“Each One Takes a Turn”
This article presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of municipal life in Nunavik during the period from 1979 to 2014. The collection of municipal representatives’ names from the past thirty-five years from the fourteen Nunavik villages allowed the establishing of their statistical profile. Four main types of data are analyzed: the gender of municipal representatives, the duration of their term of office, the distribution of power between the local families, and the age of the municipal representatives. This research shows that involvement in municipal life is more a collective responsibility than an individual one. Local influential families impose themselves by electing the most knowledgeable of their members alternately, thus maintaining a continuous presence in the municipal council. Their involvement in municipal life represents a gift of experienced individuals to their group. The permanent pressure exerted by the group upon municipal representatives reminds them that their role is not so much governing as serving their people.