To celebrate this historically significant event and explore its extensive social, cultural and political implications, UB is hosting a special four-day exhibition of art by the Inuit community, beginning tomorrow and concluding on Monday with a day-long series of roundtable discussions on the Inuit's culture and new Nunavut government.

It is being organized by the Buffalo Council on World Affairs, the Canadian Consulate General and the Canada-U.S. Legal Studies Centre in the UB Law School. Other sponsors are First Air of Canada, the Western New York International Trade Council and the UB Canadian-American Studies Committee.

The new territory has been named "Nunavut," which translates to "our land" in Inukitut, the language of the Inuit people who will make up 85 percent of the population.

After more than 20 years of the Inuits arguing for their own lands, the Canadian Parliament enacted the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act and the Nunavut Act in June 1993, which ratified the Inuit land claim and authorized the creation of the new territory in the eastern Arctic.

However, the creation of Nunavut has not been an easy task. Division has meant splitting up government bureaucracy, dividing assets and liabilities, training new civil workers and the monumental achievement of devising new constitutions and new forms of government.

According to Laura Mangan, associate director of the Canada-U.S. Legal Studies Centre, the four-day event will explore the overlapping political and cultural identities of the Inuit people.

"To the Inuit people, creation of the territory is not simply a political and territorial change. Inuit art and Inuit politics are not completely separate. The logic of having the art exhibit is that it also affirms the integrity of Inuit culture and offers the opportunity to reflect on how elements of the culture may affect the new government," explained Mangan.

She added that the Canada-U.S. Legal Studies Centre is especially interested in this issue, considering the extensive legal implications of creating a state within a state and the impact it will have on regional development.

The roundtable discussions will cover, "Art, Identity and Sovereignty" in relation to the Canadian North and "Nunavut Environmental Policy," followed by a keynote address in which members of the Nunavut Implementation Commission will explore the opportunities and challenges of "Creating a New First Nations Polity."

The art exhibition and sale, "Visions of the North," will be held in the UB Art Department Gallery and will feature more than 75 Inuit art works, including soapstone carvings, decorative wall hangings, aboriginal clothing and stone-cut prints from 40 different communities.

Visitors to the gallery also will have the opportunity to see Inuit artist Alex Alikashuak at work, since he will be presenting demonstrations of his stone-carving process as part of the exhibit.

Alikashuak's work is said to reflect a vision in which simplified shape, abstracted form and strong composition reveal themes that are based on his cultural heritage.

Originally a means of survival, carving is an age-old tradition of the Canadian Inuit. Their carvings reflect the spirit of the physical life and natural environment of their northern ancestral land.

"When I pick up a stone and start working it, I never know what it will be," said Alikashuak. "As I carve, a form takes shape. Each stone possesses certain unique characteristics and has a purpose. I am continuing a long tradition and completing the cycle of nature."

Arnak Art, a Buffalo-based gallery specializing in North American Indian and Inuit art located at 223 Great Arrow St., is coordinating the procurement for "Visions of the North" and will have remaining artwork from the exhibition available for sale at the gallery through the end of December.

All events associated with "Visions of the North" will be free and open to the public and will be held in the Center for the Arts on the North Campus.

Friday: "Visions of the North," a weekend exhibition and sale of Inuit artwork, opens with a reception from 5-9 p.m. in the UB Art Department Gallery on the first floor in the Center for the Arts. The exhibit will be on display from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, and 1-8:30 p.m. Monday.

Saturday and Sunday: Stone sculpture demonstrations by Inuit artist Alex Alikashuak, 1-3 p.m. in the Art Department Gallery.

Monday: All roundtable discussions will be held in the Screening Room on the first floor of the Center for the Arts.

1:30-3 p.m. "Art, Identity and Sovereignty"

Alex Alikashuak, Inuit artist; John Amagoalik, chief commissioner of the Nunavut Implementation Commission, and Dirk Vermeulen, owner of The Native Arts Place in Jordan, Ont., will discuss the unique spectrum of art styles and expressive media emerging in the Canadian North and how it gives voice to a people's vision of sovereignty in their homeland.

Ann McElroy, UB professor of anthropology, and Jolene Rickard, UB professor of art history, will moderate the discussion.

3:30-5 p.m. "Nunavut Environmental Policy"

John Merritt, legal counsel for the Nunavut Implementation Commission, will explore the questions: What are the most serious problems facing the new territory's environmental policy? How will the relationship between the environment and the economy be defined? Should there be significant changes to past policies? Can a guiding native vision be articulated?

Errol Meidinger, UB professor of law, will serve as the moderator.

5:30-7 p.m. Keynote Address: "Creating a New First Nations Polity"

Amagoalik and Merritt will address the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in creating the new Nunavut territory.

Robert Berger, director of the UB Law School's Canada-U.S. Legal Studies Center, will be the moderator.

7-8 p.m. Closing Reception for "Visions of the North" in the Art Department Gallery.