A Time Line of Eastern Arctic History

This is a chronology of events that politically shaped the Canadian North. There are four main themes to this chronology:

Some important dates in Canadian political history.
Some important dates in the development of representative forms of governance in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Some important dates on the issue of Aboriginal Rights in Canada.
Some important dates on the process of the division of the Northwest Territories.

1576: Martin Frobisher explores the east coast of Baffin Island. He was the first European to set foot in the bay that now bears his name.

1670: King Charles II of England cedes to his cousin Prince Rupert all the territory drained by the river system flowing in the Hudson’s Bay, for developing the fur trade in North America. This land is known as Rupert’s Land. To oversee the fur trade on Rupert’s Land, the “Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson’s Bay” (The Hudson’s Bay Company) is incorporated by a Royal Charter.

1763: The Royal Proclamation acknowledges native rights to the land, after New-France is surrendered to Britain at the treaty of Paris. London needs military support from the native groups inhabiting the newly conquered country to control its agitated New-England colonies.

1775: The American Revolution. Loyalists are immigrating to Canada. A first American attempt to invade Montreal and Quebec City.

1811: The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) grants Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, 300,000 km2 of land in the Winnipeg Basin (now Manitoba and North Dakota).

1812: A Second American attempt to invade Canada.

1812: Thomas Selkirk founds the Red River colony, which he calls Assiniboia. Between 1812 and 1815, 300 Scots and Irish settle in the area.

1817: Thomas Selkirk signs the first Indian treaty in Western Canada. In exchange for 100 pounds of tobacco annually, the Crees and Chipewas cede rights to a strip of land along both sides of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, which is then divided up for the settlers.

1820: Thomas Selkirk dies. His executors administer the colony and reduce expenses by ending settler subsidies and by not recruiting other European immigrants. This opens the door for North American settlers.

1820-1840: English whalers regularly visit the Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, and Lancaster Sound. The Inuit of the region are introduced to European goods.

1821-1823: William E. Parry and George F. Lyon are the first explorers to winter in the Arctic. Their camp is on Winter Island, near present day Iglulik.

1821: The HBC drastically reduces its number of employees. Many of the former voyageurs choose to settle with their native families in Assiniboia. Also known as the Métis, they will soon make up an important proportion of the the colony`s population.

1836: The Selkirk’s family transfers its authority over Assiniboia to the HBC.

1837: The Rebellions of 1837 in Lower and Upper Canada. In Lower Canada, French and English Canadians join force against the British colonial government. In Upper Canada, English Canadians fight the Family Compact, the conservative elite of Upper Canada.

1840: The Act of Union abolishes the legislatures of Lower and Upper Canada; a recommendation made by Lord Durham in his report to the Crown after the Rebellions of 1837. They are replaced by a new political entity, the Province of Canada. Although Canada East (formerly Lower Canada) has a population of 650,000 inhabitants, it is represented by 42 seats in the new parliament, just like Canada West (formerly Upper Canada) with its population of 450,000 inhabitants. The large debt of Upper Canada is also merged with the modest debt of Lower Canada.

1840-1900s: English whalers regularly visit Cumberland Sound. They establish two whaling stations in the sound, the first one on Kekerten Island (Qikirtaq) and the second one on Blacklead Island (Uumanarjuaq). From 1851 to 1879, the whalers regularly winter in the area.

1845-1848: Sir John Franklin leads an important expedition to discover the Northwest Passage. In 1846 the two ships he leads, the Erebus and the Terror, are imprisoned in the ice in Victoria Straight. In 1847 Franklin dies, and by 1848 the whole crew has died. As soon as 1848, search parties are organized to find the lost Franklin expedition. For twenty years, many American and British explorers will come to the Arctic in vague hope of finding Franklin.

1860-1915: American whalers regularly visit the Roes Welcome Sound in the northwest of Hudson Bay. The whalers winter in the area.

1864-1869: Charles Francis Hall, an American explorer, spends several years near Repulse Bay (Naujaat). His objective is to find the lost expedition of Sir John Franklin. He is the first explorer to learn how to live off the land like Inuit.

