Inupiaq man living in Aklavik, N.W.T., fights deportation to Alaska
CBC
An Inupiaq man living in the Northwest Territories is fighting a deportation order that would see him sent back to Alaska.
In 2018, Herman Oyagak travelled across the Arctic by snowmobile so he could live with his wife, Carol Oyagak, in her home community of Aklavik, N.W.T., about 200 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle.
Three years later, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) moved to deport him. He was arrested, taken to Yellowknife, and released on bond.
He's to be deported to Juneau, Alaska — a city he has never been to — on Dec. 13.
"I don't even want to think about that date," said Carol. "I don't even want to put into words how I'm going to feel or what I'm going to do."
Oyagak was deemed inadmissible to Canada due to criminality, according to his lawyer Nick Sowsun.
He was convicted in Alaska of criminal mischief for property damage under $250 and, before that, of offences like burglary and poaching walrus off the Alaskan coast, Sowsun said.
But since meeting Carol at a drum dance festival in Alaska, Sowsun said Oyagak has become a respected member of his community.
"Together, Herman and Carol started a new life," he said. "Herman became sober, deepened his connections to his traditions and culture, and he became rehabilitated … Herman is now five years married, three years sober."
In Aklavik, Oyagak is a traditional harvester and is well-known for his knowledge of the land and the language. He is also a member of the local dance and drum groups.
"Ever since I've been here, I got to know everybody and everybody got to know me," said Oyagak.
Aklavik is "where my wife was born and raised [and] Aklavik is a good place for me."
The couple has received many letters of support from others in the community who do not want to see Oyagak separated from his family in Aklavik, where his wife's son calls him "dad" and her nearly 80-year-old mother calls him "son."
The pending deportation is "not about protecting the community or Canada, it is about blindly following process," according to Duane Ningaqsiq Smith, chair and CEO of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.