Here the Political and Policy Implications of Read and Celebrated in the North’S Legislatures, Provid- Research Are Often the Most Tangible

Northern Public Affairs

Volume 4, Issue 1 February 2016

Essays in celebration of political scientist GRAHAM WHITE:

The challenging future of Northern politics FRANCES ABELE

Public governance & education in Nunavut ANNIS MAY TIMPSON

Reflections from Arctic Interruptions JACK HICKS, GABRIELLE SLOWEY, AILSA HENDERSON, & CHRISTOPHER RESHAPING ALCANTARA the NORTHERN Extinct: A suite of poems by JOANNA LILLEY IMAGINARY Life in Hay River’s high-rise LINDSAY BELL & JESSE COLIN What do researchers owe the North? Three emerging scholars on JACKSON why Northern research should be in Northern hands Overheard in Yukon’s Legislative Assembly, book CRYSTAL FRASER on residential school research reviews, & more! in Gwich’in communities

Canada $9.99 Mexican in Alaska: SARA KOMARNISKY northernpublicaffairs.ca explores diversity in Arctic America

Northern Public Affairs February 2016 FEATURES

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 5 Research & the Northern imaginary

OVERHEARD 6 Statements by Yukon Premier Darrell Pasloski, the Hon. Stacey Hassard, the Hon. Scott Kent, & the NDP’s Lois Moorecroft on the territory’s economic future.

ARTS & CULTURE 8 Extinct Joanna Lilley

BOOK REVIEWS 12

ARTICLES

ARCTIC INTERRUPTIONS A TRIBUTE TO GRAHAM WHITE

North, interrupted 19 Editorial 48 Sara Komarnisky & Lindsay Bell Christopher Alcantara

Interruptus, residential school research & 20 Right in our time? 50 Gwich’in continuities The challenging future of Northern politics Crystal Fraser Frances Abele

Toxic legacies at Giant Mine 23 Public governance, political pragmatism, 52 Arn Keeling & John Sandlos & educational futures in Nunavut Annis May Timpson Life in Hay River’s High Rise 26 Lindsay Bell & Jesse Colin Jackson Empiricist’s dream: 56 Mentorship & Northern research Interrupting the Northern research industry 32 Gabrielle Slowey Morgan Moffitt, Courtney Chetwynd, & Zoe Todd What comparativists can learn from 60 Mexican in Alaska 38 territorial politics in the Canadian North Sara Kormarnisky Ailsa Henderson

“They should acknowledge the gap”: 41 Graham White & Nunavut 62 Exploring contemporary mining encounters in Jack Hicks Rankin Inlet Tara Cater The spell of Northern politics 64 Graham White Northern Public Affairs Volume 4, Issue 1 February 2016

Founding Editors Joshua Gladstone Sheena Kennedy Dalseg Jerald Sabin

Managing Editor Jerald Sabin

Online Editor Meagan Wolhberg

Books Editors Christian Allan Bertelsen Nick Leeson

Advisory Board Frances Abele (Cantley, Québec) Kirk Cameron (Whitehorse, Yukon) Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories) Aviaq Johnston (Iqaluit, Nunavut) Mary Ellen Thomas (Iqaluit, Nunavut) Valoree Walker (Whitehorse, Yukon) Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory (Iqaluit, Nunavut)

Layout Production Joshua Laidlaw Jerald Sabin

Copy Editing Alex Merrill

Cover image: “Late sunset (Apex)” by Mark Aspland (www.nunavutimages.com).

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address, and daytime phone number via email to [email protected], or by mail to Northern Public Affairs P.O. Box 517, Stn. B, Ottawa, ON CANADA K1P 5P6. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and may be published in any medium. All letters become property of Northern Public Affairs and will not be returned.

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1, February 1, 2016. NORTHERN PUBLIC AFFAIRS (ISSN pending) is published three times a year by Northern Public Affairs. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Visit www.northernpublicaffairs.ca.

Raven view, Iqaluit, Nunavut. FROM THE EDITOR Research & the Northern imaginary

Jerald Sabin

hen Northern Public Affairs was founded five years ed and sometimes exciting ways. Together, the articles ago, our mission was to create a space for North- demonstrate how the North has been “interrupted” erners,W researchers, and decision makers to share ideas, – dislocated, transformed, or remade – by forces such debate policy, and to present the latest research on the as migration, commodities markets, the built environ- North, its peoples, environment, and economy. ment, and the practices of researchers in the human- Central to this mission was seeking out new and ities and social sciences. emerging scholarly voices, whose fresh perspectives on Collectively, their research shows us the North as it the challenges – and opportunities – facing Northern exists, but one which is rarely seen in popular or south- Canada could invigorate the kind of debate we were ern depictions. Lindsay Bell and Jesse Colin Jackson’s looking to foster. We wanted the magazine to be at the beautiful photo essay of life in Hay River’s lone high- forefront conversations about Northern politics and rise is a stunning example of this dislocation. Far from public policy for both our Northern and southern au- the solitary cabin or wind-swept iglu – both of which diences. have so captured southern imaginations – their images At the same time, we wanted to showcase the per- of a subarctic high-rise disrupt our expectations, re- spectives of established scholars, thinkers, and policy shaping what home means in our Northern imaginary. makers whose work has defined whole fields of schol- We also feature in this issue a second special sec- arship and shaped the North as we both imagine and tion: a tribute to the eminent political scientist, Gra- see it today. ham White. For almost thirty years, White’s work on In this issue, Morgan Moffitt, Courtney -Chet the development of Northern political institutions has wynd, and Zoe Todd ask the provocative questions: made significant contributions to the academy, bring- What do researchers owe Northerners? And, should ing attention to the innovation and complexity of the Northern research be in Northern hands? These North’s politics to the discipline of political science and questions are particularly pressing in the social sci- beyond. At the same time, his work has been avidly ences, where the political and policy implications of read and celebrated in the North’s legislatures, provid- research are often the most tangible. ing much needed analysis and context into their histo- The answer to the latter question is a complicated ry and operation. one. Northerners should have access to research in- As Professor Emeritus in the Department of Po- stitutions, preferably in university form, in the North litical Science at the University of Toronto and past itself. However, the benefits Northerners have reaped president of the Canadian Political Science Associa- from the diversity of approaches, voices, and perspec- tion, White’s work on the development of territorial tives from research conducted throughout Canada Westminster parliaments, Nunavut, and Indigenous and elsewhere are obvious. The publication history government has left an indelible mark on our collective of this magazine demonstrates these benefits. understanding of the North and its politics. An equally, if not more, important question is As my own doctoral supervisor, Graham White what all researchers – no matter where they come has taught me the important lessons of what south- from or where they are based – owe Northerners. ern-based researchers owe the North. He has dedi- Here, the answer is more straightforward. We owe cated his academic career to listening, documenting, Northerners rigour, collaboration, and respect. Above and analyzing Northern politics in partnership with all, we owe them our ears: to listen and to centre their Northerners. He has shaped our conversation about experiences in our work. the North, and we are all better for it. In this issue, we present two admirable examples This issue is a testament to the great research – of this approach to Northern research. The first is and great researchers – who have worked with North- a special section, co-edited by Sara Komarnisky and erners to illuminate the past, understand our present, Lindsay Bell, which brings together nine emerging and plan for the future. ◉ scholars in a series titled Arctic Interruptions. In these articles, emerging scholars, ranging from historians Jerald Sabin will complete his doctoral studies in Political to anthropologists to geographers, look at how glob- Science at the University of Toronto in April, 2016. al forces are shaping Northern Canada in unexpect-

Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 5 OVERHEARD

As Yukon entered its third year in recession, the NDP’s Lois Moorecroft asked the government about its economic record in the Yukon Legislative Assembly on December 15, 2015. Yukon Party Premier Darrell Pasloski, the Hon. Stacey Hassard, and the Hon. Scott Kent responded. Photo credit: Anthony DeLorenzo (cc). Anthony DeLorenzo Photo credit:

Yukon Legislative Assembly, Whitehorse, Yukon, 2013.

this year despite record levels of federal transfers to the territory. This government has overseen a steep drop in Yukon’s mining investment and the closure of two out of three operating mines in Yukon, yet the Premier keeps deflecting responsibility, pointing to commodity prices. What he fails to explain is why only Yukon has seen two, and soon three, years of economic decline. Mr. Speaker, when will the Premier stand up and take responsibility for Yukon’s poor economic performance?

Ms. Lois Moorcroft: Mr. Speaker, the Premier Hon. Mr. Stacey Hassard: Thank you, Mr. Speak- used to stand in this House and speak about the Yu- er. Of course as I have said in this House on numer- kon’s enviable position in Canada when it came to ous occasions, it is no secret that the Yukon is expe- our economic performance. Now, as the Yukon en- riencing challenging times economically. Of course, ters a third consecutive year of economic decline, his this is due in particular to the global downturn in the silence is deafening. mineral markets. We know that, Mr. Speaker. Because Yukon’s real GDP is expected to fall six percent of that, this government has continued to make in-

6 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 vestments – investments in infrastructure; investments opportunities with respect to our projects are incor- in education; and investments through Energy, Mines rect. and Resources in mine licensing improvements. This government continuously works on ways so Ms. Moorcroft: Mr. Speaker, the government talks that when the world markets turn around, the Yukon a big game about supporting local business, but their will be in a great place. words don’t reflect the reality on the ground. Con- We do this work so that the people of the Yukon trary to what they assert, this government is doing a can continue to enjoy the prosperity that they have. poor job to support Yukon businesses and they fail to enforce Yukon’s labour standards. The private sec- Ms. Moorcroft: Mr. Speaker, the Premier has let tor is frustrated. This is not surprising, considering Yukon down when it comes to providing leadership this government’s unilateral choice to remove local in tough economic times. The Premier keeps talking benefit provisions from our procurement directive in about a record capital budget to stimulate growth 2013 and their decision not to speak up for Yukon during the downtime, but what he fails to acknowl- businesses, as the Agreement on Internal Trade is being edge is that when local businesses don’t get contracts, reviewed. Yukoners lose out. Mr. Speaker, when will this government rec- The facts show that the government’s big cap- ognize the value and benefit of Yukon businesses ital budgets aren’t having the effect they intend. and take meaningful steps to support them by im- Take the business incentive program. Although last plementing local procurement benefits like the ones year’s capital budget was nearly 40 percent larger they removed in 2013? than it was in 2007, the benefits provided through [the Business Incentive Program] were half of the Hon. Mr. Darrell Pasloski: Mr. Speaker, certain- value provided then. This lack of support for local ly this government – as we pause on the last day of businesses contributes to making Yukon the only ju- this session – reflects on what we’ve accomplished. risdiction in Canada posting two years of economic Certainly as we look at our platform, Mr. Speaker, decline. we see that we have delivered on almost all of those Mr. Speaker, can the government explain why commitments; either they have been completed or the business incentive program is only being used are ongoing. half as much as it was seven years ago? We have short-term priorities, such as investing in infrastructure; improving our permitting and li- Hon. Mr. Scott Kent: Thank you very much, censing processes; improving our quality of life by Mr. Speaker. I’ll respond on some of the local con- investing in recreational facilities; and we are fo- tracting opportunities that we’ve seen over the past cused on First Nation partnerships. But also, Mr. number of years. I’ve said before during this current Speaker, this is a government that has long-term Sitting – and it’s worth repeating – that 14 of the last vision, unlike the parties on the opposite side, Mr. 15 major capital projects delivered through High- Speaker, where we continue to say that we feel that ways and Public Works have been delivered by local this territory should become a net contributor to this general contractors. The 15th of course is F.H. Col- country; that we have a plan for education and for lins, and that project was valued at approximately our youth; and we have a plan for abundant renew- $34 million; 75 percent of the labour on that project able energy for this territory. was delivered by Yukoners; and we had a number of We’re also doing things such as – 13 times since Yukon subcontractors work on that project as well. the Yukon Party came in to power, we have opened Mr. Speaker, in the 2015-16 fiscal year, there are up the Income Tax Act – 13 times, Mr. Speaker – to 22 major work projects being delivered by Highways provide relief for Yukoners and Yukon businesses. ◉ and Public Works’ Property Management. Many of those are delivered as well by local companies. One only needs to look at some of the bids that have closed recently – the Salvation Army being delivered by a local company; Carcross fire hall being delivered by a local company when it gets underway next year; the St. Elias Residence – a YACA agreement with the Kwanlin Dün First Nation – being delivered by a local company. So, Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the facts presented by the New Democrats when it comes to local Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 7 ARTS & CULTURE Extinct

Joanna Lilley

Steppe Bison Yukon Horse She was paddling A quick, cold burial, interred where the bluff had slumped. by the frigid height She saw the river thicken to sauce. of the Wisconsinan glaciation. She saw a skull netted in a willow, The Yukon horse dug up white teeth gleaming. She smelt at Last Chance Creek rotten eggs and knew the bears had in its intestines: grasses, would come. sedges, poppies, mustards, pinks, buttercups and roses, He was walking its wintered death preserving where the cliff had slipped what it had eaten beside a human cemetery. as well as what lay near. He saw a skull gargoyled, its horns a metre wide and sheathed I think of my last meal in goblin boots. He knew of dahl and naan bread the flesh would rot. decomposing with napkin He removed the bones and put fibres, tulip petals, the oak them in his mother’s freezer table and the Indian rug to preserve them. shipped through the Panama Canal from Scotland. They were mining gold, melting muck with a hydraulic hose. A sea-less land once fastened Thy saw the carcass, stopped work Siberia to Alaska. Too dry and called the university in. for ice, too cold for trees. The body was taken first, Not even, it seems, the grassy severed from the frozen head steppes we’d supposed and neck fixed in the bank for days. but plains of flowers instead, providing protein We dig up thousands of steppe bison for Beringia’s creatures. bones, buried where they died on plains that turned to forest, tundra This horse in this museum: in an earlier warming. Sometimes a skull, a foreleg, we find their permafrosted a skin from ear to tail, a twist bodies too. They roved from Asia of mane, all under almost as far as Mexico and France. everlasting glass. The rest, We painted them in our Spanish backhoed into muck or eaten. caves with charcoal, haematite and ochre. They had two humps Close up. The hoof is a wooden cup. and thick, brown-reddish fur. The skin, unfolded over months, a leather shroud. Tooth marks In the laboratory, they cut a chunk on the neck. of flesh from a defrosted mummy’s neck. The foreleg gnawed. They diced and simmered it A wrinkled sock of skin in a pot with stock and vegetables. pulled over the knee. They made a Pleistocene stew That knee, bent so tenderly. and ate it. I lean on solidified silica, lime and soda. That knee: it’s bending me. 8 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 YUKON Photo credit: istockphoto.com/mscornelius credit: Photo

Evening light with fireweed, Yukon, 2013. Scimitar Cat Steller’s Sea Cow Did those knife-toothed, bob-tailed, squatting cats I sit on my cold, rounded rock bound slash infant mammoths’ necks then drag in salted seal skin facing thin daylight fire, them away, or did they attack and leave them stones stacked high to keep out unceasing wind, to bleed? It depends who you read and believe. gaps caulked with kelp. Thank God I seized my quill and ink from the ribs of wreck Somehow they dodged mammoth mother tusks, still sinking. The ink, I keep it pouched next pulling fresh young flesh to their caves. Where would to my skin so it doesn’t freeze, though it we put a scimitar cat now, as cougars come closer does. The quill too, bent and blunted, to the warming north? Give them back Beringia, the bedraggled feather tickling my armpit. The men save feathers for me now as they herd them to Kamchatka and raise the land bridge? pluck puffins and the biggest cormorants Go safari, make a movie? Or declaw, detooth them, I’ve ever seen; they will keep me scratching feed them chunks of laboratory shmeat dropped as if I am a talisman. These Latin letters are; from copters? The scimitar and the mammoth the alphabet is all that keeps us human, that, and shivering. We should become those were as carnivorously connected as the lynx giant beasts, tidal boulders wallowing low in sea, and snowshoe hare today, as humans are to the cows, perpetually eating algae, seagrass, kelp. Their meat pigs and sheep we grow in our fields and factories, is as good as beef, their fat as good as butter; one eye always on the changing weather. their oil doesn’t smoke or stink if it pools too long. We use pots of their own skin to store their oil. Their hides are as tough as leather without curing. A cobbler could make boots. I saw a man cut out a chunk of sea beast before he let it swim away, blood blackening the sea. We say these beasts don’t feel, though they bash their heads against our numb legs to save their kin. We’ve heard them moan. Our dead lie downwind on the slimy beach; theirs rot in thickening water, bandages of skin hanging from their vast flanks.

10 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 Woolly Mammoth Spectacled Cormorant The elephant didn’t want to give birth A sunshine glint on salt-water, to a shaggy mammoth. Yet when a pendant pressing lightly the infant dropped to the concrete floor, on my heart, a breath and pulse she kicked it, pulled its head up in harmonic, happy recognition of a sloping oval silhouetted trunk to trunk, until it breathed. before a line of sky and sea. She hoiked her daughter to her feet, This is the cormorant to me. nudged her from slippery blood and splattered embryonic sac The Bering bird was dead a hundred years after Steller, until she walked. The mother slid shipwrecked, first wrote her trunk along her strange calf ’s his observations, noting one hairy skin, frayed and clotted, sniffing large, stupid and almost flightless her peculiar hump, her tiny ears. creature fed three starving men. They killed and cooked them We think we know about elephants. the Kamtchadal way, encased Their memories, matriarchies, in clay, baked in a heated pit. their heavy hearts and brains. How they stay with the dead. The penguin of the north flippered its small wings We think we know about woolly to fly submerged, diving deep, mammoths. Hundreds of them frozen web-propelled. Down to nearly in the north, melting in our laboratories. fifty metres in cold, slow We know their chilly habitat, their four-inch circumpolar water, where the globe spins quickest, where fat, the curved five-metre tusks they dug the wet weight of darkness with, the tough, dry grasses they grinded presses torpedo ribs. with their blunt, enamelled teeth, the cat who ate them. We think mammoths’ Fed and standing back on rock in air, it stretched its slick wings pregnancies lasted nearly two years. to dry them, Kamchatka breezes We think, like us, they had one child, quivering head feathers, restoring usually, at a time. We think, like us, green and purple glimmers they lived for more than seventy years. to its rounded back. Its white-ringed eyes must have watched the hunters’ boats slide to the stony shore, a truck stop on a water highway. No one wrote down what colour its irises were. Steller didn’t say. Red or white or yellow. The Aleuts, they’d know. ◉

Joanna Lilley is a writer living in Whitehorse, Yukon. Her latest book, a collection of short stories called The Birthday Books, is available from Hagios Press.

Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 11 BOOK REVIEWS Photo credit: John Mailer. Canada. National Film Board of Canada. Photothèque. Library and Archives Canada. Photothèque.Photo credit: Canada, PA-166273 John Library Mailer. Canada. National Film Board of

Eric Petersen, prospector and trapper, pictured here in August 1945. He was a breeder of huskies that were three-quarter dog, one-quarter wolf, which he sold as sleigh dogs in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

Cherubini, Lorenzo Cherubini’s Aboriginal Student Engagement Lorenzo. (2014). and Achievement is a timely, insightful and practical Aboriginal Student work that discusses the validity of culturally-relevant Engagement and curricula and the need to make space for Aborigi- Achievement. nal epistemologies in our education system. Rather Vancouver: UBC than a simple discussion of how Aboriginal educa- Press. tion policy throughout time has worked to margin- The recently released alize Aboriginal peoples, Cherubini seeks to inform report of the Truth and reform, through providing an evidence-based explo- Reconciliation Com- ration of an alternative to the Eurocentric education mission, document- system. Grounded in post-colonial critique and the ing the experiences of socio-cultural constructivism paradigm, Cherubini countless survivors of strongly advocates for an “Indigenizing of public Canada’s Indian Resi- school curricula” to empower Aboriginal students dential Schools, has once again highlighted the dis- and embrace a holistic education that is relatable, parity that exists in education funding provided to engaging, and conducive to academic achievement. Aboriginal schools, and in the academic performance The substance of the book is on the experience and achievement of Aboriginal students. Among of the Aboriginal Student Program (ASP) at Soaring other things, the report recommends that in order to Heights Secondary School, a high school in south- bridge this disparity, the government must introduce ern Ontario that is attended by both Aboriginal and new Aboriginal education legislation with full partic- non-Aboriginal students. Weaving theoretical dis- ipation of Aboriginal peoples that protects language cussions of epistemology and pedagogy with narra- and culture. What could this education system look tives derived from interviews of student participants like? of the ASP, Aboriginal student counsellors, teach- 12 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 ers, school administrators, parents, and community one finds disenfranchised Aboriginal youth. Perhaps members, Cherubini adds a human element to this another case study from a different environment, complex issue beyond statistics and graduation rates; or an example of a failed attempt and the factors as well, he honors the Aboriginal practice of sto- leading to its failure, would have added more depth ry-telling by using personal accounts to bolster his to the examination and findings, particularly if his arguments. goal is to provide evidence-based analysis to inform Cherubini also pays credence to Aboriginal policy development. knowledge in contextualizing his findings in the four Nevertheless, this is a very worthwhile read, components of the internal Medicine Wheel (physi- whether you are an educator, school administrator, cal, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual), as well as education policy-maker, member of the Aborigi- the external Medicine Wheel (action, knowledge, nal community, or simply just interested in the top- relationships, and vision). His findings reveal that ic. The recent failure of the federal government to Aboriginal students will develop a stronger sense of come to an agreement with the Assembly of First self, greater confidence, and ultimately, increased Nations over First Nations education funding and academic success, when provided the opportuni- control in the First Nations Education Act shines a light ty to learn in culturally-relevant teaching environ- on how Aboriginal education is arguably one of the ments (in the case of the ASP, a designated “Native most controversial policy issues in government-Ab- Room”), given access to trusted champions (such as original relations, and provokes fractures even with- Aboriginal student counsellors), encouraged to learn in First Nations leadership itself. through action rather than listening, and taught As an Aboriginal student, educated in what I in an environment where knowledge beyond that would consider Eurocentric curricula, I cannot say which is strictly found in textbooks is celebrated. Ac- for sure if I would have achieved more success if I cording to Cherubini, students in the ASP became had been given a culturally relevant learning expe- successful learners because they were given the op- rience. Then again, I was blessed with a childhood portunity “to recognize and appreciate the skills, at- free of the traumas that disproportionately plague titudes, and values that are unique to them and their Aboriginal children in Canada, such as poverty and communities.” broken homes. Where I do undoubtedly agree with Cherubini ends his work by underlining that pro- Cherubini, however, is that there is always room for grams such as the ASP at Soaring Heights Second- improvement with respect to challenging our beliefs ary School can only be sustained through dedicated, around teaching and learning. ◉ ongoing funding for culturally-responsive schooling, support, and a sense of shared ownership by all par- Nathalie Kauffeldt is a Policy Analyst with the - Canadi ties involved, including school administrators, and a an Northern Economic Development Agency in Yellowknife, recognition of Aboriginal knowledge as a vital as- Northwest Territories. Please note the views and opinions expect to the current curricula. He addresses the critics pressed in this article are those of the author and do not neces- as well. In particular, he considers critics who argue sarily reflect the policy or position of IPAC or the Government that there is a danger in providing culturally-respon- of Canada. sive schooling insofar as students may miss out on developing important skills related to responsibility ◉◉◉ and accountability if they are held to different standards. For instance, will the future workplaces of Dokis, Carly A. Aboriginal students have designated Native Rooms (2015). Where to retreat to in times of conflict or confusion? To this the Rivers end, I believe Cherubini’s response would be that Meet: Pipelines, Aboriginal students with a positive self-image would Participatory have no need for Native Rooms. They will have be- Resource come their own trusted champions. Management, Cherubini’s work would be strengthened by ad- and Aboriginal- dressing how even the best of best practices can have State Relations their weaknesses. The range of experiences and so- in the Northwest cio-economic realities of Aboriginal groups across Territories. the country, whether east to west, north to south, Vancouver: UBC urban or rural, is vast; it would be unreasonable Press. to assume that the experience of Soaring Heights Where the Rivers Meet is a comprehensive and thought- Secondary School could be transplanted wherever ful account of the paradigm clash that pervades in- Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 13 dustrial development and the environmental impact participation, because it fails to meaningfully con- assessment process – a critique that applies not only to sider diverse ontological, cosmological, epistemolog- Indigenous-industry relations in the Canadian ical, and cultural differences. North, where the book is set, but that extends across Furthermore, Dokis suggests that the timing and Canada. Where the Rivers Meet is also a deeply moving scope of consultation has not been suitably defined, portrait of the strengths, challenges and complexities and industry, the state, and Indigenous communi- of Dene settlement life in the Northwest Territories ties have differing ideas of what consultation even (NWT) – weaving together the enduring efforts to means. To illustrate, Dokis thoughtfully recounts the maintain Dene ways of life, all framed by an abiding shared silence over Tim Horton’s coffee that marked belief in the inextricable bond between Dene and her first interaction with a Sahtu Elder she was re- the land, with the undeniable change experienced peatedly encouraged by other community members by Dene communities in the wake of the persistent to meet. This meeting, she argues, was an important colonial project. and deliberate first step in building the trust and mu- The book serves, in part, as a decades-later ep- tual respect that not only defines relationship-build- ilogue to the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry re- ing in the Dene context, but also directly links the port, also known as “the Berger Report” in reference development of trust as critical to consultation. to the man who served as the Inquiry’s Commission- Contrasted by a story of industry representatives er and ultimate visionary, Justice Thomas R. Berg- who touched down in a Sahtu community just long er. The Inquiry was groundbreaking as a model for enough to give a powerpoint presentation and an- community consultation, and Berger’s call for a 10- swer some questions before taking flight again, the year moratorium on the pipeline provided solidarity differences in the meaning of consultation between to the intensifying efforts of Indigenous leaders for proponents and communities are stark. self-determination and greater autonomy over their However, Dokis seems to place government, the homelands. In her book, however, Dokis asks how environmental assessment boards and the bureau- the emancipatory potential of the Inquiry was ulti- cratic process they implement on the same side of mately tempered through a complex process of law the issue as industry, and opposite the Dene. There and bureaucracy, shifting community empowerment is a need for greater attention to the agency of these instead to even greater empowerment of the state. boards, the perspectives of their members, specif- Based in the Sahtu region of the NWT, Dok- ically those who are appointed by land claimant is argues that while Sahtu Dene involvement in re- groups, as well as public administrators and policy source decision-making has increased substantially makers. Dokis’ arguments shed renewed light upon since the settlement of the Sahtu Dene and Metis the structural narratives that frame contemporary Comprehensive Land Claim in 1994, it is none- public administration and policy making in the theless limited by a regulatory and environmental NWT. Yet in her recalling of the Berger Inquiry, assessment process rooted in Euro-Canadian epis- a significant chapter is neglected: Public adminis- temological and ontological underpinnings; there- trators, particularly at the territorial level, worked by, skewing the entire system toward Western con- with the community consultation process to ensure ceptions of land, property, and development. The the voices of community members were heard, and entrenchment of unequal power relations, however, were taken seriously. Now more than ever perhaps, is hidden by way of the “smoke-and-mirrors” effect there is a need for this kind of solidarity and collab- of the participatory decision-making models cur- oration. How might the agency of public adminis- rently in use. Drawing on the theoretical work of trators and policy makers be enacted today in order Habermas, Dokis suggests that the Berger Inquiry to advance an environmental assessment and regu- and other environmental crises of the time led to lation process that strikes the kind of balance that a Canadian public increasingly intolerant of state Dokis advocates? policies that gave industry freer reign. There was Dokis’ rich descriptions of the Tulit’a hand also a growing recognition of Indigenous land rights games tournament, the Dene practice of sharing and the need for Indigenous involvement in resource country food, and drum dances at community halls, decision-making on their homelands. The Canadi- all showcase the significance of community and of an state, therefore, experienced what Habermas has justice to a Dene way of life. They also demonstrate coined a “legitimation crisis.” The development of the meaning of these social spaces to the political the participatory decision-making process emerged agency of Dene people. Throughout my reading of from this crisis with consultation seen as a means Where the Rivers Meet, I was repeatedly struck by the towards legitimation of the state. However, Dokis incredible beauty and skill in Dokis’ ability to show, asserts, this process merely gives the appearance of not tell. This talent for using narrative to take the 14 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 reader alongside her makes it possible for Dokis to and immediately following the election of the 2006 respectfully attend to the seeming contradictions in Conservative minority government. Traditionally, the lives of Sahtu Dene, many of whom lead lives FTP-municipal relations have been the purview of very close to the land and abide by Dene traditions provincial and territorial governments. Recently, and laws, and at the same time see some benefits or they have evolved to encompass a wide range of Ab- opportunities in industrial development, especially original government, civil society, and market sector for their youth. In her analysis she overcomes the interactions. In Canada in Cities we see how the fed- discourse of “for-or-against” that frames the domi- eral government has worked with or around exist- nant reading of Indigenous attitudes towards indus- ing constitutional norms to address new local and trial development in Canada. Instead, she creates regional needs and priorities, driven by such factors the necessary conceptual space to see the forest for as changing demographics, the role of social forces, the trees; that is, to appreciate these are not contra- and the emergence of new institutions and process- dictions when one understands that what the Sahtu es. These studies offer insights into how we might Dene want in this case is to be partners, and to have account for such novel responses within the tradi- the decisions around resource development and tional FTP-municipal model, and as a corollary, they management made through a framework that does challenge our current understanding of FPT roles not tokenize Indigenous involvement but is actually and responsibilities. grounded in Dene values and laws.◉ As Graham and Andrew note, the SSHRC’s public policy and municipal research initiative, from Julia Christensen was born and raised in the Northwest Ter- which these studies are drawn, did not specifically ritories, and is currently an Assistant Professor in Geogra- direct investigators to study any one aspect of fed- phy and Planning at Roskilde University in Denmark and eral-municipal policy interventions. Accordingly, the a Research Fellow at the Institute for Circumpolar Health editors successfully capitalize upon this diversity by Research in Yellowknife. selecting studies which challenge our understanding of the FTP-municipal model in some way. In their ◉◉◉ introductory chapter the editors suggest questions for the reader to consider, such as: How do chang- Canada in Cities: ing narrative “frames” signal changes in FTP policy The Politics and over time? How does the choice of policy instrument Policy of Federal- influence program outcomes? And how do external Local Governance. factors, such as demographics, function as drivers of Edited by change? Collectively, the selection of studies itself Katherine A.H. poses the question: How have all of the above helped Graham and shape contemporary FPT-municipal relations? Caroline Andrew. The answer to these questions is offered up in (2014). McGill- the studies themselves. For example, Graham and Queen’s University Andrew cite Adams and Maslove (Gas Tax Cessa- Press. tion, Chapter 5) as an example of how the choice Canada in Cities is a of “policy instrument” can produce novel policy compilation of nine outcomes that change the underlying nature of the federal-municipal policy case studies in which edi- federal-municipal relationship. In 2004, the feder- tors Graham and Andrew explore different aspects al Liberal government’s “New Deal for Cities and of federal-provincial-territorial (FPT)-municipal rela- Communities” skirted direct negotiations with the tions. In particular, they track the shift from a classic provinces and territories on financial transfers by federal FPT-municipal diagnostic to a more critical, choosing a modified form of contribution -agree multilevel governance approach. As a review of con- ment in order to reach out directly to municipalities. temporary federal-municipal relations, Canada in Cities In eschewing the traditional FPT conditional grant poses research questions which are also relevant to transfer process, and sourcing funds directly from federal-territorial-Aboriginal government relations in the federal government’s Consolidated Revenue Northern Canada. Fund, the Liberal government created a new regime In Canada in Cities the case studies themselves for direct federal transfers to communities (Adams are drawn from a body of research originally pub- and Maslove, 107). lished in the Fall 2009 edition of Canadian Public Ad- Elsewhere, Graham and Andrew (Conclusion, ministration. They offer a concise overview of feder- Chapter 11) show that the choice of policy instru- al-municipal policy engagements occurring prior to ment can not only create new opportunities for Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 15 federal-municipal transfers, but may also impose upon which FTP relations are built. Citing Abel and new regimes of accountability. For example, they Andrew’s article (Urban Aboriginal Policy, Chapter cite Champagne (Tracking Growth of the Federal 10) “frames,” at different points in history, may be Municipal Infrastructure Program under Different both constitutive of the continuum of FTP-munici- Political Regimes, Chapter 7) to show how the Gas pal relations, or formative, as dictated by market, so- Tax Fund transfer agreement’s requirement that cial forces, or demography. In other words, learning communities prepare Integrated Community Sus- by governments is, at one and the same time, both tainability Plans spurred communities in the North- actively incorporated into decision-making and pur- west Territories to start thinking strategically about chased at the price of bitter experience. their futures. Citing Filion and Sanderson’s case study of in- External influences are the third factor discussed teragency competition in the redevelopment of the by Graham and Andrew. They suggest demograph- Toronto Waterfront (Institutional Arrangements and ics, civil society, and the private sector all have the Planning Outcomes, Chapter 6), Graham and An- potential to influence FTP political objectives and drew suggest one possible explanation. Shortcom- the trajectory of federal-municipal relations itself. ings in FTP-municipal relations are not always the They cite Andrew and Abdourhamane Hima (Fed- product of poor decisions in terms of the framing eral Policies on Immigrant Settlement, Chapter 9) of policy objectives or choice of policy instruments. on the role of francophone minority communities as They may also arise from “path dependency” upon a civil society actor in the refugee resettlement pro- traditional machinery of government processes for cess can change the dynamic of the FTP-municipal implementation. By using the term “frame” to iden- relationship. tify situations where the boundaries between “policy Graham and Andrew also suggest that under- fields” and “interventions” blur, Graham and An- standing how parties to FTP-municipal agreements drew signal that structural adaptation is one of the use policy “frames” may be helpful in tracking the hallmarks of learning within the multilevel gover- evolution of federal-municipal relations over time. nance paradigm. By “frames” they mean significant shifts of focus For Northern observers, Canada in Cities ably within “policy fields” which might go unnoticed if demonstrates the value of the case study method as viewed only from a classic federal FTP perspective a tool for contributing to our overall understanding (i.e., where FTP “domains” as fields of action are of a rapidly evolving FTP-municipal arena. Given aligned with federal and provincial constitutional the renewed focus on land claim and self-govern- powers). For example, citing Neil Bradford’s anal- ment implementation in all three Northern Terri- ysis of the Liberal government’s “New Deal for tories, the lessons learned from the FTP-municipal Communities” (The Federal ‘Communities’ Agen- experiments with multilevel governance cited in this da, Chapter 2), they suggest that, although there reader seem especially relevant. ◉ may be resistance to refocusing research to include “meta-governance” precepts, multilevel governance David Roddick is an independent researcher and consultant outcomes constitute an important dimension of living in Ottawa. the success of many contemporary FTP-municipal endeavours. Accordingly, the multilevel government diagnostic is one way to track and understand changes taking place within the federal-municipal policy arena, even if “multilevel governance” as a concept (i.e., multilevel government) is never realized (274-76). In Canada in Cities, the selection of case studies itself is sufficient to demonstrate that federal-municipal relations are affected by a complex array of factors and interactions which, taken together, constitute an expanded FTP arena. The argument for “reframing” the FTP policy diagnostic itself to admit consideration of multilevel governance concepts is implicit in the selection of case studies. Less clear is how Graham and Andrew’s use of the term “frames,” interpreted as short-term political objectives, relates to the longer-term, historical narratives 16 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 This issue of Northern Public Affairswas made possible by the generous support of:

Contributors Patrick Hunter is an Ojibway painter from Red Lake, Ontario. He’s a neo-Woodland painter drawing inspiration from Norval Morrisseau & Daphne Odjig, as well as the Group of Seven painters. Patrick’s paintings resonate feelings beyond the pictorial. The electricity in the oscillations of a wolf ’s howl are described in the simultaneous contrast of white and blue; Patrick adds motion to the flat surface through his skillful use of colour, transforming the static into the spiritual. Hunter currently divides his time between working in Toronto as a full time visual artist/graphic designer, and retreating to the land that continues to inspire him – Red Lake.

NPA is pleased to include Patrick’s sketches on pages 10, 16, and 66. ARCTIC INTERRUPTIONS ARCTIC INTERRUPTIONS North, interrupted

Sara Komarnisky & Lindsay Bell

Gwich’in woman works on her PhD in history shaped the social and geographical landscape. De- while out to fish camp. A Guyanese landlord sire for land and resources continually produces the scramblesA to repair the fire alarm system of a 17-sto- North as a “problem” for policy makers determined rey high rise building in tiny subarctic town. After cel- to try and find means to expropriate wealth without ebrating their daughter’s quinceañera in Michoacán, a causing human suffering. Here, we move to not think Mexican family returns home to Anchorage. These of “the North” as a problem of/in place, rather we scenes, taken from the everyday realities of peo- locate inequality in the movement of people; capi- ple across circumpolar North America might seem tal, goods, and ideas in out and around the region. anomalous, strange, or somehow out of place to most Through theoretically and empirically rich scholar- non-Northern people. They interrupt what many ship, we seek to interrupt expectations about the cir- people expect of Arctic places, people, and processes. cumpolar North and give insight into the multiplicity As researchers, we are inspired by these inter- of trajectories that have always produced Northern ruptions and the interrupted. They challenge us to spaces. We focus on the important political struggles rethink our models for understanding “the North” and subtleties of everyday and anomalous acts of and force us to grapple with the complexities that Northern living. Specifically, the work we present make up lived realities of a globalized Arctic. The here intends to interrupt expectations of Northern circumpolar world is often depicted as distant, emp- life (Bell & Jackson, Komarnisky), ways of thinking ty, and isolated, disconnected from powerful eco- about industrial mining projects in Northern spaces nomic or cultural centres further south. This on- (Cater, Keeling, & Sandlos), and the status-quo of going series in Northern Public Affairs brings together research practice in the North (Fraser, Chetwynd, research from emerging scholars to illustrate how Moffitt, & Todd). the North has always been an important strategic The ongoing conversations that led up to this region for global activities such as resource explora- series in Northern Public Affairs began at a meeting at tion and extraction (Cater, Keeling, & Sandlos), mil- the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University itary exercises, scientific investigation, conservation of British Columbia in 2014 under the theme “Arc- efforts, highly valued art and craft production, mis- tic Crossings.” In addition to the generous fund- sionization (Fraser), colonial exploration, Northern ing provided by the Liu Institute, we would like to shipping routes, government megaprojects, as well acknowledge the participation and insight of Julie as human and animal migrations (Bell & Jackson, Cruikshank, Dory Nason, Emilie Cameron, Stepha- Komarnisky). These global processes both interrupt nie Irlbacher-Fox, Marie-Hélène Cousineau, Dawn and are interrupted by local and trans-local life ways. Hoogeveen, Jessica Hallenbeck, Joshua Moses, Han- Our focus on interruptions is inspired by the nah Voorhees, and Julia Christensen. ◉ work of Mohawk scholar Audra Simpson. In her recent book, Mohawk Interruptus: Political Life Across the Sara Komarnisky is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department Borders of Settler States, Simpson theorizes an ongoing of History and Classics at the University of Alberta in Ed- interruption of the story of settlement by the Iro- monton. She is part of the Object Lives and Global Histories quois people. Iroquois political life, “in its insistence in Northern North America project (www.objectives.com). Fol- upon certain things – such as nationhood and sov- low her on Twitter @sizzlekomizzle. ereignty – fundamentally interrupts and casts into question the story that the settler states tell about Lindsay Bell is a professor of anthropology at the State Uni- themselves” (Simpson, 2014: 177). The story of the versity of New York at Oswego. She was a school teacher in North is one of settlement interrupted. In both Can- Aklavik and Hay River, NWT before going on to complete ada and Alaska, local histories reveal how national graduate degrees at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and plans are never easily applied. the University of Toronto. Past human migrations and government relo- cations, and Alaska Native and Canadian First Na- tions, Inuit, and Métis claims to territory have all Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 19 ARCTIC INTERRUPTIONS Long ago will be in the future: Interruptus, residential schools research, & Gwich’in continuities Crystal Fraser Photo credit: Crystal FraserPhoto credit: Crystal

Heading up the Nagwichoonjik to Diighe'tr'aajil, Summer 2013.

ecalling the days of my childhood, I am sitting actions” (Simpson, 33). Like the Mohawk, Gwich’in in a boat on the Nagwichoonjik (Mackenzie communities are far from being done, far from be- RRiver) waiting to embark to my family’s fish camp. ing settled, and far from being gone. These insights The drone of the kicker, slight summer breeze, came to me by both spending time on the land and and unrelenting Northern sun are among my ob- engaging in community-based research. servations, but my anticipation of travelling to Di- In this article, I tease apart the nuances of North- ighe’tr’aajil overwhelms every other thought.1 This ern research in the context of 20th century histories will be the first time I visit my family’s fish camp in about Indian Residential Schools in the Northwest more than twenty years, though neither the land- Territories. Historical research effectively answers scape nor the impending labour seems foreign or questions about the present: Who are we? Where unfamiliar. I am here to learn about (and from) the did we come from? How did we get here? Engaging land, my family, and what it means to be Gwich’in in these pursuits, especially when asking delicate and in the 21st century. intimate research questions, reveals far more about Anthropologist Audra Simpson proclaims her Gwich’in and Northern traditions, research, and en- book, Mohawk Interruptus, to be a “cartography of re- gagement than I ever thought possible. fusal.” Unpacking nationhood, citizenship, and state, In 2013, I travelled to the Gwich’in Settlement Simpson argues that Mohawk communities “are not Area to undertake a key part of my doctoral research: settled; they are not done; they are not gone. They interviews. University-based training for historians, in have not let go of themselves or their traditions, and the exercise of studying the past according to West- they subvert this requirement at every turn with their ern philosophies, places excessive emphasis on the

