At just 25 years old, Nunavut is still finding its footing—but it’s come a long way since its historic creation on April 1, 1999. In this episode, we dive into the past, present, and future of Canada’s youngest territory. Historian Kenn Harper, known to Nunavummiut as Ilisaijikutaaq (the tall teacher), shares stories from his time learning Inuktitut and documenting Inuit culture, including insights from his new book on the Fifth Thule Expedition. Then, Premier P.J. Akeeagok reflects on Nunavut’s journey—its triumphs, its growing pains, and the work still ahead. He breaks down the significance of a recent land transfer agreement that gives Nunavut full control over its own lands—a major milestone on the path to self-determination.

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Pack your toque and wool socks! Today, we’re travelling up north to Canada’s largest and newest territory: Nunavut. If you’ve been there, you know how it has a way of filling up your senses. Cold air that cuts through you, the glow of the Northern Lights dancing across the sky, the sounds of Inuktitut that might have you asking, “Qanuq?” or, “Sorry, can you repeat that?”

ANGELA: Welcome to Canadian Time Machine, the podcast that takes a deep dive into the key moments that have shaped this great land we call home. This podcast receives funding from the Government of Canada and is produced by The Walrus Lab. I’m Angela Misri.
In 2024, we marked a milestone that changed the course of Canadian history—Nunavut turned 25! On April 1st, 1999, Canada’s map got a major update when the Inuit officially reclaimed governance over nearly two million square kilometers of their traditional lands. It wasn’t just about changing a few borders. It was about a new way to make decisions, about Inuit leadership, and about ensuring that Nunavut’s future would be in the hands of those who have lived there for 5,000 years.
Nunavut, which means “our land” in Inuktitut, is HUGE—almost two million square kilometers. That’s about one-fifth of Canada’s total landmass. It could fit almost all of Western Europe inside it—think France, Germany, Italy, Spain…and still have room left over for a few more countries.

Despite the size, Nunavut is also one of the most sparsely populated regions in the country, home to just around 40,000 people, most of whom are Inuit. Getting from one place to another isn’t as simple as hopping in the car—there are no roads connecting its 25 different communities!
But beyond land and resources, there’s something even more fundamental happening here: the preservation and revitalization Inuit culture. And while Inuktitut remains an endangered language, some people are taking it upon themselves to ensure it thrives and continues to be shared with the rest of the country, and the rest of the world.

Kenn Harper 00:48:45 [speaking Inuktitut]

ANGELA: Meet Kenn Harper, a Canadian historian and author who lives and breathes Arctic history. In Inuktitut, he just told me it was lovely to be speaking with me today.

Kenn Harper 00:07:17 My name is Ken Harper, and I am a historian. Self-styled. I’ve always been interested in Arctic history. Ever since I moved to the Arctic when I was a very young man. And, now I’m a very old man. And, I continue that interest.

ANGELA: Kenn moved to the Arctic in 1966, when he was just starting his career. And at the time, he had no idea that the move would completely change his life, and his career plans.

Kenn Harper – When I graduated from Teachers College, I applied immediately for a job in the North. I’d always been interested in the indigenous aspect of Canadian history. I intended to stay for two years. I was going to stay for two years and then use my teaching certificate like a passport to see the world and go off and teach in far off places and teach my way around the world. That’s what my plan was. However, I made a serious mistake. Which was a blessing. I learned how to speak Inuktitut.

Angela Misri – Kenn moved to the community of Qikiqtarjuaq, (ki-kik-TAAK-jo-ahk) formerly known as Broughton Island, just off the coast of Baffin Island in what is now Nunavut. Today, it has a population of just over 500 people, almost double the population it was when Kenn first arrived.

Kenn Harper – Most of the adults at that time did not speak English. So I was limited to the 12 white people as my social circle. I didn’t like that.

Angela Misri – But learning a new language—especially one with unique symbols and sounds like Inuktitut—is easier said than done…

Kenn Harper – One thing you have to get used to is being laughed at because you make mistakes, and some of your mistakes are quite funny, so I told myself, get used to being laughed at. Eventually they’ll stop laughing and they’ll start helping. And they did. And it opened up every community I’ve ever been to or travelled to, in the eastern Canadian Arctic and a large portion of Greenland. And I’m forever grateful to the elders now, all long since passed away, who helped me when I was a young man in learning Inuktitut. You know, I owe them a great deal.