1867: Canadian Confederation. The British North American Act creates the Dominion of Canada with four provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec). England passes on its fiduciary responsibility for native peoples to the newly formed government.

1869: The HBC transfers Rupert’s Land back to the newly created Dominion of Canada.

1869: Like all territories administered by the HBC, Assiniboia is transferred to the Dominion of Canada. Louis Riel and other Métis leaders create a Métis provisional government. This representative government is put in place to negotiate with Canada the terms of entry of Assiniboia into the Confederation. Although Riel is perceived as a traitor by politicians in Ottawa, they somewhat recognize the rights of the people of Red River. This recognition leads to the Manitoba Act. Riel flees to the United States.

1870: The Manitoba Act is passed, wherein a new province is created on Métis land. The Act protects the rights of the French Catholic Métis to live in their traditional ways, in their language and religion, in the new province. Within 15 years, none of these rights will be respected by the provincial legislature.

1870: The creation of the Northwest Territories, as Canada has accepted dominion over Rupert’s Land. The HBC keeps 120 trading posts across the ceded territory.

1872: Métis of the former Assiniboia colony are forced by radical Ontario settlers to leave the newly created province of Manitoba to move west. They establish a settlement named Batoche along the South Saskatchewan River.

1876: The Battle of the Little Bighorn. An army of Sioux and Cheyenne Indian warriors led by Crazy Horse defeats the 7th USA cavalry commanded by Lt. Colonel George Custer.

1876: The appearance of “An Act respecting Indians”, otherwise known as the Indian Act. Canadian Indians are registered as status Indians when included in a treaty.

1880 : Britain cedes the Queen Elizabeth Islands to the Dominion of Canada.

1885: The North-West Rebellion. Under the leadership of Louis Riel, who is back in Canada, and Gabriel Dumont, the Batoche Métis create an independent state (the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan). After Dumont defeats the North-West Mounted Police during the Battle of Duck Lake, the federal government decides to send 3,000 troops commanded by Major General Frederick Middleton. Two thousand volunteers also join Middleton. Between May 5 and May 12, Middleton and the Métis fight in Batoche. On May 12, the Métis and Indians are forced to surrender. On May 15, Riel is captured, tried, and recognized guilty of high treason. He is then executed. Gabriel Dumont escapes to the United States. In July, Poundmaker and Big Bear, two Cree chiefs who supported the Métis during the rebellion, surrender.

1894: The founding of the Anglican mission at Blacklead Island (Uumanarjuaq) in the Cumberland Sound by Rev. Edmund James Peck.

1898: The Klondike gold rush. Yukon Territory is carved out of the Northwest Territories. Signing of Treaty 8 in the region of Athabaska Lake, which is invaded by hundreds of travelling prospectors.

1903-1906: Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer, is the first person ever to successfully traverse the Northwest Passage on his ship, the Gjøa.

1903: The first three RCMP posts are built on the Arctic coast in Fort MacPherson, Fullerton, and Herschel Island. The first voyage of the Canadian ship Neptune to assert sovereignty in the Arctic.

1905: The boundaries of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are extended north. Yukon and the Northwest Territories constitute the remaining northern territories.

1905: The first trip of the Canadian ship Arctic, commanded by Captain Joseph Elzéar Bernier, to confirm Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic islands.

1911: The HBC establishes a trading post in Lake Harbour (Kimmirut), on Baffin Island.

1912: Administrative responsibility for northern Quebec is transferred to the province by the federal government. Quebec goes to Supreme Court to reverse Ottawa’s decision.

1912: The HBC ship Nascopie begins visiting the Arctic. The ship makes annual trips to the Arctic until it sinks near Cape Dorset in 1947.

1913: The Nishga (Nisga’a) Indians of northern British Columbia petition the London Privy Council to have their land claims recognized.

1913: The HBC establishes a trading post in Cape Dorset (Kinngait), in Baffin Island.

