Family missing on land for week guests of honour at &#39a;nnual; meeting

The Qikiqtani Inuit Association had some unexpected but very welcome guests at a feast closing their annual general meeting in Hall Beach May 9.

Mona and Merrill Siusangnark and their five children, aged one to 12, were found safe and sound after being missing on the land for nearly a week.

After a mandatory check-up at the hamlet's health centre, Paul Haulli, Hall Beach's search and rescue coordinator, took them to the hamlet's Arnaqjuaq School, where they were greeted like long-lost friends. Or at least, friends who had been lost for a very long week.

"Everybody was able to hug them and shake hands," Haulli said. "It was very nice."

Searchers found the Repulse Bay family on May 8, after they went missing for nearly a week during a snowmobile trip to Hall Beach.

RCMP said the family was hungry, wet and "very cold" by the time they were found, about about 140 kilometres southwest of Hall Beach. Despite rationing, they had exhausted their two-day supply of food and 150 litres of fuel, police said.

"They were down to their last few bites [of food] when they were found," said Johnny Tagornak, the mayor of Repulse Bay.

"The kids were okay, they were all energetic and happy of course. Mona was a little weak, but I guess that's from walking a long ways."

Police said the family took a wrong turn during the 300-kilometre trek and got lost. The trail between Repulse Bay and Hall Beach is well-travelled, Tagornak said, but whiteout conditions caused the family to take the wrong fork in the road.

"It was all white-out and you couldn't see anything. They were lucky to see the trails," he said, adding the family ended up in an area where people from Hall Beach often hunt caribou. They had a tent for shelter, Tagornak said

The Siusangnarks also endured rain and fog during the ordeal, Tagornak said.

At the height of the search, two military planes, Canadian Rangers from Repulse Bay, and search and rescue teams from both Repulse Bay and Hall Beach were out looking for the Siusangnarks.

When the family ran out of fuel, they set up camp and waited for help to arrive. When one of the planes passed overhead, the family cut up their kamotiq and set it on fire in an attempt to catch the eye of rescuers.

On May 8, Canadian Rangers found the Siusangnarks' snowmobile and burned-out kamotiq and found tracks leading south from the site. The Rangers found the family soon after.

The Siusangnarks were taken by helicopter to Hall Beach where they were treated at the local health centre and released. As of this past Monday, the family was still in Hall Beach, and Tagornak said he isn't sure how they are going to return to Repulse Bay.

But Tagornak said people in his community were so happy the family was unhurt the hamlet also threw a community dance May 9.

"Everybody was happy here. Not only in this community but in Hall Beach," he said.