Stuart Milton Hodgson

Who is Stuart Milton Hodgson?

Stuart Milton Hodgson, OC was Commissioner of the Northwest Territories from March 2, 1967 until April 6, 1979. The first Commissioner to actually reside in the Northwest Territories, he was a leader in the construction of a semiautonomous, responsible self-government run by residents of the territory. He was appointed as a Citizenship Judge in British Columbia in December 1997 and served until 2005

Hodgson was one of the founders of the Arctic Winter Games - which began in Yellowknife in 1970 for athletes from Alaska, Yukon, and the NWT – and which now also include Greenland, parts of Arctic Russia, as well as Northern Alberta and Nunavik, and the new territory Nunavut which was formed from NWT in 1999. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 18, 1970 for his service to labour and government. Subsequently he received the Queen's commemorative medals for her silver, golden, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal; as well as the Canada 125 medal in 1992.

When rapid changes in socio-economic conditions threatened the continuity of Inuit oral history, Commissioner Hodgson urged the taping of elders' stories.