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January/February 2009 issue	In this issue Table of Contents Feature: Nunavut Feature: Royal Ontario Museum Feature: Hero school The Inside Story Editor’s Notebook Reverberations À la carte

Feature story: Nunavut Territory of unrequited dreams More... Sidebar: Project Naming Map: Explore Nunavut Photos: Life in Nunavut Videos: Pond Inlet   Throat-singing teens Info: 10th Anniversary Celebration Resources Library and Archives Canada

Rivalries aside, Nunavut and its corresponding land claims have brought political certainty to the region, which pleases Bay Street and has thus attracted an army of prospectors in the past decade. The exploration and mining sector spent $230 million in Nunavut in 2007, and several mines are set to begin shipping iron, gold and perhaps even uranium within a few years. These projects vibrate with longanticipated promises of security and jobs, but some Inuit balk at the potential impact on caribou, sea mammals and fish. “I’ve been trying to send the message that in the area of Mary River, there are migrating narwhals,” says Abraham Kublu, Pond Inlet’s 28-year-old mayor, singling out one of several species that will be affected by Baffinland Iron Mines’ massive Mary River Project, south of his community. “I spent two weeks with two narwhal researchers from McGill University. There were thousands of narwhals.”

With half its 30,000 residents under age 25 (and a birth rate twice the national rate), Nunavut has the country’s youngest population, which is both an asset and a liability: youth have dreams, says Jack Anawak, but they don’t necessarily know how to achieve them. The first order of business, everyone agrees, is getting more kids through school, and on that front, there is modest progress. Slightly more teenagers are graduating from high school now, nearly 30 percent, compared with 25 percent before the creation of the territory. More young people are attending southern colleges and universities, and fewer are smoking. Despair still drives far too many Nunavut youth to suicide, but for those bold enough to snatch a job among manifold opportunities — teacher, outfitter, receptionist, entrepreneur — their inheritance is a territory ripe for a creative make-over; indeed, starving for it. Aside from its youth, Nunavut’s greatest asset might be the absence of obstinate status quo.

Nunavut Territory Flag The flag of Nunavut was proclaimed official April 1, 1999. The Blue and gold colours are representative of the riches of the land, sky and sea, while the red symbolizes Canada. The Inukshuk represents traditional means of navigation, as does the North Star; however, the North Star is also symbolic of the constant leadership - like that of the elders.

“Back then, it was very difficult to envision what we were going to experience in 30 or 40 years, but we knew things had to change,” he says. “We had lost control of our land, and we discovered oil companies and mining companies could do what they wanted, with the blessing of the federal government. It was a colonial situation.” Circumstances soon changed. Within one generation, Inuit mapped their homeland and negotiated Canada’s largest ever land claim and a new territory, both of which re-established Inuit traditional rights and decision-making powers. Formally educated at a residential school, Amagoalik used his new-found language and skills to help negotiate his people’s future. Responsibility and prestige must have been equally intoxicating, and youth a definite asset. “We were pretty young but so full of energy back then,” he says. “Most of the time, we were running just on adrenaline.” But even revered statesmen and winners of National Aboriginal Achievement Awards like Amagoalik are not immune to burnout. In 2001, he served six months’ probation after pleading guilty to assault. Police said alcohol was a factor.