The newest territory in Canada celebrates it’s own day today. Established in 1999, the area was part of the Northwest Territories. The majority of the people who live in the territory are native to the land with only about 15% being non-aboriginal and 84% Inuit. But with a population of a little over 31,000 people in an area of more then 725,000 square miles, makes for a very low population density. If the area was it’s own country it would be the 15th largest on the planet.
I like to think of myself as someone who knows a little about geography and the makeup of countries around the world so I was a little disappointed in myself when I learned there was a whole territory I had never heard of till now.
The day is marked with cultural events and is the day that remembers the largest comprehensive claim settlement in Canada. The Inuit people received many rights they had been denied for years.
I really like the idea that in some way the wrongs that have been committed to those who lived in the Americas before the Europeans settled are at least beginning to be addressed. We still have a long way to go but this seems like a good start.
So Happy Nunavat Day!!
Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunavut_Day