«our people» HE STICKS TO HIS GUNS SOME CALL HIM A BIGOT; This version of Tagak Curley bears little resem- blance to the one I’d watched 24 hours earlier, OTHERS, A BRILLIANT VISIONARY. stone-faced and dressed in a somber black suit MEET NUNAVUT’S MADDENING in the Nunavut legislature. The MLA for Rankin HERO, THE UNRELENTING, Inlet North, Curley was in top form, unleashing UNREPENTING TaGAK CURLEY. vitriolic criticism of the government for awarding a medevac contract to an Inuit-owned company BY MARGO PFEIFF that possessed neither a flight licence nor a plane. As he has for decades, Curley spat fire, decrying want to show you my harpoon-head collec- the “airline” as a money-grabbing scheme and the “ tion,” Tagak Curley says, scurrying into his government as a stooge. “I want experienced Inuit workshop. Among the drills, saws and files is companies to take the lead,” he demanded, “but I a worn wooden box from which he pulls doz- by getting a licence, owning a plane, buying into ens of brass and bronze spikes. Barbed and gleam- an existing airline and then playing ball.” ing, they’re designed to kill seals and walruses. Cur- A day later, relaxed and friendly, Curley gently ley crafted some himself; others are old, made by cradles his harpoon heads. He says, sincerely, “Real- his father. He’s particularly proud of a large one he ly, I’m just a simple hunter.” And that’s true on sev- made that landed a bowhead whale during Rankin eral fronts. He’s a traditional Inuk – he loves “coun- Inlet’s first modern bowhead hunt, in 2009. try food,” the peace and quiet of the wilderness, The harpoon heads are just the start of Cur- the excitement of travelling on the land. But what’s ley’s collection of handmade hunting gear. made him famous, and wildly controversial, are his When I first arrived at his home atop Iqaluit’s campaigns in the landscape of politics, where, ever “plateau,” where he lives with his wife, Sally, since the 1960s, Curley has held a singular vision he immediately showed off a sled and a sturdy squarely in his crosshairs – and where, shrewdly boat parked out front. “I wasn’t going to hunt and mercilessly, he has shot his opponents down. anymore when I moved to Iqaluit from Rankin Curley’s quest has been straightforward: to de- Inlet, but when ice started to form I couldn’t hold fend his people’s way of life, from white people back,” he says, laughing. “I started the komatiq and, quite often, from other Inuit. An astute and before I even bought a snowmobile. Then I made accomplished leader, he’s an Order of Canada the boat!” Clad in a bulky parka, he chats enthu- recipient and the founder of the first-ever Inuit siastically about fishing and hunting. “If I had political organization, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. time,” he says, “ I’d go out every single day, and He helped start Nunavut Arctic College; he spear- I’d be happy.” headed the land-claims agreement that led to the MARGO PFEIFF 26 UP HERE JULY • AUGUST 2012 SEPTEMBER 2012 UP HERE 27 «our people» founding of Nunavut. And after all those vic- CuRLEY WAS BORN into a traditional But as a young boy Curley also saw that they literally built their new government, The news didn’t sit well with the British – oil,” he says, pointing at a stack of books. tories, he remains an outspoken guardian of hunting camp on Southampton Island in life being threatened. He witnessed the ar- but Curley did. In 1996, as president of the author Charles Dickens claimed it was actu- “Cheap oil is finished and it’s going to be- Inuit culture, a traditionalist who fights for 1944. His father was a renowned hunter rogance of white people moving into the Nunavut Construction Corporation, he or- ally the Inuit who had committed cannibal- come unaffordable up here. But the gov- the integrity of the vision he helped create. and also a man with foresight: In the late- Arctic, and saw the fear they inspired even chestrated the funding and erection of the ism. In the climax of the documentary, Cur- ernment is sleeping. Something needs to Visionaries are rarely easy to understand, 1930s he secured an oak-bottomed, single- in brave men like his father. When their territory’s legislative assembly in Iqaluit, ley defends his people so passionately that be done.” He’s convinced that before he much less get along with, and Curley is no masted boat with which he launched hunt- boat was routinely inspected to see if they along with 10 office buildings and 140 hous- he receives a surprising, heartfelt apology dies he’ll see another source of energy fuel- exception. He has countless enemies and ing forays that fed most of