1920: Oil is discovered at Norman Wells in the Mackenzie (Deh Cho) Valley.

1920: HBC starts selling Peterhead fishing boats to Eastern Arctic Inuit.

1921: The Canadian government signs Treaty 11 with twenty-one First Nations of the Northwest Territories.

1921: A new territorial council made of appointed members is put in place in the Northwest Territories. The bulk of northern offices are set up in Fort Smith, which has been considered the administrative capital of the territories since 1911. However, the legislative capital of the territory remains in Ottawa. Most territorial administrative work is carried out by the RCMP.

1922: The first Eastern Arctic Patrol embarks on the ship Arctic commanded by Captain J.E. Bernier. The patrol is the new administrative arm of the Canadian government in the Eastern Canadian Arctic. Dr. Leslie D. Livingstone, a member of the Patrol, is the first physician to officially visit the Inuit of Baffin Island.

1925: The boundaries of the Northwest Territories are extended all the way to the North Pole.

1926: The ship Arctic being too small, the Eastern Arctic Patrol now tours the Arctic aboard the Beothic, a steamer from Newfoundland.

1926: The foundation of the Anglican hospital in Aklavik.

1927: The foundation of the Roman Catholic Oblates hospital in Aklavik.

1920s: The population of Inuit in Canada is decreasing while it is increasing in Alaska and Greenland.

1929: The Oblates build a hospital at Chesterfield Inlet (Igluligaarjuk).

1931: The Eskimo Book of Knowledge is published by the Hudson’s Bay Company for the use of Eastern Arctic Inuit.

1932: The Eastern Arctic Patrol now boards the Ungava and the Nascopie, two HBC vessels, to patrol Arctic waters.

1939-1945: World War II. One thousand American soldiers and workers arrive in Fort Chimo in 1939.

1939 onward: Many Inuit and Indians are sent South for treatment of tuberculosis.

1942: The United States Air Force builds an airfield near the Sylvia Grinnel River at the head of Frobisher Bay. During the war 5,000 members of the US military arrive. Many Inuit move to the area as well to find work. Frobisher Bay (Iqaluit) is born.

1944: It is estimated that 80 % of Inuit children do not attend school.

1944: In the Western Arctic, there are 213 hospital beds for 8,000 people. In the Eastern Arctic, there are 48 hospital beds for 3,762 people.

1948: James Houston starts buying Inuit stone and ivory carvings in Port Harrison (Inujjuak).

1948: The opening of a government hospital at Moose Factory, James Bay.

1949: The first federal day school opens in Inujjuak.

1949: Labrador and Newfoundland join Canada.

1949: A weather station opens near Ennadai Lake in central Keewatin (Kivalliq). The Inuit (Ahiarmiut) who had been living in the area are moved by the Canadian government to Nueltin Lake, 100 kilometers to the south east. This is done presumably to prevent them from becoming too dependant upon the personnel of the station. Soon, the relocated Inuit come back to live near Ennadai Lake.

1950: The Canadian government charters the C.D. Howe. For the first time in eighteen years, the Arctic Patrol will not embark on a HBC ship. Onboard there are RCMP policemen, dentists, doctors, nurses, as well as a six bed dispensary. The C.D. Howe will make annual patrols until 1968.

1951: The Indian Act is revised, opening the door for native land claims. Since 1921, it has been illegal for Canadian aboriginals to conduct meetings about land claims. The revised Act also allows aboriginals to hire a lawyer or to hold traditional spiritual ceremonies such as the Ghost Dance, Sun Dance, or Potlatch.

1953: The Rankin Inlet Mine opens near Kangiqliniq (Rankin Inlet), on the western shore of the Hudson Bay. It produces nickel and copper ores. Inuit from all over the Kivalliq move close to the mine to find work.

1954: Inuit are granted the right to vote in federal elections.

1953: Twelve Inuit families are relocated from Port Harrison (Inukjuak) and Pond Inlet (Mittimatalik) to Grise Fiord on Ellesmere Island and to Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island.

