Taamusi Qumaq

The name Qumaq was originally an inuit mononym. In 1917, he was baptised and given the Christian name Taamusi (Thomas). Qumaq eventually became registered as his family name.

Qumaq was born on Niqsiturlik island near Inukjuak sometime in January 1914 to his nomadic parents. The family travelled by dog sled between Kuujjuarapik and Puvirnituq and hunted game such as walrus, seal, and fish. Qumaq's family also collected fox pelts to trade for European supplies at trading posts near Inukjuak and Puvirnituq. In 1920, his mother participated in the filming of Nanook of the North.

His father died in a boating accident when Qumaq was 13 years old. Without this teaching figure, Qumaq had to rely on other Inuit families to learn how to hunt and construct an igloo. He settled in 1931 in Puvirnituq with his siblings and mother.

In 1937, he married his wife, Maina Milurtuq. Over the next few years, there were few animals and starvation abounded in his community, which was exacerbated by the concomitant closing of trading posts, the drop in value of fox pelts and the decrease in availability of commodities due to World War II. However, Qumaq was able to sustain his family and elders with the help of other hunters. Mail was flown in from Moose Factory to Inukjuak, and Qumaq was responsible from ferrying all the mail to Puvirnituq, Akulivik, Ivujivik, and Salluit on a single dog sled. He would bring the mail to Puvirnituq, after which it was picked up by another courier to be transported farther north.

Following the relocation of Inuit near Akulivik and Puvirnituq to Puvirnituq proper in 1952, and the establishment of social welfare, Qumaq began to work at the new Hudson Bay Company store for $150 per month. He travelled with members of the Hudson Bay Company in 1958 to establish a general goods store to the north of Churchill, Manitoba, but instead landed in Rankin Inlet due to bad weather, where he lived for two years.

1958 was also the beginning of prefab wooden houses in Puvirnituq. Previously, Inuit lived in igloos during the winter and tents during the summer. Upon his return to Puvirnituq, Qumaq constructed his house in 1960 and never built another igloo.

In 1961, an administrator of the department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada mandated that a village council be elected. Nobody campaigned for the position and no names were pre-written on the ballot. To his own surprise, Qumaq was elected as head of the village council.

He lobbied against the federal residential school that was established in 1958, eventually replacing it in 1969 by public vote 89 to 9 with a school run by the Quebec government where Inuktitut and Inuit culture would be taught, in addition to the primary topics in English or French.

He also supported the new Inuit cooperative general store founded in 1963, which would eventually become a federation of cooperatives across Nunavik in 1966. The cooperatives made money by selling soapstone carvings in the south and by selling commodities to the local Inuit.

Qumaq and representatives from all the other villages in Nunavik met with René Lévesque in Fort Chimo in 1964, where they discussed Inuit autonomy and place in Quebec society.

He oversaw the construction of houses to ensure everyone had a permanent residence to stay. In his life he witnessed the gradual appearance of motor boats, skidoos, and alcohol in the community.

• Order of Canada
• Biography of Taamusi Qumaq on www.inuit.uqam.ca
• Secrétariat de l'Ordre national du Québec
• Avataq Cultural Institute
• Qumaq, Taamusi (2010). Je veux que les Inuit soient libres du nouveau. Presses de l'Université du Québec. ISBN 978-2-7605-2580-1.
• Qumaq, Taamusi (2020). Je veux que les Inuit soient libres de nouveau. Autobiographie (1914-1993). ᐃᓄᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓱᒣᓐᓇᕿᖁᔨᒋᐊᓪᓚᐳᖓ ᐃᓅᓯᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᐊᓪᓚᑐᕕᓂᖅ (1914-ᒥᑦ 1993-ᒧᑦ). Presses de l'Université du Québec. ISBN 978-2-7605-5239-5.