Nunavut - The New Territory

The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement was ratified by the Inuit of Nunavut in November of 1992. It was signed by the Prime Minister of Canada on May 25, 1993 in Iqaluit, and passed through the Canadian Parliament in June of the same year.

It is the largest aboriginal land claim settlement in Canadian history. In providing title to the Nunavut Inuit of 350,000 square-kilometers of land in the eastern Arctic, the agreement establishes clear rules of ownership and control over land and resources in the new Territory of Nunavut, which has an area of land one-fifth the size of Canada.

The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement is one of the most innovative of the "modern day treaties" concluded in Canada. Some of the more outstanding of its 41 articles include the following:

• the inclusion of a political accord that provides for the establishment of the new Territory of Nunavut, and through this a form of self government for the Nunavut Inuit
• title to approximately 350,000 square kilometers (136,000 square miles) of land, of which 35,257 square kilometers (14,000 square miles) include mineral rights;
• equal representation of Inuit with government on a new set of wildlife management, resource management and environmental boards;
• the right to harvest wildlife on lands and waters throughout the Nunavut settlement area;
• capital transfer payments of $ 1.148 billion, payable to the Inuit over 14 years;
• a $ 13-million Training Trust Fund;
• a share of federal government royalties for Nunavut Inuit from oil, gas and mineral development on Crown lands;
• where Inuit own surface title to the land, the right to negotiate with industry for economic and social benefits from non-renewable resource development;
• the right of first refusal on sport and commercial development of renewable resources in the Nunavut Settlement Area;
• the creation of three new federally funded national parks.

The above text was excerpted from the Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated web site at www.tunngavik.com.