Angela Misri – After figuring out the language, Kenn set out to figure out the history of the Canadian Arctic. He’s since published several books that look back at the beginnings of Inuit culture, tell stories of past injustices, and that, he hopes, teach northern Canadians about themselves and their neighbours. His most recent book is called Give Me Winter, Give Me Dogs: Knud (k-nood) Rasmussen and the Fifth Thule Expedition.

Kenn Harper – The fifth Thule expedition was the long held dream of the Danish Greenlandic explorer, writer, thinker, Knud Rasmussen—who had been fascinated with Inuit life and culture. He was born in Greenland, he spoke the Greenlandic Inuit language as his native tongue. He wanted to meet the people. Visit them, talk with them, interact with them and document their lifeways, their legends, their beliefs, their traditional religion, their taboos that govern their behavior in relation to the animals of the sea and nature. In the process, he also documented individual life histories of people that he met. And he accomplished it in a three year expedition, with the help of some other Danish scientists and some Inuit that he brought with them as his guides and assistants, from 1921 to 1924.

Angela Misri – I know what you’re thinking. 1924? Nunavut wouldn’t become a territory for another 75 years! What does this Danish explorer have to do with Nunavut’s history?

Kenn Harper – This expedition, the Fifth Thule Expedition is necessary to study in order to understand the history of Nunavut. Yes, Nunavut didn’t happen until April 1st, 1999, when Nunavut was created, but Nunavut was in the making for much longer than that. And it was in the making, certainly since the 1970s, when a cultural awareness developed, and Inuit began to organize politically through Inuit temporary sites of Canada. But I would say it was in the making, even in the days when Rasmussen was there with the Fifth Thule Expedition, documenting the fact that these people had a unique lifestyle, a unique culture, a unique way of living.

Angela Misri – Rasmussen and his men left 10 volumes of texts from this expedition—that’s over 5,500 pages of detailed observations, ethnographic notes, oral histories, and linguistic studies of Inuit culture, traditions and language. And it was all written in English! But Kenn says that most people, even in Nunavut, don’t even know these texts exist, let alone where to find them.

Kenn Harper – We have some wonderful biographies of Inuit people, as a result of Rasmussen’s work. So, it’s to make the expedition better known that I’ve actually written the book that I recently published. He was salvaging what was there at the 11th hour, because he knew that it would change. And it did change, depending on where you go in the areas that Rasmussen travelled through. In most of the area of northern Canada that he travelled through, the Inuktitut language has eroded very badly. So he didn’t stop the onslaught, but what he did was document everything so that future generations would have it. And future generations do use it, though not to the extent that they probably could and should.

Angela Misri – Is anyone else drawing parallels here? Kenn seems to have the same goal that Rasmussen did: to document Inuit culture and make it more readily available, more accessible, and better preserved for future generations.

Kenn Harper – I wrote it, very subjectively, in what I thought Northerners should understand, because in understanding this expedition, they’re reading about their own ancestors, if they are Inuit, they’re reading about their own people. And if they’re non-Inuit reading this in the North, they’re learning about the ancestors of their neighbours. So, one of my hopes is that my book, a couple of hundred pages, will spur some people to finding the original volumes, and reading the whole story.

Angela Misri – And while Kenn wasn’t born in the Arctic and is not Inuk, Nunavut has long since accepted him as one of their own. In 1999, he was the only non-Inuit member of the Nunavut Implementation Commission, a group of nine individuals tasked with guiding the transition to establish Nunavut as Canada’s newest territory, and shaping its government to reflect Inuit values and traditions.

Kenn Harper – In the lead up to the creation of Nunavut, there was tremendous excitement about it, and tremendous expectations of what it would bring for the people. Probably the expectations were far too great. They had been promised a government closer to the people, with decision making closer than far-off Yellowknife had been. I would say that, among many people, there was a kind of a letdown after Nunavut. There was still tremendous pride in having achieved a territory of their own, but when some of the expectations that were, quite frankly, over the top and unmeetable. So, when they actually proved to be unmeetable, there was a letdown, there was a disappointment. And some of that disappointment is still there.

