Nunavut police treating Emerald MacDonald’s death as a homicide

Nunavut police are treating the death of Emerald MacDonald as a homicide, the RCMP said Thursday.

The Kugluktuk actress, who played a starring role in the acclaimed 2018 movie The Grizzlies, died on May 3, according to the movie’s producers who first reported the death on social media last week.

On May 3, RCMP said they had responded to a report of a woman whose body was found at a cabin outside Kugluktuk.

Nunavut RCMP initially called the death “suspicious.” Now, the RCMP’s major crimes unit is investigating the death as a homicide and is asking the public to come forward with any information.

Police say that MacDonald was seen in Kugluktuk on April 30, buying supplies in preparation to go to her family’s cabin.

Police said MacDonald then travelled to the cabin on Inutkoakakvik Island, or Old Man Island, by snowmobile, where she was last seen alive.

Tributes have poured in over the last few weeks for MacDonald, who played Miranda Atatahak in The Grizzlies, the story of a lacrosse team in Kugluktuk that helped local youth rally against some of the highest suicide rates in North America.

MacDonald, also a drum dancer and throat singer, was a first-time actor, and her performance in The Grizzlies was called “stunning” by the Centre for Suicide Prevention.

Anyone who saw or spoke to MacDonald while she was en route to or at her cabin that weekend should contact the Kugluktuk RCMP detachment at 867-982-0123.

Nunavummiut can also send anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit a secure tip online at www.nwtnutips.com.