Uranium Mining, Primitive Accumulation and Resistance in Baker
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URANIUM MINING, PRIMITIVE ACCUMULATION AND RESISTANCE IN BAKER LAKE, NUNAVUT: RECENT CHANGES IN COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVES By Warren Bernauer A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Native Studies University of Manitoba Winnipeg Copyright © 2011 by Warren Bernauer Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-77418-2 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-77418-2 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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ABSTRACT Historically, the Inuit of Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake) have expressed strong opposition to uranium mining in their territory, in part due to concerns that it would be detrimental to their harvesting practices. During these struggles, the Inuit of Qamani’tuaq had the support of various Inuit Organizations. The first decade of the 2000s saw the relevant Inuit Organizations change their policies from ones which opposed uranium mining to ones which support it. This thesis is an attempt to understand if Inuit at the community level have changed their opinions about uranium mining and, if so, why. During my time in Qamani’tuaq, it became apparent that the shift in policy has been followed by a gradual change in perspective among some members of the community. While opposition to uranium mining is by no means dead, the seemingly united stance the community previously held has become fragmented. This change is due to a number of factors, including an increased astuteness on the part of the mining industry, certain aspects of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and ongoing economic dependency upon the market economy. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance numerous people provided me throughout the research and writing process involved in the production of this thesis. Most importantly, I must extend a gracious thank you to all of the people in Baker Lake who helped me out while I was in town: Hilu Tagoona and Susan MacIssac who were kind enough to provide me with places to stay; Joan Scottie who helped me become connected in the community and provided invaluable guidance to me; Susan Toolooktook who lent me clothing suitable for an Arctic winter; John and Vera Avaala who opened their home to me and taught me a great deal about local history and culture; Jaime Katalluk who took me for trips onto the land; Percy Tutanuarq and Daniel Piryuarq who interpreted my interviews and spent countless nights attempting to teach me Inuktitut; Barry McAllumn from Areva Resources Canada Inc. who offered his time to discuss the proposal with me; and all of the people in town who agreed to be interviewed for my research. Additionally, I owe a thank you to many Inuit in Pangirtung for introducing me to Inuit culture in the summer of 2008. Noah and Alukie Metuq and Moe Evic were especially wonderful to me during my stay in their community. I must also give thanks to numerous people within academia who helped me along the way. My advisor, Professor Peter Kulchyski, and committee members, Professors Chris Trott and Thomas Henley, provided invaluable guidance throughout my time as a Master’s student at the University of Manitoba. Professors Emma Larocque and Wanda Wuttunee also provided assistance during my time in the Native Studies program. Administratively, I would have spent my time drowning in bureaucracy if it were not for the timely and ongoing assistance of the staff in the Native Studies department, especially Kim Wilde, Shirley McFaren and Debbie Hepples. A variety of agencies provided me with funding during my research and my time as a Master’s student in general. The Manitoba Research Alliance and the Northern Scientific Training Program both provided me with project funding, while the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council funded Linking Learning Leveraging: Investigating the Social Economy research project provided me with funding during my MA program. ma’na/qujannamiik/thank you ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT Page i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Page ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Page 1 CHAPTER 2: HISTORY Page 28 CHAPTER 3: THE NUNAVUT LAND CLAIMS AGREEMENT AND RESISTANCE TO DISPOSSESSION Page 58 CHAPTER 4: THE CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENT OF THE KIGGAVIK PROPOSAL Page 64 CHAPTER 5: ACCOUNTING FOR CHANGE Page 98 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS – COLONIALISM, CAPITALISM AND THE INTERNAL DIALECTIC OF THE NUNAVUT LAND CLAIMS AGREEMENT Page 138 BIBLIOGRAPHY Page 155 iii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake) is a settlement situated in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut, close to the geographic centre of Canada. Located in an Arctic Tundra eco-region, Qamani’tuaq is the only inland community in Nunavut. The region, despite being described as “barren” by some visitors, is very much full of life. The Beverly and Qamanirjuaq caribou herds make annual migrations through the region and musk ox, wolverines, foxes, wolves and many species of birds all inhabit the area, at least seasonally. Local lakes and river systems (including the Kazan and Thelon, both Canadian Heritage Rivers) contain a variety of fish. In the short summer months, the tundra is home to wildflowers, berries and other types of vegetation. Most people in Qamani’tuaq are Inuit. Their ancestors lived throughout the northern Kivalliq and most of them relied primarily on the region’s caribou herds to satisfy their material needs – a fact which prompted some anthropologists to attach the title “Caribou Eskimo/Inuit” to the people of the area. Following a somewhat rapid movement of Inuit from the land into the settlement of Qamani’tuaq in the post war period of the twentieth century, the community has been faced with successive waves of activity related to non-renewable resource extraction (primarily mining) in their territory. Due to the negative impact these activities were having (including dispossessing Inuit of their ability to provide for themselves via hunting) and concerns related to the social, economic and health impacts of proposed projects, the Inuit of Qamani’tuaq have historically expressed a great deal of opposition to industrial development on their land, and have undertaken legal and political battles to either cease existing activities or block proposed projects. Some of these struggles have received a great deal of media and scholarly attention, especially a 1979 court case in which Inuit attempted to halt uranium exploration in the region and a plebiscite in 1 1990 where the vast majority of the community indicated that they opposed a proposal to construct a uranium mine 80 kilometres west of Qamani’tuaq at Kiggavik. In recent years, it appears as if local attitudes have shifted a great deal. A goldmine (Meadowbank) was constructed north of Qamani’tuaq with minimal resistance, and a new proposal to mine uranium at Kiggavik is being met with little organized opposition. In fact, many of the Inuit Organizations that opposed the Kiggavik proposal twenty years ago now appear to support it. Furthermore, some community members are now actively supporting the proposal while others are now becoming more open to the idea of uranium mining but have yet to formulate a specific stance on the issue. It should be noted that, despite these changes, some community members still vehemently oppose uranium mining in their territory. This thesis is an attempt to explain why this seemingly drastic change in perspective has taken place. It is based on 25 interviews (as well as numerous informal conversations) I engaged in with Inuit in Qamani’tuaq during January, February and March of 2010. I attempted to include perspectives of youth (over 18), hunters, adult wage workers and Elders in my interviews. Particular attention was also given to people involved in historic opposition movements, people closely involved with consultations regarding the new Kiggavik proposal and local politicians. The formal interviews were formal in so far as I recorded them with either a voice recorder or pen and paper. With regards to setting and structure they were largely informal. Often conducted in people’s homes, at times over a meal of raw caribou, they took a form that I hesitate to label as even semi-structured.