his community. were violating hunting quotas, Curley real- ing units throughout the territory. from Dickens’ great-great grandson. ling the Arctic. He reaches across his work- detractors. But, says former MLA Ed Picco, He taught his son to trap foxes and hunt ized Inuit were losing control of their home- In 2004, Curley burst back onto the po- bench and holds up a harpoon head. “After “Love him or hate him, you always knew he caribou, geese, walrus and polar bears, and land. It set him on the path he’d follow the litical scene as MLA for Rankin Inlet. Con- THE LAST TIME I visit Curley’s home, he all, when I was young, this was our source wasn’t there for Mr. Curley. He was there for to love the freedom and self-sufficiency of rest of his life. troversy soon followed: He stirred up Nuna- launches into a discussion about his lat- of oil.” He grins. “I always see the impos- his people. You have to respect that.” Inuit life. After attending school in Coral Harbour vut’s first ever gay-rights fight. Curley was est fascination. “I’ve been reading about sible as possible.” he headed to Ottawa to upgrade his educa- on the “no” side, incensed by then-premier tion and improve his English. He edited Paul Okalik’s advocacy of equal treatment the first Inuktitut-language newspaper, the of homosexuals. For years a member of the Keewatin Echo, and in the 1960s took a job North’s burgeoning fundamentalist-Chris- with the federal housing agency teaching tian movement, Curley saw the proposal as Inuit how to live in homes given to them the incursion of southern, big-city immoral- in an effort to end their nomadic lifeways. ity into traditional Inuit culture. As part of As he travelled the Arctic, visiting newly his protest, he for a time granted interviews established communities, he was drawn to only in Inuktitut. the courageous leaders he met. Soon he was His views on gays rights aren’t his only corresponding with a network of Northern- inflammatory position. “Partly because of ers from whom he received the same mes- Tagak’s strong religious beliefs, he has a sage: Something must be done. He suggest- hard time dealing with female leadership,” MINING FOR A ed there be an organization to fight for Inuit says Cathy Towtongie, president of Nuna- rights, hoping someone else would step up vut Tunngavik, the territory’s land-claim SUSTAINABLE and lead it. “I didn’t know anything about implementation organization. Despite being a politician,” he says. “But in the end I being Curley’s cousin and having worked FUTURE let go of my fears and told them ‘Let’s go for with him during Nunavut’s creation, she’s broke!’” In 1969 he quit his job and formed still been on the receiving end of his attacks. what became the Inuit “brotherhood” – the “He once told me he believed men should Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. be at the head of the new territory. ‘OK,’ I As the founding president, Curley got told him, ‘you be the head. I’m the neck.’” to work. He promptly plucked the word Still Towtongie defends Curley, calling him “Eskimo” out of the mouths of Canadians, “an intelligent debater. Tough on issues, but replacing it with “Inuit,” meaning “the likeable.” people.” He then presented the idea of pur- “Tough” is an understatement. Through- “Mining safely. Mining more. Mining right.” suing land-claim agreements, going on to out his fiery career he has become famous embraces our commitment to mining efficiently become the lead negotiator. Successes came for hammering away at what he sees as in- and productively while doing the utmost to quickly, but Curley, ever the dreamer, was efficiencies in the ruling government, often protect the health and safety of miners, the environment, and the communities where already moving on. “They thought I was calling for premiers to step down. Last No- mining companies operate. crazy, but I felt our forward progress could vember, when he was the minister of health We’re committed to helping customers still fall apart,” he says. “We had to be more and social services, he fought the proposed protect their greatest asset—their people. than just a political movement.” He pushed splitting of his department by resigning in We design products integrated with features the radical idea of splitting the Northwest protest. Has he dreamt of being premier? that keep people safe when they’re in, on or Territories to create an Inuit homeland. “No.” Then he pauses. “Yes, I have.” ® around Cat equipment. The concept of “Nunavut” was floated at an Outside of politics, Curley is an avid At Toromont Cat we’re committed to helping customers produce more—more efficiently.