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OKALIK EEGEESIAK: PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
INUIT TAPIRISAT OF CANADA, ANNUAL REPORT 1997-1999
This report is about growth, change and transformation. Those words sum up ITC's experience over the last three years.
ITC began its work nearly thirty years ago at a time when Inuit had virtually no political presence in Canada. As southern Canadians and their technology moved north, attracted by waves of exploration and development, our predecessors agreed on the need for a strong national Inuit voice to defend Inuit rights, culture and land. Those rights had not yet been defined under a Constitution, nor had our right to the land been confirmed through Claims negotiation. Under the direction of the early ITC leaders, a vision of the future took shape... a vision that led to the negotiation of Claims across the Inuit North, the creation of Nunavut,...