Creation of Nunavut and Inuit Self-Government (1970–1999)

  1. Inuit Tapirisat proposes Nunavut land claim

    Labels: Inuit Tapiriit, Nunavut proposal

    Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (now Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami) submitted an Inuit land-claim proposal titled "Nunavut" to the federal government, helping launch the modern political project that tied Inuit land rights to the idea of a new territory.

  2. Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut incorporated

    Labels: Tunngavik Federation, TFN

    The Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut (TFN) was incorporated and recognized as the Inuit organization mandated to negotiate a Nunavut land-claim settlement—an institutional turning point that professionalized negotiations and focused them on creating Nunavut.

  3. Northwest Territories votes for division

    Labels: Northwest Territories, plebiscite

    A territory-wide plebiscite asked whether the Northwest Territories should be divided; a majority voted Yes, establishing an early democratic mandate that would later be revisited as negotiations and boundary proposals evolved.

  4. Plebiscite approves Nunavut territorial boundary

    Labels: Nunavut boundary, plebiscite

    Voters in the Northwest Territories approved the proposed Nunavut boundary line, providing key political authorization for drafting the legislation that would divide the territory.

  5. Substantive Nunavut land-claims terms agreed

    Labels: Nunavut Land, TFN

    TFN and federal negotiators reached agreement on the substantive provisions that became the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, clearing the way for formal ratification steps and federal legislation.

  6. Referendum approves creating Nunavut territory

    Labels: Nunavut referendum, Nunavut region

    A referendum held November 3–5, 1992 in the area proposed as Nunavut approved the creation of the new territory, giving a direct popular mandate for finalizing the land claim and the political division.

  7. Nunavut Implementation Commission begins work

    Labels: Nunavut Implementation, NIC

    The Nunavut Implementation Commission (NIC) operated during the transition to advise the founders (Canada, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, and the territorial government) on designing institutions and ensuring a smooth inauguration of the new public government.

  8. Nunavut Land Claims Agreement signed in Iqaluit

    Labels: Nunavut Land, Iqaluit

    Representatives of TFN, the Government of Canada, and the Government of the Northwest Territories signed the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, the largest comprehensive Indigenous land claim settlement in Canadian history and the foundation for creating Nunavut.

  9. Parliament passes Nunavut Act and NCLA Act

    Labels: Nunavut Act, NCLA

    Canada’s Parliament passed implementing legislation that (1) gave legal effect to the land-claims settlement and (2) created the new territory of Nunavut, setting a delayed coming-into-force date to allow a transition period.

  10. Nunavut Act and NCLA Act receive Royal Assent

    Labels: Royal Assent, Nunavut Act

    The Nunavut Act and the land-claims implementing legislation received Royal Assent, formally enacting the legal framework for Nunavut’s establishment and Inuit rights under the settlement.

  11. Nunavut Act amended for 1999 transition

    Labels: Nunavut Act, Parliament of

    Parliament adopted amendments to the Nunavut Act ahead of Nunavut’s launch, updating constitutional and implementation details needed for the new territory’s start on April 1, 1999.

  12. First Nunavut general election held

    Labels: Nunavut general, Legislative Assembly

    Nunavut held its first general election to choose the 19 members of the Legislative Assembly in advance of the territory’s official creation; Nunavut’s legislature would operate by consensus government (without political parties).

  13. Helen Maksagak takes office as first Commissioner

    Labels: Helen Maksagak, Commissioner

    Helen Maksagak assumed office as Nunavut’s first Commissioner immediately before the territory’s creation, providing continuity in the transition from the Government of the Northwest Territories to Nunavut’s new public government.

  14. Nunavut officially established as a territory

    Labels: Nunavut, territory

    Nunavut came into being as Canada’s newest territory, legally separated from the Northwest Territories. This culmination of land-claims settlement and legislative action created a new public government in a majority-Inuit jurisdiction.

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19761981198719931999
Last Updated:Jan 1, 1980

Creation of Nunavut and Inuit Self-Government (1970–1999)