An Open Letter from Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami to Alert Canadians to False Claims to Inuit Identity

NCC seeks to secure the lands and rights of legitimate Indigenous peoples and to further misappropriate the already limited resources that are intended to benefit Inuit, First Nations, and Métis. [...] These Treaties, which are negotiated agreements between the four Inuit Treaty Organizations and the Crown, include extensive and detailed provisions regarding membership and citizenship in Inuit Treaty Organizations – provisions that the Crown required and agreed to in order to have certainty with respect to who Inuit are. [...] This Policy is premised on the recognition of Inuit inherent rights and treaty rights and defines Inuit as members of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, Makivvik, and the Nunatsiavut Government. [...] The solution to the alarming threat posed by false claims to Inuit identity is for federal departments to actively implement the Inuit Nunangat Policy by ensuring that only Inuit Treaty Organizations and their members are eligible to access federal programs, policies and initiatives that are intended to benefit Inuit. [...] Federal and other government leaders need to show leadership and prevent the erosion of Indigenous rights and status by rebuffing NCC and other fraudulent organizations that are seeking to exploit Inuit, undermine carefully negotiated and hard-fought Inuit-Crown treaties, as well as the rights of other Indigenous peoples.