Yesterday the Federal Government apologized in Arctic Bay, to people relocated from Kinngait, Pangnirtung, and Mitamitalik to Dundas Harbour on Devon Island. Devon Island is the largest uninhabited island in the world, and to promote sovereignty the Canadian Government created an RCMP post there from 1926 to 1931 and 1945 to 1951. In between the two periods of an RCMP detachment the Hudson Bay Company leased the buildings and tried to establish a trading post there for about a year before abandoning it. Inuit families were relocated there from 1937 to 1948. Inuit families also accompanied the RCMP members for all but the first year of establishment. You can read the CBC news article here.
I was unable to get to the ceremony because of work, but by all accounts it was a moving and profound moment in the history of our community. The Minister of Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, Gary Anandasangaree, delivered the apology on behalf of the Canadian Government. Isaac Shooyook, who lived at Dundas Harbour as a young boy, was one of the people who spearheaded the push for an apology for the relocation, which like all of the Arctic relocations was filled with false and broken promises. Essentially these relocations were all about using Inuit as human flags to promote Canadian Sovereignty. Shooyook is an amazing individual, and you can read a bit about his history starting here.
I was headed to the celebration afterwards, and I had been asked to photograph it. It was supposed to start at 7, but when I arrived I found that they had started early, and were just wrapping up. Still that little bit of celebration was magical, and it is always a joy to watch the kids square dance Inuit style. The laughter and joy in the place is always magical.