Makivik Executive / Pita Aatami
President

Pita Aatami is born in Kuujjuaq in 1960.

He has a record of outstanding achievement, dedication and commitment to the Inuit of Nunavik, to the Inuit of Canada, and to his country.

Mr. Aatami has played a key role in bringing the Inuit of Nunavik to the modern world. He has been in public life for the last 20 years and president of Makivik Corporation for the last 10 years.  One of his most important strengths is that he is a visionary; he has a vision of where the Nunavimmiut, as a group, should go.

Mr. Aatami is also a leader for his people. A strong person that is not afraid to get involved in difficult situations and to take sometimes very hard decisions in order to find solutions to problems facing Nunavik.  He is a leader that calls respect and he has shown respect to his people.  Mr. Aatami travels extensively to all Nunavik communities, listening to the concerns of the youth, elders, hunters, business people, people in need, and others.  He has established excellent communication with the Inuit population.

He showed very strong leadership in the negotiations of the Nunavik Inuit Land Claim Agreement negotiated with the Government of Canada.  The NILCA legislation has recently received Royal Assent.  It is the second major treaty of the Inuit of Nunavik after the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.

In 2002, Mr. Aatami and the premier of Quebec signed a major agreement that ensures the Inuit, and the Quebec population as a whole, greater control over their common future, while giving them the opportunity to be true partners in the face of the challenges before them.  The Sanarrutik Partnership Agreement is a tangible example of "Partners for a More Prosperous Future."  At the signing ceremony, Mr. Aatami had these words: "After the agreement, I can show our youth that they have a future now. This is a new beginning, a new era that we are starting. We are starting to work as partners."

A couple of months after the signing of the Sanarrutik Partnership Agreement, the National Assembly of Quebec voted this motion: "That the National Assembly of Quebec underscore the inauguration of an inukshuk on the grounds of the parliament building, a monument symbolizing the good relations that Quebec and Inuit have enjoyed for close to 40 years, and that recalls the willingness of the Quebec nation and the Inuit nation to maintain and bolster their partnership relationship."

A third tangible example of Mr. Aatami's leadership was his contribution in the organization of the Katimajiit Conference held in Kuujjuaq in August 2007.  The conference was co-chaired by the Quebec Premier, Jean Charest, Pita Aatami and the Canadian Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, Chuck Strawl.  The main topics to be discussed included education and culture, economy and employment, health, social services, child care services, environment, and sustainable community development.

A couple weeks prior to the Katimajiit Conference, the Quebec Commission on Human Rights and Youth issued a report on the devastating situation of Nunavik youth.  The report highlighted the identity crisis the Inuit face presently, which is reflected in the scope of social problems that have emerged in the past decades.

In its report, the commission requested that the premier of Quebec take personal control of this issue, and requested that the Inuit, under the leadership of the president of Makivik Corporation, assemble favorable conditions to protect children and take into account the interests and realities of Nunavik.

Mr. Aatami undertook this difficult job without any hesitation.

At the conference, he spoke directly to all Inuit of Nunavik, urging parents, men and women, to work together and bring solutions to alleviate the situation the Nunavik youth are facing.

In 2007, Reader's Digest made Pita Aatami a "hero of the year," describing him as a "tireless fighter for his people," and underlined his tenacity and his leadership.