulleted list|Stephen Harper|Justin Trudeau}}
| premier = {{Unbulleted list|Peter Taptuna|Paul Quassa|Joe Savikataaq}}
| predecessor = Edna Elias
| successor = Rebekah Williams (acting)
| term_label2 = Acting
| term_start2 = 11 April 2010
| term_end2 = 31 May 2010
| predecessor2 = Ann Meekitjuk Hanson
| successor2 = Edna Elias
| primeminister2 = Stephen Harper
| premier2 = Eva Aariak
| order3 = Deputy Commissioner of Nunavut
| term_start3 = 15 February 2010
| term_end3 = 23 June 2015
| predecessor3 = Helen Maksagak
| successor3 =
| primeminister3 = Stephen Harper
| premier3 = Eva Aariak
Peter Taptuna
| birth_name = Nellie Taptaqut Kusugak
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1955}}{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}
| birth_place = Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories (now Nunavut), Canada
| spouse = Jose Kusugak
| occupation = educator
| profession = politician
| religion =
}}
Nellie Taptaqut Kusugak {{post-nominals|ONu}} (born 1955{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}) is a Canadian educator who served as the fifth commissioner of Nunavut from June 2015 to June 2020.{{cite news |url=http://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2015/06/23/pm-announces-nellie-taptaqut-kusugak-commissioner-nunavut |title=PM announces Nellie Taptaqut Kusugak as Commissioner of Nunavut |date=23 June 2015 |publisher=Office of the Prime Minister of Canada |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626132356/http://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2015/06/23/pm-announces-nellie-taptaqut-kusugak-commissioner-nunavut |archive-date=26 June 2015}}{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-commissioner-wraps-up-five-year-term-1.5622664 |title=Speak Inuktitut, protect the vulnerable, says Nunavut commissioner on end of five-year term |work=CBC News |date=23 June 2020 |access-date=15 August 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/i-want-a-really-healthy-nunavut-commissioner-says-at-end-of-five-year-term/ |title=Nunavut commissioner completes five-year term |work=Nunatsiaq News |date=2 July 2020 |access-date=15 August 2020 |first=Emma|last=Tranter}}
Early life
Kusugak is from Rankin Inlet.{{Cite web|date=June 23, 2015|title=Nellie Kusugak named as new Nunavut commissioner|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nellie-kusugak-named-as-new-nunavut-commissioner-1.3124575|website=CBC News}} Kusugak received a BEd in 1996 through the Nunavut Teachers Education Program provided by Nunavut Arctic College (NAC) and McGill University, where she is listed as an adjunct professor. She has been a teacher for about 20 years in both Inuktitut and English. Prior to her appointment as deputy commissioner, she was an adult educator at NAC in Rankin Inlet.{{cite web|title=McGill University, Graduate Studies and Research 1999–2000 / Adjunct professor|url=https://www.mcgill.ca/files/courses/W99GSU06.PDF|publisher=McGill University|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611035516/http://www.mcgill.ca/files/courses/W99GSU06.PDF|archive-date=11 June 2011|access-date=11 December 2016}}
Political career
Kusugak served as Deputy Commissioner of Nunavut from 2010 to 2015. She was appointed by Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Chuck Strahl, on 15 February 2010 and was sworn in on 25 February.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/mr/nr/j-a2010/23308-eng.asp |title=Minister Strahl Announces Appointment of Nellie T. Kusugak as Deputy Commissioner of Nunavut |access-date=20 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011005504/http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/ai/mr/nr/j-a2010/23308-eng.asp |archive-date=11 October 2010 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.gov.nu.ca/premier/news/2010/feb26.pdf |title=Premier Congratulates Nunavut Deputy Commissioner |access-date=20 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610131830/http://www.gov.nu.ca/premier/news/2010/feb26.pdf |archive-date=10 June 2011 |url-status=dead }} On 11 April 2010, Kusugak became the acting Commissioner of Nunavut with the expiry of Ann Meekitjuk Hanson's term and served until the appointment of Edna Elias a month later.{{cite news |title=New Nunavut commissioner to be named soon |date=13 April 2010 |url=http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/89768_new_nunavut_commissioner_to_be_named_soon/ |publisher=Nunatsiaq News |access-date=30 April 2020}} As the territorial head of state, Kusugak represented all Nunavut citizens.{{Cite web|date=June 23, 2020|title=Speak Inuktitut, protect the vulnerable, says Nunavut commissioner on end of five-year term|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-commissioner-wraps-up-five-year-term-1.5622664|website=CBC News}} While in office, she gave Assent to bills passed by the legislative assembly, swore in cabinet ministers, and signed off on documents, among other official duties.{{Cite web|date=2020-07-02|title=Nunavut commissioner completes five-year term|url=https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/i-want-a-really-healthy-nunavut-commissioner-says-at-end-of-five-year-term/|access-date=2021-12-21|website=Nunatsiaq News|language=en}}
Personal life
Honours and Arms
- File:CAN Order of Nunavut ribbon.svg Member of the Order of Nunavut
- Louie Kamookak Medal, Royal Canadian Geographical Society
{{Infobox COA wide
|escutcheon = Per pale Azure and Gules an inuksuk between three ulus Or and in chief a snow knife fesswise Argent hilted Or.
|crest = A flower Gules seeded of a woman’s face proper all within a timber frame Or.
|supporters = Two snow buntings each gorged of a collar of Inuit beadwork proper pendent therefrom a maple leaf conjoined in base with an ulu Or, both standing on a base of snow set with two qulliqs and purple saxifrage flowers all flanked by waves proper and issuant from a bar of an Inuit tattoo pattern Sable.
|motto = ᓇᒡᓕᖕᓂᖅ ᐃᓚᒌᑦᓯᐊᕐᓂᖅ ᓴᐱᓕᔪᐃᑦᑑᓂᖅ;{{cite web|url=https://www.gg.ca/en/heraldry/public-register/project/2924 |title=Nellie Taptaqut KUSUGAK |publisher=Canadian Heraldic Authority |access-date=11 March 2025}}}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Commissioners of Nunavut}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kusugak, Nellie}}
Category:21st-century Canadian politicians
Category:21st-century Canadian women politicians
Category:21st-century indigenous leaders of the Americas
Category:21st-century Inuit people
Category:21st-century Inuit women
Category:Commissioners of Nunavut
Category:Women in Nunavut politics
Category:People from Rankin Inlet
Category:Inuit from the Northwest Territories