Iqaluit mourns eight lost hunters

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Counsellors and social workers in this close-knit northern community are bracing themselves for a wave of mourning following the deaths of eight local Inuit hunters in the frigid waters of the Arctic.

Ten men on a walrus hunting expedition plunged into the ocean on the evening of Oct. 30 when their boat capsized in gale-force winds. Two survived, clinging to the wreckage of the boat for three days before being spotted by a federal search party.

"These guys were in the water and what they were clinging to was the sunken hull of the boat. There was little bits of cabin left above the water," said Mike Ferris, the Baffin region emergency co-ordinator for Emergency Measures Operations.

Among the victims was Siomonie Alainga, a respected Elder who was known as the keeper of a treasure house of cultural and traditional knowledge. He had recently been appointed advisor for the new treatment centre in Baffin Island.

Since news of the tragedy first spread, social workers, counsellors and clergy in Iqaluit and other eastern Arctic communities have been working overtime to provide support for the grieving families and friends of the lost hunters. A memorial service was held Nov. 4 for the men, and was attended by religious and political leaders from across the Northwest Territories.

But a glimmer of light to emerge from the tragedy is the miraculous survival of Pitseola Alainga, 33, and Billy Kownirk, 27.

The two men were found clinging to the wreckage of the Qaqsauq on Nov. 2 by members of a massive air and search rescue team after spending three nights in the water. The men were spotted approximately 16 kilometres off shore, by a Hercules SAR aircraft, and picked up by a Fisheries and Oceans vessel at 1:30 p.m. The search for the other eight men was called off when the survivors confirmed their companions died in the -1C water.

"It was a nightmare," said Kownirk from his hospital bed the next day to visiting cousin Levedee Attagoyuk. Kownirk and Alainga were treated at the Baffin Regional Hospital.

Some Inuit Elders believe the two men lived to pass on their stories, and to teach others.

"It's an age-old Inuit tradition that whenever there is a tragedy there are survivors who live on and tell the stories of what happened. People live to pass on the experience for future generations," said one observer.

"Someone had to live to tell the story. Sometimes miracles do happen...There were a lot of prayers, and they were answered."

The hunting party left Iqaluit on the morning of Oct. 25 to hunt walrus at the mouth of Frobisher Bay then started to return to the town on Oct. 30. That night, at approximately 11 p.m., the men sent out a radio distress call to a nearby outpost at Gold Cove, saying the boat's pumps were not working properly and they were taking on water.

The group then got into a 16-foot canoe they had brought along, but it capsized, throwing the 10 hunters into the water.

Alainga and Kownirk managed to swim to the big boat and survived, although they were soaked and bloated.

"That's what makes it remarkable that they survived, because they were wet right through," Ferris said. "They were able to pull themselves up and take time on the bits of structure that were left. The weren't able to totally get dry."

Kownirk was wearing a floater suit, a type of one-piece of survival jumpsuit, which is what helped keep him alive, says rescuers. Alainga was wearing wind pants and clung to Kownirk as he swam to the boat after the canoe flipped.

The search for the missing hunters began the morning of Sunday, Oct. 30, but was hampered by persistent low clouds and snow flurries. Two twin otter planes, a Hercules jet, an Aurora aircraft, two helicopters, a department of Fisheries and Oceans vessel and a chartered fishing boat took part in the rescue effort.

Monday, debris was found floating near where the boat went missing, and was taken ashore for examination. The items, including a cabin door and a flashlight, wereidentified as pieces of the ship.

The two survivors were found the next day, saying they saw a search plane flying near the wreckage of their boat on Monday, but were not spotted by the plane.

Johnny Shoo, Sammujualie Kootoo, Jopie Panipak, Eepeebee Peterloosie, Iola Nooshoota, Ooletoa Pishukte and Kellypiak Pishukte perished.