Fighting suicide with paddles and persuasion

SARA MINOGUE

In the middle of July, six kayakers and two canoeists pulled up onto the beach in Umiujaq, a strange thing for a community of 350 that’s 180 km from the nearest village.

But the kayakers were greeted by almost everyone in town. Quickly, they were on the radio, talking about the first 180-km leg of a journey that will see 18 young Nunavimmiut traverse the entire Nunavik coast, delivering their “Living Life” message to 14 distant communities.

Ainalik Qavavauk, Simon Aliqu, Massiu Nayome, Ernest Fleming, Lucy Papialuk and Gilbert Innukpu are mid-way through a six-week kayaking journey from Kuujjuaraapik to Akulivik.

In Inukjuak, the next stop on the clockwise route, the same kayakers were greeted with a giant picnic, where they played games and talked about their experience with suicide, and as kayakers. This time the group was on the radio answering questions and telling stories until 11 p.m. They went on the air again for four hours the next day.

Jonathan Grenier, treasurer for Saputiit Youth Association, sums up the point of the trip in two short paragraphs near the end of a presentation made to several sponsors:

“Suicide is and has been a very sensitive subject in Nunavik for several years. There has been a lot of research done to find the causes of suicide. Unfortunately these researches have not yet successfully given us any answers.

“Saputiit believes that a difference can be made by showing the youth that we are dedicated to suicide prevention, that we are there to support them when they need it, and to show them that people care about the youth in Nunavik.”

It seems to be working. The group has already heard many sad stories by sharing their own.

While in Inukjuak on Sunday, the group went to church where several people went up to the front and told their stories. A man in his thirties spoke freely about his own suicide attempt a few years ago.

“That guy really poured his heart out,” says Shelly Watkins, Saputiit’s suicide prevention coordinator, who met the group as they arrived in Inukjuak. “He was crying because he was so thankful for what they were doing.”

Later that night, the kayakers joined a procession of about 23 ATVs in a line, “just driving around slowly, late at night,” Watkins says.

“That was really nice.”

Since July 12, the kayakers have paddled from Kujjuaraapik to Umiujaq, Inukjuak and Puvirnituq. They plan to make it to Akulivik by Aug. 23. Next summer a new group of youth will take over the boats to go from Ivujivik around the cape to Quaqtaq. In 2007, six more kayakers will travel from Kangirsuk to Kangirsualujjuaq.

After visiting just two villages, Watkins had already spoken with 50 or 60 youth who wanted to sign on to paddle themselves next year. Those youth will all have to apply to Saputiit’s board of directors and explain why they want to go on the trip, if they are to be selected.

The kayakers always travel with two local guides, taking them from their own community to the next.

The method of transportation for this expedition is no accident, says Saputiit president, Jonathan Epoo, who hopes to promote the kayaking tradition as well.

Inuit invented the kayak. In Nunavut, however, kayaking is now almost exclusively enjoyed by southerners, who bring shiny new plastic or fibreglass kayaks with them from the South. Sporadic projects have occurred in places like Pelly Bay, but are almost always generated by southern kayaking enthusiasts.

John Macdonald, a retired teacher and kayaking fan in Igloolik, recalls lessons led by the last of the elders who recalled the delicate art of kayak construction.

In Nunavik, however, Inuit were hunting and fishing by kayak as recently as 20 or 30 years ago.

To revive that tradition, Saputiit started its kayaking project this spring with two kayak-building projects, in Inukjuak and Umiujaq. Two kayaks were made, using a traditional frame with fiberglass. The kayaks weren’t quite ready for the trip this year, but will be picked up by youth along the way.

In the meantime, the team is using sleek new sea kayaks, which elders advised would be safer to use on a long journey.

Epoo doesn’t expect to reverse the decline in kayaking overnight.

“There’s a little buzz going around in some of the communities they’ve been going to…,” Epoo says. “Later down the road we hope to see more interest in the kayaks and more use of it. It’s a very important tradition.”