{"id":104210,"date":"2026-04-29T08:34:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=104210"},"modified":"2026-04-29T08:34:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T12:34:50","slug":"allen-maghagak-remembered-as-diplomatic-but-firm-negotiator-for-inuit-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/allen-maghagak-remembered-as-diplomatic-but-firm-negotiator-for-inuit-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Allen Maghagak remembered as \u2018diplomatic but firm\u2019 negotiator for Inuit rights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Arty Sarkisian, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Allen Maghagak is being remembered as a strong leader for Kitikmeot, a diplomat for Inuit rights and a lover of music. Maghagak, 73, died last week in Ottawa. \u201cHe was a determined man, so that Inuit can define their own future for their children, their grandchildren and their grandchildren\u2019s children,\u201d said Piita Irniq, a former commissioner of Nunavut. \u201cIt\u2019s very sad. I think he was getting very sick in the end.\u201d Maghagak and Irniq worked together negotiating the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement between 1982 and 1987, which eventually led to the creation of Nunavut in 1999. Maghagak was chief negotiator for Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut, which later became Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the legal representative for Inuit in Nunavut. \u201cThis has been&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F04%2F29%2Fallen-maghagak-remembered-as-diplomatic-but-firm-negotiator-for-inuit-rights%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Arty Sarkisian, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Allen Maghagak is being remembered as a strong leader for Kitikmeot, a diplomat for Inuit rights and a lover of music. Maghagak, 73, died last week in Ottawa. \u201cHe was a determined man, so that Inuit can define their own future for their children, their grandchildren and their grandchildren\u2019s children,\u201d said Piita Irniq, a former commissioner of Nunavut. \u201cIt\u2019s very sad. I think he was getting very sick in the end.\u201d Maghagak and Irniq worked together negotiating the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement between 1982 and 1987, which eventually led to the creation of Nunavut in 1999. Maghagak was chief negotiator for Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut, which later became Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the legal representative for Inuit in Nunavut. \u201cThis has been... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F04%2F29%2Fallen-maghagak-remembered-as-diplomatic-but-firm-negotiator-for-inuit-rights%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Allen Maghagak remembered as \u2018diplomatic but firm\u2019 negotiator for Inuit rights - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/allen-maghagak-remembered-as-diplomatic-but-firm-negotiator-for-inuit-rights\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Allen Maghagak remembered as \u2018diplomatic but firm\u2019 negotiator for Inuit rights - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Arty Sarkisian, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News Allen Maghagak is being remembered as a strong leader for Kitikmeot, a diplomat for Inuit rights and a lover of music. Maghagak, 73, died last week in Ottawa. \u201cHe was a determined man, so that Inuit can define their own future for their children, their grandchildren and their grandchildren\u2019s children,\u201d said Piita Irniq, a former commissioner of Nunavut. \u201cIt\u2019s very sad. I think he was getting very sick in the end.\u201d Maghagak and Irniq worked together negotiating the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement between 1982 and 1987, which eventually led to the creation of Nunavut in 1999. Maghagak was chief negotiator for Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut, which later became Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the legal representative for Inuit in Nunavut. \u201cThis has been\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/allen-maghagak-remembered-as-diplomatic-but-firm-negotiator-for-inuit-rights\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-29T12:34:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/29\\\/allen-maghagak-remembered-as-diplomatic-but-firm-negotiator-for-inuit-rights\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/29\\\/allen-maghagak-remembered-as-diplomatic-but-firm-negotiator-for-inuit-rights\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Allen Maghagak remembered as \u2018diplomatic but firm\u2019 negotiator for Inuit rights\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-29T12:34:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/29\\\/allen-maghagak-remembered-as-diplomatic-but-firm-negotiator-for-inuit-rights\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":389,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/29\\\/allen-maghagak-remembered-as-diplomatic-but-firm-negotiator-for-inuit-rights\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/29\\\/allen-maghagak-remembered-as-diplomatic-but-firm-negotiator-for-inuit-rights\\\/\",\"name\":\"Allen Maghagak remembered as \u2018diplomatic but firm\u2019 negotiator for Inuit rights - 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