The Canadian Government Forcing the Relocation of First Nations Persons to Expand Canadian Territory

During the 1950’s, the Canadian government sent a ship into Nunavik, Canada and forcibly confined 87 Inuit residents relocating these individuals much farther north into the territory of Resolute Bay, not for the benefit of the people affected as no one had ever lived this far north in Canada prior, with the sole objective being for the Canadian federal government to justify Canada’s sovereignty and territorial claim within the High Arctic. The Canadian government believed that if gravesites of Inuit persons were found in this region, it would formally and legally solidify the land as Canadian territory. Migration took 3 months by ship and when the Inuit arrived, they were provided no provisions, forcing them to setup tent shelters in the one of the most formidable and domineering landscapes of North America. The Canadian government fraudulently assured those affected that living conditions would be better with an abundance of animals to hunt and fish for despite few wild animals being present. This event was referred to as the High Arctic Relocation. The term for “Resolute Bay” within the In Inuktitut (pronounced “ee-nook-tee-tut”) language is “Qausuittuq” (pronounced “ko-so-ee-took”) which means “Place of Darkness” and/or “Place Where the Sun Does Not Rise”