Martin Lougheed is a Nunatsiavut beneficiary residing in Ottawa, Ontario, he currently sits as the Chair of the Cooperative Management Board. For several years he worked with the Torngat Mountains National Park team, first as a Resource Conservation officer and later as Visitor Experience manager.

Climate change is an area of concern to Martin Lougheed. Melting permafrost and increased vegetation growth are creating negative effects on archaeological areas in the park, increasing the risk of covering existing features or losing them completely.

One of the highest priorities for Lougheed is connecting with Inuit elders and recording their traditional knowledge, experiences and stories of how they used to travel, live and use the region. Gathering these stories will detail and provide a real picture of what was important and what traditional behaviours were, recording the richness of Inuit culture.

Martin loves to spend time outdoors with his family and when asked about the Torngat Mountains National Park he shared the park is beautiful but what everyone always leaves with is a connection with the people. Keep telling the Inuit story and don’t lose that story. Tell everyone and whoever is lucky enough to come to the park will get to tell it too.

Joey Angnatok is from Nain, Nunatsiavut. He has been a member of the Cooperative Management Board for seven years, being sworn in in Kuujjuaq. Joey owns and captains his boat What’s Happening and fishes along the Labrador coast. He brings a lifetime of knowledge and experience from being both on the land and waters of Labrador. Currently, the Cooperative Management Board is the only board he is an active member on, after years of being involved with many other boards, organizations and departments.

Joey has fond memories of stories his grandmother has shared with him of life and experiences on the land. His mother and grandmother are from the Nakvak area of the Torngat Mountains National Park while his grandfather was a hunter and trapper from Nunavik. Joey would like to see the park region protected since it is an important Inuit homeland, with pristine landscapes, leaving a person with a feeling that they haven’t been touched by man.

Looking forward to the future of the Torngat Mountains National Park, Joey would like to see more Inuit accessing the region, and has shared his thoughts of a cooperative program where Inuit can char fish in their traditional homeland while hosting visitors and guests. This would allow Inuit to reconnect with their history and culture while providing guests a once in a lifetime opportunity that they will only get in Labrador.

Willie Etok grew up in the area of Ramah in the Torngat Mountains and now lives in Kangiqsualujjuaq, Nunavik. He has hunted and travelled throught the Torngat Mountains and has a wealth of experience and knowledge of the wildlife and land in what is now the Torngat Mountains National Park. The Makivvik Corporation appointed Willie to the Cooperative Management Board in 2007 and he has remained a valued member to this day. Willie was involved in negotiations respecting the Nunavik Inuit Land Claims Agreement as well as the overlap agreement between Nunavik Inuit and Nunatsiavut Inuit.

Willie is a strong advocate of the park because it represents the historic ties and connections between Inuit of Nunavik and Nunatsiavut which continue today. He also believes the park offers opportunities to increase Inuit business opportunities associated with tourism and it protects the environment.

Willie has been a long-standing member of his local cooperative association and is a member of the Qiniqtiq Landholding Corporation in Kangiqsualujjuaq.

Willie has been a member of the Cooperative Management Board since it was established and continues to be an invaluable source of knowledge, wisdom and advice.

Adamie Delisle Alaku is from Salluit, Nunavik, however he currently resides in Kuujjuaq. As Executive Vice-President for the Department of Wildlife, Environment and Research at the Makivvik Corporation, he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Cooperative Management Board. He has been a board member since 2014.

Adamie Delisle Alaku highly regards the important relationships between Inuit Elders and youth and the stories shared of traditional nomadic life and of Inuit resilience, patience, and perseverance. He also acknowledges the CMB as a great team of all-Inuit board members and staff, which is something to be very proud of.

In response to being asked to share what is important about the Torngat Mountains National Park, Delisle Alaku answered “There are no words that can explain the overwhelming feeling of being in the Torngats. It’s really hard to explain. Much like a sunset or Aurora borealis, trying to put it into word doesn’t quite describe its splendour. The park is a wonder in its self but it’s the people that live here and that have the ancestral background that visitors want to connect and hear about. It’s about the cultural experience”.

Sammy Unatweenuk is formerly from Killiniq but now lives in Kangiqsaualujjuaq, Nunavik. He is the Deputy Mayor in Kangiqsualujjuaq and is also a member of the board of directors of the Eppigituk Landholding Corporation for Killiniq.

Sammy was appointed to the Cooperative Management Board by Parks Canada and has been a valuable member since 2014. He knows the Killinq area and the northern part of the park very well because he lived with his family in campsites and hunted throughout this area where he continues these activities today. Sammy would like to see the Cooperative Management Board work with Parks Canada to provide more access to the northern part of the park and consider plans to put in safe shelters like domes.

Sammy believes the park provides important opportunities for Inuit to share their history, stories and knowledge with visitors, to help them know more about who we are and where we come from. Research in the park is very important and Sammy is a strong supporter of projects focused on wildlife, especially caribou, and on archaeology to help showcase Inuit use and occupancy of this area.

Sammy has been bringing his son Danny Daniel to the park with him every year since he was a baby and is showing him and teaching him what he knows about this area.