Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI) will be pursuing Inuit Self-Government in Nunavut, following a resolution at its annual general meeting on Nov. 16.
The resolution will seek a negotiation mandate with the Government of Canada to exercise their inherent right to Inuit Self-Government.
In a release by the Inuit Organization, NTI is asserting that the Government of Nunavut has resisted the development of policies, programs and services which meet the needs of Inuit, who make up the vast majority of people in the territory, instead focusing on “the non-Inuit minority.” The release also decries the decline in the quality of life for Nunavut Inuit, as well as the loss of language and culture seen in Inuit communities.
READ MORE: Erosion of language and culture driving force behind NTI decision to support self-government
On Oct. 13, NTI announced it will be taking the Government of Nunavut to court over a failure to create a full Inuit-language K-12 education over the course of the past 22 years.
“At NTI, we wholeheartedly understand how difficult it will be to continue to struggle under a regime that does not support us nor wants us to succeed in fulfilling the vision of a prosperous and thriving Nunavut envisioned by young, bold Inuit leaders in the 1970s,” stated Aluki Kotierk, President of NTI.
With the passing of this resolution, NTI will be actively looking toward developing an Inuit self-government with the federal government.
“We owe it to Inuit to represent their full potential,” said Kotierk.