Piita Taqtu Irniq, formerly Peter Irniq and Peter Ernerk, (born February 1, 1947) is an

Inuk Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labr ...

politician in Canada, who served as the second

commissioner of Nunavut The commissioner of Nunavut (; Inuinnaqtun: ''Kamisinauyuq Nunavunmut''; ) is the Government of Canada's representative in the territory of Nunavut. The current commissioner since January 14, 2021 is Eva Aariak who served as Premier of Nunavut, Pre ...

from April 2000 to April 2005. He is an Inuit cultural teacher and has lived most of his life in the

Kivalliq Region The Kivalliq Region (; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑭᕙᓪᓕᖅ) is an Region, administrative List of regions of Nunavut, region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the portion of the mainland to the west of Hudson Bay together with Southampton Island ...

of Nunavut, including Naujaat,

Coral Harbour Coral Harbour (Inuktitut: Salliq / Salliit, Syllabics: ᓴᓪᓕᖅ / ᓴᓪᓖᑦ, formerly Southampton Island) is a small Inuit community that is located on Southampton Island, Kivalliq Region, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Its name ...

, Baker Lake,

Chesterfield Inlet Chesterfield Inlet (Inuit: ''Igluligaarjuk'')Issenman, Betty. ''Sinews of Survival: The living legacy of Inuit clothing''. UBC Press, 1997. pp252-254 is an inlet in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is an arm of northwestern Hudson Bay, an ...

Rankin Inlet Rankin Inlet, which fronts to Hudson Bay, is an Inuit hamlet on the Kudlulik Peninsula in Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest hamlet and second-largest settlement in Nunavut after the territorial capital, Iqaluit. Rankin Inlet is the regional c ...

, and

Iqaluit Iqaluit is the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It is the territory's largest community and its only city, and the northernmost city in Canada. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the large bay on the coast on ...

. He has also lived in the Western Arctic (Northwest Territories),

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

and

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Biography

Field Museum - Native America - Inuksuk by Peter Irniq

Irniq was born in Lyon Inlet near

Repulse Bay Repulse Bay or Tsin Shui Wan is a bay in the southern part of Hong Kong Island, located in the Southern District, Hong Kong, Southern District, Hong Kong. It is one of the most expensive residential areas in the world. Geography Repulse B ...

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 ...

(now Naujaat,

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 ...

). In 1958, he was forced to attend

Indian Residential School The Canadian Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by various Christian churches. The scho ...

in Chesterfield Inlet. Later on, he attended the Sir John Franklin School in Yellowknife from 1963 to 1964. Irniq was the executive assistant to the assistant commissioner of the NWT. from 1974 to 1975. He was elected to the

1975 Northwest Territories general election The 1975 Northwest Territories general election was on March 10, 1975. This was the first general election since 1902 that all the members of the assembly were elected. Fifteen members were elected to the Legislative Council. Election summary M ...

and represented the riding of the Keewatin for four years. He was the first Inuk to be made assistant regional director for the Department of the Executive in the former

Keewatin Region The Keewatin Region was a district of the Northwest Territories, in use as an administrative and statistical division until the creation of Nunavut in 1999. The majority of Keewatin Region fell on the Nunavut side of the boundary and was reconst ...

(

), 1979 until 1981. As superintendent of renewable resources, he was the first Inuk to hold this position and encouraged the hiring of Inuit into the department. In 1982, Irniq was appointed the first Speaker of the Keewatin Council, a position he held until 1983. Elected president of the Keewatin Inuit Association, he served in this capacity for five years. Irniq was re-elected to the Northwest Territories Legislature in the 1987 general election for the Aivilik electoral district. He ran on a platform of encouraging Inuit to participate at higher levels in employment, education, and business. He ran again in the 1991 general election; however,

James Arvaluk James Arvaluk (April 1948 – April 27, 2016) was a Canadian politician from Coral Harbour, Nunavut. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories from 1991 to 1995 and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Nunav ...

defeated him. He was named the executive director of the Inuit Cultural Institute in 1992. A year later, he became director of communications for

Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI; , ) is the legal representative of the Inuit of Nunavut for the purposes of native treaty rights and treaty negotiation. The presidents of NTI, Makivik Corporation, Nunatsiavut, and the Inuvialuit Regional Co ...

. As a member of the Nunavut Implementation Commission, Irniq served on the Communication and Governmental Operations Committees and was a spokesperson for the Commission on Nunavut in Canada and overseas and was active in seeking justice for the former students of the infamous Joseph Bernier residential school in Chesterfield Inlet, who suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of school staff. Irniq was assistant director, Nunavut, Heritage/Culture, Department of Education, Culture and Employment for the Government of N.W.T. where he was responsible for developing culture and heritage programs and services to meet the needs of the new territory of Nunavut, 1997–98. He became deputy minister of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, 1998–99. His mandate was to be the guardian of traditional Inuit culture and language. In August 1999, Irniq was seconded 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 ...

to set up the offices of the Official Languages, Access to Information and Conflict of Interest Commissioners. In addition, Irniq writes an Inuit perspective column for the '' Nunavut News/North'' newspaper. In 2003, he was made a Commander of the

Order of St. John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

. In 2005, he was appointed to the board of directors of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.News Release "Appointment to Board of Directors of Canadian Race Relations Foundation", 2005-11-24
retrieved on 2008-09-03. Most recently, he served as a key consultant on the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

project '' Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories''.

Arms

References

External links

Government of Nunavut - Biography of Peter T. Irniq

Peter Irniq's Coat of Arms as Commissioner of Nunavut
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irniq, Piita 1947 births 20th-century Inuit people 21st-century Inuit people Living people Inuit from the Northwest Territories Commanders of the Order of St John Commissioners of Nunavut Inuit politicians People from Baker Lake People from Chesterfield Inlet People from Coral Harbour People from Iqaluit People from Naujaat People from Rankin Inlet 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories Writers from Nunavut Inuit writers Indspire Awards Inuit from Nunavut People who testified at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

Biography

Arms

See also

References

External links