Syracuse University SURFACE Dissertations - ALL SURFACE August 2019 Nunavut, A Creation Story. The Inuit Movement in Canada's Newest Territory Holly Ann Dobbins Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/etd Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Dobbins, Holly Ann, "Nunavut, A Creation Story. The Inuit Movement in Canada's Newest Territory" (2019). Dissertations - ALL. 1097. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/1097 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the SURFACE at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Abstract This is a qualitative study of the 30-year land claim negotiation process (1963-1993) through which the Inuit of Nunavut transformed themselves from being a marginalized population with few recognized rights in Canada to becoming the overwhelmingly dominant voice in a territorial government, with strong rights over their own lands and waters. In this study I view this negotiation process and all of the activities that supported it as part of a larger Inuit Movement and argue that it meets the criteria for a social movement. This study bridges several social sciences disciplines, including newly emerging areas of study in social movements, conflict resolution, and Indigenous studies, and offers important lessons about the conditions for a successful mobilization for Indigenous rights in other states. In this research I examine the extent to which Inuit values and worldviews directly informed movement emergence and continuity, leadership development and, to some extent, negotiation strategies.