20 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 use of archival records. Although there has been a partners and by engaging in laborious activities, methodological shift in recent years, historians con- conversations arose that answered some of the many tinue to underestimate the full potential of oral narra- questions I had. Gauging what was (in)appropriate, tives. Seeking to bring new perspectives – Indigenous these moments were not the time to dig out the con- perspectives – into Canadian history, I planned to sent forms or university-imposed ethics guidelines. interview former residential school students, former Rather, berry picking, caribou hunting, fishing, driv- administrators and teachers, as well as family mem- ing the Dempster Highway, and hauling water pro- bers about a colonial educational system that largely vided windows of opportunity for people to convey unfolded over the course of the 20th century. With the their carefully crafted messages to me in a way that closing of the notorious Grollier Hall in 1996 cou- was informal, yet rigorous. Their historical exper- pled with the 2008 Truth and Reconciliation Com- tise and stories from time past cannot be separated mission national event in Inuvik, incorporating local from the land and their everyday lives, even though understandings into national narratives of Canadian separating people from their land and stories is what history is crucial. I sought insights about education, residential schools attempted to accomplish. And colonialism, and Indigenous resistance to understand this is how residential schools and Indian Act poli- a broader system that attempted to assimilate Indige- cy failed, in part, since many Gwich’in people view nous children, reshape familial structures, and imple- their identities as inextricably bound to the land and ment a capitalist, wage-based economy in a distant their surrounding environments. region. What I realized, though, is that interviewing Engaging in research on the land also provid- and interviews were themselves interruptions. ed potently powerful opportunities for me to learn Being a Gwich’in woman and an historian, I view new things, like how to make dry fish, what tendon myself as someone who might be able to provide a to cut when butchering a caribou carcass, and how space in academia where Indigenous voices, perspec- to make weather predictions based on how willows tives, and histories might be uncovered and heard. The bend in the wind. Since my relatives attended res- special relationship I had with those who I interviewed idential schools, my research questions translated – my research partners – was based on reciprocity; into acts of everyday life, providing a platform to people entrusted me with their experiential historical interrupt and dismantle the ways I have been taught knowledge, thereby placing a responsibility onto me to understand my world. Further, several Indigenous to analyze their insights and include them in broader Northerners emphasized that being on the land is a historical landscapes. Not only did we interrupt the political act in itself. Although our Gwich’in lead- ways in which “traditional” Western research is gener- ers signed Treaty 11 in 1921, we have endured and ally undertaken, but we also engaged in a process that overcome state agendas that sought to remove us saw unbalanced community-university power relations from the land, to relocate us to towns and cities, and crumble; Indigenous people are finally interviewing to condone violent methods of resource extraction. other Indigenous people. My research partners inter- Simply being on the land is a form of protest in it- rupted the research process as well. As much interview- self. Land is Interruptus, not terra nullius. ing as I was doing, I was sometimes the person being As I sat in the boat, waiting to be whisked up interviewed. Gwich’in, Slavey, Inuit, Inuvialuit, Métis, the picturesque Nagwichoonjik, I contemplated the and non-Indigenous Northerners kept me accountable sometimes vexed research relationships between uni- to community concerns, guiding my research questions versities and Northern communities. The next day, and ensuring that I was getting the story right. at Diighe’tra’aajil, my Elder and mentor explained Some of our interviews were conducted on the the crucial importance of undertaking meaningful land. This was important to many of my research work, work that communities can use in important Photo credit: CrystalPhoto credit: Fraser Driving south on the Dempster Highway from Inuvik to Tsiigehtchic, Winter 2015.

Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 21 Photo credit: Itai Katz

Cutting fresh whitefish at Diighe’tr’aajil for smoking and drying, summer 2013. and constructive ways. She explained that bridging will continue to subvert, respond, and interrupt – on the gap between academia and community life is the land, in communities, and in academia. ◉ an incredible challenge for most people. But doing meaningful work, working with (and not simply in) Crystal Fraser is Gwichya Gwich’in, originally from Inuvik communities, and welcoming local voices in re- and Tree River. She’s currently completing a PhD in Canadi- search agendas will produce the best, most valuable, an History at the University of Alberta. and innovative research. Recently, Gwich’in Elders stated: “Yi’eenoodài’ Notes Yeendoo Gwizhit Gwitèe’ah.” In English, that trans- 1. The translation of this Gwich’in place name, Di- ighe’tr’aajil, is “they took everything away from him,” lates to “Long Ago Will Be in the Future.” Through referring to an occasion when an Inuit man won a calculated and continued acts of Interruptus, the trau- gambling match against a Gwichya Gwich’in man ma of colonialism, dispossession, and residential and took all of his possessions. This camp continues schools will soon be displaced for Northern Indige- to be used by Alestine Andre and Itai Katz. Michael nous people and we will one day return to our Long Heine et al., Gwichya Gwich’in Googwandak: The His- Ago Days, a time which presented challenges, but tory and Stories of the Gwichya Gwich’in (Tsiigehtshik also much happiness and prosperity. As Gwich’in and Fort McPherson, NT: Gwich’in Social and Cul- and as Indigenous people, we have not let go. We tural Institute, 2007), 305.

22 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 ARCTIC INTERRUPTIONS Toxic legacies at Giant Mine

Arn Keeling & John Sandlos

esearch is often conventionally thought of in tonnes of highly toxic arsenic trioxide buried under- terms of “progress” – in the advancement of ground below the now-abandoned mine. Rknowledge, in the solution of problems, in the cre- The presence of this toxic waste, which now ation of new techniques or technologies. So what threatens to pollute local groundwater and lake sys- might it mean for research to interrupt: to “break in” tems, has reinforced and perpetuated the historical on the action, to “hinder” some course or indeed for injustices of dispossession, exclusion and contam- force a “stoppage”? ination associated with the mine during its opera- In the context of the research issues and prac- tions, particularly for the Yellowknives Dene First tices considered in this series in NPA, such interrup- Nation (YKDFN). Now under the control of Ab- tions can provide critical opportunities for scholars original Affairs and Northern Development Canada and communities to intervene in certain “actions, (AANDC), the mine presents a complex, critical, yet processes or conditions” that are harmful or nega- highly contested remediation problem. tive. In this sense, interruptions may be creative mo- In 2012, our research team worked with YKD- ments that provide spaces for (new) discourses and FN and a Yellowknife-based environmental and (redirected) actions, through the critical reflection social justice non-governmental organization, Al- and dialogue fostered by those pauses in what often ternatives North, to develop a research project seem unstoppable forces or processes. highlighting community concerns surrounding the Working with Northern community members, remediation of Giant Mine. This partnership grew our research into the toxic legacies of mining and out of previous community-based research under the politics of remediation at Yellowknife’s Giant the Abandoned Mines in Northern Canada project, Mine aims at just such an interjection. This research which undertook community oral history and archi- has not ceased the controversial clean-up of the val research into the historical encounters of Indige- massive arsenic waste problem at Giant, nor has that nous communities with large-scale mining across the ever been the intention given the pressing need for Canadian North. containment of specific pressing hazards at the site. These relationships and discussions led directly to Nonetheless, it has contributed in small ways the framing of the Toxic Legacies Project around key to the collective interruption of what many regarded as a The presence of this toxic waste, which now threatens to highly centralized, technology-driven pollute local groundwater and lake systems, has reinforced and remediation exercise. perpetuated the historical injustices of dispossession, exclusion and In so doing, the research has also pro- contamination associated with the mine during its operations... moted reflection on [And now] the mine presents a complex, critical, yet highly the complex social contested remediation problem. and environmental legacies of industrial mining at Yellowknife and their implications for the community concerns with the remediation and regu- community’s future. latory processes at Giant Mine, including: exploring The “Toxic Legacies Project” was conceived as the historical experience of arsenic contamination by a collaborative, community-scholarly response to the YKDFN people; documenting land use change and history and ongoing conflicts surrounding arguably contamination associated with Giant Mine; under- the North’s worst environmental disaster, Yellow- standing community perspectives on arsenic remedi- knife’s Giant Mine. There, nearly a half-century of ation and its regulation; and facilitating community gold processing between 1951 and 1998 left 237,000 dialogue on the potential perpetual care of the Giant

Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 23 site and the problem of communicating toxic hazards environment. Part of the scholarly role of the Toxic to future generations. We secured funding through Legacies Project has been to consider how commu- SSHRC’s Partnership Development Grant program nity perceptions and issues were addressed (or not) in to foster this research as a community-university the environmental assessment documents and subse- partnership between YKDFN (through the Goyat- quent public hearings, held in Yellowknife in 2012. iko Language Society), Alternatives North, Lakehead Our review of the process suggests that commu- University, and Memorial University. nity concerns were inadequately addressed in what Since the project is ongoing, it is best to high- was often a highly technical and formal review pro- light just a couple of these themes: community par- cess. In particular, despite the mandate of the Mack- ticipation in the regulatory processes surrounding enzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board remediation, and the challenge of perpetual care to consider traditional knowledge in decision-mak- and communicating with future generations. Both ing, the process largely failed to incorporate Indige- of these issues have been topics of wider communi- nous knowledge and experiences of arsenic contam- ty concern and action since remediation proposals ination and, through its resolutely technical focus on began to circulate in the early 2000s; however, the remediation techniques, actively excluded historical Toxic Legacies partnership has also taken them up pollution and resulting injustices from consideration. as part of its research mandate and activities. A second key issue highlighted by critics of the In the mid-2000s, the federal government began frozen block remediation proposal was the ques- promoting a remediation solution for the underground tion of the perpetual care of the site. In its original arsenic known as the frozen block method, whereby formulation, the remediation plan was intended to the underground chambers housing the waste would keep arsenic stored underground in perpetuity. As be actively refrigerated to prevent groundwater infil- Alternatives North and other critics pointed out, this tration. Then, thermosyphons would be installed to proposal raised profound questions of the manage- keep the rock surrounding the chambers frozen, us- ment of these toxic wastes over the very long term ing a low-energy air-exchange process. Though there and the challenge of communicating these hazards was some public consultation on this method, many to future generations, issues inadequately addressed in Yellowknife questioned both the technology and during the environmental assessment. the process by which it was chosen. The Toxic Legacies Project responded to these Ultimately, these concerns led the City of Yel- concerns by undertaking background research on lowknife, in conjunction with the YKDFN, to refer communicating with future generations, mostly in the remediation proposal to territorial environmen- relation to the storage of high-level nuclear waste. tal assessment by the Mackenzie Valley Environ- Notwithstanding the regulator’s decision to limit the mental Impact Review Board. nominal timeline of the Giant Mine project to 100 Both the Abandoned Mines and Toxic Legacies years, important questions remain about how to en- projects contributed to the environmental assess- sure governments and communities in the future re- ment process, by contributing research and informa- tain critical knowledge of the toxic waste at the site. tion to the review board. For instance, the authors The next phase of this research, being undertak- provided a historical summary of arsenic contami- en in 2015, is to generate Indigenous and communi- nation issues during the operational period of Giant ty perspectives on communicating hazards to future Mine, documenting for the record the tragic death generations. Much of the literature on communi- of a Yellowknives Dene child in 1951 that led to the cating with future generations focused on expert installation of pollution control equipment and the knowledge and discounted oral history as an effec- collection of arsenic trioxide dust. tive means of preserving knowledge for the future. At the environmental assessment hearings, Working with local communities, the Toxic Legacies YKDFN and Alternatives North members them- Project seeks to challenge these assumptions and to selves were active participants with formal interve- help generate locally relevant and robust systems of nor status in the environmental assessment process, communication, to ensure the knowledge of arsenic a status they used to press regulators and the project hazards at Giant is not lost. proponent, AANDC, both on the effectiveness of We have created a local committee on communi- the frozen block method and the process by which cating with future generations, including membership remediation decisions had been made. from the Memorial University researchers, First Na- The assessment process was unusual in that it em- tions, Métis, government (federal, territorial, and mun- ployed a format designed for major project proposals cipal), NGOs, the NWT Mining Heritage Society, and (such as new mines, dams, etc.) to evaluate a project other interested citizens. While not a decision-making nominally aimed to improve, not impact the local body, the committee is working to develop ideas and 24 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 Giant Mine, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. approaches to commemorating toxic hazards that of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. In are specific to Giant Mine. These may include mon- doing so, however, the minister also mandated the im- uments, text, signs, symbols, and archival repositories. position of 26 measures and commitments to address Drawing on the knowledge of Yellowknives El- areas of public concern, including the creation of an ders, we are also considering the possibility of using independent oversight body and the creation of an and/or developing stories that warn of the arsenic environmental agreement to govern the project. dangers at Giant Mine (a story describing a mon- The “interruption” of the remediation project ster underground is one idea that has come up). by the efforts of local leaders and community groups We have also discussed the possibility that regular clearly influenced these outcomes, and has provided events, possibly even rituals, at the Giant Mine site openings for ongoing community involvement and may by one way to ensure that the need to maintain direction in the future of Giant Mine. As one small the site is not forgotten. To raise awareness of the is- part of these efforts, community-engaged scholar- sue, we are also working with local filmmaker France ship is helping support community goals around Benoit, along with Ontario-based filmmakers Kelly generating and sharing knowledge about Giant Saxberg and Ron Harpelle, to make a documentary Mine’s troubling past, controversial present, and un- (titled Guardians of Eternity) that examines the issue certain future. ◉ of communicating hazards to future generations at Giant Mine. We also held workshops in the spring of Arn Keeling is an Associate Professor of Geography at Me- 2015 to gather ideas about communicating with the morial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, studying ex- future from the Yellowknives Dene and the general tractive industries and environmental pollution in Northern population of Yellowknife. The results, we think, will Canada. be a unique example of community-generated perspectives on this problem. John Sandlos is an Associate Professor of History at Me- In August 2014, the Giant Mine Remediation morial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland. His current Project received approval from the federal Minister research focuses on the history of mining in Northern Canada. Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 25 ARCTIC INTERRUPTIONS Life in Hay River’s High Rise

Text: Lindsay Bell Photos: Jesse Colin Jackson

n Canada’s Northwest Territories, rail, river and Canada’s Northern cultural and political landscape. road meet in the town of Hay River – the trans- While a post-war tower jutting up from the Iportation “Hub of the North.” Known for its key sub-arctic landscape may seem unusual, Northern role in facilitating the movement of natural resource Canada has been the site of many experiments in goods and labour in, out, and around the territory, planned urbanization and modernization. Inuvik, pluri-ethnic Hay River is often described by outsid- known for its above ground “utilidors” and brightly ers as “not the real North.” painted homes, was planned in the 1950s as part of Whether you arrive to Hay River in a World larger Cold War efforts to develop and protect the War II era DC-3 operated by Buffalo Airways or by North. Iqaluit, formerly Frobisher Bay, began as a car via the only paved highway, the first structure to military base and was expanded to an administrative catch your eye will be a yellowed 17-storey building. centre during these same years. Mackenzie Place, known locally as simply “the High In the 1970s, the proposed Mackenzie Valley Rise” is the tallest residential building in the NWT. Pipeline was slated to carry oil and gas from the Beau- Completed in 1975, the tower was anticipatory. The fort Sea, southwards to the railhead in Hay River 80 units were to be filled by an influx of workers where it would leave for refineries further south. The and residents that would accompany the proposed pipeline project was defeated due to a mix of Aborig- Mackenzie Valley Pipeline. inal activism, changing Canadian policy towards Ab- On the flat landscape in a town of 4,000, the original lands, and a substantial drop in the price of High Rise can be seen from just about anywhere, yet oil. Nevertheless, infrastructure projects had already few people, not even the residents, would direct a vis- gone ahead. Projects like Hay River’s high-rise tower. itor’s (or an anthropologist’s) attention to it. “That’s The Mackenzie Place High Rise was part of not the REAL Hay River!” people say when asked a planned relocation of the original settlements, about the tower. Such declarations about “the real” which were located along the lakefront on both sides elements of a place signal the ways in which people of the river. This was partially to make room for a struggle to define who they are by emphasizing some larger marshalling yard along the lakefront, which things while erasing, or downplaying, others. was already serving as the Northern Transportation From almost every vantage point, the tower is Corporation Limited’s (NTCL) marine shipping the stand out feature in Hay River. It is the only headquarters. The relocation was also meant to deal building of its type for over 1,000 kilometres, and with the seasonal flooding of the original town site yet for most visitors to the NWT, the tower is by and when river ice broke up every spring. In 1963, feder- large a sight unseen. al administrators for the region decided that a “new Hiding the High Rise is impossible: It is Hay town” would be developed further up the river. Its River’s CN Tower. It visually interrupts the land- centrepiece was the High Rise. As a result of the de- scape from all directions. It can be seen from as far feated pipeline and nominal population growth, and as 75 km away. For those who do visit, it’s a sight that resistance to relocation on both sides of the river, the many don’t know what to make of. For locals, the High Rise has never been filled to capacity. High Rise, like many urban towers, went from being Physically, the Mackenzie Place High Rise has a promise of a modern future to an all too present reached its best before date. Its recently repainted exte- eyesore. This unlikely Northern icon interrupts our rior belies its inadequate insulation and tired mechan- collective sense of Northern places. ical systems. The original tower design included shops Imagining the North as unruly and unspoiled on the ground floor, conference facilities on the second, wilderness is part of Canadian national mythology. and the first coin-operated laundromat in town. Because of this, tower life is not part of most people’s These spaces have been repurposed many times. vision of the North. Based on 18 months of fieldwork Most recently, the bottom floor was used as remedial in the lone tower, and follow up work with artist-re- classroom space for the nearby high school. Hay River’s searcher Jesse Colin Jackson, this visual essay invites lone radio station has been broadcasting from the sec- you to see the tower and its residents as central to ond floor for the past 20 years. As in many towers, the 26 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 residential units are stratified vertically, with the nicest ers like it elsewhere in Canada, see it as an important units on the upper floors. Units in this building are stepping-stone in the search for “the good life.” also stratified east to west, with the riverside units seen For Ivan, Hay River wasn’t supposed to be his to be more desirable than the townside units, both be- “forever home.” What was supposed to be a brief cause of the view and their superior satellite television stay before moving to Miami lasted much longer. orientation. Like mushrooms growing on the sunlight In 1978, his family fled Chile just as military dic- side of a fallen log, grey satellite dishes line only the tator Pinochet had come to power. Ivan arrived in one side of the building. Hay River just as a nearby lead and zinc mine was Local elites claim the High Rise is an epicentre moving into full production and getting work proved of drug activity and complain about the building easy. As he explained: owner’s failure to contribute to the town’s beauti- fication efforts. When the High Rise has garnered Being an immigrant and coming up here is like outside attention, the focus has been on violence and winning the [lottery] … When we arrived, they were desperate for help. [My] Dad took a job as a tragedy. Several regional news stories told of a young janitor for $1,000-a-week and could not believe it! woman who moved up from Alberta then “fell” from Although my father had been wealthy in Chile, we th the 16 floor. These were shortly followed by reports became servants, but we were well-treated, so that that a jealous ex-partner killed a local fisherman and was confusing to us. his wife. These anomalies easily overshadow the everyday life for those in the tower. Other residents are eager to go “home.” Adore, What I learned from spending a year living in the an engineer from the Philippines uses his second tower as an anthropologist was that those who make bedroom as a mini recording studio. On any given their home in the High Rise, like those in other tow- Saturday or Sunday, you can find him behind an 28 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 electric piano, wearing headphones recording songs it doesn’t take much to keep on,” she laughs. he has written or adapted to send home CDs to his Many people, like Nicholas, make the High Rise wife and children. He came to Canada seven years their first stop in town while they decide whether to ago and has been unable to return to visit them. make Hay River home or head back south to their Adore moved North to save more money in the hometowns. Nicholas arrived from eastern Quebec hopes of returning to the Philippines soon. seven years ago to work as a teacher in the town’s Destiny, a 22-year-old Dene woman from the small French language school, École Boréale. He left nearby First Nation, folds baby clothes she buys his High Rise apartment after a year when he decid- each week at the town’s local thrift shop. For her, the ed Hay River would be permanent “for now.” He High Rise means doing things “her way.” Like many bought a small home on the river’s edge but returns young adults, Destiny wants to feel in charge of to the High Rise every week to broadcast his Fran- what’s to come. With a baby on the way, she hopes cophone radio show. The NWT is home to many that moving to a bigger town in the NWT will offer Francophone and Francophile families. her more job prospects. Although High-Risers may not self-identify as For Mary, a nurse practitioner originally from being part of a coherent cultural whole, they are ex- Ontario, the High Rise is the road out of many tremely insightful with respect to questions of polit- more years of work. She came North to save for re- ical economy. Their life trajectories reveal the types tirement. She sits at her dining room table painting of conjunctures that bring together a labour supply pieces of driftwood she collects at the beach on her just in time for resource booms and busts. The larg- morning walks with her pug, Oscar. “This place has er study from which this essay is drawn chronicles everything I need. At my age, you have learned that individual High Rise resident stories with an aim Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 29 of tying them together in order to understand the and even Canada in the broadest sense cannot be changing cultural and political landscape of urban understood without understanding the High Riseand and peri-urban communities in the North. the stories that it holds. Demographers predict that The everyday lives and experiences of tenants the circumpolar world will see growth in their peri-ur- and the construction and maintenance of the phys- ban and urban centres in the years to come. The High ical building provide a vantage point from which to Rise and other modern experiments tend to interrupt understand larger questions of social reproduction. stories of progress and improvement. Instead of thinking of Hay River, the High Rise and We’d do well to fully see them and those who the people that live there as somehow “not the real live in them, in the years to come. ◉ North,” I argue that Northern urban and peri-urban spaces are in fact crucial parts of the history of Lindsay Bell is a professor of anthropology at the State Uni- Canada itself. The late modern concrete residential versity of New York at Oswego. She was a school teacher in tower – and its associated physical and existential Aklavik and Hay River NWT before going on to complete problems – is no longer an image associated with graduate degrees at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and progress in Canada. Nevertheless, understanding the University of Toronto. the evolving function of these multi-unit dwellings is fundamental to understanding a community’s Jesse Colin Jackson is a Canadian artist based in Southern strengthening – or stilling – heart. California. He is an assistant professor in the Claire Trevor Hay River is no exception. School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine. Jes- The Mackenzie Place High Rise is deeply thread- se spent the summers of his youth in the Yukon and the NWT ed into the story of the town. Hay River, the North working for his dad’s construction company. 30 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016

