Mr. [Gooteleak] Judea was the first Inuk to testify at a historic $2-million truth commission that began travelling around Nunavut's Baffin region this week investigating long-standing allegations the RCMP deliberately slaughtered thousands of sled dogs from the 1950s to the 1970s.

The RCMP have denied the claims. In 2006, they released a report that found that while Mounties sometimes shot dogs for public-health or safety reasons, there was no evidence to support stories that animals were systemically killed in an attempt to help officials control the Inuit and speed up the process of assimilation.

For centuries, sled dogs have been the Inuit's main source of transportation and direct link to the land and their food supply.