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The Northern Integration Scheme (Itchalnu: Ukiuqtaqtumi ilaliujjiniq) was a Surrowese government program that lasted from 1953 until 1977. Instituted by President Ted Fisher, the Northern Integration Scheme's stated aims were to "assert Surrowese sovereignty" over Great Island and to "integrate the Itchalnu into the body politic."

Background

An Itchalnu camp near Port Lochlan, August 1931

Great Island has been a part of Surrow from the sixteenth century onward: while Northland County was created in 1563, it lacked any meaningful control over Great Island, with Northland County's seat being at Lombelon Bay. The first Auressian settlement on Great Island was only established in Port Lochlan in 1711 by the Rytheneans, but Port Lochlan only served as a seasonal settlement until 1733.

Following the end of the Eleven Years War in 1759, the number of outports on Great Island increased, although the total Auressian population on the islands were less than 100 people during the summer months, and around 20 during the winter, mostly in Port Lochlan by 1800. In 1823, an official from Holcot Inlet reported that "outside of the nineteen outports, which depend both on the treacherous seas that we back on Holcot Island or even Kikik Island can only fear and on the generosity of the Itchalnu, there is no effective presence on the island."

However, efforts to try and assert Rythenean control over the island during the nineteenth century were hampered due to the geography of Great Island, the harsh environment, and costs, which made it very difficult for permanent settlements to be established on the island. However, Kikik Island would be carved out of Northland County in 1869, with the county seat being subsequently moved to Port Lochlan.

By 1901, the total population of the island according to the Surrowese census was 519 people scattered across twenty settlements, although the enumerators noted that "they were unable to fully count the natives outside of the settlements," and that if they did, "the real population of the island would be twice or thrice as high as it appears on the census."

With the outbreak of the First Great War, fears that Tyrnica may try to attack Great Island led to the Surrowese government beginning to draft plans for "reinforcing the island and asserting Rythenean sovereignty over the island," with these plans including "establishing settlements for the natives to gravitate themselves towards." These plans would only begin to be implemented in 1915 after Surrow was granted self-government, with the first settlement under that plan being established in 1923 at Tuktooit Inlet in what is now Stoney County, and followed by the establishment of Arvittiavak in 1931, with the intention of providing services to the northern Itchalnu populations, such as a school run by Perendist missionaries and a general store that supplied imported goods from Holcot Island.

However, these settlements, although modestly successful at attracting some Itchalnu to settle there, did not attract the hoped-for population growth, with the population of both settlements in 1931 being around 27 people who permanently lived in the settlements. This led to newly-elected Prime Minister Ted Fisher concluding in 1936 that "all the carrots in the world cannot entice the Natives on Great Island to give up on their way of life," and for Ted Fisher to begin planning the scheme.

Planning

In 1942, Ted Fisher's government released a white paper on the state of Northland County and its "complete inability to exert control outside of the string of outports that line its coast." The white paper suggested that Northland County was "inviable" due to it covering "the entire breadth of Great Island" despite its population "only comprising of 650 people who live inside the law, and around five thousand Natives who live outside the laws of Surrow," and proposed abolishing the county in favour of improvement districts that "would better manage those who live in the outports and in the interior than a county."

However, the ongoing Second Great War caused Ted Fisher's government to take little action on the report. Following the war's end in 1943, the Surrowese government began to conduct surveys in Northland County to document the local Itchalnu population and their annual migration patterns, to determine the best sites for new settlements, and to investigate the county government to determine any deficiencies that the existing county had. However, growing calls for Surrowese independence and the government's focus on negotiating with Rythene for full independence meant that these surveys would only be completed by 1951.

That year, palladium was discovered near Stoney Harbour (present-day Tulaktarvik) by General Armaments. This added a greater sense of urgency, as Ted Fisher feared that the "presence of such abundant wealth" and Surrow's lack of effective control over most of Great Island would allow for other countries to establish settlements under the guise of terra nullius.

In response to the perceived threat, Ted Fisher would draft the Northern Integration Act in 1952. The omnibus bill divided Northland County into three improvement districts, pursuant to the 1942 white paper, which had different powers to counties, and outlined the components of the Northern Integration Scheme in order to ensure that "Surrow can demonstrate its sovereignty over the entire Surrowese archipelago, including Great Island." While this legislation was opposed by Wes Anderson, who left the United People's Party (Surrow)|United People's Party]] to create the Northern Party to advocate for maintaining the status quo, the UPP majority was able to pass the bill into law, with the bill coming into effect on 1 April, 1953.