ARCTIC INTERRUPTIONS Interrupting the Northern research industry: Why Northern research should be in Northern hands Morgan Moffitt, Courtney Chetwynd, & Zoe Todd Photo credit: istockphoto/Antrey

e are three women involved in research in people to places, and they matter. I am at once a dis- the Northwest Territories. Each one of us appointment, a relief, an expectation fulfilled, and comesW to the research experience from different yet another researcher. I am a non-Indigenous North- backgrounds. However, over the last few years we erner and a PhD student. have collectively expressed our misgivings with some Like many young Northerners, I left the North aspects of the Northern research industry and its to receive a university education when I graduated relationship to Northern governance and North- from high school. It was during my time in post-sec- ern self-determination. In this piece, we share our ondary institutions in southern Canada that I real- thoughts about how we feel research can be direct- ized the teachings that have stayed with me the most ed towards a reciprocal, accountable praxis that is are those that I received at home. When it came deeply rooted in the issues that are identified by, time to decide whether or not to continue with my and that matter to, Northerners. What follows are graduate education, I knew that the only place in three separate meditations on what it means to be which I wanted to do so was the North and that the accountable as researchers working in the North. work I wanted to do was about home. Unfortunately, this is still not an option. Despite Here to stay: Morgan Moffitt decades of talking around it and millions of dollars being funnelled into university programs and re- Where do you come from? search institutions in the south, Canada has not yet Who do you belong to? established a Northern university, proving once again Where do you stay? to be lagging behind other circumpolar nations. Fur- ther, academic research in the Northern territories n the North, these questions are the means of Canada is still, in the vast majority of cases, con- through which you are positioned. They root trolled (i.e., proposed, carried out, and managed) by Iyour identity and your place in the communities that non-Northerners and non-Northern institutions. you work within. They connect person to place and Research in the territories began to boom af- 32 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 ter the Second World War. In the 1960s and early the knowledge and the stories of the places that we 1970s, the influx of researchers and bureaucrats was call home. We must push to ensure that the rights intimately tied to the “modernizing” agenda of the and ethical obligations of Northern peoples are re- federal government and the development agenda spected throughout this process. We must insist on of industry and government. Since that time, the the continued support and establishment of our own Northern research industry has undoubtedly poured research institutions and our own research agendas. hundreds of millions of dollars into the pockets of southern researchers, institutions, and consultants. Tacit knowledge: Courtney Chetwynd But what have we, the North, got to show for it? What impact have we, the researchers, made? What e are confronted with fallacies of the North is our role and our place in this system? posed as binary opposites. There are the me- In On Being Here to Stay (2014), Michael Asch diaW representations of the imaginary North as an provides an insightful and timely argument for rec- uninhabited beauty; an idea that this land is a well ognizing and honouring the treaties and rights of of untapped riches to be exploited and emptied. I Indigenous peoples in Canada by reconciling rela- see researchers from the south here for short peri- tionships between Indigenous nations and Canada. ods of time, their feet touching the ground just long Taking as his starting point a statement by Chief enough to conduct random projects that often have Justice Antonio Lamer in the 1997 Delgamuukw little importance or use for people here. Visitors of- decision – “Let us face it, we are all here to stay” ten take what they need and then leave, filled up with – Asch (2014:3) asks, “What, beyond the fact that stories and images of the strange and idiosyncratic we have the numbers and the power to insist on it, ways things happen here, smug for having partici- authorizes our being here to stay?” What can we do pated in a temporary mapping of their own piece of to reconcile the research relationships in Canada be- the North. Depictions of an idealized free space, as tween North and south? What if we were to ask the blank as the snow and ice that covers the landscape, same questions Asch poses about our research rela- have spurred the idea that this place is misguided, tionships: What, beyond the fact that southern insti- lacking in creativity and knowledge. It incites being tutions have the funding and the “expertise,” autho- written upon.1 rizes the Northern research industry to determine I recognize my home differently. Being raised research priorities and formalize research relation- in Canada’s Eastern and Western Arctic was a gift ships on southern terms? As researchers, we should that I didn’t understand at the time, when I was question this. Is it our intention for the majority of desperate to leave to the south where I thought real Northern research to continue from afar? To drop learning occurred. I wouldn’t comprehend until latin for a few weeks, or months, and leave an expert? er the importance of teachings that are animated What does it mean to be here to stay ethically and re- within the beliefs and lived structures of everyday lationally in a context of research? Why do deci- life for Indigenous Northerners, which exist through sion-making bodies, funding institutions, and many the performance of self-determination in everyday researchers themselves remain outside of the reach, seemingly mundane practices integrated with the the voice, and the hearts of Northern peoples? land. These same fundamental teachings need to be I am too young to feel this tired when I think acknowledged and honoured when undertaking eth- about the problems with Northern research. But I ical research in the North. know that there is hope; the changes that have hap- Collaboration is not a trend, but a fact of living in pened are because of the relentless commitment the North. When meeting someone from the North, and ethics of those who have come before me. I they will often ask you who your mom is, or inquire look to the Elders, I look to the community mem- about your familial ties after you exchange hand- bers in Tulít’a with whom I work, and I look to my shakes and hellos. This is very much in contrast to mentors and the researchers here in the NWT and southern manners and social graces, where you are I am filled with a deep admiration. There has been most often primarily asked, “What do you do?”, most amazing research generated in the North by North- often referring to your “job” in society, and not how erners at the community level, by non-governmen- you live in the world. In the North, knowledge is ac- tal organizations, by Indigenous governments, and quired through pragmatic engagement based upon by government. These projects often do not receive directly integrated experiences grounded within your the attention and credit they deserve, but when they relations. It is a shift in research from displaced the- do it is another step forward and an inspiration to ories, towards information derived through stories, us all. Northerners doing research do the work that cultural teachings, and connection with place, people, they do because they believe in the inherent value of and materials, through acts of “doing”. Circumvent- Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 33 trickster, July 2014 ing traditional research methods that involve hierar- plentiful within Indigenous Northern cultures, al- chy of knowledge, these actions function within an in- though challenges arise while uncovering and ar- terwoven system and trace a continuum, rather than ticulating this epistemology under the Euro-West- operate divisively. As Kovach (2010) addresses in In- ern-based research frameworks that are fraught digenous Methodologies (2010), Indigenous frameworks within southern research institutions. How can this offset the mistrust of research with communities be- be considered in a meaningful way when working cause of important pre-existing relationships, which in and with the North? How might we encourage increase perception of honesty and credibility of the new contexts under which these may be applied in researcher. She further writes (2010:169): an interdisciplinary manner in order to transgress the bounds of Western-based, siloed knowledge? This means exploring one’s own beliefs and values Such a practice-focused approach is at home within about knowledge and how it shapes practices. It is the context of the North; it is perhaps one of the about examining power. It is ongoing. It is only after most defining interdisciplinary subjects. As a studied carrying out this personal and institutional exam- space of development and process, the North needs ination that scholars and disciplines can be in the positions to acknowledge Indigenous knowledge and to direct its on-going development. Contemporary what it means in changing organizational culture. realities face traditional culture headfirst in a meeting of extremes, rather than mitigating one and the It is very important to consider the moral codes other by their coming together. This encounter of embedded within the environment. You do not take boundaries permeates atmospherically, reminiscent more than you need or can use; you share and ex- of emerging cycles of transformation on a constant change; you give back (to the land). Rooted from as basis – in a land of dark winter days, and midnight early as I could remember, the tradition of giving an sun summer nights. offering to the land when harvesting was law.2 Learn- I struggle with how tacit Northern knowledge ing how to listen is sometimes more important than can be understood by someone who has not spent speaking. One comes to know that quickly up here.3 time living, listening, and receiving the teachings Referring to these ways of knowing, the philoso- embedded here. It is not something instantly at- pher Michael Polanyi coined the term “tacit knowl- tained. This knowledge is not so explicit, and its edge,” which involves knowing more then we can tell, complexities cannot be known through reading or or knowing how to do something without thinking gained through intellectual scholarship. There is an about it. Whereas explicit knowledge is technical or idea that tacit knowledge doesn’t become part of a requires understanding gained through formal edu- person’s knowledge until it is articulated and inter- cation, tacit forms of knowing draw upon intuition, nalized through one’s own practice. Gestures cannot praxis, and more intimate person-to-person teaching. simply be re-performed, but rather practiced until It encompasses values, beliefs, and perceptions. I nev- they are understood. er defined this knowledge as tacit at the time; it was simply how you approached life in the North. Ethnographic refusal: Zoe Todd Art and practice-led research relies on tacit knowing in conceptualization, process, material engagement, am not a Northerner, but my diasporic Métis aesthetics, and the conveyance of ideas. Recognizing I family has lived and worked in the North for var- this same interrelationship that takes place within the ious periods of time since the 1940s. My grandfather creation of art is an important preliminary process; worked on the Alaska Highway during the Second a part of the making that starts before hands are laid World War as a heavy machine operator. My older upon materials. Exchanges in knowledge and teach- sister was born in Yellowknife in the 1970s when my ing transpire in process, wherein one learns of the dad and his partner lived there. Two of my uncles previous lives of these substances, a curiosity of what flew for Northern airlines in the Beaufort Delta re- is intended of these materials, and why particular gion in the 1970s and 1980s/90s respectively. ideas are being made tangible. The materials perform So, in this sense, I feel a duty to the North. It is this practice through social interaction. Relying on another place where people and communities have process, artistic practice has the potential to shift con- allowed Métis families like mine to seek work and to ceptions, and to some degree, transform. This prac- live when we were pushed out of our homeland. But tice of allowing opens up essential spaces for thought, I do not hold any illusions that I have any claim to this conversation, and understanding as these materials place. It is not my home, and I was not raised in its enact composites of shared knowledge. laws, lands, and stories. I am, and always will be, a Such tacit ways of perceiving and knowing are visitor to Northern places, and I must be aware of the reciprocal duties I hold to Northern nations, laws, and Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 35 (stolons), September 2014. governance. research discourses that still concentrate the research Paspaschase Cree scholar Dwayne Donald, voice outside of the governance and sovereignty dis- from my hometown of Edmonton/Amiswaciwâska- courses of autonomous peoples around the world. It hikan/pêhonan, asks us to consider his framework seems rather simple to me: the only way for truly eth- of “ethical relationality” (2009). He defines (2009: ical work to take place in the North is for Northern 6) this relationality as: research to be in Northern hands. The work of Mohawk scholar Audra Simpson an ecological understanding of human relationality (2007; 2014) demonstrates that the authority of the that does not deny difference, but rather seeks to Euro-Western academy must continue to be chal- more deeply understand how our different histories lenged. Its claims to knowing, translating, describing, and experiences position us in relation to each other. and re-producing thought remain problematic as they This form of relationality is ethical because it does not overlook or invisibilize the particular historical, intimately impact and disrupt the ability of Indige- cultural, and social contexts from which a particular nous peoples to assert their self-determination, person- person understands and experiences living in the hood, and sovereignty. Simpson’s work demonstrates world. It puts these considerations at the forefront that, when it comes to self-determination, it is important for of engagements across frontiers of difference. people to voice their stories about themselves and their nations/ societies on their own terms. And, therefore, as researchers It was really in the last year that I realized that to we must always consider how our work impacts self-de- embody an ethical relationality in my work as a Métis termination. Through her idea of “ethnographic re- woman is to strive to change the institutional frame- fusal”, formalized as an act of resistance and narrative works that currently root research in Euro-Western which recognizes the agency of Indigenous actors to ethical and legal-governance discourses. This serves not share stories and materials with anthropologists, to concentrate funding and decisions about Arctic Simpson draws attention to how such a refusal operates or Northern research into southern bodies, and ap- as a way to enact sovereignty. In this way, the process of plies more broadly to research funding agencies and deciding how and when to share information is an act of 36 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 self-determination. As Simpson (2007: 67) notes: funding and research decision-making power outside of Northern governance contexts and on what To speak of Indigeneity is to speak of colonialism terms we should or should not participate.◉ and anthropology, as these are means through which Indigenous peoples have been known and sometimes Morgan Moffitt is from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. She still are known. In different moments, anthropology is a PhD student in anthropology at the University of Alberta has imagined itself to be a voice, and in some disci- and is currently working with Dene and Métis peoples in the plinary iterations, the voice of the colonized. This modern interlocutionary role was self-ascribed by community of Tulít’a, NWT on relationships with place and anthropologists, nor was it without a serious material local histories of oil and gas development. and ideational context; it accorded with the imperatives of Empire and in this, specific technologies Courtney Chetwynd is an artist-researcher who was raised in of rule that sought to obtain space and resources, to the Northwest Territories. She is currently a PhD Candidate at define and know the difference that it constructed in the University of Dundee in Scotland. To see more of her work those spaces and to govern those within. visit www.courtneychetwynd.com

What I have learned through my apprentice- Zoe Todd (Métis/Otipemisiwak) is a PhD candidate in ship in Northern social science research is that social anthropology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. the dynamics that Simpson identifies in the above She is a 2011 Trudeau Scholar. She is also a lecturer in quote are still operating in many contexts, albeit in a more anthropology at Carleton University. covert manner, as Arctic research claims to work in col- References laborative, community-based ways. In other words: Asch, Michael. On Being Here to Stay: Treaties and Aboriginal Rights in Cana- Collaboration in some cases is really just a buzzword da. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2014. rather than a guiding ethos or principle rooted in Cruikshank, Julie. Do Glaciers Listen? Local Knowledge, Colonial Encounters, & Social Imagination. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2005. reciprocal and accountable Northern governance Delgamuukw v. British Columbia [1997] 3 S.C.R. 1010 relationships or “ethical relationality”. Donald, Dwayne. (2009). Forts, Curriculum, and Indigenous Metis- sage: Imagining Decolonization of Aboriginal-Canadian Relations For these reasons, as a Métis person and as an in Educational Contexts. First Nations Perspectives 2, no.1 (2009): 1-24. Indigenous anthropologist, I consider it my respon- Freire, Paulo, translated by Myra Bergman Ramos, Pedagogy of the sibility to enact a form of ethnographic refusal: in Oppressed. New York: Continuum International Publishing, 2010. Kovach, Margaret. Indigenous Methodologies: Characters, Conversations, my case, the refusal to conduct ethnography that is and Contexts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010. driven by southern or foreign research institutions Polanyi, Micheal. The Tacit Dimension. New York: Doubleday & Com- until Northern research processes are changed to pany, 1967. Simpson, Audra. On Ethnographic Refusal: Indigeneity, ‘Voice’ and give Northerners more say in the “who, what, when, Colonial Citizenship. Junctures 9 (2007): 67-80. where, why, and how” of research as it happens in the Simpson, Audra. Mohawk Interruptus: Political Life Across the Borders of North. For me, to stop participating in the Northern Settler States. Durham: Duke University Press, 2014. research industry as it currently operates is a personal Notes and professional duty. I am instead changing my re- 1. This can be likened to Paulo Freire’s notion of the traditional Western education system. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, he refers search praxis in order to work within my own home- to the term “banking model,” wherein the scope of the student’s land in /Amiswaciwâskahikan/pêhonan, Treaty potential is likened to an empty vessel to be filled with prescribed Six territory. I hope that in the future I can be part deposits of knowledge, rather than as self-determined individuals already in possession and holding the capacity to discover of a research community that is informed by North- knowledge (p. 79). ern legal-governance principles, that is rooted in 2. When collecting low bush cranberries, aqpiks, wild blueberries, animals, fish, you can offer tobacco, pieces of thread, say thanks Northern institutions, that is attentive to Northern and express your gratitude; you can also feed the fire when being self-determination, and which engages all people in out on the land. the North in an open and accountable way. 3. Anthropologist Julie Cruikshank talks about this type of knowing in her book, Do Glaciers Listen? Local Knowledge, Colonial Encounters, & Social Imagination, when discussing the perspectives of a group Conclusion of scholars on the subject of orally narrated histories, saying, As students complicit in the research industry, we “Coming from very different traditions – excelling in formal scholarship as compared to excelling in listening, watching, humbly submit that we need a total research industry participating, and remembering experiences on the land – they interruptus, as per Simpson’s writing; one that ensures all reached similar conclusions…” (81). the research paradigm is truly in Northern control. It 4. Polanyi, The Tacit Dimension, 1967. is not our place to outline what this interruptus looks like, as that is the business of self-determining people. We simply recognize that, as individuals within the academy, we must consider how we continue to participate in institutions and structures that concentrate

Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 37 ARCTIC INTERRUPTIONS Mexican in Alaska: Interrupting expectations of the circumpolar North Sara Komarnisky

Xochiquetzal-Tiqun dancing in downtown Anchorage, 2010

On a cool, cloudy summer day in Anchorage, Alaska, the Mexican dance and culture group Xochiquetzal-Tiqun was asked to perform along the route of a five-kilometre fun run.1 They thought there would at least be a stage – or a sound system. There was neither, only an empty parking lot. The adults in the group deliberated about what to do. After a quick vote, they decided to go ahead and dance anyway: “After all, we’re already in costume.” I stood by as the dancers got to their places. Someone backed up a Chevrolet Suburban, opened all of the doors, and turned up the speakers so that the dancers and runners could hear the music playing from the truck’s CD player. The youngest dancers, with girls in colourful dresses and boys in black pants, white shirts, and a red sash started dancing to a jarabe in the Jalisco style. As they danced, parents and supporters of the group chatted on the sidelines. One woman joked about how the runners would be confused by the scene as they jogged past, “They’ll think that they’ve run all the way to Tijuana!” The group erupted with laughter as the adult dancers took to the parking lot – women dressed in white lace dresses, dancing to a song from Veracruz.

