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Akitsiraq grads bring Inuit values to northern law

"I think of our class as revolutionary in a way"

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE
Qajaq Robinson shares a moment outside Iqaluit with her elder and mentor Lucien Ukaliannuk, who taught Akitsiraq graduates about Inuit traditional law. (PHOTO BY GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS)

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In the coming years, Nunavummiut will find court judges, police and government more attentive to Inuit needs and culture, if an ambitious clutch of local law grads have their way.

Nunavut's Akitsiraq law program is unleashing 11 graduate students on the territory on June 21, after a formal ceremony in Iqaluit to celebrate the program's success. They will be the first class of Nunavummiut to receive a law degree while living in the territory.

The graduates and their mentors expect the group will become the territory's future leaders, as politicians, deputy ministers, managers, lawyers, and an RCMP lawyer.

Sandra Inutiq, a 31-year-old graduate, warns that they have no intention of treading softly through the territory's institutions of power, whether they're at the government of Nunavut, Crown attorney's office, or an Inuit organization.

"I think of our class as revolutionary in a way," Inutiq said during a break from her articling stint in the GN's Department of Justice. "Having Inuit lawyers isn't going to solve all the problems. We still need Inuit in other professions to improve the lives of Inuit.

"But one thing I can offer now is to explain 'this is what the law is, and this is how we can change it.'"

The students covered the standard curriculum set by the University of Victoria's existing law program, but spent as much time on advanced Inuktitut lessons and traditional approaches to law, taught by elder Lucien Ukaliannuk.

After four years of study, Inutiq and her classmates emerged with a razor-sharp attack on how Inuit traditions and culture have taken a back seat to the laws imported from southern Canada.

Sandra Inutiq, an Akitsiraq law grad, hopes to help Inuit by explaining existing law and how they can change it to reflect their culture. (PHOTO BY GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS)

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During a recent interview, Inutiq explained that they're going to challenge the "black letter approach" to law, where written legislation is valued in court, more than Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (Inuit traditional knowledge) passed on orally from one Inuit generation to another.

Inutiq said she won't fight this battle in court because it requires being "part of a system that doesn't help Inuit." But she expects to help by influencing government policy on social programs.

"A lot of crime is poverty-related," she said. "Until you deal with the poverty in Nunavut, many crimes will continue.

"Proper Inuit ways of doing things will be set up to fail."

For Inuit struggling through the court system, graduate Qajaq Robinson is considering taking up their defence.

Robinson is articling for the next year at the Nunavut Court of Justice, with the belief that she can help Inuit navigate the justice system.

"Some Inuit are blind to what's going on," Robinson said, 27, recalling her years as a youth officer at Iqaluit's young offenders' facility.

Robinson points to an example where she met an Inuk boy at the centre, who spoke only Inuktitut. When he came back from the courthouse with papers in his hand, he had no idea what had happened. Robinson had to explain to him that he'd been sentenced.

But Inuit need more than a guiding hand, she says. In her view, there will only be justice in Nunavut when Inuit traditional law is viewed as equal with Canadian written law.

"I think often there's a sentiment that indigenous law... is substandard," she said. "I think there's room for it to be held on the same plateau [as other law]. So as a lawyer, it would be my job to assert arguments that reflect Inuit law in court."

But graduates will do more than change politics and law in the territory.

Henry Coman, a 34-year-old graduate and RCMP officer, expects their success will inspire other Nunavummiut to pursue higher education.

The only male graduate in the group, Coman stressed the importance of young men following his example.

"I hope that they may be able to go to law school on their own," Coman said. "Or possibly, if there's a second intake, they'll want to apply and succeed like we have. I'd be willing to help any of the students along the way."

Kim Hart Wensley, the program's director, said the Akitsiraq Law Society board hopes to continue the program, but are still looking for future funders.

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