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. NORTHERN PUBLIC AFFAIRS IS A TRADEMARK OF NORTHERN PUBLIC AFFAIRS. COPYRIGHT © 2016 NORTHERN PUBLIC AFFAIRS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN CANADA. FEATURES NUNAVUT Photo credit: Mark Aspland Mark Photo credit: 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