1953: Some Inuit families are relocated from Fort Chimo (Kuujjuaq) to Churchill, Manitoba.

1954: Due to improved health care, there is a 56% drop in tuberculosis cases among Inuit.

1955: Construction of the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line), a system of radar stations covering the Canadian North.

1956: One out of seven Inuit is sent South to receive treatments for tuberculosis.

1957-1958: The Ahiarmiut living in Ennadai Lake are moved once again, this time to Henik Lake. After a period of hardship caused by the absence of caribou (three Ahiarmiut are imprisoned after they break into a mining camp to find food, two other are murdered, and six die of starvation), the Canadian government evacuates the survivors to Eskimo Point (Arviat).

1958: Construction of the first hospital at Frobisher Bay.

1959: The federal government initiates the development of Northern Co-operatives in the Northwest Territories.

1959: The federal government builds Inuvik in the Mackenzie Delta.

1959: James Houston assists Inuit in print making in Cape Dorset.

1959: The founding of a first Inuit Co-op at George River (Kangiqsualujjuaq) in Arctic Quebec.

1960: End of the Cold War construction of radar stations. This means many Inuit need to go back to the land to make a living.

1960: Treaty Indians are given the right to vote in federal elections.

1961: The Quebec Provincial Police, later replaced by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), replaces the RCMP in Northern Quebec.

1962: J. Armand Bombardier from Valcourt, Quebec, produces the first skidoos.

1962: Eastern arctic Inuit vote for the first time.

1962: The Rankin Inlet Mine closes.

1962: Starting in December of 1961, a severe epizootic of canine infectious hepatitis kills 625 dogs in the Cumberland Sound. Afraid that the Inuit could not hunt anymore because of a lack of dogs, the Canadian government decides to gather all of them in the small community of Pangnirtung. The thirteen camps of the Sound are visited and more than 330 Inuit are temporarily relocated to Pangnirtung. There, they are provided with work and shelter. Collective hunts are also organized. In May, most Inuit are allowed to return to their camps as the sickness has run its course.

1963: A bill on the division of the Northwest Territories is tabled in the Canadian parliament in Ottawa. This bill is supported by the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, a non indigenous association. The bill never makes it through Parliament because of a change of government and the opposition of citizens in the Eastern Arctic who still want to remain part of the Northwest Territories.

1964: The newly elected Liberal government in Ottawa creates the Carrothers Commission to study political development in Northwest Territories.

1965: Building of a hospital at Fort Chimo (Kuujjuaq) by the Quebec government.

1966: The Inuit of the Eastern Canadian Arctic are granted the right to vote in territorial elections.

1967: The Nisga’a Tribal Council challenges the decision of the British Colombia government to control 1,000 square miles of their ancestral land.

1967: Following the Carrothers Commission recommendations, Yellowknife becomes the administrative and legislative capital of the Northwest Territories.

1969: The Liberal minister of Northern and Indian affairs, the Hon. Jean Chrétien, tables the White Paper (also known as the 1969 White Paper) which proposes the abolition of the Indian Act of Canada, the rejection of Aboriginal land claims, the assimilation of Canadian aboriginals by giving them the same status as other ethnic minorities, as well as the devolution of the responsibility for Indians to the provinces. Canadian aboriginals oppose the project. The federal government has no choice but to back off.

1970: An important discovery of oil and gas fields in the Beaufort Sea as well as in the Mackenzie Delta (potentially 36 billion barrels of oil and 339 trillion cubic feet of gas).

1971: The Anik satellite is launched, opening the North to telecommunications.

1971: Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITC) is created.

1971: Robert Bourassa, Quebec’s Premier, unveils the plans for the James Bay Hydrolectric Project. Cree and Inuit, who had not been consulted, fiercely oppose the project.

1972: The Anglican hospital is closed in Pangnirtung. A nursing station opens.