Angela Misri – So how far has Nunavut come since its creation in 1999? In its mid 20s, is Nunavut thriving in the way people envisioned back then? Or have the challenges been greater than anticipated?

There is no one better to answer these questions, and more, than Nunavut’s current Premier, P.J. Akeeagok.

Born and raised in Grise Fiord, he’s spent his career advocating for Inuit communities, first as President of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and now as the leader of Canada’s northernmost territory. As Premier, he’s tackling some of the biggest challenges facing the Arctic, from housing to climate change to economic development.

Hello, Premier. Thanks so much for joining us today.

ANGELA:

Premier P.J. Akeeagok – Yes. Good afternoon. It’s my pleasure to join the program here.

Angela Misri – So looking back at the creation of Nunavut 25 years ago, what do you think were the biggest hopes and expectations for the territory at the time?

Premier P.J. Akeeagok – That was a huge milestone we celebrated. Looking back, just really the incredible leadership we’ve been very fortunate to have, had always talked about wanting to make sure decisions about us didn’t happen without us, and the importance of bringing those decisions right here—home— was always the dream of Inuit. The communities elect through a democratic process as a public government. Yeah, membership that now serves the interests of Nunavummiut, by Nunavummiut. So it was a very special moment for us to kind of reflect back on the 25 years.

Angela Misri – Can I ask, I know where I was when Nunavut got announced as its own territory. I was graduating from J-School. Where were you?

Premier P.J. Akeeagok – So, I was born and raised in a very beautiful, resilient, small community of Greece Fjord. It’s the most northern community in North America. And actually, just looking back to the big celebration—because there’s really two big events. I think 1993, when the Nunavut Agreement was signed, which through that work, created the vision and the roadmap to create the public government. But the big event that I really recall was in 1999, leading up to it. And I remember in the community and growing up, just the buzz around, something big was about to happen to celebrate that special event, that keen interest of my desire to want to learn more, to know more, really, I think lit a fire there. So after completing high school, actually, I was very fortunate to go to an amazing program called the Nunavut Sivuniksavut, which is an eight month college program at the time down in Ottawa, where you actually learn about the land claims, the history of Inuit, the movement of Inuit, contemporary issues, among other things. So I really think that experience that I went through opened that door, in terms of being curious to see what more there is of what we were celebrating. So in 2002, I was fortunate to have gone to the program down in Ottawa.

Angela Misri – Yeah, that sounds amazing. So Ken Harper mentioned that some expectations back at the time may have been too high when Nunavut was first created. What were people disappointed with?

Premier P.J. Akeeagok – Oh, boy. I don’t think the aspirations were too high. So, I’m not sure if there’s been any disappointments.

I think there’s been some major milestones we’ve had to go through. I think there’s always those moments where, when you are building your foundations,it does take time. Especially creating a whole new system that is rooted with the strong culture, the strong language of Inuit, whether it’s Inuktitut or not in this case. So I actually am in the contrary, that I think we are continuing to chart the path in terms of realizing that vision of having that representation by Inuit, for Inuit.

Has there been challenges? Absolutely. On housing, the lack of, has really had a detrimental impact on the social determinants, the education outcome that you see, where there’s been some challenges around that. But we’ve really seen some of the largest investments we’ve ever made as a territory just in the last few years, that I’ve been very fortunate where we are seeing the transformative investments, I think, that could have been made previously. Language, obviously, is one where that was at the heart of the vision of Nunavut, where we are creating laws and structures and ability for people to receive services in their language. Yeah, a few challenges along the way, but I truly believe that we’ve really continued on the path of what that vision was, which was that self-determination for Nunavummiut to decide their own future.

Angela Misri – You know, you speak about language and culture preservation, and they’re so central to Nunavut’s founding vision, as you said. What’s being done today to strengthen Inuktitut and ensure it thrives for future generations?

