Tagak Curley
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| Tagak Curley | |
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| In office 1979 – 1983 |
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| Preceded by | new district |
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| Succeeded by | riding dissolved |
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| In office 1983 – 1987 |
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| Preceded by | first member |
| Succeeded by | Peter Irniq |
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| Assumed office 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Jack Anawak |
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| Born | 1944 Coral Harbour |
| Political party | non-partisan consensus government |
Tagak Curley (born 1944) is an Inuit leader, politician and businessman from Nunavut. Tagak is considered a living father of confederation in Canada.
He was born in a hunting camp at Coral Harbour, Northwest Territories (now Nunavut).
From 1966 to 1970, he worked as a development officer with the federal Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. Based on his experiences, Curley became politicaly active and took on leadership roles at the local level to promote better living conditions for Inuit across Canada's Arctic.
From 1970-71, Curley served as the Repulse Bay settlement manager. He also acted as editor of the Keewatin Echo, the first English-Inuktitut newspaper in Canada.
He was a founding member and the first president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (Inuit Tapirisat of Canada) in 1971. ITK was formed to represent Inuit by their own organization.
Curley held leaderhips positions with the Nunavut land claim negotiating team, the Inuit Cultural Institute, the group that first initiated the process to recognize Nunavut as a formal terriroty in Canada.
Curley held leadership roles the Nunasi Corporation, an Inuit economic development organization as well as Nunavut Construction.
At the territorial level, Curley served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from 1979 to 1987; at the time, Nunavut was under the Northwest Territories. While in government, he held several cabinet posts, including the minister of economic development, minister of Mines and Resources Secretariat, and minister of public utilities from 1984 to 1987, and minister of government services in 1986-87.
He also ran as a federal Liberal candidate in the 1979 election for the Nunatsiaq (now Nunavut) riding, coming in second to Peter Ittinuar.
In the years following the passage of the Nunavut Act, Curley acted as business manager for Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI), the organization responsible for implementing the Nunavut land claim agreement.
In the 2004 Nunavut general election, Curley was acclaimed for the Nunavut riding of Rankin Inlet North. He re-entered politics to improve government for his people and community. After the election Curley challenged Paul Okalik for premiership of Nunuavt but was not eleccted by the Legislative Assembly.[1]
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