Access to justice for deaf Inuit in Nunavut: The role of "Inuit Sign Language"

This paper presents a personal perspective on the issue of access to justice (in the context of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) for the deaf Inuit population of Canada's newest Territory - Nunavut. My experience in assessing a deaf Inuk in Baker Lake R v. Suwarak (1999) who apparently had no known language, followed an earlier Nova Scotia case R v. Roy (1994) which involved a deaf man who could not hear, speak or use sign language. In both Roy and Suwarak and I concluded that a trial could not proceed, but ill the: case of Suwarak, the possibility was raised that all indigenous form of sign language, which I tentatively termed " Innuit Sign Language" was being used. The results of a preliminary study of the status of signed languages in Nunavut based oil field visits and interactions with deaf people and their. families in three: communities, Iqaluit, Pangnirtung, and Rankin Inlet is described. The possibility that "Inuit Sign Language" exists is discussed within the framework of various theories of language development and also within the context of earlier literature which indicates that many Aboriginal communities had (and possibly still have) flourishing signed languages. Finally, the need for increased research by psychologists on the complex linguistic environment of deaf persons in Nunavut is emphasized.