Photo courtesy of Chatelaine © Maclean Hunter Publishing Ltd.

Lena (Elizabeth Magdalena) Pedersen First woman elected to the Northwest Territories Council. Born in 1940 in Greenland.

Political Affiliation: Not applicable

Legislative Career: Elected to the Northwest Territories Council on December 21, 1970 for the constituency of Central Arctic. Served until March 10, 1975.

Lena Pedersen moved from Greenland, the country where she was born in 1940, to the Northwest Territories in 1959. She lived in Coppermine, Pangnirtung and Rae before spending four years in Cape Dorset where she worked for the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative. (This was the first co-operative of the Inuit Co-operative movement which began in the late 1950s for the sale of works of art.) Returning to Coppermine, she resumed an active role in community affairs and recorded radio programs for the CBC in Inuktitut. Ms. Pedersen also worked with the adult education program for housing.

In 1970, the Northwest Territories' centennial year, she became the first woman and the first Inuit woman to be elected to the Northwest Territories Council on December 21. She represented the Central Arctic District until her term of office ended on March 10, 1975.

Suggested Readings:

Chatelaine. -- vol. 46, (May 1973). -- page 70.

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