Yol xxYr - The Arctic Circle

of the Agreement-jn-Prjnciple provides a fjnn basis for final sett'lement of
the Inuvjalu'it clajm", Mr. Faulkner said. "Particularly significant is the
fact that this agreement, both in the manner in whjch it uas reached and jn
the provisions it contains for meeting the expressed needs and aspirations of
the Inuvia'luit, ful f il I s the spirit and
settling comprehensive native claims", 1
in-Princip1e is the product of long and
any Inuvialuit land rights that now exi
fits and conpensation to the Inuvialujt
to preserve Inuvialuit lifestyles, cultural identity and values within a
th?nging northern society, and to enable the Inuv'ialuit to be meaningful part-
icipants on an equal basis in the northern econony as a whole. tt contains
proyisions to_protect and pneserve..the wjldl ife, b'io'logical product'ivity and
envi ronmen t of the we s tern Arc t'i c. "
"Equally significant is the fact that the Territorial Government will have
continuou input into negotiations on the final agreement, and wi'l'l have a
to play in..the irnplementat'ion of the final settlement itse1f", Mr.
Pl9
Faulkner said. "l am confident that v€ can build on the base we have established
with the signing of the Agreernent-in-Principle to fashion a final
agreement wftich will be a lasting tribute to the dedjcatjon of the Inuvjaluit
to secure a place for themselves jn northern sociepy", the Minister concluded.
Sunmary of the
prepared by the
Ba ckgro un d
In Ma.y 7977, C0PE (the Committee for Original People's Entitlement) representing
2,500 Inuvia'luit in the Western Arctic Reqion, presented their iand
rights c1ain, entitled Inuvial u'it i"lunangat. Fol lowing i series of clarif jcq!jqnmeet.ingsg-overnme@edaniniiiatreSponSetothe
COPE proposal . rxcept for the slbject of r,rildl ife and huntin! rights, where
there I4as some common_ground, the rema'inder of the governmenl's response r^,as
not satisfactory to COPE. To avoid a breakdown in the djscussions, i inJorking
Group, comprising representatives of C0PE and the Government, was formed to
seeK agreement on the wilfljfe sectjon of the claim. 0l December 7, I97l a
Joint Position on wil_dl'ife uas publ icly announced. The Working Group next
addressed the major elements of land anc
1978 the Work'ing Group completed the 10t
14 sections which forms the basis of thi
Government of Canada and the Inuvialuit
Goals of the Settlement
The Agreement in_Principle states that the four basic Aoals of the Inuvialuit
land rights settlement are: to preserve the culture anJ values of the Inuvjaluit
within.a changing northern society; to enable them to be equ-1 and meaningful
part'icipants in both the northern and national economy and'society; io prdvide
tlfl.with spegific rights, benefits and compensation in exchange i6r any'land
rights now existing; and to protect and preserve the Arctic wjidlife, envjronm9n.t
and biolog jcal productivity. The Finai Agreement wil I not pre5udice the
rights of the Inuvialuit as Canadian cjtizens and they shall .ontinue to be
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