Lena (Elizabeth Magdalena) Pedersen
[ or Lena Pederson (born 1940, ]Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
) is a politician and social worker from Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...
, Canada. In 1959, she moved from Greenland to the Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...
and lived in Coppermine (Kugluktuk), Pangnirtung
Pangnirtung (or Pang, also Pangniqtuuq, in syllabics: ᐸᖕᓂᖅᑑᖅ ) is an Inuit hamlet in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, located on Baffin Island. The community is located about south of the Arctic Circle ...
and Rae (Behchoko) before moving to Cape Dorset
Kinngait (Inuktitut meaning 'high mountain' or 'where the hills are'; Syllabics: ᑭᙵᐃᑦ), known as Cape Dorset until 27 February 2020, is an Inuit hamlet located on Dorset Island near Foxe Peninsula at the southern tip of Baffin Island ...
where she participated in the artwork sales of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative.
Life and career
In the 1970 general election, Pedersen was the first woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, or Legislative Council of the Northwest Territories (with Northwest hyphenated as North-West until 1906), is the legislature and the seat of government of Northwest Territories in Canada. It is a u ...
representing the Central Arctic District The elections ordinance was amended to allow women the vote and run for office prior to the 1951 Northwest Territories general election. Pedersen was not the first woman to run, however, as Vivian Roberts was a candidate in the 1951 election.
In 1999 she was appointed by premier Paul Okalik to the Maligarnit Qimirrujiit, Nunavut's Law Review Commission. Prior to her appointment, she served as a board member for the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada and the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, and as a drug and alcohol program coordinator for Kugluktuk
Kugluktuk (, ; Inuktitut syllabics: ; ), known as Coppermine until 1 January 1996, is a hamlet at the mouth of the Coppermine River in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada, on Coronation Gulf, southwest of Victoria Island. It is Nunavut's ...
.
In 2003 Northwest Territories general election
The 2003 Northwest Territories general election was held on November 24, 2003, to elect the 19 members of the Legislative Assembly.
The election was called on October 27. Premier Stephen Kakfwi had previously chosen not to run.
The territory op ...
she ran in Yellowknife Centre
Yellowknife Centre is a territorial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is one of seven districts that represent Yellowknife.
Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)
Election results
...
but was defeated.
The former Lena Pederson (Kitikmeot) Boarding Home in Yellowknife
Yellowknife is the capital, largest community, and the only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of t ...
, that was used by patients from Nunavut's Kitikmeot Region
Kitikmeot Region (; Inuktitut: ''Qitirmiut'' ) is an List of regions of Nunavut, administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the southern and eastern parts of Victoria Island with the adjacent part of the mainland as far as the Boo ...
while on medical travel, was named in her honour.
She was, at one time, married to Red Pedersen and their grandson, Calvin Pedersen
Calvin Avigak Pedersen is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in July 2020. Representing the electoral district of Kugluktuk, he was directly acclaimed to office as the only candidate to register by the ...
was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut
The Legislative Assembly of Nunavut is the legislative assembly for the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The seat of the Assembly is the Legislative Building of Nunavut in Iqaluit.
Prior to the creation of Nunavut as a Canadian territory on ...
in July 2020.
Quote
Regarding the geographic move of the Northwest Territories government and the effect on Eskimo Co-operatives, Pedersen is quoted as saying:
::"The NWT Government moved North in 1967 to get closer to the people," but "it has achieved ''only'' to get closer ''in miles'' to some communities. It is still as far as or further removed from the people as it every was."— Lena Pedersen, 1974
Partial bibliography
* Pedersen, Lena, and Donna Stephania.
Crime Prevention in Kugluktuk
'. Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, 1999.
References
External links
A lot of warmth in the Lena Pederson Boarding Home Nunatsiaq News September 24, 2004Premier Paul Okalik appoints Maligarnit Qimirrujiit commissionersYellowknife Centre election results 2003 CBCStill counting Woman electoral firsts list in Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedersen, Lena
Living people
1940 births
20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
20th-century Canadian women politicians
20th-century Greenlandic people
20th-century indigenous leaders of the Americas
20th-century Inuit people
20th-century Inuit women
People from Behchoko
People from Kinngait
People from Kugluktuk
People from Pangnirtung
Politicians from Yellowknife
Greenlandic emigrants to Canada
Canadian Inuit women
Greenlandic Inuit women
Women in Northwest Territories politics
Inuit from the Northwest Territories
Inuit from Nunavut
Inuit politicians