1973: The Nisga’a lose their battle at the Supreme Court of Canada in the Calder Case because the Court is divided on whether the Nisga’a retain title over their land. However, the Court recognizes that aboriginal rights to land and resources existed prior to the colonization of the continent. This decision prompts the Canadian government to develop new policies to address aboriginal land claims.

1973: The Hon. Jean Chrétien, then minister of Indian and Northern affairs, announces that the federal government will henceforward negotiate to settle aboriginal land claims.

1973: The Quebec Association of Indians sues the Quebec government. Judge Malouf of the Quebec Superior Court recognizes the rights of Cree and Inuit and grants an injunction to block the James Bay Hydroelectric Project.

1974: The Native Land Claims Commission is set up by the federal government.

1974: The Northwest Territories Act is amended. From now on, the Northwest Territories Council will be made out of a fully elected fifteen member body.

1974-1977: The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, also known as the Berger Commission, is set up to study the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Project.

1975: The Dene Declaration asserts the right to self-determination for Dene and Métis.

1975: The James Bay and Northern Quebec agreement is signed between the Quebec government, the Cree, and the Inuit.

1976: Inuit Tapirisat of Canada presents its first proposition for the creation of Nunavut in a working paper entitled Nunavut: A Proposal for the Settlement of Inuit Lands in the Northwest Territories.

1976: The Inuvialuit split from ITC to negotiate a separate land claims agreement due to development pressure in the Beaufort Sea area. The Inuvialuit are represented by the Committee of Aboriginal Peoples’ Entitlement (COPE).

1976: The Northwest Territories Legislative Council becomes the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly.

1977: C.M. Drury is appointed by the Prime Minister of Canada, P.E. Trudeau, to report on constitutional development in the Northwest Territories.

1977: Following a public consultation, ITC follows its first proposition for the creation of Nunavut with a second one in a three-page document entitled Speaking for the First Citizens of the Canadian North. This proposition calls for the creation of a territory that would be governed by an all-Inuit government.

1979: Inuit of Greenland are granted Home Rule by the Danish government.

1979: ITC presents to the government of Canada its third proposal for the creation of Nunavut in a document entitled Political Development in Nunavut. ITC acknowledges that Nunavut would be governed by a public government.

1979: The Baker Lake Case asserts native rights, mostly through immemorial occupation of the land and oral tradition, where there has been no precedent legislation or treaty signed.

1979: There are 2,845 Northwest Territories public service employees. Only 500 are aboriginals or Inuit. However, the majority of the 22 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of the Northwest Territories in Yellowknife are aboriginals and Inuit.

1980: The Drury report (Report of the Special Representative on Constitutional Development in the Northwest Territories) recommends unity of the Northwest Territories.

1981: “In All Fairness”, a new federal government policy concerning land claims. Entitled aboriginals are to retain some rights to the land and over their own institutions when signing land claims. An amendment to the Canadian Constitution to recognize and affirm aboriginal (Indian, Metis, Inuit) and treaty rights.

1981: The Dene Nation and the Métis Association of the Northwest Territories release a working paper entitled Public Government for the people of the North. This document proposes a new government for the Mackenzie Valley with provincial type powers, to be called Denendeh.

1981: The Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly elects eight members to the Executive Committee, including the House Speaker. All MLAs elect the leader of the government.

1982: The Inuit of the Eastern Canadian Arctic create the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut (TFN) whose goal is to negotiate a land claims and the creation of Nunavut with the federal government. In this role, it replaces the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada which has until then carried on negotiations with Ottawa.

1982: A plebiscite on division in the Northwest Territories. Division is supported by 56% of the voters. Only 52% of all electors turn in their vote.

1982: The Constitution Act, the Canadian Charter of Rights, and the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution. The Liberal government of PE Trudeau brushes away a clear definition of “existing” native rights from the constitution, promising native leaders a series of First Ministers Conferences on aboriginal constitutional matters. Those conferences are mandated by article 37.1 of the Constitution Act.

1983-1987: The First Ministers Conferences on Aboriginal Constitutional Matters. The discussions stall but the concept of native self-government emerges.

