I came to Kugluktuk, Nunavut, a couple of years ago to live and work, because as an Inuk, Nunavut was a sort of a "promised land" for the Inuit people.

It represented all the hopes and dreams of the Inuit people as a place they could call their own, where we would have access to the same education available to all others in Canada, we would have plenty of available work, affordable housing and ample assistance to be able to build our own homes.

Though I was raised elsewhere, I have plenty of family in Nunavut, and I have long wanted to reconnect with my roots.

Not long after the creation of the land of Nunavut, and although I had already established myself in a good trade (I was an experienced cabinetmaker managing a custom kitchen manufacturing shop) I longed to see Nunavut, and the temptation and desire to actually move there to live and work increased exponentially each year.

A couple of years ago, the opportunity to come to Nunavut to live and work finally presented itself, and I seized that opportunity.

I would need to make sacrifices to come to Nunavut, but if it turned out to be everything it was made out to be, it would be worth it.

Alas, as it turns out, very little was as it seemed.