Nunavut Land Claims Agreement in the context of Indigenous land claims in Canada

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately 1,127,711.92 km (435,412.01 sq mi) and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it was the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated population as of the third quarter of 2025 is 45,950 which would make it the second most populous of the three territories. Yellowknife is the capital, most populous community, and the only city in the territory; its population was 20,340 as of the 2021 census. It became the territorial capital in 1967, following recommendations by the Carrothers Commission.

The Northwest Territories, a portion of the old North-Western Territory, entered the Canadian Confederation on July 15, 1870. At first, it was named the North-West Territories. The name was changed to the present Northwest Territories in 1906. Since 1870, the territory has been divided four times to create new provinces and territories or enlarge existing ones. Its current borders date from April 1, 1999, when the territory's size was decreased again by the creation of a new territory of Nunavut to the east, through the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. While Nunavut is mostly Arctic tundra, the Northwest Territories has a slightly warmer climate and is both boreal forest (taiga) and tundra, and its most northern regions form part of the Arctic Archipelago.

Nunavut is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, which provided this territory to the Inuit for self-government. The boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map in half a century since the province of Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador) was admitted in 1949.

Nunavut comprises a major portion of Northern Canada and most of the Arctic Archipelago. Its vast territory makes it the fifth-largest country subdivision in the world, as well as North America's second-largest (after Greenland). The capital Iqaluit (formerly "Frobisher Bay"), on Baffin Island in the east, was chosen by a capital plebiscite in 1995. Other major communities include the regional centres of Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay.

The Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut (TFN, Inuktitut: ᓄᓇᕗᑦ ᑐᙵᕕᒃ, Nunavut Tunngavik) was the organization officially recognized from 1982 to 1993 as representing the Inuit of what is now Nunavut, but was then part of the Northwest Territories, for the purpose of negotiating treaties and land claims settlements. In this role, it replaced the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, which represents Inuit across Canada, and has been superseded by Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.

The Inuit began to emerge as a political force in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the struggle for control over natural resources. This was a real wake-up call for Inuit, and it stimulated the emergence of a new generation of young Inuit activists in the late 1960s. They began networking with one another across the Northwest Territories, Quebec and Labrador and in 1982, the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut, or "TFN" had been incorporated to take over the claim negotiation mandate from the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. TFN worked for ten years and, in September 1992, came to a final agreement with the government of Canada. Then, in November 1992, the Nunavut Final Agreement was approved by nearly 85% of Nunavut Inuit. As the final step in this long process, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement was signed on May 25, 1993 in Iqaluit by the Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and by Paul Quassa, the president of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, which replaced the TFN upon the ratification of the Nunavut Final Agreement. The Canadian Parliament passed the supporting legislation in June of the same year, enabling the eventual establishment of Nunavut as a territorial entity. The land claims agreement was the result of two decades of negotiations that, in the end, gave birth to the largest comprehensive land claims settlement in Canada.

Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI; Inuktitut: ᓄᓇᕗᑦ ᑐᙵᕕᒃ, Nunavut Tunngavik) is the legal representative of the Inuit of Nunavut for the purposes of native treaty rights and treaty negotiation. The presidents of NTI, Makivik Corporation, Nunatsiavut Government, and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the four regional land claims organizations, govern the national body, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) as its board of directors. NTI continues to play a central role in Nunavut, even after the creation of the Government of Nunavut. As the successor of the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut, which was a signatory of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement on behalf of Inuit, NTI is responsible for ensuring that the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement is implemented fully by the Government of Canada and the Government of Nunavut and that all parties fulfill their obligations.

NTI is governed by an eight-member board of directors. Two of the directors -the President and Vice President are elected directly by beneficiaries of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement who are 16 years and older. Six of the directors are the Presidents and Vice Presidents of the three Regional Inuit Associations located in Nunavut. The four member Executive consists of the presidents of NTI and the three RIAs.