ince I began working with people who move between Michoacán, Mexico and Anchorage, Alaska in 2005, the most common questions I am asked about my work are as follows: “There are Mexicans in Alaska?”S “How do they get there?” and “What do they do there?” Moreover, the vignette above hints at a sense of anomaly and dissonance when “Mexico” and “Alaska” are brought together. The joke among Mexican dancers in Anchorage that the runners in a race will think they’ve run “all the way to Tijuana” evokes how there is something unexpected about a Mexican dance performance in Alaska. To be honest, this is not too distant from my own reaction upon arriving in Anchorage to do fieldwork for the first time. I currently reside in Edmonton, but I grew up in the rural areas east of the city where my ancestors were Ukrainian settlers. Even though I arrived in Anchorage planning to do research with people from Mexico, I was still surprised to find a tortilla factory, over 50 Mexican restaurants, Spanish language Catholic church services twice each week, a television program Latinos in Alaska (produced by Telemundo in Alaska), a vibrant Mexican community of approximately 11,500 (3.6 percent of the population of Anchor- 38 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 age, according to the 2010 census), the dance and Alaska and the circumpolar North more generally, culture group Xochiquetzal-Tiqun, and later, the which to date has neglected to analyze spaces of eth- establishment of the Mexican Consulate in Alaska. nic diversity, like cities or resource extraction projects The sense of surprise illustrates how Mexico and (Feldman, 2009; Bell & Jackson, this issue; Cater, this Alaska have been kept separate in the popular imagi- issue). I attempt to add an understanding of the di- nation and academic literature. Not just separate, but verse experiences and conditions of migration-immi- distant and fundamentally different from one anoth- gration in the North, expanding “Greater Mexico” er; far away both geographically and socially. Alaska (Paredes, 1995) to Alaska, where Acuitzences have and Mexico are produced as spatially and racially dis- been living and working since at least the 1950s, and tant spaces, located at either end of the North Amer- other Mexicans have lived and worked since the turn ican continent. Conventional wilderness narratives of the century. In contrast to the racialization of and sourdough adventure tales about Alaska do not Mexicans in the United States as “illegal” (De Geno- leave much room for diversity in what it means to be va, 2005; Stephen, 2007), I add the experience of Alaskan, aside from the White Settler European-Alas- “legal” transnational migrant-immigrants who have ka Native dichotomy (Thompson, 2008). Nation-state more freedom to move between Acuitzio and Alaska. processes of territorial boundedness and spatial fix- Moreover, I encourage a rethinking of the history of ing, evident in immigration law and the hardening expectation (Deloria, 2004) not only for Alaska, but of borders, enforces the division between U.S. and for the whole circumpolar North. Mexico. Alaska is produced as a wilderness space, Indeed, since I began working between Mexi- exceptionally separate, isolated, and geographically co and Alaska, people have come to me with sto- disconnected from rest of the U.S. Racial and spatial ries about migration and immigration elsewhere perceptions that have become mainstream within the in the circumpolar world. Had I heard of the large United States about Mexican migrant-immigrants number of Filipino workers in Whitehorse, Yukon? place them closer to the U.S.-Mexico border. And so, Do I know the story of Jim Fiji, the Pacific Islander Mexicans in Alaska are interpreted as unexpected, who boarded the wrong boat and wound up near odd – as people out of place. Paulatuk in the early 1900s and went on to work for To interrupt expectations about Alaska and this the 1917 Canadian Arctic Expedition? My mother sense of separation, division, and boundedness be- sent me a news story about Palestinian refugees in tween places and people in North America, my work Iceland. All of these stories interrupt expectations analyzes the mobilities and experiences of place held about the circumpolar North and give insight into by three generations of migrants who have been mov- the multiplicity of trajectories that produce North- ing between Acuitzio del Canje, Michoacán, Mexico ern spaces. In this regard, my findings relate only to and Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A. since the 1950s. These a very particular transnational social field, produced people hold dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship or U.S. by a small group of Acuitzences who live between permanent residency and are able to move across the Michoacán and Alaska. These findings cannot be continent in a way that many Mexican migrants can- extended to other mobilities and locations within not. Based on 12 months of ethnographic research the circumpolar North, and further comparative re- in both Acuitzio and Anchorage, and 10 years of search would be required to understand those trajec- engagement with people in these locations, I analyze tories and livelihoods on their own terms, as well as the experience of Acuitzences (people from Acuitzio) how such “unexpected” mobilities change our ideas at several levels: as they encounter frictions in their about the circumpolar North. movements between Michoacán and Alaska; the My own upcoming research will focus on mobility practices of multigenerational family units who gain from Northern spaces to southern ones in North Amer- traction over time to build lives in both Anchorage ica as I trace the mobility of Northern people to south- and Acuitzio; the uneven and situated habits that gen- ern hospitals for tuberculosis (TB) treatment, document erate a transnational class formation, and the ways in the object lives of Aboriginal arts and crafts made in which Mexicans in Alaska re-conceptualize their sens- the “contact zone” of occupational therapy programs es of place by developing transnational identities out in TB sanatoria, and draw links to the wider Aboriginal of the symbols and mechanisms of both nation-states. art market and practices of museum collecting. The bi- My analysis revealed that over time, these people have ographies of objects produced at TB hospitals and now created a sense of orientation within a transnational held in museums contextualize the production, sale, social field. Both locations, and the common experi- and collection of such objects within larger processes ence of mobility between them, are essential for feel- of cultural exchange and interaction in Northern Can- ing “at home.” ada and globally. Such comparative research will hope- My work thus seeks to fill a gap in research on fully shed light on what is uniquely Northern about mi- Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 39 gratory trajectories, transnational lives, and urban arctic spaces that connect Northern spaces with elsewhere. Such comparative historical research would reject the SUBSCRIBE framing of Northern spaces as newly or surprisingly cos- mopolitan (Binkowski, 2014; Ridlington, 2012; Warren, TODAY! 2015)and emphasize that North and south have always been interconnected, defined in relation to each other, Three issues for $28 and linked by a multiplicity of mobilities. (plus GST/HST where applicable) The emptying, frontier-making, and bound- ary-making practices that facilitate ongoing land dispossession and capitalist accumulation in the circum- ◎ Individual (Canada): $28.00 polar North also make it so that diverse mobilities like Mexicans in Alaska, Filipinos in Yukon Territory, a ◎ Individual (United States): $49.00 Pacific Islander in the Canadian North, and Palestin- ◎ Individual (International): $58.00 ians in Iceland become seen as novel, anomalous, and ◎ Institutional (Canada): $150.00 unexpected, but attention to such mobilities and the everyday global and translocal processes in Northern ◎ Institutional (United States): $175.00 North America can interrupt those processes.◉ ◎ Institutional (International): $200.00 (check one) Sara Komarnisky is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History and Classics at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. She is part of the Object Lives and Global Histories in North- ern North America project (www.objectives.com). ______Name (please print) References Binkowski, Brooke. 2014. Alaska’s Hottest Mariachi Band. The ______Address Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/national/ar- chive/2014/08/alaskas-hottest-mariachi-band/375924/?sin- ______gle_page=true, accessed November 17, 2014. Community Territory/Province De Genova, Nicholas. 2005. Working the Boundaries: Race, Space, and “Illegality” in Mexican Chicago. Durham: Duke University Press. ______Deloria, Philip J. 2004. Indians in Unexpected Places. Lawrence, Country Postal Code Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ______Feldman, Kerry D. 2009. Applied Cultural Anthropology in Alas- Email address ka: New Directions. Alaska Journal of Anthropology 7(1): 1-19. Paredes, Américo. 1995. Folklore and Culture on the Texas-Mexican (please include payment) Border. Austin: University of Texas Press. Ridlington, Emily. 2012. The New North: Arctic Multicultur- alism. CBC News North. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ north/the-new-north-arctic-multiculturalism-1.1260176, First issue mails Summer 2016. accessed November 17, 2014. Stephen, Lynn. 2007. Transborder Lives: Indigenous Oaxacans in Mex- Subscribe online at ico, California, and Oregon. Durham: Duke University Press. www.northernpublicaffairs.ca. Warren, Brooke. 2015. ‘I Am Alaskan’: The surprising di- Mail to: versity of the 50th state, through Brian Adams’ lens. High Country News. http://www.hcn.org/articles/alaskan-identi- Northern Public Affairs ty-through-portraits, accessed January 10, 2015. P.O. Box 517, Stn. B, Ottawa, ON CANADA Notes 1. Xochiquetzal-Tiqun draws its name from the Aztec goddess K1P 5P6 Xochiquetzal and the word for “wolf ” in the Athabasca Dena’ina language. They explicitly work to draw together Mexico and Alaska in their activities, as they explain on their website: “We got together in 2002 in an effort to honor and preserve our Mexican roots as well as to honor Alaska, the place that opened its arms to us and where most of our children were born or raised.” 2. See the following website: http://www.historymuseum.ca/ cmc/exhibitions/hist/cae/peo614e.shtml, accessed Septem- ber 22, 2014. Thank you to Zoe Todd for telling me about Jim Fiji.

40 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 ARCTIC INTERRUPTIONS “They should acknowledge the gap”: Exploring contemporary mining encounters in Rankin Inlet Tara Cater

n April 2013 Nunatsiaq News, Nunavut’s territori- economies in Rankin Inlet both interrupt and are al newspaper, published an article titled “Mining interrupted by local and trans-local ways of living. Icompanies need to understand Inuit: Nunavut con- Interviews were conducted as part of my Master’s sultant.” The article drew on a presentation made by research project (2011-3), which explored the so- former Rankin Inlet mayor and now mining consul- cial and environmental legacies of historic mining tant, Pujjuut Kusugak, at the Nunavut Mining Sym- in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, and the community’s posium. In the presentation, Kusugak asserted that relationship with current and projected mineral people who come to Nunavut from southern regions developments in the region. Working closely with of Canada (defined as south of the 60th parallel) a community research assistant in Rankin Inlet in to work in the mining industry need to have a bet- the summer of 2012, I used participant observation, ter understanding of Inuit and the Nunavut Land semi-structured interviews, and landscape analysis Claims Agreement (NLCA). Further, Kusugak went to engage with government officials, community on to state, “Inuit will not just agree to have land members, and past and present miners on questions ‘exploited’ or ‘used’ for development … Inuit aren’t about historical and contemporary mining in the going to just give you that land” (Dawson, 2013, 1). region. Qualitative data used in this article consists This article ruptured ideas held in southern of 21 research interviews, as well as field notes and imaginaries of Nunavut as mining’s last frontier observations. Seven interviewees were government (Klein 2012), or as a former minister of Indian Af- officials (both Inuit and Qallunaat)2 working for the fairs and Northern Development called it, “our fro- Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA), Nunavut Tunnga- zen treasure chest” (Saunders, 2014, 1).1 Instead, vik Inc. (NTI), the Government of Nunavut (GN), Kusugak’s words served as a firm reminder that and the Hamlet of Rankin Inlet, most of them long- Nunavut is the homeland of Inuit whose claims to term community residents. Twelve were community territory have shaped the social and geographical members: five Qallunaat and seven Inuit. Two were landscapes. He cautioned that mining executives former NRNM miners, both interviews being simul- and workers need to learn “what it’s like to work taneously translated into Inuktitut. One interviewee in the North … People need to understand what was a present-day miner. All of the miners inter- they’re getting into” (Dawson, 2013, 1). viewed were Inuit. I would argue this article also served another purpose: By drawing attention to the complex A Mine in the backyard grounded encounters occurring between mining Industrial mining has become the greatest econom- companies and Northern communities, it interrupt- ic driver in Nunavut (Klein, 2012). Contemporary ed what many people expect of Northern peoples, mining projects in Nunavut are considered ‘me- places, and processes. Mining projects in the Cana- ga-projects’ – complex social and political networks dian North are often conceptualized in theoretical that stimulate a range of relationships between gov- and practical scholarship as impacting vulnerable ernment bodies, local communities, and private in- Northern populations and challenging traditional vestors (Priemus et al., 2008). Mining mega-projects ways of life (Hall, 2013). This approach fails to un- must overcome great geographical, financial, and lo- derstand that Inuit are not merely victims in the face gistical challenges to operate in the Canadian North, of “modern” development projects (cf. Horowitz, and have been described as “projects of technologi- 2002), but actors in processes of environmental and cal complexity that are innovative and often experi- social change, albeit in highly asymmetrical relations mental” (Browne et al., 2009, 4). of power (Blaser et al., 2004). Further, less attention The expansion of mineral development pres- is given to the movement of people, capital, and ents opportunities and challenges for the region’s goods in and out of the region (Cameron, 2012). Inuit population. While historically, Inuit participat- In this paper, I draw on interview vignettes to ed as employees in mining operations, such as the argue that contemporary encounters with mining North Rankin Nickel Mine near Rankin Inlet (Cater

Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 41 Photo credit: Quinn Dekking mine sites. Map courtesy ofmine sites. Quinn Dekking, Memorial University. Figure 1. Map locating Rankin Inlet (Meliadine Project) and Baker 1. Map Lake locating Rankin Inlet (Meliadine Project) Figure (Meadowbank mine) and associated & Keeling, 2014; Williamson, 1974) and the Nani- and underground extraction methods, operating on sivik mine located near Arctic Bay, Nunavut (Lim, land mostly covered by glacial overburden and sur- 2013; Midgley, 2012), Inuit were predominantly on rounded by deep-seated permafrost. This large-scale the outside of land-use agreements, and were often industrial mining development is currently in the ex- reactive in managing the social and economic risks ploration and feasibility phases, and is expected to associated with mining. start full operation in 2017, corresponding with the In 1993, the signing of the NLCA gave Inuit title closure of Agnico-Eagle’s Meadowbank mine near to 356,000 square kilometres of land, ensuring that Baker Lake (Figure 1). The Meliadine project is ex- claim beneficiaries benefit from mining projects on pected to operate for approximately 10 to 13 years, Inuit Owned Lands and that they are compensated with three million ounces of proven gold reserves. financially through Inuit Impact and Benefit Agree- The project will draw on existing infrastructure found ments (IIBAs) for the negative impacts mines have on in the Rankin Inlet community, such as using the sea- their communities, land, and ways of life (Nunavut lift by barge via Hudson’s Bay, and transporting fly- Tunngavik Inc., 2001). As minerals are extracted in/fly-out workers from southern regions of Canada from the ground in Northern spaces and exploited and other communities within the Kivalliq region in global markets, local communities have become a through the Rankin Inlet airport. The Meliadine site of negotiation and contestation around mining project will be linked to Rankin Inlet via a newly con- projects. Mining projects are both core business in- structed all-weather road. vestments and strategic development investments for communities affected by their operations. In addition Acknowledging the gap to securing regulatory approvals, mining projects seek The title of this paper was taken from an interview I their “social license to operate,” or community accep- conducted in the summer of 2012 with a long-term tance of the project, by addressing regional and com- Inuk resident of Rankin Inlet who worked at the air- munity development concerns (Kemp, 2010). port. I had asked her about Agnico-Eagle’s presence Mineral development has a strong history and within the community and the development of the ongoing presence in the Kivalliq region. Hardly a Meliadine gold project. She mused, “[I]n my life and new phenomenon, the creation of Rankin Inlet – in my path that I make in this town, I hardly even the community where I have been conducting grad- see them [southern mine workers], and I work at the uate research since 2012 – was directly tied to the airport, and they come by, and I don’t talk to them development of the North Rankin Nickel Mine very often … Mostly they act like tourists.” I ques- (NRNM) in the 1950s (Cater, 2013). While most of tioned her further by asking, “So would you like them the other communities in what is presently Nunavut to come in [to Rankin Inlet] less as southern workers were built around cultural or historic attachment to as tourists, but provide more information about what the area, Rankin Inlet was brought into being by they plan on doing [at the mine site] as well?” She mineral development, bringing Inuit families from said, “They should acknowledge the gap.” other settlements or areas around Nunavut, to work Mary Louise Pratt defines a contact zone as “the on the mine site (Eber, 1989). space of colonial encounters, the space in which peo- The NRNM contained one of the richest nickel ples geographically and historically separated come deposits in Canada, and was the first mining town to into contact with each other and establish ongoing be established in the Canadian Arctic (Boulter, 2011). relations, usually involving conditions of coercion, Inuit families migrated to Rankin Inlet, moving from radical inequality, and intractable conflict” (1992, 6). a semi-nomadic subsistence way of life to an indus- These encounters are assembled through “copres- try-based settlement lifestyle, and entering into the ence, interaction, interlocking understandings and wage-based economy (Damas, 2002). From 1957-1962, practices, often within asymmetrical relations of pow- 70 percent of the NRNM’s workforce was composed of er” (Ibid). It is through these interactions that peo- Inuit working in both above and below ground industrial ple who are geographically and historically separat- positions. After the mine’s closure in 1962, most Inuit ed come together and attempt to grapple with their people stayed, while most Qallunaat left, and this short differences. My research informant was expressing encounter with mining holds an ongoing presence with- dissatisfaction with the ways southern mine workers in the community (Cater & Keeling, 2014). were moving through the community and represent- Today, Rankin Inlet is set to become a centre of ing their presence. To her, acting like a tourist – which mining activity again, as Toronto-based company Ag- is often defined as travelling to a place for pleasure, nico-Eagle Mines Ltd. develops the Meliadine gold and not engaging with local peoples and places – shut project, located 27 kilometres outside of the commu- down opportunities for cross-cultural dialogue and nity (Klein, 2012). The project will use both open pit sidetracked the need for accountability from southern Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 43 Figure 2: Seasonal caribou migration through Iqalugaarjuup Territorial Park, 2012. workers in representing their company and its actions has been tension between community organizations within the community. She argued, “They are tourists and Agnico-Eagle due to concerns over disruptions for sure. But when I went to Baker [Lake], I was a to wildlife and a failure to follow protocols outlined tourist, and yet I represented myself as [an employee in the NLCA. Caribou migrations occur seasonally of] Nunavut tourism [the company I work for]. That’s with thousands of caribou travelling through Iqa- the difference.” lugaarjuup Territorial Park near the Meliadine ex- This notion of acknowledging the gap between ploration site and Rankin Inlet (Figure 2). Caribou southern mine workers and Rankin Inlet residents continue to be an important part of Inuit culture, around the development of the Meliadine gold proj- providing food, materials for clothing, and other ect was also raised in an interview I conducted with a tools. In calving and post-calving feeding grounds, territorial government official and long-term Qallu- a total halt to mining operations is required within naat resident of Rankin Inlet. He told me that there the NLCA and other IIBAs and protocols for mining