Premier P.J. Akeeagok – You’re absolutely right. That was really at the heart of the vision, which is really the survival of our people. Our language, our culture. S o there’s been some incredible work around that. The language laws that have been passed, the work on the Education Act as an example, there’s curriculum that match the desire, and that we give Nunavummiut the opportunity to learn in their language, and to be proud of their language and to be proud of who they are, where they come from.

Could we do more? Absolutely. And that’s an area where we continue to see investments and where we continue to really try and push to ensure that there are resources available for not only Inuktitut, there’s two there’s Inuinnaqtun as well in the western Arctic. So with those languages being officially recognized in the territory, it really allows us that opportunity. And so it’s through those investments and that work where we do see the preservation and the foundations being created right across this territory.

Angela Misri – I know there was a dip in people who spoke those languages and that it’s now coming back up. So it is having, like, a marked quantifiable difference.

Premier P.J. Akeeagok – Yes. As you’re, I think, seeing languages right around the world, there’s been a dip down, in terms of, Indigenous languages or, and whatnot. So in our case as well, you look back at the history of the territory, right from when missionaries started coming here, when the whalers, the traders started coming.

The dependency of government services started coming, it really correlates with the colonial practices or the policies that were being put through to Inuit, in this case, where you really did see a decline in terms of the ability for Inuktitut to be spoken as a mother tongue. But we’re really working hard to make sure it rebounds back. Incredible work inside organizations that continue to push as well. It is something the government alone can’t solve, but we are a strong partner along the way. And through the work that we are doing, whether it’s, right at the grassroots community level, some revitalization programs, curriculum that’s being produced or resources such as, our partnership with Microsoft, creating apps that allow you to do speech to text or text to speech. Inuktitut is my first language as well. So it’s something that’s near and dear to me. And we’ll continue to really push to make sure that it thrives.

Angela Misri – I’m quite jealous because my mother tongue is Kashmiri. Well, my mother’s and my mother’s… and my Kashmiri is terrible.

So one of the key reasons for Nunavut’s creation was self-determination, as you’ve talked about for Inuit communities. And just last year, in 2024, you were part of the agreement that transferred full control over Nunavut’s land to your own government. It was the biggest land transfer in Canadian history. What does this change mean for the people of Nunavut?

Premier P.J. Akeeagok – Yeah, that’s a very good question. It was a very special moment. That drive and that vision of the leaders that started this movement all the way in the ‘70s always talked about bringing decision making home. And we’re so lucky to have those leaderships still around, for us to be able to have these conversations, whether it’s Paul Quassa or Tagak Curley, among many others, that really had played a pivotal role. They’re giants in our worlds, really, for the people that worked so hard to negotiate, when at the time, Indigenous rights weren’t recognised. They really had an uphill battle in terms of getting the recognition. Their hard work allowed us to be able to sign the biggest land transfer in Canada’s history, which covers 2,000,000km². It’s about 20% of Canada’s landmass. We’re talking double the size of Ontario. Yeah, so the hard work started after the signing. We’ve really been, in the last year, working extremely hard on, looking at legislation right now that governs the management of lands and waters in the territory. So we’ll be mirroring a lot of those legislations, around how that works. We’ve been working extremely hard to look at the human resources.

But one thing I could assure Nunavummiut and industry is that we are the best stewards of our land. A lot of this resource extraction that was happening was putting all the resources flow right down back to the south. But yet we were the ones feeling all the impact in terms of the liabilities of what’s the aftermath of these mines. And so with that in mind, I really think it now gives Nunavummiut the opportunity to see the future that they see, and build the economies that they want to see moving forward. So that’s the big ticket, I think, that comes out of the future moving forward from this point onwards.

Angela Misri – Being able to construct your own future, that’s so the dream. Absolutely true. As Premier, what is your vision for Nunavut’s future and what needs to happen to fully realize the promise of the territory’s creation?

Premier P.J. Akeeagok – There’s so much hope around. I look back, I think we’ve made single largest investments in terms of capital. Housing has been our biggest challenge. And I think looking back, if more investments were put into housing, I think we really would be in a different situation in terms of the social determinants, the education outcome, the employment outcomes that we see.

