{"id":731268,"date":"2026-06-12T05:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T05:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/731268\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T05:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T05:00:14","slug":"arctic-clams-on-the-menu-as-a-father-of-nunavut-returns-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/731268\/","title":{"rendered":"Arctic clams on the menu as a \u2018Father of Nunavut\u2019 returns home"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the first things John Amagoalik says he wants to do when he lands in Iqaluit is get his hands on some ptarmigan and Arctic clams. He\u2019s also going to kiss his wife, he said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been long time since he has seen her. But on Friday, after more than a year living at the Embassy West long-term care home in Ottawa, he will return home. To Nunavut.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have lived there [in Nunavut] most of my life,\u201d he said of Nunavut in an interview Wednesday. \u201cIt is one of my favourite places to be living in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amagoalik is small and thin. The wheelchair he uses after having lost his right leg seems too big, even for the giant of Nunavut history. He is soft-spoken, but there is a twinkle \u2014 a fierceness in his eyes\u2014 that pulls in a listener when he speaks.<\/p>\n

The 78-year Inuk politician was born in the Nunavik village of Inukjuak. His family was relocated to Resolute Bay in 1953.<\/p>\n

He said he spent 20 years in Resolute Bay before moving to Iqaluit, the city he called home for 50 years. For the past three months, friends and family have been planning the logistics and raising the money to bring him back.<\/p>\n

One of those friends is Mark Stiles, who worked with Amagoalik in the mid-1970s, at the Northwest Territories\u2019 Inuit Land Claims Commission.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cJohn was probably the brightest and most capable person that I ever worked with,\u201d Stiles said in an interview Wednesday. \u201cHe was extremely sharp and hugely committed.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March, Stiles visited Amagoalik at Embassy West then reached out to Amagoalik\u2019s friend Steven Kelliher, who flew out from Victoria to Ottawa the following week.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve was quite saddened by his condition,\u201d Stiles said, adding that Amagoalik told them he didn\u2019t want to live there anymore.<\/p>\n

On March 31, Amagoalik wrote a letter to Nunavut Health Minister Janet Brewster that read, \u201cI urgently want to return to a Iqaluit to live out my final days with my family in the territory I helped to create.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stiles and Kelliher contacted Iqaluit lawyer and elder advocate Anne Crawford for help, and they began fundraising for Amagoalik\u2019s care.<\/p>\n

The group hired a nurse and a physiotherapist to do assessments. Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. provided accessible accommodation and Canadian North paid for his plane ticket.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Amagoalik has received several honours over the years. He was\u00a0invested<\/a> into the Order of Canada in 2019 and the Order of Nunavut in 2014. In 1999, French president Jacques Chirac and prime minster Jean Chretien visited Nunavut, where Chirac gave Amagoalik France\u2019s Legion of Honour, the country\u2019s highest military and civilian honour.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s governor general at the time, Mary Simon, has called him<\/a> a \u201cCanadian hero\u201d when she presented him with the Order of Canada.<\/p>\n

Stiles noted that the financial support will allow Amagoalik to live in Iqaluit is temporary. Amagoalik\u2019s friends have raised enough money to pay for expenses such as a nurse, personal support worker and rent to take care of his family \u201cfor some time,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

They were \u201cnowhere near\u201d their private fundraising target and the group continues to work to raise money.<\/p>\n

Amagoalik\u2019s\u00a0group of friends is \u201chopeful the Government of Nunavut will provide assistance over the longer term,\u201d Stiles said.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOur main goal is to get John home,\u201d Stiles said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the first things John Amagoalik says he wants to do when he lands in Iqaluit is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":731269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-731268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/731269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}