After ten years of hard work at the negotiating table, the Committee of Original People’s Entitlement (COPE) signed our land claim – The Inuvialuit Final Agreement – with the Government of Canada in 1984. It was the first comprehensive land claim signed in the Arctic and only the second in Canada. It enshrines our right to preserve our Inuvialuit cultural identity and values within a changing northern society. It is also designed to ensure that we can always be equal and meaningful participants in the northern and national economy and society. Finally, it guarantees our right to protect and preserve our Arctic wildlife, environment and biological productivity.