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Program

Registration

The first key component of the Northern Integration Scheme was registration (Itchalnu: atiliurvik). This would register all the Itchalnu who "lived outside the outports on Great Island" as a registration number (Itchalnu: ujamiit), with each number comprised of a letter corresponding to an improvement district, followed by a two digit number indicating the nearest settlement, followed by a three digit number identifying the individual (e.g. C01-043). These registration numbers were required to be displayed at all times by all Itchalnu assigned these numbers, with the Surrowese government providing discs that displayed their registration number to each person.

As settlement progressed, Itchalnu who moved to the settlements and who previously had registration numbers were given Auressian-style names. In most circumstances, first names were based off of school records, while in cases where an Itchalnu person had never attended a school, they were assigned an Auressian-style forename by a bureaucrat. As Itchalnu never had surnames, some bureaucrats assigned Itchalnu Auressian-style surnames, while other bureaucrats would assign Itchalnu names that were rooted in the Itchalnu language. This process of assigning registration numbers was planned to take a period of three to four years, with the Auressian-style names to be given "as the Itchalnu continue to be integrated into the body politic."

Settlement

The second key component of the Northern Integration Scheme was settlement (Itchalnu: nunaliit). All Itchalnu who had been registered under the first phase of the Northern Integration Scheme would be encouraged to move to permanent settlements on the coasts of Great Island, with these settlements being designed to resemble Surrowese outports on Holcot Island and Kikik Island. The Itchalnu would be promised government benefits, better food than what they were able to acquire if they continued to live on the land, and better housing.

After a one year grace period, if an Itchalnu who was registered under the first phase of the Northern Integration Scheme refused to move to a settlement, the Surrowese government would warn "refusants" that if they continued to refuse to move a settlement, they would have their children taken away from them, their dogs would be slaughtered so that they would not be able to continue living a noamdic existence, and they may be charged with trespassing on state land. After another one year grace period, those deemed refusants would be arrested by an officer from the Surrowese Constabulary, their children taken away from them, and their dogs slaughtered, and transported to a settlement that the arresting officer decided upon.

As part of the Northern Integration Scheme, in addition to the twenty-two settlements which existed prior to the Northern Integration Scheme, fourteen more were to be established in order to ensure that Itchalnu can "continue to live close to their ancestral lands." These settlements were expected to be built between 1953 and 1960.

Consolidation

The third key component of the Northern Integration Scheme was consolidation (Itchalnu: katiqsuqsimajut). After all the Itchalnu have been settled into settlements, which was expected to take a six year period between 1954 and 1960, settlements that were deemed to be "prohibitively expensive" for the Surrowese government to provide services to would be declared unsustainable, and residents would be encouraged to move to sustainable settlements, which the government defined as a settlement with more than 150-200 people.

The purpose of consolidation was to "avoid the mistakes of early settlement of Surrow" where the number of outports had proliferated, "through consolidating the number of settlements from thirty-six settlements to a more manageable number." Consolidation would also "ensure that when these improvement districts become counties, these settlements will be better able to remain sustainable in not just the final quarter of this century, but throughout the next century."

Personal integration

The fourth key component of the Northern Integration Scheme was personal integration (Itchalnu: imminnuungajut ilaliujjiniq), which would involve heavy investment into education, through the establishment of government-run schools that would replace the Perendist mission schools, and through the establishment of adult education programs targeting the Itchalnu.

Ted Fisher said that "if we want the Natives on Great Island to become as Surrowese as the Tyrnican in Tuckamore County or the Rythenean in Disappointment County, the government must take over education from the Perendist missionaries so that the Natives may learn how to live in the Surrow of today." The curriculum for the government-run schools would involve teaching the "values and mores of the body politic" and practical skills that were needed in "modern Surrowese society," such as literacy in Rythenean, mathematics, and science, so that when they graduated, they would become "fully integrated into Surrowese society."

Adult education would focus on teaching Itchalnu both the values and mores of the broader Surrowese culture and practical skills so that they would "become a productive part of the modern Surrowese workforce" and allow them to have the skills needed to "function in today's Surrow, rather than the Surrow of yesterday." This would include teaching them Rythenean so that they could fully participate in society.

Political integration

The fifth and final key component of the Northern Integration Scheme was political integration (Itchalnu: gavamalirinirmut ilaliujjiniq). Due to Northland County's lack of ability to exert control over Great Island, the county was to be abolished and divided into three improvement districts, which would have . Each district would receive one member of Parliament from the 1954 election onward.

The improvement districts were planned to last for a minimum of twenty-one years from when the bill went into effect, with the Northern Integration Act saying that if any of the improvement districts reached a population over 5,000 people by the 1971 census, the relevant district(s) would be "considered fully integrated and should be given county status no later than 1 April, 1975, with all the responsibilities thereof." Government officials from the early 1950s expected that both the Central Improvement District and Southern Improvement District would become counties by 1975, while it was expected that the Northern Improvement District "will never reach the population threshold to become a county."

Implementation

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