Ittinuar, the grandson of Danish explorer, Peter Freuchen,[1] was born in Chesterfield Inlet, Northwest Territories (now Nunavut).
He spent part of his youth and adolescence being educated in Ottawa, Ontario, with two childhood friends, Zebedee Nungak and Eric Tagoona.
[2] Ittinuar was originally elected as a member of the New Democratic Party, but on November 26, 1982, he crossed the floor to sit with the Liberal caucus shortly after Indian Affairs and Northern Development minister John Munro announced plans to improve Inuit self-government by dividing the Northwest Territories into two (see Nunavut).
[3] In 1984 Ittinuar was charged with breach of trust, theft and forgery for allegedly using his parliamentary budget to purchase a boat motor.
[5] In 2008, while living in southern Ontario, Ittinuar ran unsuccessfully for the Green Party in the Nunavut riding in the federal election.