44 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 companies. In areas through which other caribou Within this interview, she attempted to destabi- are migrating, the pace of development must slow lize the simultaneous universality and invisibility of to reduce impact. This includes not using low flying Western industrial notions of development, man- helicopters that may impact the caribou migration. agement and progress, arguing that there are other Speaking to me about an incident where Agni- ways of being in place, understanding land, and be- co-Eagle used low-flying helicopters during the car- ing responsible as an environmental steward. ibou migration, the territorial government official Returning back to the Nunatsiaq News article, sighed, “And it shouldn’t be a surprise. If the cari- Kusugak asserts, “If you’re coming from a place bou are migrating through, the standard response is like Toronto, do you have the same understanding to slow down or stop operations that would poten- of your backyard [as people in the Arctic]?” (Daw- tially have an impact on those migrating animals … son, 2013, 1). With the coming Meliadine project, so to have the opposite happen … you sort of think, residents are concerned about the impacts of hav- so what’s going on, when it shouldn’t be a surprise.” ing mining activity so near the community, and its He went on to argue, “There is going to be a lot impacts on land, wildlife, and socio-economic fac- of pressure to keep production levels going, because tors. Agnico-Eagle has worked to establish its social [Agnico-Eagle’s] whole business model is based on license to mine through sponsoring events such as providing the product on a continual supply.” He a family day in Rankin Inlet that included games, paused. “There seems to be no … receptiveness to food, music, and dancing, as well as building recre- ‘Oh, we need to slow down when the caribou comes ational facilities, such as the local baseball field. Yet, through.’ So that idea that all of a sudden we [Ag- the grounded encounters between southern mine nico-Eagle] take a few days off … when your pro- workers and residents in Rankin Inlet weave a com- duction or your labour force is costing you hundreds plicated story of grappling with difference within of thousands or millions of dollars a day … [but] a contact zone, which is rarely visible in academ- they have no choice, they can’t keep going [due to ic, corporate, and policy research on mining. Glen processes outlined in the NCLA and IIBAs] … and I Banks argues, “contested identities, altered identi- can see the company’s perspective too.” ties, fractured identities: All these processes are hap- He concluded the interview, “Is this [Agnico-Ea- pening … as a result of mining developments. They gle’s] home, or just a mine camp? … If the migration impact communities, resource developers, and the changes and [caribou] are no longer coming to the governments. They also spark conflict at mining sites same area and food security is a big topic as well … and within [regions]. And they account better for just lifestyle, if you have to change then you [can’t] these conflicts than explanations that reduce them find where your roots are … Those are the impacts.” to simple economics” (2004, 8). Mining processes affect populations located Interruptions/interrupted nearest to the project, or “fence-line communities” Many long-term residents in Rankin Inlet that I (Calvano 2008), who experience a disproportion- spoke to expressed a lack of trust in the abilities or ate amount of the environmental and social costs motivations of southern mine workers to monitor of the project, yet only gain a portion of the short- the daily and long-term impacts of the Meliadine term benefits. The development of the Meliadine project. I asked a long-term Inuk resident, “Do you gold project, located just 27 kilometres from the feel this mine is being put in place … by people who community of Rankin Inlet, interrupts local and ... won’t feel the impacts?” She responded, “I think trans-local ways of life. In particular, residents spoke they’ll [Agnico-Eagle] get hurt if they lose money, about potential impacts to caribou migrations, con- but that’s their only impact.” She paused. “All land is taminants in lakes, and the destruction of land and everyone’s land, and that’s how land should be treat- wildlife. Beyond environmental impacts, residents ed. But that’s not how I feel they [southern mine expressed worries over the influx of southern fly-in/ workers] think about it. They think, ‘This is not my fly-out workers in the community, strains on already land, this is the Inuit land,’ and that’s fine because stressed infrastructure and community organiza- that’s the major thing, you know, Inuit land bene- tions, and the need for Inuit participation at all stag- ficiaries and Inuit land claims agreements, and the es of development and closure. identity of this land is very much, Inuit land.” She Local residents in Rankin Inlet also interrupt went on, “But that’s not how they feel that … that the business-as-usual model of multinational min- maybe it’s not their responsibility, though it is law ing corporations operating on Inuit Owned Lands. that they should respect the land. I think that’s the Howitt and Suchet-Pearson argue that “the per- only reason they would do that [follow rules outlined sistence of Indigenous epistemologies rooted in sys- in the NLCA]. Because they have to.” tems that predate the creation of colonial property Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 45 rights and assertions of frontier conquest and dis- it_nunavut_consultant. possession, unsettles the dominant idea in … devel- Eber, D. (1989). When the whalers were up North: Inuit memories from the Eastern Arctic. Kingston, Ont: McGill-Queen’s opment discourses that … industrialization [is an] University Press. unproblematic [goal] for communities and nations” Hall, R. (2012). Diamond Mining in Canada’s Northwest Terri- (2006, 323). Residents in Rankin Inlet continually tories: A Colonial Continuity. Antipode 45 (2): 376-393. monitor Agnico-Eagle’s activities and ensure that the Horowitz, L.S. (2002) Daily, immediate conflicts: An analysis of villagers’ arguments about a multinational nickel mining processes within the NLCA and IIBAs are attended project in New Caledonia. Oceania 73: 35-55. to. Further, residents defend their deep attachment Howitt, R, and Suchet-Pearson, S. (2006). Rethinking the build- to the land for hunting and other activities, challenging blocks: Ontological pluralism and the idea of ‘manage- ing ontologies (ways of knowing) of land as (sole- ment’. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 88 (3): 323-335. ly) a commodity to be exploited for resources. The Kemp, D. (2010). Mining and community development: presence of residents engaging daily with southern Problems and possibilities of local level practice. Community mine workers interrupts myths of Nunavut as min- Development Journal 45 (2): 198-218. ing’s last frontier. Instead, residents are engaged in Klein, G. (2012, March 8). Mining’s last frontier? Nunavut’s cold, remote and potentially very, very rich. Financial Post. a contact zone with southern workers, navigating Retrieved March 20, 2012, from http://business.financialpost. complex conversations around difference, develop- com/2012/03/08/minings-last-frontier-nunavutscold- re- ment, and colonial encounters. As Kusugak argues, mote-and- potentially-very-very-rich/ Lim, T.W. (2013). Inuit encounters with colonial capital: Nanisiv- “[Inuit history and colonialism], those are still real ik–Canada’s first high Arctic mine. Master’s thesis: University issues right now … When you appreciate a culture, of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. it’s a sign of respect” (Dawson, 2013, 1). ◉ Midgley, S. (2012). Co-Producing ores, science and states: High Arctic mining at Svalbard (Norway) and Nanisivik (Canada). MA Thesis, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland. Tara Cater is a PhD candidate at Carleton University in the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (2001). A Guide to Mineral Exploration Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, with a and Development on Inuit Owned Lands in Nunavut. Iqaluit: specialization in political economy. Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Pratt, M.L. (1992). Imperial eyes: Travel writing and transcultur- ation. London: Routledge. References Priemus, H., Flyvbjerg, B., & van Wee, B. (2008). Introduction: Banks, G. (2004). Beyond greed and curses: Understanding the Scope of the book. In Priemus, H., Flyvbjerg, B. and van links between natural resources and conflict in Melanesia. Wee, B. (Eds.), Decision-making on megaprojects: Cost-benefit Sydney, Australia: Economists for Peace and Security: policy analysis, planning and innovation (1-20). U.K.: Edward Elgar. brief, Macquarie University. Saunders, D. (2014, January 20). How we misunderstand the Blaser, M., Feit, H. A., & McRae, G. (2004). In the way of Canadian North. Retrieved March 26, 2015, from http:// development: Indigenous peoples, life projects, and global- www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-north/arc- ization. London: Zed Books in association with International tic-circlepanel-how-we-misunderstand-the-canadian-north/ Development Research Centre, Ottawa. article16404201/?page=all. Boulter, P. (2011). The survival of an Arctic boom town: So- Williamson, R. G. (1974). Eskimo Underground: Socio-cultural cio-economic and cultural diversity in Rankin Inlet, 1956-63. change in the Canadian Central Arctic. Uppsala Institutionen MA Thesis, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland. för allmän och jämförande etnografi vid Uppsala Universitet. Browne, A.L, Stehlik, D. and A. Buckley, A. (2009). The mega-projects paradox and the politics of risk, hope and Notes mistrust: Capturing localised impacts of the boom/bust cycles 1. On May 18, 2011 the Federal department of Indian Af- of Australian mining. Perth: Sustaining Gondwana-Working fairs and Northern Development was changed to Aborig- Paper Series. inal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AAN- Calvano, L. (2008). Multinational corporations and local communities: A critical analysis of conflict. Journal of Business DC). That title has since been changed to Indigenous and Ethics 82: 793-805. Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). Cameron, E. (2012). Securing Indigenous politics: A critique 2. In Inuktitut, Qallunaaq (plural, Qallunaat) is the word of the vulnerability and adaptation approach to the human used for white people or Europeans. dimensions of climate change in the Canadian ArcticGlobal Environmental Change 22: 103-114. Cater, T. (2013). When Mining Comes (Back) to Town: Explor- ing Mining Encounters in the Kivalliq Region, Nunavut. Mas- ter’s Thesis, Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland. Cater, T., & Keeling, A. (2014). “That’s Where our Future Came From:” Mining, Landscape, and Memory in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. Études/Inuit/Studies, 37 (2),59-82. Damas, D. (2002). Arctic Migrants/ Arctic Villagers: The transformation of Inuit settlement in the Central Arctic. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press. Dawson, S. (2013, April 10). Mining companies need to understand Inuit: Nunavut consultant. NunatsiaqOnline. Retrieved April 11, 2013, from http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/ article/65674mining_companies_need_to _understand_inu-

46 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 A TRIBUTE TO GRAHAM WHITE NORTHERN POLITICAL SCIENCE A tribute to Graham White

Northern Public Affairs is delighted to present a collection of essays celebrating the career of professor and political scientist Graham White. White has had a profound effect on the study of Northern Canadian politics, shaping our understanding of the North’s complex government institutions and the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Northerners. CHRISTOPHER ALCANTARA introduces this collection with aplomb and humour, inviting readers to explore White’s work and to join in celebrating his contributions to Northern political life.

Graham White at the West Baffin Eskimo Co-op in Cape Dorset, Nunavut.

e blame Graham White. As I quickly discovered during my time at the This might seem like an odd way to introduce University of Toronto, you cannot fully understand aW set of papers written in honour of a mentor and the politics of our country without first understand- giant in the field of Canadian, provincial, and terri- ing the historical and contemporary role and devel- torial politics, but it’s also an appropriate one. In the opment of Canada’s three territories. Graham has fall of 2003, I arrived at the University of Toronto to long known this fact and has been one of a small begin my PhD, having never once read a single arti- group of voices south of 60 who have tried to ed- cle or chapter on Canada’s three territorial govern- ucate policymakers and the Canadian public (and ments. None of my previous courses on Canadian generations of future political science professors) politics had touched on these obscure, remote, and about the myriad ways that Northerners have en- sparsely populated regions and so I was perplexed gaged in innovative and risky experiments in institu- when this older faculty member, wearing this odd tional design. People like to think of the 10 provinces hat (from Nunavut, I would later learn), would go on as the being the key Canadian laboratories for in- and on about the governance structures of Canada’s stitutional experiments but as Graham has long ar- territorial governments north of 60. gued, it is the territories where things like consensus 48 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 government, co-management boards, and Aborigi- politics and the many important lessons that the ter- nal self-government were dreamt up and born. ritories constantly provide to students of politics in When I started at the University of Toronto, Canada and abroad. I had a passing interest in Indigenous issues and a The papers by Frances Abele, Graham’s con- much stronger interest in environmental politics. temporary, and Annis May Timpson from Oxford Over the span of five years, however, I moved from University, focus on an enduring theme in White’s having zero interest and expertise in Northern pol- work: the importance of institutional design. If we itics to writing a book on modern treaties in the can just get the institutions right, claim White and North, conducting a major SSHRC-funded study on Abele, then it may be possible for governments to territorial devolution (which included writing a book generate the kinds of positive outcomes that citizens chapter with the late former NWT leader George need and desire. As Abele’s essay argues, however, Braden), and teaching about the politics of this re- their optimism about “getting the institutions right” gion in all of my Canadian politics classes. This new is not that straightforward and simple. She writes and profound interest stemmed mostly from Gra- that institutions are only one part of the puzzle and ham’s unending enthusiasm and vast knowledge of that the next generation of scholars and policymak- governance arrangements and practices in the three ers will need to learn from the experiences and mis- territories. takes of previous generations. Similarly, Timpson’s As readers will see from the set of papers collect- paper reviews the effect of recent efforts to formal- ed in this special issue of NPA, Graham’s influence ize and promote linguistic and other cultural values on Canada and the study of the territorial North is in Nunavut. She argues that institutions do matter both deep and wide. His writings have influenced but that policymakers and researchers need to think generations of students, professors, and policymak- more broadly about creating different kinds of insti- ers and we have all benefitted from his immense tutions, such as developing Northern universities to knowledge of the regions. He also knows literally ev- serve Northern interests. eryone who has had a hand in developing the unique Late last summer, Graham White officially -re institutions of governance in the North. Mention tired from the University of Toronto. He continues Graham’s name and Northerners who know him to write about Northern issues, recently completing instantly smile and nod knowingly. a book with Jack Hicks, also featured in this issue, In 2014, those who have had the privilege of on decentralization in Nunavut (UBC Press, 2015) being associated with Graham professionally came and toiling away at his long promised book on land together to celebrate his career in a day-long con- claims boards. At some point, he will simply have to ference in the University of Toronto’s Department stop writing, if only to allow us young’uns to have a of Political Science. Some of the presentations on chance to write about these issues! When he does, Graham’s career are published here in NPA, while however, our small but rapidly growing community a number of other papers focusing on Graham’s of Northern scholars will have lost one of the found- influence on Canadian and provincial politics were ers and grandmasters of Northern Canadian politi- recently published in the Institute of Public Admin- cal research. ◉ istration of Canada’s magazine, Public Sector Manage- ment. The papers in this special issue speak to Gra- Christopher Alcantara is an Associate Professor in the Depart- ham’s powerful and enduring legacy on Canadian ment of Political Science at Western University. politics, provincial and territorial politics, and the careers and lives of his many friends, students, and Editor’s postscript: Graham has been a longtime friend and co-authors. supporter of Northern Public Affairs. He was one of the The collection of papers includescontributions magazine’s very first subscribers and has, since then, encour- by Ailsa Henderson and Gabrielle Slowey, former aged and championed its work through all three volumes. He post-doctoral students of Graham’s and now asso- supervised the doctoral research of editor Jerald Sabin and has ciate professors of political science at the Universi- had close working relationships with both Joshua Gladstone ty of Edinburgh and York University respectively. and Sheena Kennedy Dalseg. On behalf of the editorial and Their papers speak directly to Graham’s mentor- advisory boards, we offer our sincerest congratulations on an ship and influence on their own scholarship and incredible career and best wishes for a very happy retirement. understandings of Canadian politics and of politics in general. Both point out Graham’s strong commitment to building relationships with the peoples of the North and his enduring message to pay close attention to the “nitty gritty” details of Northern Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 49 NORTHERN POLITICAL SCIENCE Right in our time? The challenging future of Northern politics Frances Abele

raham White’s research career spans a revo- top-down colonial administration was democratic lutionary period in Northern political devel- empowerment and Indigenous self-determination, opment.G Since he began writing about the North in expressed in large part in new institutions whose the 1980s, most of the modern treaties have been staff would more equitably represent the Northern concluded, confirming Indigenous peoples’ title and population. It is fair to say that a certain celebratory rights and resetting their institutional relationship tone characterizes some of the resulting academic with the Crown and other Northern institutions. work, although Graham White was more able than The legislative assemblies that have been a cen- many of us at keeping his balance as we watched the tral aspect of White’s research have conducted the Northern political world being turned upside down. regular work of governing while taking themselves With the passage of time, a fundamental question through periods of vigorous and innovative develop- has become important, in politics and in the work ment. As White emphasized in his presidential ad- of political analysts: With or without a celebratory dress to the Canadian Political Science Association, tone, were we right about the power of institutional these are fascinating matters for a political scientist, change to lay the foundation for a new society that and, of course, of great public importance. The re- would be more equal, fairer, and more reflective of lated themes of institutional innovation, democratic Indigenous democratic traditions? governance for small populations across vast terri- I think the answer must be: only partly. With the tories, the intersection of Indigenous governments benefit of slowly developing hindsight, it is evident and public authorities, and empowerment at the lo- that the dominant meta-narrative of the 1960s-1990s cal level, have all held his attention. revolution in Northern politics was lacking some im- Among the small band of southern-based portant strands. Institutional change has been, on the North-obsessed political scientists, Graham has whole, remarkably swift, and certainly at the elite lev- been an important anchor, a reliable and accurate el Northern society is no longer the nearly exclusive analyst of institutional change and the scholar of re- preserve of non-Indigenous leaders and administra- cord for so many important developments. His focus tors. Northerners have pioneered in the development on institutions and how they work in practice has of directly democratic practices and traditions of been a bracing force in Canadian political science community consultation that have much to teach the in general, a steady and fruitful counterweight to the rest of the country. On the other hand, it is not so various fads and fashions that have blown through clear that the revolution was institutionally deep or social science over the last 30 years. thorough enough, nor is it evident that institutional Appropriately, then, it is an institutional ques- change itself is sufficient to Northerners’ purposes. tion with which I would tax White now. With or without a celebratory tone, were we right about the power of With most of his cohort he accepted, ex- institutional change to lay the foundation for a new society that would be plicitly or implicitly, more equal, fairer, and more reflective of Indigenous democratic traditions? the premise that the changes brought by Indigenous peoples’ mobiliza- This is partly a problem of the analysis itself: We like- tion and political activism to Northern political in- ly did not attend with sufficient rigour to state-soci- stitutions were a very good thing. We all thought that ety relations, to regional differences, to the emerging democratic political development and institutional policy process and to institutional change at the lo- innovation promised to ensure that Northern Indig- cal level. White is one who did see, and write about, enous societies would overthrow colonialism while the importance of some of these things (for exam- avoiding the pathologies created by the Indian Act ple, Hicks & White, 2000, White, 1998) – although and residential schools in many southern Canadi- now that he has more time to write, one can wish for an First Nations. With many political leaders of the more. The times are rapidly changing, revealing more same vintage, we shared the view that the cure for threadbare patches in the commonly accepted story 50 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 Photo credit: istockphoto.com/drferry Photo credit: Arctic fox, Cambridge Bay, 2013. of Northern political change. ed, even in “new” societies such as the wage-based We have both the opportunity and the need now society of the North, in which individual mobility is for further analysis, based, I would argue, on four still relatively easy. circumstances that will dominate Northern political Thirdly, in many parts of the North, communi- development in the immediate future. ties are facing serious social problems, evident in high First, we are in the midst of profound generational suicide rates, high rates of substance abuse and other change. People coming to maturity as citizens now do general signs of social distress. There is no sign that not remember a time before there were powerful In- conditions for the people in social distress are easing, digenous organizations and Indigenous governments and no reason to believe that these conditions will led by famous, influential leaders. No young people improve on their own. Building healthy Northern today were born on the land, and few if any know societies is a task inherited by the next generation. what it is to live without radio, television, and the In- Finally, of course, there is climate change, and all ternet. They have not attended residential school, but the sudden and gradual pressures it will place on rather high schools in their own communities with the Northern infrastructure, Northern wildlife and har- potential at least, of traveling voluntarily to study at a vesting practices, and those increasingly marketable university, and they are supported by public funding and accessible Northern mineral resources. No- to do this. The creativity of Northern youth is evident where is humanity prepared for the large challenges in all manner of artistic productions, but especially the next 50 years will bring, and nowhere will they film and Internet-supported media, and in their foun- come faster than in the North. Climate change will dation of new, non-state institutions such as Dechinta change everything. Education and Cultural Centre, and the Arctic Indig- It is undoubtedly unfair to assess the scholarship enous Youth Alliance. There is a strong and growing of the past, even the recent past, against the emerg- cohort of Northern-based scholars, most young, and ing challenges of the future, and equally unfair to ask most waiting only for an opportunity to flourish in a that institutions bear solutions to all. That said, a hap- made-in-the-North university system. py feature of Graham White’s scholarship is that it Secondly, there is the increasing salience of class. does illuminate, presciently and perceptively, the very Resource development has been a constant pressure institutions to which we must now look for solutions. and opportunity since the 1960s at least. Its effects Through his lens, we can see that Northern political and the availability of well-paid leadership positions institutions, in all the respects that they are resilient, have created significant, enduring class divisions democratic, responsive, and open-ended, may contin- within Indigenous societies. As has been the case ue to cope with the new world we are facing. ◉ everywhere else in the world that has gone through the economic transition that has come to the North, Frances Abele is a Professor in the School of Public Policy and class differences are solidifying and they are inherit- Administration at Carleton University. Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 51 NORTHERN POLITICAL SCIENCE Public governance, political pragmatism, & educational futures in Nunavut Annis May Timpson

