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Access to Justice for Deaf Persons in Nunavut:
Focus on signed language
Document Brief
In R v. Suwarak (1999), a deaf Nunavut man who was unable to speak or use American Sign Language (ASL) pleaded guilty using an indigenous signing system. This report calculated the number of deaf people in Nunavut, examined the pervasiveness of their sign language, and evaluated the justice system's ability to meet their needs. Twenty out of 26 communities were contacted by telephone, e-mail and fax. Although questions about age and hearing loss were considered personal by some people, researchers found at least one deaf person in each community. Six people who use the indigenous sign language were interviewed on video. About a third of Nunavut's estimated 150 deaf people do not use ASL. A more formal linguistic analysis is needed; it is a complex communication system that should be used in the courts and the justice system. There should be an interpreter training program, and a sign language dictionary to cover legal terminology.
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