'All his wisdom will be missed': Lifelong Inuvialuit advocate dies at 71

Randal 'Boogie' Pokiak, the first ever chair of the Inuvialuit Development Corporation and a lifelong advocate for Indigenous rights and traditional harvesting in the N.W.T., has died.

The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) confirmed Pokiak had passed away in a press release sent Saturday.

"Boogie will be known for a life of political activity defending the rights of Inuvialuit," the release reads.

"All his wisdom will be missed as we continue the work of implementing the Inuvialuit Final Agreement."

Lucky Pokiak, his son, said in a Facebook post that he had died of stroke and pneumonia as of 4 a.m. Friday. He was 71. Lucky declined to comment further at this time.

Negotiator of Inuvialuit land claim

Pokiak was an oft-quoted expert on many issues related to Inuvialuit tradition. He told the Inuvialuit Living History Project he was known as the "little old man" as a child because he spent so much time around elders.

In the 1970s, Pokiak worked with the Committee for Original People's Entitlement (COPE) to negotiate the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.

"They told us we didn't need the claim. The government will look after you, they said," he is quoted as saying in an Inuvialuit history textbook produced by the IRC. "These kinds of comments made us more determined, with actions to prove them wrong."

Throughout his life, Pokiak advocated for the use of traditional knowledge, alongside western science, in managing resources, wildlife, and the land.

"We didn't have papers or diplomas … but what we knew through practical experience on the land as hunters, trappers, and fisherman was equal to the learned and professional people," he said.

Pokiak also authored a book on the history of the region, Inuvialuit History, that, despite being unpublished, is referenced in many accounts of the negotiations. He spoke frequently of the importance of elders to advancing and preserving the agreement.

"The elders, the trappers, they were the backbone of the [final agreement]," the textbook quotes him as saying. "They selflessly dedicated themselves for the future generations."

Persistent advocate for Inuvialuit

After the signing of the final agreement, "he continued to speak to government officials and researchers, giving his time and showing persistence with them over the decades," the IRC release states.

Pokiak was frequently interviewed by non-Indigenous politicians and researchers for his expertise on land and harvest management.

The IRC release notes that "as recently as July, Boogie was educating a federal minister over teleconference about these issues."

The elders, the trappers, they were the backbone of the [final agreement].- Randal 'Boogie' Pokiak

Despite many disagreements over time, Pokiak maintained that Indigenous and non-Indigenous people must work together.

"Follow their footsteps … and then after a while, you're going to be walking beside them," he said in a 2018 video for an Inuvialuit history project, "and then later on, you're going to be leading them. And I think this is what the [land] claim is."

Watch Pokiak speak about working with non-Indigenous partners:

Seasoned hunter and guide

In addition to his advocacy work, Pokiak was also an expert hunter and guide. In 2010, he survived drifting on a small piece of ice for more than 14 hours in Arctic waters.

Last January, Pokiak ran for chair of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, on a platform of improving food security by co-ordinating seasonal harvests of fish and game.

"A lot of us don't have much time left in this life," he told CBC at the time, "but we want to leave something really beneficial for the future generations."

A celebration of life is being planned for a future date in Tuktoyaktuk.