Canadian Government – High Arctic Inuit Relocation

Arctic Exile Monument commemorating Inuit relocated to Grise Fiord in the 1950s

What Was the Accusation?

In the 1950s, the Government of Canada relocated Inuit families from Inukjuak in northern Quebec and Pond Inlet on Baffin Island to the far more northerly communities of Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord. The relocations took place principally in 1953 and 1955. Nineteen families from Inukjuak were relocated, while three families from Pond Inlet were moved to help the Inukjuak families adapt to the unfamiliar High Arctic environment. The families were moved approximately 1,200 kilometres from their home community into conditions dramatically different from those they had known.

The relocation became one of the most controversial episodes in the history of Canada’s relationship with Inuit. Relocatees maintained that they had not been adequately informed about the conditions awaiting them and that government promises—including assurances that those who wished to return home could do so—were not honored. Families experienced inadequate shelter and supplies, unfamiliar hunting conditions, separation from relatives and communities, and prolonged hardship. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples later concluded that the relocation was not voluntary, did not proceed with free and informed consent, involved material misrepresentations and undisclosed information, and was negligently planned and implemented. The Commission also concluded that concern for Canadian sovereignty in the High Arctic materially reinforced the relocation policy, even if sovereignty was not necessarily its dominant motivation.

For decades, survivors and Inuit organizations sought recognition of what had happened. Although the federal government established a $10 million trust fund for relocatees and their descendants in the 1990s, an official apology did not follow at that time. On August 18, 2010—nearly six decades after the first relocations—Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister John Duncan traveled to Inukjuak, Nunavik, and apologized on behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians. The government acknowledged the extreme hardship and suffering caused by the relocation, the separation of families, inadequate shelter and supplies, the failure to provide sufficient information, and the broken promise to return Inuit who did not wish to remain in the High Arctic.

Key Apologia Strategies

Mortification, Corrective Action, Bolstering

Video

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Transcript

John Duncan’s Apology for the Inuit High Arctic Relocation (August 18, 2010):

Inukjuak, Nunavik Elders, Inuit leaders, ladies and gentlemen, and especially those of you who were directly affected by the relocation; thank you for being here.

This is my first trip to the North as Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, and I am very honoured to be here for this historic event.

You may recall that my predecessor, Minister Strahl, also had his first trip as Minister to Nunavik when he attended the Katimajiit summit in Kuujjuaq almost exactly three years ago.

I am familiar with the North and I look forward to visiting the North regularly, and to working closely with Inuit communities and organizations during my mandate.

Over half a century has gone by since the relocation of Inuit from this community to the High Arctic. I am here on behalf of the Prime Minister, the Government of Canada, and all Canadians to offer an apology for these events.

Today’s ceremony is an important step towards healing and reconciliation. Please accept the apology I am about to offer on behalf of all Canadians. I hope that it will form the basis of a strengthened relationship with the Government of Canada.

On behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians, we would like to offer a full and sincere apology to Inuit for the relocation of families from Inukjuak and Pond Inlet to Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay during the 1950s.

We would like to express our deepest sorrow for the extreme hardship and suffering caused by the relocation. The families were separated from their home communities and extended families by more than a thousand kilometres. They were not provided with adequate shelter and supplies. They were not properly informed of how far away and how different from Inukjuak their new homes would be, and they were not aware that they would be separated into two communities once they arrived in the High Arctic. Moreover, the Government failed to act on its promise to return anyone that did not wish to stay in the High Arctic to their old homes.

The Government of Canada deeply regrets the mistakes and broken promises of this dark chapter of our history and apologizes for the High Arctic relocation having taken place. We would like to pay tribute to the relocatees for their perseverance and courage. Despite the suffering and hardship, the relocatees and their descendants were successful in building vibrant communities in Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay. The Government of Canada recognizes that these communities have contributed to a strong Canadian presence in the High Arctic.

The relocation of Inuit families to the High Arctic is a tragic chapter in Canada’s history that we should not forget, but that we must acknowledge, learn from and teach our children. Acknowledging our shared history allows us to move forward in partnership and in a spirit of reconciliation. The Government of Canada and Inuit have accomplished many great things together, and all Canadians have benefitted from the contributions of Inuit to our culture and history. We must continue to strengthen our connections and deepen our understanding and respect. We must jointly build a stronger, healthier and more vibrant Inuit Nunangat and, in turn, build a stronger, healthier and more vibrant Canada.

The Government of Canada hopes that this apology will help heal the wounds caused by events that began nearly 60 years ago and turn the page on this sad chapter in Canada’s history. May it strengthen the foundation upon which the Government of Canada and Inuit can build and help keep the True North Strong and Free.

Sources

Curry, B. (2010, August 18). An apology for the Inuit five decades in the making. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/an-apology-for-the-inuit-five-decades-in-the-making/article1378125/

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. (2010, August 18). Apology for the Inuit High Arctic relocation. Government of Canada. https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100016115/1534786491628

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. (2010, August 18). Government of Canada apologizes for relocation of Inuit families to the High Arctic. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/news/archive/2010/08/government-canada-apologizes-relocation-inuit-families-high-arctic.html

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. (1994). The High Arctic relocation: A report on the 1953–55 relocation. Government of Canada. https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.829143/publication.html

Fung, A. (2025). Redressing the redress of the High Arctic exiles: The limits of recognition in a white settler state. Memory Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/17506980251368762

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