n “Go North, Young Scholar, Go North” Graham finally moving east. As we looked at the results I White notes, “I well recall during my first research remember discussing with Graham the fact that a Itrip to Nunavut being nonplused by talk of public unique public government was being formed follow- government – what else can government be?” (White, ing the very high turnout of a small electorate. 2011: 755). Yet through beautifully crafted writing Expectations of what the GN might achieve also and engaging presentations Graham has traced the ran very high indeed. For the first time in Canada a development of public government in Nunavut. With legislative assembly composed predominantly of Inuit Kirk Cameron he examined the evolution of public legislators had been elected to form a public govern- governance in Nunavut, tracing this phenomenon ment. This government was different from other public through the 1993 Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, the governments in Canada as it was designed to serve all 1993 Nunavut Act and the work of the Nunavut Imple- residents of the jurisdiction and, at the same time, pay mentation Commission (Cameron & White, 1995). particular attention to the economic and cultural con- With Jack Hicks he has examined the Government of cerns of the majority Inuit population who had worked Nunavut’s (GN) decentralization as a model of gov- for over a quarter of a century to “regain control of ernment that is unique in Canada (Hicks & White, their land and their lives” (Dahl, Hicks, & Jull, 2000). 2005; White, 2015). In addition, Graham has not In the 16 years that have followed, Graham White has only written on the public service and the Legislative provided us with regular reality checks on the extent Assembly of Nunavut (White, 2000, 2006a, 2009) but to which the GN as a public government is meeting its significantly enhanced our understanding of the way founding objectives. that Indigenous, federal and territorial appointees to I have shared with Graham a strong interest in the Institutions of Public Government (IPGs) in Nun- the way that the GN has addressed economic and avut engage in the co-management of wildlife, plan- cultural concerns of Inuit in the development of its ning, impact review, surface rights, and water (White, public service and public policies. With different em- 2002, 2008). phases we have each identified the complexities of Graham White would be the first person to building a public service in Nunavut that reflects In- say that he has not accomplished this work alone. uit values and upholds obligations under Article 23 He has been supported throughout by a lively and of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA) to en- loving family as well as by a broad community of sure that the public sector workforce in Nunavut re- friends and colleagues who hold Graham in very flects the Inuit-Qallunaat (Inuit-Settler) composition high regard and whom he, in turn, has supported in of the population (White, 2000; Timpson, 2009a). many different ways. Graham has also benefitted in Significantly, in many a public forum Graham his many visits North from the extensive cooperation has emphasized that Article 23 places obligations on of Northern politicians, community activists, jour- government – federal and territorial – to ensure that nalists, and public servants, particularly the clerks of the proportion of Inuit employed in government territorial legislatures. offices in Nunavut reflects their proportion inthe I was present with Graham White in Iqaluit, on territorial population. Sixteen years into Nunavut, 15 February 1999 as the Clerk of the emergent Leg- it would be valuable for a scholar of public admin- islative Assembly of Nunavut hand-wrote constitu- istration to work with Inuit researchers and com- ency results of Nunavut’s first territorial election on pare how the federal and territorial governments large white boards in the gymnasium of the Inuksuk have addressed the complexities of building public High School. It was not the first time that this gym- services that reflect the demographic composition nasium had been the site of phenomenal political of the territory. This research would help us under- change in Nunavut and the buzz of excitement was stand why, in a territory where people move regu- palpable. Inevitably, there was some sadness as pol- larly between different zones of employment, Inuit iticians and public servants who had worked hard and settler Nunavummiut opt to work, or have the on the logistics of political division in the Northwest option to work, for the federal or territorial govern- Territories recognized that the Nunavut project was ment. Such a study would benefit not just from anal- 52 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 ysis of workforce data but also from oral histories of Parliament by way of resolution to ensure that the told by those who have moved between federal and language rights of English and French speakers in territorial sectors in the course of their employment. Nunavut were not diminished, ILPA could remain as This work would enhance our understanding of territorial legislation and, as a result, enable the GN how languages of work and the cultures of territori- to address core cultural objectives for Nunavut with- al and federal workplaces shape the development of out interference from the federal state. population-reflective public sectors in Nunavut. In his 2011 presidential address to the Canadi- Equally, given that Graham’s current work with an Political Science Association, Graham noted, as- Jack Hicks on decentralization in Nunavut highlights tutely, that “Aboriginal scholars have been especially the complexities of staffing this unique approach to important in the development of research and writ- government (White, 2015), it would be valuable for ing on the application of Traditional Knowledge a policy analyst to work with Inuit students in decen- to Northern governments but that very little of this tralized communities to examine how the GN’s obli- research has been conducted by political scientists” gations under Article 23 of the NLCA are addressed (White, 2011: 759). I hope given our shared concern in decentralized GN offices. Such an analysis may with the importance of understanding how Inuit well generate new planning insights about the avail- Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) – that which is long known ability of post-secondary education and training in by Inuit – lies at the core of developing a culturally smaller Nunavut communities. sensitive approach to public governance in Nunavut, The development of a government that can op- we have each contributed understanding about the erate in the Indigenous Inuit language is central to complexities of ensuring that IQ enhances public the project of Inuit self-determination. My work has governance and public policy in Nunavut. focused on the complex politics of developing new Graham’s work in this regard has focused primar- aspirational language policies for Nunavut that com- ily on IPGs, where, as he notes, some of “the thorn- bine the recognition of Inuit and settler languages as iest and most important problems are found at the official languages of the territory with the first legis- intersection of Aboriginal governments and “public” lation in Canada to protect an Indigenous language governments (White, 2006b). He has shown how even from erosion (Timpson, 2009b, 2010). in co-management boards focusing on core aspects of Contemporary Nunavut politicians would have the NLCA, the “conceptual [bureaucratic] framework loved to have developed official languages legislation within which the boards operate, significantly limits for Nunavut that, in keeping with the ethos of its dis- the influence of TK/IQ” (Ibid). However, when Gra- tinct, Inuit-sensitive approach to public government, ham’s “book on the boards” is published, it will be in- combined the recognition of Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, teresting to read about how the practice of IQ in the English and French with pro-active measures to pro- deliberations of co-management boards is affected by tect both Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun from erosion. the use of the Inuit language, particularly in the case Instead, after considerable deliberation, they chose of the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, where to develop the 2008 Official Languages Act (OLA) and the NLCA makes explicit the requirement that the the 2008 Inuit Language Protection Act (ILPA) as distinct business of the NWMB be conducted “in Inuktitut pieces of legislation. and, as required by legislation, in Canada’s official Graham’s contribution to public understanding languages” (Canada, 1993: Article 5.2.17). about the North stems not only from his accessible Graham noted in his work on the way tradition- writing but from thousands of conversations he has al Inuit values are reflected in the Legislative Assem- held with colleagues, students, and the broader pub- bly of Nunavut, “the strong presence of Inuktitut is lic about politics in the North. In talking about the indeed of crucial importance for the incorporation North, Graham enabled me to understand the prag- of Inuit values into the assembly” (White, 2010:18). matism with which Inuit politicians had worked, his- In my own work on the way IQ has been addressed torically, in both federal and territorial contexts. In the in different departments of the GN, I too have iden- case of language policy development, this helped me tified a relationship between Inuit language use and to recognize how Inuit pragmatism came into play, effective deliberations on IQ. I found that -the de first, when Nunavut legislators had to rework official velopment of IQ was effectively reinforced in GN languages legislation inherited from the Government departments where IQ committees provided a space of the Northwest Territories at division, and second, for Inuit public servants to work deliberatively in when they had to work within the constraints of the their own language. This empowered them to work 1993 Nunavut Act that had enabled the territorial cre- around and, where appropriate, cut through the ation of Nunavut. In the latter case, Inuit legislators anglicized, hierarchical structures of public govern- recognized that while OLA required the concurrence ment in Nunavut (Timpson, 2009a: 211-2). Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 53 Photo credit: istockphoto.com/chrishowey

Caribou outside Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, 2012.

I often recall a conversation with Graham in the commissions, task forces, conferences and position early days of Nunavut, when he asked me whether papers [that] have explored possibilities for squaring IQ was shaping policy outputs from government or the circle of Aboriginal – public government inte- remaining an internal government practice. This was gration” (White, 2011:755). However, this masks the a good, Graham White style question and one that, at way he has shared those resources with others. In the the time, I answered by reflecting on the way Inuit in early stages of my research on Nunavut, Graham IQ committees were trying to shape policy outcomes offered me access to all the documents on Nunavut in various departments by sending committee rec- and the North stored in his compact, internal office ommendations up the pipe to senior policy makers. at the University of Toronto. This act of generosi- Several years later we have seen a shift of emphasis. ty enabled me to lay the groundwork for future re- IQ, and more recently, Inuit social values are used to search in Nunavut. It also signaled early in my work frame policy objectives in the business plans of GN on the North that I was engaging with a community departments. Similarly, IQ has been embedded in key of academics who foster good spirit, share resources, Nunavut legislation, for example on language, edu- are welcoming and inclusive. cation, and wildlife (Nunavut, Culture and Heritage, Colleagues in the broader political science com- 2013). Of course, Graham White would not be en- munity will have observed how Graham encourag- tirely satisfied with this achievement. He would want es decisions through consensus, making space for to ask more about whether IQ was effectively imple- people in committee to make their different points. mented as a result of these legislative developments. Fellow researchers would also be able to identify At the core of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit are key Graham’s own traditional knowledge – we might values of respecting others through relationships of call it GQ for short – built up through many years care, fostering good spirit through being welcoming of primary research in the North: Recognize that and inclusive, and upholding core understandings the development of Nunavut as a territory emerg- of service for family and community. IQ also reflects ing out of a constitutionally protected land claims fundamental Inuit values about the ways communi- agreement is a phenomenal achievement, led by ties should work together to achieve common causes politicians who grew up on the land not speaking – by making decisions through discussion and consen- English, and who took on the federal government to sus, developing skills through observation, mentoring, achieve this goal. practice and effort, and by being innovative and re- Be analytical as a Northern scholar but do not sourceful (Nunavut, 2004: 3-4; Timpson, 2009a: 213). let theoretical concepts that drive academic scholar- Those of us who have been privileged to work ship clutter interpretations of the realpolitik of terri- with Graham as colleagues and co-researchers will torial public governance. all have examples of the way he respects and re- Do not shy away from the complexities of Nun- flects these core Inuit values. Graham may note, avut but address them head on and take account of with characteristic wryness, how his office shelves, the importance of personality in Northern politics. “fairly groan” with the “reports, transcripts and Be realistic in recognizing that it has not been background papers” of the “endless numbers of entirely possible for Nunavut’s politicians and public 54 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 servants to create a unique government in Canada. References Cameron, Kirk and Graham White. 1995. Northern Governments in At the same time, do not impose higher expec- Transition: Political and Constitutional Development in the Yukon, Nunavut and tations on Northern governments than those applied the Western Northwest Territories. Montreal: Institute for Research on to governments in the Canadian south. Public Policy. Canada. Indian and Northern Affairs. 1993. Agreement Between the Inuit Know that research in the North is one of the of the Nunavut Settlement Area and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Cana- most welcoming environments in which to work but da. Ottawa: Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development that it is one that takes time to know and understand. and the Tungavik. Dahl, Jens, Jack Hicks and Peter Jull, eds. 2000. Nunavut: Inuit Regain Finally, the ultimate wisdom from a scholar of Control of their Lands and Their Lives. Copenhagen: International Work Westminster in the Arctic: Always check with the Clerk. Group for Indigenous Affairs. Hicks, Jack and Graham White. 2000. “Nunavut: Inuit Self-determina- Graham White described his presidential address tion Through a Land Claim and Public Government?” In Nunavut: to the Canadian Political Science Association in 2011 Inuit Regain Control of their Lands and Their Lives, ed. Jens Dahl, Jack as “nothing more, or less than an exhortation, a plea, Hicks and Peter Jull, 30-115. Copenhagen: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. an enticement – a commercial if you will – for more Hicks, Jack and Graham White. 2005. “Building Nunavut through Canadian political scientists (especially near the start Decentralization or Near Carpet-Bombing it into Total Dysfuntion? of their careers) to work on the North and Northern A Case Study in Organizational Engineering.” Paper presented to the Canadian Political Science Association Conference, University issues.” Graham hoped that “The end result [would] of Western Ontario. be an influx of new scholars into this fascinating yet Nunavut. 2004. Pinasuaqtavut: 2004-2009. Iqlauit: Government of Nunavut, 2004. hugely understudied field” (White, 2011: 748). Nunavut. Inuit Societal Values: Guiding Principles. www.gov.nu.ca/sites/ As Graham approaches retirement, I hope that default/files/files/Guiding%20Principles%20Poster.pdf colleagues in the Department of Political Science Nunavut, Culture and Heritage. 2013. Incorporating Inuit Societal Values: Report. www.ch.gov.nu.ca/en/Incorporating%20Inuit%20Socie- at the University of Toronto and in the Canadian tal%20Values%20Report.pdf Political Science Association that he has served so Timpson, Annis May. 2009a. “Rethinking the Administration of admirably will honour his foundational scholarship Government: Inuit Representation, Culture, and Language in the Nunavut Public Service.” In First Nations, First Thoughts: The Impact on the territorial North. It would be good if both of Indigenous Thought in Canada, ed. Annis May Timpson, 199-228. organizations worked with Graham now, as an El- Vancouver: UBC Press. Timpson, Annis May. 2009b. “Reconciling Indigenous and Settler der, to think about how research and teaching on Language Interests: Language Policy Initiatives in Nunavut.” Journal governance and Indigenous politics in the Canadi- of Canadian Studies 43 (2): 159–80. an North could be carried forward in new and in- Timpson, Annis May. 2010. “Recognizing and Protecting Indige- nous Languages: The Significance of Nunavut’s New Language novative ways. Ideally, these innovations should not Legislation.” Canadian Political Science Association Conference, only increase the number of political scientists un- Concordia University, Montreal. dertaking Northern research and teaching about the Timpson, Annis May. 2012. “Keeping Connected? Culture, Language, Community Deliberation and Policy Development in Nunavut.” North in southern Canadian universities but address SSHRC Conference: How to Break out of Colonialism? Grande Biblio- the urgent need for Canada to keep pace with its thèque de Montréal. White, Graham. 1991. “Westminster in the Arctic: The Adaption of circumpolar partners and develop Northern-defined British Parliamentarianism in the Northwest Territories.” Canadian higher education in the Canadian North. Journal of Political Science 24, 3 (September): 449-523. There have been a number of important initiatives White, Graham. 2000. “Nunavut and the Northwest Territories: Chal- lenges of Public Service on the Northern Frontier.” In Government in the fields of education, law, and nursing to connect Restructuring and Career Public Service in Canada, ed. Evert Lindquist, the work of southern Canadian universities with the 112-47. Toronto: Institute of Public Administration of Canada. training and educational needs of citizens in Northern White, Graham. 2002. “Treaty Federalism in Northern Canada: Aboriginal-Government Land Claims Boards,” Publius: The Journal communities. However, it is time now to think about of Federalism, 32 (Summer), 89-114. moving beyond the current situation whereby southern White, Graham. 2006a. “Traditional Aboriginal Values in a Westmin- ster Parliament: The Legislative Assembly of Nunavut.” Journal of Canadian universities outsource education and train- Legislative Studies 12 (March), 8 -31. ing to the Canadian North, albeit through important White, Graham. 2006b. “Cultures in Collision: Traditional Knowledge partnerships with Northern institutions. and EuroCanadian Governance Processes in Northern Land-Claim Boards,” Arctic 59 (December), 401-14. Canada needs to focus on developing univer- White, Graham. 2008. “‘Not the Almighty’: Evaluating Aboriginal Influ- sities plural in its Northern territories – institutions ence in Northern Claims Boards,” Arctic 61(Supp), 71-85. with strategic visions that are shaped by Northern White Graham. 2009. “Governance in Nunavut: Capacity vs Cul- ture?” Journal of Canadian Studies 43 (Spring), 57-81. parameters, Northern experience, and Northern White, Graham. 2011. “Go North, Young Scholar, Go North: concerns. In that way values and ideas developed in Presidential Address to the Canadian Political Science Association, Waterloo, May 17, 2011” Canadian Journal of Political Science 44: 4, Northern communities will be articulated more fully 747-68. than they are at present in Canada’s higher educa- White, Graham. 2015. “The Government of Nunavut’s Decentral- tion system and future generations of young North- ization Policy and its Impacts.” Paper presented at the Northern Institute, Nunavut at 15 Conference, Southway Hotel, Ottawa, 5 ern scholars will, at last, be able to Stay North. ◉ February. Annis May Timpson is an Academic Visitor at Linacre College, University of Oxford. Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 55 NORTHERN POLITICAL SCIENCE Empiricist's dream: Mentorship & Northern research

Gabrielle Slowey Photo credit: istockphoto.com/eyebex

Angelcomb Peak and Trapper Mountain, Yukon, 2009.

he North is a place few Canadians ever go, yet are, for those of us who study it, it is so much more. is ever present in our sense of “being Cana- Many have spoken about Graham White’s scholar- Tdian.” Although the North is relative to where you ship and contributions to public policy, but I want 56 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 to talk about his influence on me as a mentor and portunities both intrinsically interesting and holding on my approach to research. I adopt a more infor- promise for theory building and testing. For me, the mal, storytelling tone in keeping with Graham’s own reason I love doing research in the North is not only approach and that of the Indigenous people with because I get to escape the big city and live on re- which we work. My focus will be on issues of meth- serve or be part of that which captures most of the odology and Northern research. Canadian imagination. Rather, it is the people. I feel The literature on the North arguably changed that the history of Canadian politics has been rooted course with the release of the final report of the primarily in the study of institutions, systems, and Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, or Berger Report. those who exist in them. In the North, the study of Of course, the North has always been part of the Canadian politics is the study of people, first and Canadian identity, but as any student who has read foremost. It is rooted in their stories, their lives, and an introductory Canadian politics text knows, myself their visions for the future. To do research in the included, the focus of Canadian politics has histori- North, and to do it well – or at all really – you have cally been on the machinery of government and its to first spend time there, building relations and culti- institutions. During the 1960s, Alan Cairns argued vating connections. that political scientists needed to better appreciate In his CPSA presidential address, Graham con- the role of Canadian society and social perspectives firmed these ideas when he said “if one listens a in their studies of our country’s politics. The Berger good deal more than one speaks, shows sustained in- Commission revolutionized politics by taking the time terest, and appreciates distinctive Northern ways of to get the input of Indigenous peoples. In many ways doing politics, then Northerners – political leaders, he and his commission set the tone for the way future bureaucrats and folks at the community hall – will be research on Indigenous peoples and the North would remarkably open and helpful.” These remarks are proceed. true but they also take time. A lot of it. And com- That is, since the beginning, it has been an em- mitment. And money. Lots of that too. As Graham pirically oriented area of study and research and warned, there are many downsides to doing em- these features are a critical component but also pirical research, and the cost and cold and travel a major attraction for those of us who engage in challenges are just some of them. He adds that one Northern research. Graham himself was also a pio- needs to be flexible and, I would add, patient. Gra- neer in many ways, realizing from day one the need ham cautions that Northerners aren’t always avail- to get funds and travel to the North to witness the able for interviews and booking them in advance is functioning of a legislature that had no political par- really not how things are done. Rather, you need to ties. Certainly the empirical element is a large part just arrive and hope for the best. of why I love doing Northern research. Canadian I recall one research trip where I was trying to politics indeed has a history of empirical research conduct all my research in a four-week period be- but this type of empirical research was indeed “un- cause I was away from my 16-month-old son and chartered territory” for many reasons. Graham him- pregnant with my second son. The trip involved self realized this fact early on. conducting interviews in Calgary with the Aborig- In his presidential address at the Canadian Po- inal Pipeline Group, then Yellowknife and then Inu- litical Science Association (CPSA), Graham White vik. I then spent a week in Tuktoyaktuk and headed made a pitch for more Northern research and urged over to Old Crow for a week before heading on to new scholars to go North. I was once a student of Alaska. I had a short time in which to conduct all Graham’s and a test subject in the early days of his of my interviews and the day after I arrived in Old pitch and I couldn’t thank him more. In his speech, Crow, an Elder died. Well, this essentially shut down Graham highlighted the political puzzles and prob- the community as preparations began for the funer- lems that are present in the North and why they are al. I remember it was fall – September – and win- of interest to political scientists and how we, as po- ter was setting in and members of the community litical scientists, could contribute to the development were trying to thaw the ground to bury the body. of Northern politics. He alluded to some of the Conducting research in Old Crow means going to charm that the North possesses as a way to promote the Vuntut Gwitchin government office and trying it as an area of study and to lure students there. to meet with people in their homes, but it was hard What I think was missing was a key element – to track people down when the government offices that the North is an empiricist’s dream. Canadian were closed. At one point I was told I shouldn’t even political science is not necessarily known for being be walking around town and in no way could I at- theoretically robust, but in reality, as Graham put tend the funeral events because it was dangerous for it, the North is awash with untapped research op- me. They believed that because I was pregnant the Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 57 spirit of the Elder might try to take spirit of my child tainly set the tone for future researchers in terms of with her so I had to stay away. You can imagine my opening up doors for them. frustration at trying to conduct research when I was To do research in the North requires more than unable to be part of the events where the majority normative ideas about what should be. It requires of community members would be. So conducting an understanding of how things are and have been. empirical research is a real challenge and I would ar- It requires sensitivity to the needs of the people that gue it is a labour of love. This is the type of research live there because as researchers, we are only tour- that one has to be passionate about and enjoy. And ists who eventually leave the residents of the North I would argue that, unlike other research, because to face the challenges that persist there. So Gra- it is rooted in people and place and not in bricks or ham is right; it is critical that one understand how books, it is amongst the toughest type of research in the North works in both formal and informal ways. which one can engage. These are some of the highs Most of what I learned about the North I learned by and lows of conducting/doing Northern research. virtue of being there. For those of us who do it, we all have these type of For me, the lure of the North is, as Graham puts stories. it, not the high-falutin’ theoretical paraphernalia What makes our work challenging (and so very we can develop there but rather the practical impli- interesting) are the differences between communi- cations of our work. While making a contribution ties, their cultures, their needs, and their interests. to scholarship is important for academic careers it Graham’s work highlights both the similarities and is also important to the transformation of peoples’ differences between Western and Indigenous modes lives. We are helping to build a better and broader of governance. In his work on land claims boards, understanding of how the North works and what he argues that the boards are based in principle on the people want. Certainly a key legacy of the Inter- bringing Indigenous peoples into a Western forum national Polar Year is that, as researchers, we need for decision-making and not properly accommo- to leave our research and leave our expertise in the dating or making space for their visions. Graham’s communities in which we work – that means hiring publications continually highlight the innovation in Indigenous students, leaving research products, and governance mechanisms and applaud the ingenuity ensuring the community benefits from our work in of government but also hold accountable those same some shape or form. institutions that only pay lip service to change. In 1977, Justice Thomas Berger wrote, in a let- Graham has always been supportive of con- ter to then Minister of Indian Affairs, Warren All- tributing perspectives to Northern research. As he mand, that for businessmen and for those wanting explained, it is a small cadre of people working up to build a pipeline, the North was a frontier. For there but we do it in the spirit of cooperation rather those who lived there, for the Indigenous peoples, it than competition. I believe that spirit and way of was their homeland. Today it remains both and the conducting research are emblematic of the spirit of challenges have only intensified as the pursuit of oil Indigenous peoples. The people of the North are and gas continues to heat up and pit people against generous and sharing and these features are reflect- pipelines. The North is a region of conflicting goals, ed in those who work up there. preferences, and aspirations and for me, at least, it is In terms of Graham’s influence on my own the most dynamic area of Canadian politics. Indeed, work, it was during my final year of undergradu- we often hear that Indigenous cultures are not static ate studies at the University of Toronto when I was and the same is most certainly true of Indigenous taking his course on the politics of the Northwest politics. Whereas 40 years ago Berger heard a re- Territories when I stumbled upon an article in the sounding “no” from Indigenous peoples concerning Report on Business magazine that there might be dia- development in their territories, some of them today monds up there. Immediately intrigued, I wrote my are now the leaders championing that development. final paper positing that the division of the NWT It is truly an exciting time to be in the North. ◉ into two territories would open up important governance challenges in light of the prospect of diamond Gabrielle Slowey is an Associate Professor in the Department development. And that was it; I was hooked! I have of Political Science and Director of the Robarts Centre for been focused on the correlation between resource Canadian Studies at York University. extraction and governance ever since. Although his own research has focused on institutions, he has always been supportive of other voices and perspectives, seeing them as critical to expanding the puzzle rather than narrowing it. Graham’s work has cer- 58 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 Photo credit: istockphoto.com/eyebex Yukon River, 2008. YUKON NORTHERN POLITICAL SCIENCE Reflections from abroad: What comparativists can learn from territorial politics in the Canadian north Ailsa Henderson Photo credit: Mark Aspland