1984: The Inuvialuit reach a land claims agreement (The Inuvialuit Final Agreement) with the Federal government.

1984: The Penner Report opens the door to the recognition of the native inherent right to self-government, never previously considered seriously by the Liberal government.

1985: The Conservative government under new Prime Minister Brian Mulroney creates the Coolican Committee on land claims policies.

1986: Coolican publishes his report entitled Living Treaties: Lasting Agreements. Following the Coolican Report, the federal government sets up a new comprehensive claims policy which states that self-government and preservation of culture will not be affected by further agreements. The federal government also recognizes that blanket extinguishment of aboriginal rights is no longer a precondition for settlements.

1988: Agreement in principle on the Dene/Métis land claims.

1990: Signing of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement-in-Principle.

1990: The Dene/Métis final land claims agreement is rejected at the Annual General Assembly of the Dene Nation in Hay River.

1990: Elijah Harper, with the support of the Assembly of First Nations, refuses to accept the Meech Lake Accord which does not guarantee rights to aboriginal peoples. His refusal means that the Manitoba Legislative Assembly cannot achieve the unanimous consent it needs to approve the Accord.

1990: The Oka crisis. In March, Mohawk from Kenesatake in Quebec block access to one of their ancestral cemeteries where the city of Oka has plans to build the remaining hole of an eighteen-hole golf course. The crisis escalates after the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) proves unable to remove the Mohawk. Soon thereafter, the Quebec government asks the Canadian government to send in the army. The crisis ends on September 26, when the Mohawk resign from the blockade.

1991: Following the Oka crisis and the failing of the Meech Lake Accord, the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney establishes the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples whose aim is to study historical relations between the Canadian government and aboriginal peoples.

1991: The Gwich'in sign a land claims agreement with the federal and territorial governments.

1992: In May, a majority of voters in the Northwest Territories approves the boundary that will divide the territory into two distinct territories: the Northwest Territories in the west and Nunavut in the east.

1992: In November, the Inuit of Nunavut ratify the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (Nunavut Agreement). On October 30, the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut sign the political accord that makes official the creation of Nunavut.

1992: The Charlottetown Accord is defeated in a national plebiscite.

1993: In May, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Northwest Territories Government Leader Nellie Cournoyea, and Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut President Paul Quassa sign the Nunavut Agreement in Iqaluit.

1993: The Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) replaces the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut (TFN). NTI becomes the incorporated organization that represents Inuit under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.

1993: In June, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act and the Nunavut Act are enacted by the House of Commons in Ottawa.

1993: The Nunavut Implementation Commission (NIC) is set up by the Nunavut Act. Its objective is to advise the three partners of the Accord, the federal government, the Northwest Territories government and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., about the creation of the Nunavut government.

1994: In January, the first meeting of the NIC is held.

1995: The NIC publishes its first report entitled Footprints in New Snow. This report is the first blueprint for the Government of Nunavut. It contains 104 recommendations as to how the Government of Nunavut should be set up. Among these recommendation is the creation of two-member constituencies that would be represented by a man and a woman and would ensure gender parity in the Nunavut Legislative Assembly.

1995: Nunavummiut vote to make Iqaluit their future capital.

1996: The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples publishes its 5 volume, 4,000 page report. The Commission recognizes the importance of aboriginal self-government and gives many recommendations to improve the relationship between aboriginal peoples and the Canadian government.

1996: The NIC publishes its second report entitled Footprints 2. It incorporates popular responses to Footprints in New Snow.

1997: On May 26, the people of Nunavut reject gender parity and the two-member constituencies in a non-binding plebiscite.

1997: On April 15, the Interim Commissioner of Nunavut, Jack Anawak, is formally appointed by the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Jane Stewart. He becomes the first Commissioner of Nunavut.

1998: On March 4, Nunavut’s deputy ministers meet for the first time.

1999: On April 1, Nunavut is officially created as a new Canadian Territory.

A Time Line of Eastern Arctic History

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