So we’re very excited with the partnership model. We’ve really taken to work with Inuit organizations who share the same priorities being in Nunavut. So we’ve really taken a transformative approach to working with partners to tackle these very important issues before us. I really think moving forward, we really need to see nation-building investments of Canada. We have the people that are continuing to go to post-secondary. We are starting to see different parts of our economies. I look to the blue economy where we protected Tallurutiup Imanga, which is the Lancaster Sound area where we’ve seen Nauttiqsuqtiit or land guardians now employed in the communities. We’re seeing small craft harbours being built, finally, in these communities that create that opportunity of that blue economy. But we’re also seeing some very strong investments from the resource extraction industry, where we have so much potential in terms of the resources that are in the ground. And there’s some incredible corporate citizens right now, whether it’s the gold mines that are in operations, whether it’s the iron ore mine that’s in operations, when you look at the incredible potential of our land, we have one of the most wide ranging lists of critical minerals that we have in the territory, but we lack infrastructure to tap into these resources.

And now, with the signing of Canada’s largest land transfer, I think there’s an incredible opportunity with what’s happening around the world. There’s so much potential of that nation-building. Canada has not yet invested in these nation-building to the north. And I think that coast to coast and that final coast in terms of that nation-building, is one where I look to to our friends down south to continue to do, and I think there’s so much potential around what we could offer, not only the country, but the world, with our incredible opportunities. Whether it’s sustainable fisheries we have, whether it’s halibut or shrimp, right in our waters here. The Grays Bay Road and Port Project, in the western Arctic. It’s really at the mouth of the Northwest Passage. So from that viewpoint, there’s a sovereignty and security lens where we could see a dual use infrastructure like that. They give out hydro and fiber link, which would connect, for the first time, north to south, because we don’t have any roads connecting us. And it could potentially open up very rich resources that are there, or whether the deep sea port in Qikiqtarjuaq that could untap so much potential in terms of the blue economy that I talked about. So when I look at those nation-building opportunities that are there and then just kind of reflecting back with the geopolitical space that we’re in with our friends to the South, and really, what had happened previously with Russia to Ukraine, there’s never been a moment in our time where the Arctic is being looked at to this level. But it requires nation building investments, and that’s been really the missing link I do see moving forward. The biggest resource we have is our people. Even though we have this incredible wealth opportunity in our lands and in our waters, but it’s our people that create that strongest foundation that we have. And in order for us to assert our security and sovereignty to the North, you have to have healthy communities. You have to have people that have roofs over their heads so that as Canadians, as a country, we could confidently say we are a Northern nation that is strong and free. But we first got to make sure that the North is actually invested in. So we have the basic foundations for us then to build upon. But to your point, I think I very much look forward to seeing that next wave in terms of investments into clean energy, transportation or infrastructure that unlock that potential.

Angela Misri – I think the North providing hope is so necessary right now. You’re absolutely right.

Premier P.J. Akeeagok – But I just wanted to say that there is so much hope. I really do see, even though there are troubling times ahead of us with what’s happening around the world, whether it’s tariffs or the uncertainties that we’re starting to see. But I really believe there’s a point in time in our history where we’re at, where we have an opportunity to invest within and really show the leadership in terms of our potentials and our opportunities. And from that, I think the North, whether it’s Nunavut, whether it’s the N.W.T. or Yukon, any investments in the North truly benefits the South as well. So with that, I really think, now’s the time to continue to do nation-building and for us to look deep within, in terms of the potential that we have as a country. So with that, I really appreciate the opportunity to be able to have this conversation with you today.

Angela Misri – Thanks so much for joining us.

Thank you for listening to Canadian Time Machine. This podcast receives funding from the Government of Canada and is created by the Walrus Lab. This episode was produced by Jasmine Rach and edited by Nathara Jimenez. Amanda Cupido is the executive producer. For more stories about historic Canadian milestones and the English and French transcript of this episode, visit TheWalrus.ca/Canadianheritage. There’s also a French counterpart to this podcast called Voyages dans l’histoire canadienne. So if you’re bilingual and want to listen to more, you can find that wherever you get your podcasts.