Jose Kusugak

Jose Kusugak (2 May 1950 – 18[1] or 19[2] January 2011) was an Inuk politician from Repulse Bay, Northwest Territories (now Naujaat, Nunavut), Canada.

[3] After finishing high school, Kusugak went on to teach in both Rankin Inlet and Churchill, where he taught Inuktitut and Inuit history.

As president of NTI he was responsible for negotiating the comprehensive land claims for Inuit, including the creation of Nunavut, with the governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories.

The new territory was proclaimed on April 1, 1999, five days before Kusugak's eldest daughter Aliisa Autut, gave birth to her third child.

[2] Kusugak received CBC president's award in 1998 for "for remarkable achievement in raising the standard of Inuktitut radio broadcasting.