Pauktuutit: tragic Iqaluit deaths a “wake-up call”

Elisapee Sheutiapik, the president of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, calls the tragic death of a young Iqaluit family a “wake up call” for more crisis and support services for Inuit families dealing with violence and abuse.

The bodies of Sula Enuaraq, 29, and her two young daughters were found in their home June 7, shortly after police found her husband Sylvain Degrasse dead at the community’s cemetery.

Enuaraq’s family has since suggested the woman was attempting to leave an abusive relationship.

Without immediate plans to address the overall mental health of Inuit, tragic events like this one will continue to occur, Sheutiapik said.

Sheutiapik also wants to see more counselling services and shelters for Nunavummiut who live in violent homes.

“We don’t have enough resources,” she said. “We have one [major women’s] shelter for the territory and it’s always overcrowded.”

Violence and abuse in Nunavut is currently reported as 14 times higher than the national average.

Data from Statistics Canada published in 2006 shows that 28 per cent of Nunavut women are victims of spousal violence, compared to seven per cent in the provinces.

“When it comes to violence, we don’t talk enough about it,” Sheutiapik said. “I hope [this tragedy] is an eye-opener for leaders across Nunavut.”

Sheutiapik says she was a long-time friend of the family killed June 7.

And the pain of that tragedy triggers memories of another loss: Sheutiapik’s own teenaged sister, who was murdered more than 20 years ago.

Mary Ann Birmingham, 15, was stabbed to death in May 1986. Although someone was eventually arrested in the case, no one has ever been convicted of Birmingham’s murder.

“The tragedy is two-fold for me,” Sheutiapik said. “It’s been over 20 years, but the challenges are still there.”

Sheutiapik plans to address the issue head on this week, when she leads an Inuit delegation to a national forum on violence against aboriginal women, which runs June 15 to June 17.

The forum is being hosted in Vancouver by the British Columbia government, in relation to missing and murdered aboriginal women in that province.