Page 3 - IRC

Interview with Chair and CEO Duane Ningaqsiq Smith
By Anna Guy
n Canada’s Western Arctic region, the Inuvialuit
Settlement Region (ISR) encompasses 26
per cent of the landmass of the Northwest
ITerritories, spanning the Mackenzie Delta
including the communities of Aklavik and Inuvik on
mainland, as well as a vast coastal area including
the Arctic island communities of Paulatuk, Sachs
Harbour, Ulukhaktok as well as Tuktoyaktuk along
the Beaufort Sea Coast and Arctic Ocean.
Inuvialuit have a traditional culture
of subsistence hunting,
whaling, fishing and
travel on the land; the
Inuvialuktun dialects
are Ummarmiutun,
Sallirmiutun, and
Kangiryuarmiutun.
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In order to help preserve and promote this culture,
as well as the rights, lands and economic interests
of Inuvialuit, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation
(IRC) was established to manage the overall affairs
of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement (IFA)—the first
comprehensive land claim agreement signed north
of the 60th parallel and only the second in Canada
at that time—and to advocate at all levels and
governments for its proper implementation.
PRESERVE, ENABLE, AND
PROTECT THE INUVIALUIT
CULTURE
There are currently over 6,000 Inuvialuit enrolled
under the Inuvialuit Trust. The three core principles
under the IFA are: to preserve Inuvialuit cultural
identity and values within a changing northern
society; to enable Inuvialuit to be equal and
meaningful participants in the northern and national