Inuit land-claim organization in Canada’s eastern Arctic names first female CEO

The Nunavut flag (left) beside the Canadian flag in Nunavut’s capital city of Iqaluit on Feb. 9, 2017. Nunavut’s land claim organization Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated named their first female CEO on Tuesday. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
The Inuit land-claim organization in Canada’s eastern Arctic territory of Nunavut named Kilikvak Karen Kabloona as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on Tuesday.
Kilikvak Karen Kabloona will become the new CEO of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated on December 3. (Courtesy Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated)

Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, the organization that administers the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement on behalf of the territory’s Inuit, made the announcement in a news release on Tuesday, saying Kabloona will be the first woman to hold the position in NTI’s history.

Kabloona is a former associate deputy minister  for quality of life in Nunavut.

She was appointed in 2015 by then-premier Peter Taptuna to oversee Nunavut’s suicide prevention initiatives.

The NTI news release also described her work in the Nunavut government since 2004 which included times as a political advisor to cabinet ministers and two territorial premiers.

Kabloona will officially take over from current CEO Hannah Uniuqsaraq on December 03, 2018.

Inuit rights in Arctic

The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement was signed on May 25, 1993 while what is now Nunavut was still part of Canada’s Northwest Territories.

The agreement established the political and environmental rights of Inuit in the region and was signed by the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut, the precursor to NTI,

Nunavut officially separated from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999.

Write to Eilís Quinn at eilis.quinn@cbc.ca

Related stories from around the North:

Canada: Canada’s Inuit set out their priorities for federal Arctic policy roadmap, Radio Canada International

Finland: Indigenous rights under fire says Finnish Saami leader, YLE News

Greenland: What the EU seal ban has meant for Inuit communities in the Arctic, Eye on the Arctic

Norway: Repressive policy deprived Sámi people of language, culture : Norway’s prime minister, The Independent Barents Observer

Sweden: Sami Blood: A coming-of-age tale set in Sweden’s dark past, Radio Sweden

Russia:  Russia brands Arctic indigenous organization as “foreign agent,” Barents Observer

United States:  Arctic conference spotlights indigenous issues, Alaska Dispatch News

Eilís Quinn, Eye on the Arctic

Eilís Quinn is an award-winning journalist and manages Radio Canada International’s Eye on the Arctic news cooperation project. Eilís has reported from the Arctic regions of all eight circumpolar countries and has produced numerous documentary and multimedia series about climate change and the issues facing Indigenous peoples in the North.

Her investigative report "Death in the Arctic: A community grieves, a father fights for change," about the murder of Robert Adams, a 19-year-old Inuk man from Arctic Quebec, received the silver medal for “Best Investigative Article or Series” at the 2019 Canadian Online Publishing Awards. The project also received an honourable mention for excellence in reporting on trauma at the 2019 Dart Awards in New York City.

Her report “The Arctic Railway: Building a future or destroying a culture?” on the impact a multi-billion euro infrastructure project would have on Indigenous communities in Arctic Europe was a finalist at the 2019 Canadian Association of Journalists award in the online investigative category.

Her multimedia project on the health challenges in the Canadian Arctic, "Bridging the Divide," was a finalist at the 2012 Webby Awards.

Her work on climate change in the Arctic has also been featured on the TV science program Découverte, as well as Le Téléjournal, the French-Language CBC’s flagship news cast.

Eilís has worked for media organizations in Canada and the United States and as a TV host for the Discovery/BBC Worldwide series "Best in China."

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