Martha Flaherty

Early years

Martha Flaherty was born in Inukjuak (then known as Port Harrison) in western Nunavik. In 1955, at the age of five, she and her family were moved as part of the federal government’s High Arctic relocation project (see Inuit High Arctic Relocations in Canada).

Between 1953 and 1955, approximately 87 people were picked up from Inukjuak and Pond Inlet on Baffin Island. Flaherty and her family were taken North aboard the Eastern Arctic Patrol ship CD Howe. They were dropped off on the rocky shore at Lindstrom Peninsula, eight kilometres west of Grise Fiord on Ellesmere Island. By being year-round residents, the families were unknowingly part of the government’s plan to uphold sovereignty in the most northerly region of Canada.

Life was difficult on Ellesmere Island. There was little wildlife and 24-hour darkness for several months of the winter season. Though only a small child, as the oldest, Flaherty was expected to go with her father, Josephie, to look after the dogs while he went out hunting. Josephie was the son of filmmaker Robert Flaherty, whose 1922 film Nanook of the North captured traditional Inuit life. Sadly, Josephie suffered a nervous breakdown with the dire circumstances they were placed in. The young girl was often the target of her father’s outbursts.

In 1956, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police moved its post from Craig Harbour to where present day Grise Fiord is located. In 1959, people built houses near the post and moved into this small community. An elementary school was built, and in 1962, Flaherty’s family moved there so she and her siblings could attend.

Education

During her teenage years, Martha Flaherty attended three residential schools. In 1965, at 15, she was sent to high school in Carcross, Yukon. She lived in a church-run home for First Nations children. She was the only Inuk there and was teased constantly. She became withdrawn and was sent back to Grise Fiord after a year.

In 1966, Flaherty was sent to attend school in Churchill, Manitoba. She later took nursing at a vocational school in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories (NWT). Flaherty then worked at the hospital in Iqaluit for three months.

In 1973, Flaherty got a job in Yellowknife with Interpreter Corps, a new government organization providing simultaneous Inuktitut interpreting for members of the NWT Legislative Assembly.

Flaherty moved to Ottawa in 1979. She obtained a journalism certificate from Carleton University and a certificate for teaching a foreign language. She worked as a translator and later as a special assistant to Peter Ittinuar, Member of Parliament for Nunatsiaq.

In 1990, a $100 coin was minted at the Royal Canadian Mint featuring Flaherty and her baby daughter, Alyssa. The coin was minted as a commemoration for the Year of Literacy.

Translation and advocacy work

Martha Flaherty’s translation work became known in Ottawa, and she was hired for the Nunavut Land Claims negotiations (see also Nunavut and Confederation). She and a co-worker translated all the materials and documents for the negotiations. In 1992, she joined Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, the national Inuit women’s organization. She became a strong advocate for Inuit women’s rights. Within a year, she was elected president and held that position until 1998. She later served as a Board member for four years ending in 2024.

She appeared before the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) regarding the High Arctic Relocation. She became a board member for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation that came after the RCAP. She sat on the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women in the early 1990s and travelled to communities across Canada. She was also secretary for Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (now Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami), the national organization that protects and advances the interests of Inuit in Canada.

During the RCAP hearings, film director Marquise Lepage saw Flaherty speaking in the media and contacted her to make a documentary about her personal experience of the High Arctic relocation. It was another decade before Flaherty was emotionally ready to be part of the project. The National Film Board documentary, Martha of the North, was released in 2008.

Flaherty’s translation skills continued to be sought after, and she was hired to translate the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (see also Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada).

Flaherty has raised her voice for women’s rights and violence against women as part of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and Indigenous Women of the Americas. She has spoken at conferences across Canada and internationally. Flaherty has met countless dignitaries and influential leaders, including Canadian prime ministers, several governors general, King Charles III and Desmond Tutu.

Since 2017, Flaherty has been a culturalist aboard Adventure Canada’s cruise ships, sharing Inuit culture and knowledge with passengers.

Flaherty advocates for the High Arctic relocation story to be an exhibit in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. The museum focuses on human rights failures, such as the Holocaust, interred Japanese Canadians and residential schools. As of February 2025, the story of Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay was not yet included in the museum.

Flaherty has three children, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She lives in Ottawa with her husband Gordon Spence.

In 2025, the Board of Directors of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada chose Flaherty to receive the King Charles III Coronation Medal. She was one of 32 Inuit women chosen by the organization to receive the medal.