New $2 coin subtly reinforces ITK's message that there are 4 Inuit rights-holding organizations

Most Canadians will see the coin as something that will get them a cup of coffee. But its design speaks to a belief held by most Inuit groups about who's Inuk and who's not.

The Royal Canadian Mint has unveiled a new two-dollar coin commemorating Inuit Nunangat, the homeland of the Inuit people in Canada. The coin was designed in collaboration with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the national organization representing all Inuit in the country.

The design of the coin features imagery and symbols of the four Inuit rights-holding organizations, one for each region of Inuit Nunangat: Nunavut, Nunavik, Inuvialuit, and Nunatsiavut. The coin also includes four ulus, a traditional Inuit knife, representing each of the recognized Inuit organizations.

The coin's lasting impact will be to reinforce ITK's message that there are four Inuit rights-holding organizations, not five. This is significant because ITK has been engaged in an ongoing dispute with the NunatuKavut Community Council, a Labrador group claiming to be Inuit, which ITK does not recognize.

Four Inuit artists collaborated on the coin's designs, one from each region. The artists began their work on the coin design about a year ago, over the summer of 2023.

At that time, ITK was ramping up its campaign to highlight its position that it does not consider the NunatuKavut Community Council to be Inuit. In November 2023, ITK published an open letter calling NunatuKavut "a shape-shifting non-Indigenous organization."

The organization's president, Natan Obed, warned that it is part of the "alarming trend of non-Indigenous people and groups co-opting Indigenous identities" to secure financial resources and rights.

The dispute intensified this year when it became clear that there was not enough space for both organizations to participate in the long-standing Northern Lights trade show.

The symbolism of the coin will likely go unnoticed by most Canadians, but every time someone uses one of the new coins, it will serve as a reminder of what Inuit Nunangat is ... and what it isn't.

Whether the mint and ITK intended it or not, the coin is a valuable tool in its public relations campaign—a message Canadians get for only two dollars.