When former NWT premier Nellie Cournoyea was told Canada Post was going to issue a special edition stamp in her honour, she knew exactly where she wanted them to have the unveiling ceremony and why.
“We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Ulukhaktok and Aklavik — you know — the Inuvialuit and Inuit as a whole,” she said. “We struggled through that whole system for many, many years not only to create Nunavut but to look at all the issues that people are trying to find resolutions and solutions to.
“But to me, this is a Ulukhaktok celebration. This is not a flash of my face on a stamp, that’s not the issue for me. Communities like to be involved in celebrations.
“The reason we’re having a celebration in Ulukhaktok now is because I’m not dead,” she joked.
Cournoyea spoke to Inuvik Drum June. 10. A commemorative stamp honouring Cournoyea’s contributions to the North and Canada was unveiled Jan. 11 at Helen Kalvak Elihakvik school. Making the celebration even sweeter is this year is the 50th anniversary of Ulukhaktok’s Kingalik Jamboree.
Admitting she was more interested in joining the celebration in Ulukhaktok than the personal recognition, Cournoyea said communities in the North were particularly deeply connected to the postal service, relying on it for pretty much everything.
Noting many of the communities don’t even have roads connecting them, she said without the post office life in the North would look very different.
“The Arctic communities depend on the postal system,” she said. “It really matters to small communities — you don’t have three or four stores you can pick and choose from. The postal service is for everything you want to bring into the community. It should be recognized a lot more for the value it places. The further away you are, the more important it becomes. If you want to run a small business, you depend on your contacts with the outside world.
“It’s a real need, not a luxury.”
Other parts of the government could learn a thing or two from Canada Post, she noted, pointing out regardless of the service or infrastructure being provided to the North, the first point of service must always be the community. Otherwise, projects tend to get muddled or fail.
Born in Aklavik, Cournoyea was premier of the NWT from 1991 to 1995 and served at several cabinet portfolios as an MLA from 1979 until 1995. She was the first female premier of the NWT and the first Indigenous woman to hold the position in Canadian history. She was a key figure in the creation of Nunavut territory and the negotiations for the Inuvialuit Final Agreement. After leaving the GNWT, she managed the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation for 20 years. To this date, she is still vice chair of Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation and sits as president of Nutrition North.
“Hopefully they can find someone else to take the position,” she joked.
She is one of three exemplary Canadians of Indigenous descent being honoured by Canada Post this year as part of its Indigenous Leaders stamp series. Launched last year, the program is guided by Indigenous groups to recognize important figures in Canadian history.
Joining her in this series are late National Indian Brotherhood Chief George Manuel, who was honoured posthumously in a ceremony in North Vancouver on June 12 and late senator Thelma Chalifoux, who was honoured in St. Albert on June 13. A lone set of the commemorative stamps will be available on June 21 for collectors everywhere. Another three individuals will be selected in 2024.
Noting politics is not an easy or fun job for everyone and life in the political arena takes getting used to, Cournoyea had frank advice for the young leaders emerging in the Beaufort Delta and across the North.
“Get going.”