Tundra grass, Iqaluit, Nunavut.

first met Graham White when I arrived atthe an unofficial mentor, colleague, line manager, First Air University of Toronto to complete a post-doctor- travel companion, co-author, and friend. His influence alI fellowship there. Because I had intended to com- comes both from his written work and from his sound pare institutional developments in different West- advice and kindness. minster systems, and because I had just come from Graham is unfailingly generous with his time. completing a PhD in Edinburgh, it seemed logical to Despite having two offices – one at the downtown St. compare devolution in the UK and Canada, as well George campus and another in Mississauga – Gra- as electoral reform in New Zealand and the republi- ham seemed to have the uncanny ability to always can referendum in Australia. All seemed to be exam- be in both offices. His St. George office opened on ples of different attempts to adapt the Westminster to the main corridor, his door always open, a giant system to domestic political cultures. I had applied to Nunavut flag (the penultimate design, not the final work with Neil Nevitte on political behaviour work, version he would point out) hanging on the wall, a and have consistently received excellent advice from Tilley hat lying nearby in summer months (a Nun- him in the subsequent decades. avut-worthy toque in winter). Because the office was How fortunate for me that Toronto also housed one not particularly large his desk always gave the im- of the world’s few political scientists specializing in the pression that it was ready to jump out of the door territorial North. When I first met Graham he warned and into the corridor. This, and his happy demea- me that I would likely find enough material in Nunavut nour, seemed to emphasis his willingness to talk to for an entire book and he was absolutely correct. What passers-by and no doubt we all took advantage of was intended as a comparative exercise became essen- his time and patience far too much over the years. tially a very large project on Nunavut, with some com- Graham was an invaluable source of advice be- parative elements running alongside it. During my time fore I conducted my first fieldwork trip to Iqaluit, and there and in the subsequent years, Graham has served as he introduced me in person and via email to a series 60 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 of contacts who offered different insights into territo- beyond the NWT and Nunavut. His Cycling into Sai- rial developments that were, at the time, not captured gon, co-authored with David Cameron, analyses Mike in the academic discourse or the grey literature of or- Harris’s tenure as Ontario Premier and the origins ganizational reports or meeting minutes. It is not ev- and impact of the Conservative “Common Sense eryone who, having studied the territorial North, con- Revolution.” This speaks to a larger theme within tinues to do so for decades, nor does everyone emerge Graham’s written work, that what is operating below from such an experience with a network of contacts the state is essential to understand politics and politi- who trust them enough to talk to subsequent students cal power in Canada. By this I mean below the state or colleagues, nor are all colleagues generous with in terms of sub-state or meso-level governments, such passing on those contacts, but it is entirely unsurpris- as provinces or territorials, but also the varied forms ing that all of this should be true of Graham. In the of governance that exist in different jurisdictions in intervening years he has read countless drafts of con- Canada. In Nunavut this includes the various regula- ference papers, journal articles, and book chapters. tory bodies, and co-management and claims boards, He was always encouraging, but he was equally likely each of which provide additional opportunities for in- to tell me honestly (albeit kindly) when he thought I’d stitutional values to compete with the values of board completely misread events or intentions, and I very members and the wider public. This institutional much valued his advice. focus, with an emphasis on political economy, high- Before my first trip to Iqaluit I had read his very lights different links and relationships from research comprehensive chapter “Nunavut: Inuit Self-Deter- employing political culture, and it was therefore a mination through a Land Claim and Public Govern- rewarding experience to co-author a recent chapter ment,” co-authored with Jack Hicks, which provided with Graham that explored developments in Nunavut essential information about political developments from both perspectives. It was also typical of what I in Nunavut. The territory was, at that point, just one have come to expect from Graham: kind and gentle year old and there was very little academic literature encouragement, and lots of on-the-ground detail and on the subject. The chapter was typical of Graham’s analysis that highlighted the links between different work, rich in detail but not short on political analy- working parts of the whole and possible avenues for sis, with an emphasis on political economy and insti- future development. Our understanding of the Ca- tutional development. nadian territories would be all the poorer without If I had to pick one piece of work that influ- his writing, and the cohort of scholars he has trained enced me more than others, it would be his 1991 Ca- and mentored, who now seek to provide their own nadian Journal of Political Science article “Westminster insights, are all the better for his guidance and sup- in the Arctic,” which made me rethink my defini- port. ◉ tion of political culture, hitherto almost exclusively focused on attitudes and behaviour. His analysis of Ailsa Henderson is a Professor of Political Science and Head how the Westminster system had been adapted in a of Politics and International Relations at the University of territorial context – in this instance in the Northwest Edinburgh. Territories – demonstrated to me the role that institutional adaption, some of it deliberate, some of it References less so, played in the development of territorial po- Hicks, Jack and Graham White (2000) Nunavut: Inuit Self-De- termination through a Land Claim and Public Government” litical culture in Canada. It’s a line of argument that in Jens Dahl, Jack Hicks and Peter Jull, Eds, Nunavut: Inuit Graham subsequently developed in different outlets Regain Control of Their Lands and Their Lives. Copenha- and which led me to the archives in Yellowknife, a gen, IWGIA: 30-115. source so rich that it formed the basis of consider- White, Graham (1991) “Westminster in the Arctic: The Adapta- tion of British Parliamentarism in the Northwest Territories” able work on political culture in Nunavut: Federal Canadian Journal of Political Science 24(3): 499-523. efforts to inculcate in the Northern population an White, Graham (1993) “Structure and Culture in a Non-Partisan understanding of the role of government and citi- Westminster Parliament: Canada’s Northwest Territories” zenship, territorial efforts to create a bespoke system Australian Journal of Political Science 28: 322-39. White, Graham () Culture Clash: Traditional Knowledge and while preserving elements of Westminster govern- Eurocanadian Governance Processes in Northern Claims ment, and the intervention of personalities, timing, Boards in Annis May Timpson First Nations, First Thoughts. coincidence and accident – as is the case in any poli- Vancouver: UBC Press. ty – that served to stretch and bend such efforts from White, Graham (1996) “Traditional Aboriginal Values in a West- minster Parliament: The Legislative Assembly of Nunavut” the original intentions of institutional architects. Journal of Legislative Studies 12(1): 8-31. Although Graham could rightly be considered one of Canada’s preeminent political scientists of the territorial North, his research and writing extends Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 61 NORTHERN POLITICAL SCIENCE Graham White & Nunavut

Jack Hicks

Professor Graham White.

t is a rare and a special thing when a person can a third territory. look back and identify the precise moment when And Graham had clearly done his homework, Ian important relationship in their life began. In my having read and given much thought to all the doc- case it was the receipt, just over twenty years ago at uments that had been produced to that point. In his my desk as Director of Research for the Nunavut letter he expressed enthusiasm for the NIC’s pro- Implementation Commission (NIC), of a four-page posal for a “gender equal” legislature employing letter from a Professor of Political Science at the Uni- two-member constituencies. He warned against the versity of Toronto enquiring if he might stop by and suggestion (and it was never more than that, an op- pay our office a visit during a forthcoming to Iqaluit. tion for consideration) that Nunavut might have a I remember reading this letter several times and directly-elected Premier. The former he saw as an sharing it with my co-workers, simply because it was entirely workable innovation within the framework such a brilliant letter. After explaining that he was of a Westminster legislature, the latter he saw as po- a guy from Toronto who had become intrigued by tentially quite dangerous. He laid out his arguments the non-partisan legislative system in the Northwest clearly and compellingly. And as a professor will do, Territories, Dr. White expressed fascination with the he gently and humorously corrected a factual error work just underway to divide the NWT and create (about some obscure aspect of Canadian legislative 62 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 history) that he had found in a footnote of some- nation with the life stories of the individuals he met thing the NIC had published. on visits, being they Inuit who had grown up in Nun- It should be noted that Graham has a great avut or southerners who had been drawn to Nunavut, sense of humour. In May 2000 he felt compelled gave him insights into the human aspects of the pro- to write a letter to Nunatsiaq News about a photo cesses that were unfolding. As an example, Graham caption, noting that Gene Vincent would never be often remarked on the shared commitment and per- caught dead in a sequined white jumpsuit. sonal connections he saw between the politicians and And so it was that one-day Professor Graham officials of the NIC, NTI, the GoC and the GNWT White strolled into the NIC’s tiny research office – two – commitment and connection which cut across the apartments with a wall knocked out between them – institutional silos the staff worked within. clearly astonished. “You can’t design a government In the years after Nunavut’s creation Graham like this!” he exclaimed. His point being that surely spent countless days in conversation with officials of all there were another hundred or so planners tucked manner of organizations – listening carefully to their away in another office somewhere… As I came to reflections on the challenges they faced, asking prac- understand Graham’s fascination with institution- tical questions, offering observations of his own and al design and the dynamics of institutional change, (although he would never phrase it as such) wisdom and with attempts to incorporate Aboriginal values drawn from his vast and nuanced knowledge of Ca- into modern governance systems, I realized what an nadian politics, and – when invited to do so – making amazing moment that must have been for him. presentations in meetings and workshops. Genuinely wanting to see the new governance arrangements work unavut was a challenging project for an Ontar- smoothly, Graham never turned down an opportunity io academic to take on. An understanding of to offer practical help in any way he could. Nthe territory’s past, present, and aspirations cannot Graham White’s years of work in and on Nun- be obtained solely from reading documents – it re- avut have set a high standard for how an academic quires spending time on the ground, in Iqaluit and should engage with, and contribute to, his field of in the smaller communities, and speaking with both research. I hope that his career inspires some young those making decisions and those living with the re- scholars to follow his example and make a compara- sults of decisions. Graham made a long-term com- ble contribution in their own careers. mitment to his work on the new territory, and made many research trips North. or the record I would like to note that Graham The structures established by implementation and I still occasionally sigh and express regret that of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement are unique, and Fthe “gender parity” proposal was defeated in a public relationships between them are complex. Graham vote, after almost the entire political leadership had invested in learning not just about legislative politi- agreed to give it a try. Far more contentious aspects cal process, but also about the operations of the rep- of the design of the government had been settled by resentative Inuit organization Nunavut Tunngavik consensus between the three parties to the Nunavut Inc. (NTI) and the institutions of public government. Political Accord (Canada, NTI, and the GNWT) af- Now, one of Graham’s “retirement projects” is to ter discussion of design options proposed by the NIC, finish a book on the wildlife management boards in but the GNWT decided that this one matter had to Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and Yukon. be put to a public vote. The proposal would have set Simply put, Graham was the only academic the new legislature off on a bold and hopeful course. who realized that something really interesting and We’ll never know, but Graham and I agree that social complicated was about to happen in the evolution of issues could only have been given greater attention if governance in the Eastern and Central Arctic and there had been equal numbers of women and men in decided to try and study it in great detail. Others the Legislative Assembly on Nunavut. ◉ have considered the big picture, and still others have looked at pieces of the puzzle, but only Graham has Jack Hicks is a social research consultant and a university tried to research, write about, and teach about the and college lecturer based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He puzzle as a whole. is co-author, with Graham White, of Made in Nunavut: But there is more to the story than Graham ex- An Experiment in Decentralized Government, which tending the range of his knowledge of, and publica- was published by UBC Press in December, 2015. tions about, politics at the provincial/territorial level. Having worked in the Clerk’s Office in the Ontario legislature, Graham understood that political and bureaucratic systems are composed of people. His fasci- Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 63 NORTHERN POLITICAL SCIENCE The spell of Northern politics1

Graham White

t’s not my fault! Chris Alcantara tries to pin the an especially important yet vexing set of political is- blame on me for leading him and other young schol- sues facing this country: establishing a just and ef- arsI down the garden path ... make that tundra trail ... fective relationship between the Canadian state and into studying Northern politics. I may have introduced Aboriginal peoples. them to what lies north of 60 but it was the North that Third, Northerners have perhaps the best op- hooked them. The North with its fascinating peoples portunity any Canadians have ever had to create the and their remarkable politics, not to mention the land political regimes that govern them. Again, however, itself: at once magnificent, daunting, unforgettable. a reality check is in order: Northerners don’t begin I should know; I fell victim to the North’s siren with anything like a blank slate. Even the creation song many years ago. In 1988 I went to Yellowknife of Nunavut was beset by all manner of constraints: to do a quick, one-time-only study of that parlia- Financial and logistical restrictions loomed large, as mentary oddity, “consensus government” (in part did short timelines, complex cultural and political because supposedly knowledgeable observers were imperatives, not to mention failings of imagination predicting that it was about to be replaced by party and political will. Still, the kind of political change politics; so much for supposedly knowledgeable ob- routinely contemplated in the North far exceeds the servers). I was barely off the plane when I realized possibilities open to those living in the provinces. that the (pre-division) NWT had just about the most Fourth, those of us who study them know how interesting politics I’d ever encountered. Nearly difficult it is to truly change political institutions. three decades later, I’m still entranced by Northern I’m not about to suggest that in the North it’s easily politics, still coming back ... and still trying to figure done, but the record shows that significant change out consensus government. is possible. Moreover, the scale of Northern politics, What’s the attraction? Readers of Northern Public combined with the relative malleability of existing Affairs will have their own answers; here are mine. institutions, means that a small number of able, ded- Jack Hicks mentions in his paper what an amazing icated individuals can bring about real change. moment it was for me to find that the “research divi- None of this speaks directly to Frances Abele’s sion” of the Nunavut Implementation Commission astute question about the power of institutional consisted of Jack and Bert Rose, a xerox machine change in the North to, in her words, “lay the foun- and teetering mounds of files in a second floor apart- dation for a new society that would be more equal, ment at the (then) edge of Iqaluit. For me, Northern fairer and reflective of Indigenous democratic tradi- research is an endless succession of amazing mo- tions.” She is doubtless right that many of us have ments. Amazing yes, but also perplexing. It’s a rare let wishful thinking and fascination with the exotic trip North that doesn’t end with a plane ride home trump hard-headed analysis. We need to step back in which my head fairly buzzes with fresh insights, and consider Northern institutions and institution- new interpretations, bewildering contradictions of al change in a broader context. Two truisms about what I thought I knew, plus a firm commitment to institutions seem to me to be especially pertinent in come back again to try to make sense of it all. the North: On the one hand, the best institutional Let me be a little more systematic. First, for a arrangements will not function effectively without political scientist like me, interested in institutions good people, while on the other hand, good people – an old fashioned structures-and-processes-of-gov- can go a long way towards overcoming weak insti- ernment guy – it is a real kick seeing new and often tutions. unique institutions emerge and develop and do so Some scholars, such as Paul Nadasdy and the with remarkable speed. Not all succeed; indeed, one late Marc Stevenson, argue that even institutions of the challenges is determining why some institu- that appear to substantially advance the interests tional innovations are successful and others aren’t. of Northern Aboriginal peoples, such as the pow- Second, the most far-reaching institutional erful co-management boards established under the changes in the North are those aimed at dealing with comprehensive land claims, do serious harm to the

64 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 Photo credit: DepartmentPhoto credit: of of University Science, Political Toronto.

Professor Graham White. supposed beneficiaries. Inevitably, the argument innate talent and commitment ... and of course to the runs, Western institutions force Aboriginal peoples enticements of the North itself. From my perspective, to adopt foreign political ideas and processes and the real thanks are due to the vast number of people to abandon traditional ways of thinking and acting. – politicians, bureaucrats, journalists, consultants and Although I don’t fully accept this argument, it is un- others – across three territories who, from the very questionably true – if not always recognized – that beginning, have been so remarkably helpful to me in all institutional frameworks, and certainly those of providing information and in explaining how things the rational bureaucratic state and of the Westmin- work in the North (and how they might work better). ster cabinet-parliamentary system are intensely val- I toyed with the idea of listing them, but this would ue-laden. This, of course, is one key reason why, as take up far too much space and I’d inevitably leave Annis May Timpson’s paper discusses, it is so hard out some deserving of my gratitude. So let me simply to imbue the territorial governments with TK/IQ. offer heartfelt thanks to one and all for your unstint- ing willingness to respond to my curiosity about the For the first few years doing Northern research I fre- North and its politics, and for your friendship. quently felt that I was being pretentious, if not flat- I also wish to record my thanks to the small but out dishonest, by writing about Northern govern- hardy band of Northern scholars who have been ment and politics. After all, here was a guy who lived uniformly supportive of my Northern work. And of in Toronto (Toronto!) who came North three or four course my thanks to the authors of the papers in this times a year for no more than a week or ten days issue for their kind words about me and especially to at a time and then had the temerity to publish sup- Chris Alcantara and the editors of NPA for making posedly authoritative accounts based on fleeting (if the whole thing possible. intense) observations, interviews and informal chats. As several papers note, I’ve been engaged with I slowly came to realize, however, that with so many the North for some time. I go back to the days of important things happening in the North (and hap- the Miners’ Mess in the Yellowknife Inn, which fea- pening so fast), but with no Northern university to tured perhaps the worst coffee on the planet and the encourage research and only a small band of south- most interesting clientele imaginable arrayed along ern-based academics looking at Northern politics, if long communal tables. Much has changed across I didn’t chronicle the important developments un- the North since then: Self-government regimes are folding, no one would. To be sure, from time to time emerging, Nunavut is a reality, the Internet is every- I still experience qualms about my supposed North- where (albeit overpriced and underperforming) and ern expertise, but as more and more Aboriginal and Iqaluit’s ‘Road to Nowhere’ now goes somewhere. non-Aboriginal Northerners take up the challenge Gabrielle Slowey writes “it is truly an exciting time of researching and writing about Northern politics to be in the North.” Agreed ... but then for me it’s – often in the pages of Northern Public Affairs – I find always been an exciting time to be in the North.◉ it less and less worrisome. Ailsa Henderson’s article speaks to the value of Graham White is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Northern research for comparativists. I agree entirely, Political Science at the University of Toronto. but suggest that the North also needs more comparative research. I am often struck by how little senior Notes Northern political and bureaucratic figures know 1. With apologies to Robert W. Service. about what’s happening in jurisdictions other than their own. If this is unsurprising – these are exceed- ingly busy folks – it does point up a need for those of us who write about Northern government and politics to avoid limiting ourselves to a single territory or region. What’s happening in one place may or may not be relevant to another, but policy makers and opinion leaders surely benefit from pan-Northern research.

Several of the authors of the papers from the sym- posium thank me for supporting them in the early stages of their Northern careers. I may have played a small role but the real credit goes to the authors’

66 Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 ONLINE Northern Public Affairs welcomes new Online Editor

fter four years of providing Northerners with of journalistic experience across Northern Canada. policy-relevant research and analysis, Northern We’re excited for Meagan to put her stamp on our PublicA Affairs magazine is excited to announce that online offerings.” our team has expanded to include Meagan Wohl- Apart from her work with Northern Public Affairs, berg as our new online editor. Ms. Wohlberg also contributes as a freelancer on Ms. Wohlberg is a journalist based out of Fort Northern issues to a variety of publications, includ- Smith in the Northwest Territories. She previously ing EDGE YK and VICE Canada news. She is the re- served as editor of the Northern Journal, and is fre- cipient of numerous national awards for her envi- quently called upon for comment and analysis on ronmental writing and photojournalism. political issues in the North. With the creation of this new online editor role, “We’re thrilled that Meagan Wohlberg is joining Northern Public Affairs will ensure even more excellent our team as online editor of Northern Public Affairs,” commentary, analysis, news, and research is made said Jerald Sabin, co-founding editor of Northern accessible more frequently to our audience of aca- Public Affairs. “Meagan is an insightful observer of demics, leaders, public servants, students, and en- Northern politics and public policy with a wealth gaged Northerners.◉

Northern Public Affairs, February 2016 67 “Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls represent a heartbreaking national tragedy that must be addressed immediately. Inaction ends today. This is why we need to hear from all Canadians – especially survivors, families and loved ones, Indigenous organizations, and provinces and territories – to help us identify the best process for this inquiry.”

– Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett on the launch of an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women, December 8, 2015 ONLINE

Visit www.northernpublicaffairs.ca for news, commentary, & more! NUNAVUT

“Under the whale bones (Apex)”, by Mark Aspland. All proceeds from the sale of Aspland’s work are donated to the Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help Line and other charitable organizations in Nunavut. Visit www.nunavutimages.com for more information.