Daring rescues, special skills mean 23 commissioner’s awards

On Tuesday evening, in front of a large gathering at Inuksuk High School, Nunavut Commissioner Ann Meekitjuk Hanson recognized 23 men and women, among them Inuit and Qallunaat, young and old, for their accomplishments.

Fighting the elements — fire, water, ice and cold — united nearly all of the courageous acts of the 17 who received commissioner’s awards for bravery for rescuing people from ice-cold water or blazes, with little thought to their own safety.

Hanson also handed out five awards recognizing the “acquisition of special skills.” These went to Joe Tikivik, a pioneer among hospital interpreters; Simeonie and Martha Michael, Iqalummiut noted for their hospitality; Hannah Kilabuk, a social worker and supporter of traditional adoption; and, local storyteller and singer Elisha Kilabuk.

The award for “youth achievement and accomplishment,” given to a person aged 15 to 24 who makes a positive difference in his or her community, went to Daniel Young, for his promotion of “fair play, sportsmanship, competitive ability and attitude to truly be called a role model for the youth of today.” Young is a competitive wrestler and power lifter.

The awards ceremony was also a family occasion, as Hanson presented her husband, Robert, with an award recognizing his life-saving efforts as a volunteer firefighter in the 1970s, when, during two separate fires, he dragged a woman and a young boy out of burning buildings.

The awards are always a highlight of the Nunavut Commissioner’s annual spring levee, when the commissioner meets and greets the population on the first day of spring. For Hanson, it was her first levee and a chance to inspect the local cadets, stopping to speak to each one.

Other recipients of Commissioner’s Awards awards included:

* Mosesie Korgak for rescuing Naulaq Sagiatook when he fell into freezing water during a seal-hunting trip in 1999;
* Joe Erkidjuk for saving Naulaq Sagiatook’s life in the 1970s when the two fell into the water during a hunting trip;
* Ida Nowdlak for pulling her husband Noveeya Sakeeta to safety this winter when he fell through thin ice;
* Benjamin Palluq for helping Diane Dennison who had broken her leg by driving her car — even though he wasn’t sure he remembered how to drive — to get help;
* Andy Kopalie for thinking quickly enough in 2004, at age 11, to save the life of his mother, Annie Onalik, by pulling her out after she had fallen through thin ice when they were fishing;
* Mosesse Itorcheak, Mary Josephee and the late Charlie Pee Sagiatok for rescuing Kilabuk Itorcheak when she fell into the icy water while she was spring fishing in June 2004;
* Annugakuluk Kootoo Kelly for managing to pull Inukie Naulaq and their kamotik back on the solid ice earlier this month;
* Tina Hallet for dragging a woman in distress out of the cold Frobisher Bay water and pulling her back to shore in October, 2003;
* Simon Nattaq for rescuing a party of stranded snowmobilers in April, 1965;
* and David Aqqiaruq for looking out after the safety and health of Abraham Kaunak in winter, 1992, when Kaunak fell seriously ill on a hunting trip.