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Thehistory of Nunavut covers the period from the arrival of thePaleo-Eskimo thousands of years ago to present day. Prior to the colonization of the continent by Europeans, the lands encompassing present-dayNunavut were inhabited by several historical cultural groups, including thePre-Dorset, theDorsets, theThule and their descendants, theInuit.
From the 18th century, the territory was claimed by the British, with portions of Nunavut administered as a part theRupert's Land, theNorth-Western Territory, or theBritish Arctic Territories. After theDeed of Surrender was signed in 1870, ownership of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory was transferred from theHudson's Bay Company to thegovernment of Canada. In 1880, the British Arctic Territories were also transferred to the Canadian government. Present-day Nunavut was initially administered as a part of theNorthwest Territories, although by the end of 1912, the territory only administered the lands north of the60th parallel north and east ofYukon.
During the late-20th century, the government of Canada entered into land claim negotiations with theInuit Tapiriit Kanatami. TheNunavut Land Claims Agreement was signed on May 25, 1993, with a six year transitional period for the establishment of a new territory. Nunavut was formally established as aCanadian territory on April 1, 1999.
Mainland Nunavut was first populated approximately 4500 years ago by thePre-Dorset, a diversePaleo-Eskimo culture that migrated westward from theBering Strait region, when the region was a geographical connection between Asia and America, calledBeringia.[1] Evidence suggests the Pre-Dorset culture were seasonally mobile, moving between settlements to take advantage of resources.[2]
The Pre-Dorset culture was succeeded by theDorset culture about 2800 years ago. Differences between the Pre-Dorset and Dorset cultures include those inlithic technology, art, and styles of building. The Dorset culture additionally lacked the bow and arrow which was utilized by the pre-Dorset.[3] The Dorset culture has been assumed to have developed from the Pre-Dorset, however the relationship between the two remains unclear.[3]
Helluland, a location Norse explorers describe visiting in theSagas of Icelanders has been connected to Nunavut'sBaffin Island. Claims of contact between the Dorset and Norse, however, remain controversial.[4][5]
TheThule people, ancestors of the modernInuit, began migrating into theNorthwest Territories and Nunavut from Alaska in the 11th century. By 1300, the geographic extent of Thule settlement included most of modern Nunavut.
A number of hypotheses have been developed to explain the Thule migration. The historically dominant model posited byRobert McGhee holds that changes inbowhead whale populations brought about by theMedieval Warm Period drew Thule hunters westward. Other hypotheses connect the migration topopulation pressure, warfare, over-hunting, and Greenlandic iron deposits.[6]
The migration of the Thule people coincides with the decline of the Dorset, who died out between 800 and 1500.[7] While Thule settlers may have adopted Dorset harpoon and hunting technology, there is virtually no evidence confirming contact between the two populations.[1][8]
The written historical accounts of Nunavut begin in 1576, with an account by English explorer,Martin Frobisher.[9] Frobisher, while leading an expedition to find theNorthwest Passage, thought he had discovered gold ore around the body of water now known asFrobisher Bay on the coast ofBaffin Island.[10] While the ore turned out worthless, Frobisher made the first recorded European contact with theInuit. Other explorers in search of the elusive Northwest Passage followed in the 17th century, includingHenry Hudson,William Baffin andRobert Bylot. Despite these explorations, these events ultimately had no significant impact on the Nunavut and its peoples.[9]
Beginning around the 1820s, whitewhalers visited the region and started hunting thousands of whales. Whaling operations were soon established in nearbyCumberland Sound andHerschel Island. The whalers and the native Inuit began trading goods and supplies. Some Inuit began working with the whalers to hunt whales in exchange for various good such as tea, tobacco, equipment and guns. Meanwhile, the whalers sought furs and labor. By the late 19th century, whalers were a common presence in the region. However, this process also brought negative issues for the natives, including the introduction of addictive substances like alcohol and diseases which killed many.[9]
Trading in fur became the main economic activity in Nunavut during the early 20th century after whaling declined. Meanwhile, theHudson's Bay Company (HBC) set up operations in the region during this period and eventually acted as an intermediary of the government.[11] Rudimentary governance and social services were administered via trading posts owned by the HBC or religious organizations led by Christian missionaries. The fur trade ultimately led to many Inuit voluntarily or forcefully relocating to other locales along with abandoning traditional hunting and subsistence in favor offur trapping. Despite theNorthwest Territories government theoretically exercising control of the region, Nunavut was generally left alone until the aftermath ofWorld War II.[11]
Cornwallis andEllesmere Islands feature in the history of theCold War in the 1950s. Efforts to assert sovereignty in the High Arctic during the Cold War, i.e. the area's strategic geopolitical position, were part of the reason the federal government decided toforcibly relocate Inuit fromnorthern Quebec toResolute andGrise Fiord.
The first group of people were relocated in 1953 fromInukjuak,Quebec (then known as Port Harrison) and fromPond Inlet, Nunavut. They were promised homes and game to hunt, but the relocated people discovered no buildings and very little familiar wildlife.[12] They also had to endure weeks of24-hour darkness during the winter, and24-hour sunlight during the summer, something that does not occur in northern Quebec. They were told that they would be returned home after a year if they wished, but this offer was later withdrawn as it would damage Canada's claims to sovereignty in the area and the Inuit were forced to stay. Eventually, the Inuit learned the localbeluga whale migration routes and were able to survive in the area, hunting over a range of 18,000 km2 (6,900 sq mi) each year.[13]
In 1993, the Canadian government held hearings to investigate the relocation program. TheRoyal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples issued a report entitledThe High Arctic Relocation: A Report on the 1953–55 Relocation.[14] The government paid $10 million CAD to the survivors and their families, but did not apologize until August 18, 2010.[15][16]
The whole story is told in Melanie McGrath'sThe Long Exile: A Tale of Inuit Betrayal and Survival in the High Arctic.[17]
Leading up to the 1970s, there was some discussion of splitting theNorthwest Territories into two separate jurisdictions in order to better reflect the demographic character of the territory. In 1966, a public commission of inquiry on Northwest Territories government reported, recommending against division of the Northwest Territories at the time.
In 1976, as part of the land claims negotiations between theInuit Tapiriit Kanatami (then called theInuit Tapirisat of Canada) and thefederal government, the division of the Northwest Territories was discussed. On April 14, 1982, aplebiscite on division was held throughout the Northwest Territories with a majority of the residents voting in favour and the federal government gave a conditional agreement seven months later. The land claims agreement was decided in September 1992 and ratified by nearly 85% of the voters in Nunavut in areferendum. On May 25, 1993, theNunavut Land Claims Agreement was signed[18] and on June 10, 1993, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act and the Nunavut Act were passed by theCanadian Parliament,[19][20] with the transition completed on April 1, 1999.[21]
… Michele Hayeur Smith of Brown University in Rhode Island, lead author of a recent paper in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Hayeur Smith and her colleagues were looking at scraps of yarn, perhaps used to hang amulets or decorate clothing, from ancient sites on Baffin Island and the Ungava Peninsula. The idea that you would have to learn to spin something from another culture was a bit ludicrous," she said. "It's a pretty intuitive thing to do.
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