Stories we loved to tell: Finding friendship in the comments section

In this year-end series, Nunatsiaq News reporters look back on their most memorable stories from 2023

It is a truism in journalism that often one story can lead to another, and sometimes in very unexpected ways.

Here I was, a little more than a month on the job, working on a story about the Ottawa Police Service’s planned Indigenous police unit and what it would mean for the Inuit community in Ottawa.

Annie Pootoogook was an acclaimed Inuit artist, whose legacy lives on. (File Photo).

I interviewed Stéphanie Plante, the city councillor for Rideau-Vanier where most of Ottawa’s Inuit reside, when she related the tragic story of Annie Pootoogook and what came after.

In 2016, the famed Inuk artist was found dead on the banks of the Rideau River.

Soon after Pootoogook’s death, Ottawa police Sgt. Chris Hrnchiar dismissed the artist’s death in Facebook comments. He implied that it was Pootoogook’s fault for getting drunk and falling in the river.

“Typically Aboriginals have very short lifespans, talent or not,” he said at the time.

The backlash was immediate, and ultimately led to his demotion on the police service. When I met up with him in June, now retired, he was a changed man. He had devoted his life to understanding his mistake and the history of Indigenous people in Canada.

He’s made friends along the way, including young Napachie Coburn, Pootoogook’s daughter.

Often due to constraints, time, story length limits or a number of other decisions, not everything you would like to include gets into a story.

For instance, Hrnchiar started crying when he talked about the difficulties Indigenous people have had in Canada.

There was no space to relate his first trip to Nunavut and what he learned first-hand from its people. I didn’t get a chance to note the joy on his face when he mentioned little Napachie. Even so, I took notes.

I discovered Annie came from a long line of famed artists: Pitseolak Ashoona and her daughter, Napachie Pootoogook, who was Annie’s mom.

Though her work was celebrated, Annie lived her final years struggling with addiction and homelessness. I relearned how often those in authority are the first to dismiss the deaths of Indigenous women.

Six months in and I continue to learn. I continue to learn about perseverance, triumph, joy and yes, sometimes, tragedy. I am still learning every day and for that I am grateful.

From Hrnchiar and Pootoogook specifically, I learned something borne out of cruelty or malicious disregard can turn into love and hope.