Jose Kusugak

Jose Kusugak
President of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
In office
1990–1999
President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
In office
2000–2006
Preceded byOkalik Eegeesiak
Succeeded byMary Simon
Assistant President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
In office
1971–1974?
Preceded byPosition created
Succeeded byNone
Area manager for the Kivalliq Region of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
In office
1979/80–1989
Preceded byNone
Succeeded byNone
Personal details
BornMay 2, 1950
DiedJanuary 18/19, 2011
Nunavut

Jose Kusugak (2 May 1950 – 18[1] or 19[2] January 2011) was an Inuk politician from Repulse Bay, Northwest Territories (now Naujaat, Nunavut), Canada. He was an activist for Inuit rights, language and culture.[1]

Early life

Kusugak was born in Repulse Bay.[2] He moved, along with his family, to Rankin Inlet in 1960. After attending school in Chesterfield Inlet and Churchill Vocational Institute residential school in Churchill, Manitoba, he went to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to attend high school.[3]

Career

After finishing high school, Kusugak went on to teach in both Rankin Inlet and Churchill, where he taught Inuktitut and Inuit history.

In 1971 he joined what was then called the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, known today as the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), and served as an assistant to Tagak Curley the organization's first president. Later moving to Arviat, he helped to establish a standardized writing system for Inuktitut syllabics.

In 1980 he joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as the area manager for the Kivalliq Region.[4] After working with them for 10 years, he joined the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation, and introduced several new areas of programming to the network. He then became the president of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, one of the four organizations that make up the ITK.

As president of NTI he was responsible for negotiating the comprehensive land claims for Inuit, including the creation of Nunavut, with the governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories. In acknowledgement of this work, he has been called the "Last Father of Confederation." The new territory was proclaimed on April 1, 1999, five days before Kusugak's eldest daughter Aliisa Autut, gave birth to her third child.

Kusugak held the position of president until losing the election to Paul Kaludjuak after which he was controversially appointed president of ITK. After six years as president, Kusugak announced on 12 May 2006 that he was stepping down.[5]

Kusugak died from bladder cancer in Rankin Inlet, Kivalliq, Nunavut, Canada.[1]

Personal life

Kusugak was married to the acting Commissioner of Nunavut, Nellie Kusugak.[6] They had three daughters and one son.[2]

Honours and legacy

Kusugak received CBC president's award in 1998 for "for remarkable achievement in raising the standard of Inuktitut radio broadcasting."[2] He wrote the short comic Kiviuq vs Big Bee that was published in the anthology Arctic Comics in 2016.[7] He was commemorated on a Canadian stamp in 2022, as the first in a series of three Indigenous leaders on stamps.[8][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Inuit leader Jose Kusugak dies". CBC News. 2011-01-19. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  2. ^ a b c d "Jose Kusugak, Nunavut's cheerful muse, dies at 60". Nunatsiaq News. 2011-01-19. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  3. ^ Noakes, Taylor C. (2022-09-14). "Jose Kusugak". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
  4. ^ a b "Jose Kusugak, celebrated Inuk leader, appears in new postage stamp". CBC News. 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  5. ^ Minogue, Sara (2006-05-13). "Six years is enough for Jose Kusugak". Nunatsiaq News. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  6. ^ Jose Kusugak Archived 2008-05-05 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Kusagak, Michael (2016). Arctic comics. ISBN 978-1-987825-03-9. OCLC 953564105.
  8. ^ New stamp commemorates Inuit leader Jose Kusugak; canadapost-postescanada.ca, 14.6.2022