RCMP in the Baffin Region, 1950 to 1975

Summary

This history of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in the Baffin Region focuses on the years between 1950 and 1975. When the RCMP first arrived in the Eastern Arctic in the early 1920s, law and order was the responsibility assigned to the officers. Establishing a Canadian presence in the Arctic Islands was a primary goal for the agency itself. Because there was very little crime and there were no other government representatives in the area, RCMP officers were also expected to deliver a carefully selected set of services to residents and visitors. In the absence of the RCMP, some of these services could be delivered by missionaries and traders.

Until the 1960s, the core public responsibilities of the RCMP officers in the Baffin Region involved visiting Inuit camps to report on health and economic conditions; register births and deaths; deliver family benefits; investigate complaints and game ordinance violations; and deliver the mail. The RCMP relied on Inuit appointed as Special Constables to guide them, feed their dogs, and interpret Inuktitut. Special Constables lived with their families at the detachments. The families often served in a caretaker role for the RCMP officers and the detachment. RCMP officers even acted as Justices of the Peace to hear cases in the communities they served.

The core administrative responsibility of each RCMP detachment until the late 1960s was to produce annual “Conditions Amongst the Eskimos”, “Patrol” and “Game Conditions” reports. Officers travelled thousands of kilometres by dogsled in the winter and motor boat in the summer to gather information for these reports. The travelling conditions of these missions were often difficult and dangerous. The “Conditions” reports required the RCMP to comment on a standardized list of topics, such as health, morale, clothing, general activities and pursuits, hunting equipment and dogs, population in relation to resources, percentage of males and females, intermarriage and suggestions for improving economic conditions. From the early 1960s onwards, the “Conditions” reports focus increasingly on the challenges Inuit faced in moving to settlements. The report on game conditions was intended to describe the status (numbers, health and location) of various wildlife species relevant to traders, Inuit and conservation. By the end of the 1960s, the sled dog patrols had been replaced entirely by visits to camps by air, by radio reports from camps to RCMP division headquarters and by snowmobile rounds to camps located close to settlements.

The duties of the RCMP underwent important changes in 1954 and 1955 when the construction of the Distance Early Warning (DEW) Line led the federal government to turn its attention toward the Arctic. Two main DEW Line stations were constructed in the Baffin Region at Broughton Island (Qikiqtarjuaq) and Hall Beach. The Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources hired Northern Services Officers (NSOs) to work as local government administrators, but they were also assigned responsibilities previously within the sphere of the RCMP. NSOs working along the DEW Line were officially designated as game officers, fur export officers, commissioners of oaths and coroners. They were asked to negotiate, facilitate and expedite the work of building the DEW Line and to leave enforcement to the RCMP. RCMP officers were asked (within input from the Hudson’s Bay Company) to help identify Inuit men suitable for DEW Line employment, giving preference to young men who were unlikely to make “a satisfactory livelihood from hunting and trapping.”

The replacement of RCMP by civilian staff did not stop at the NSOs. Area administrators, teachers, nurses and social workers took over many RCMP duties, leaving law and by-law enforcement, crime prevention and emergency services to officers. At the same time, Inuit who had moved into settlements were often unable to find work and were bored by settlement life. Infractions and crimes related to drunkenness, theft and physical conflicts brought Mounties into many more adversarial situations with Inuit.

RCMP officers appear to have handled Qallunaat crimes and infractions (including sexual assaults) differently than Inuit ones. When Qallunaat serving as staff of military agencies and construction companies committed offences, RCMP often chose to allow the agencies to handle the offender, through firings or no action.

The history of the RCMP in the Baffin Region also concerns the history of Inuit sled dogs. During most of the 1950s and into the 1960s, most Inuit in the region still lived in a trading–traditional pattern, coming into settlements for brief periods to socialize and trade. The RCMP recognized the importance of dogs to Inuit culture, hunting and survival and they used dogs themselves for travel. They knew that the Northwest Territories (NWT) Ordinance Respecting Dogs (as amended in 1950) allowed them to shoot loose dogs in settlements, but it appears that the RCMP rarely invoked the ordinance in the Baffin Region at this time. The RCMP worked to prevent the spread of infectious disease in dog populations by managing inoculation programs and through a practice of killing dogs that might be carrying an infection. When an epidemic struck the dogs of Cumberland Sound in 1962, for example, the RCMP worked to replace the dogs and attempted to introduce other breeds of dogs they hoped would be more resilient to disease. The actions of the RCMP in killing dogs to prevent disease were rarely appreciated by Inuit who were accustomed to killing sick dogs, but did not use killings to prevent disease.

With the growth of settlements and an increase in the Qallunaat population in the mid-1960s, the number of dog killings under the ordinance by RCMP, dog officers or others increased dramatically. By this point, the RCMP believed that Inuit sled dogs were no longer essential to Inuit hunting and that dogs posed health and safety risks in the settlements. Added to these changes in RCMP perceptions about Inuit hunting practices and to a lack of understanding about the role of dogs in Inuit culture was the altered role of police officers in communities and the growing populations of both Inuit and Qallunaat (especially in Iqaluit) that made it less likely that RCMP would meet and become familiar with Inuit culture and families.

Inuit testifying before the Commission revealed that they were always aware that the RCMP was watching them. Some Inuit praised the work and attitudes of some RCMP officers and condemned the actions and cultural insensitivity of others. Many testimonies demonstrate the extent Inuit chose out of awe or fear (best expressed through the Inuit concept of illira) to keep their opinions about RCMP actions and individuals to themselves. Inuit told the Commissioner that some RCMP officers forced them to do things that they did not want to do, such as move graves, tie up dogs, send children to settlement school or residential school, visit the annual medical ship, take unwanted jobs and move from the camps to settlements. The Commission also heard that Inuit felt a lack of respect was shown by RCMP officers towards Inuit and Inuit culture; the RCMP appeared to act unpredictably; and Inuit felt intimidated in all their dealings with the RCMP. Retired RCMP officers who have spoken to the Commission or to the RCMP during its study of dog killings described the difficulty of working in communities that were so clearly divided by culture and language; their attempts to improve social conditions in communities; and difficulties they faced in enforcing laws that were inappropriate or not understood in the Baffin Region at the time. Inuit women in other contexts have also spoken about relationships with RCMP officers resulting in numerous Inuit who can trace their lineage to RCMP officers.

The archival record about the RCMP in the Baffin Region up until the late 1960s is a rich source of information about the activities of officers, the lives of Inuit in camps and in settlements and the relationship between the RCMP and Inuit. The RCMP’s own records are supplemented by the records of other organizations and government committees; by the memoirs of individual officers and special constables; and by oral histories and correspondence of Inuit who interacted with the RCMP for a variety of reasons. They show that senior RCMP officials in the 1950s were well-informed and personally aware of conditions in the Baffin Region and government polices affecting Inuit. RCMP officials from the mid-1960s onwards were removed both personally and administratively from the reality of Inuit daily life.