Community members lay flowers Sept. 10 at a memorial for Sanaak Unatweenuk near Kuujjuaq. (Photo courtesy of Maggie Emudluk)
Family and community mourn Sanaak Unatweenuk
31-year-old reported missing in June; Murder charges laid last week in connection to his death
Family, friends and community members gathered recently near Kuujjuaq to honour the life of Sanaak Unatweenuk.
The 31-year-old was reported missing on June 24. Police have since charged two men with murder in connection with Unatweenuk’s death.
A memorial for Sanaak Unatweenuk was held near Kuujjuaq on Sept. 10. (Photo courtesy of Nunavik Police Service)
“It’s been very tough for the family, for the immediate family. It’s been a very tough summer,” said Maggie Emudluk, a Kangiqsualujjuaq councillor, on Monday.
Unatweenuk was from Kangiqsualujjuaq but was working in Kuujjuaq at the time of his death. The memorial on Sept. 10 was held outside Kuujjuaq, near a cabin where his remains were found, Emudluk said.
About 50 people gathered at the site to lay flowers and sing hymns. Videos from the event were posted on social media.
About 1,000 people live in Kangiqsualujjuaq. Unatweenuk’s disappearance and the subsequent murder charges have deeply impacted people there and in Kuujjuaq, Emudluk said.
Immediate family members, extended family who live in Kuujjuaq and all of the Kativik Regional Government councillors who were in Kuujjuaq for a meeting, attended the memorial.
“I know there is a big sense of relief for the family,” Emudluk said.
“But it’s a very, very sad story, knowing the two that have been implicated in this investigation. You know, they were part of the community. It must have created so much [uneasiness].”
Nunatsiaq News was unable to reach members of Sanaak Unatweenuk’s family for comment for this story.
Maggie shoukd know, Kuujjuaq and much of Nunavik is dysfunctional. Its one big out of control party among otherwise young to elders , immature. The future of Nunavik is in trouble. Kids are not going to turn out well and be educated under the cracks we are living through. The world is tough enough with all the turmoil, and Nunavik has no guidance or leadership and is ran by immature uneducated and jeopardizing the future.