‘They were a gift to the community’: Kangirsuk mourns couple after river tragedy

Pasha Kaukai remembers her brother Collin Kaukai as funny and full of life.

“You would know he was there when he comes in the room,” she said of her brother, who died in a river incident earlier this month in Kangirsuk.

Collin Kaukai and his partner Emma Munick were attempting to cross the Marqigiaq River on the morning of June 6 to participate in a fishing derby when the ice collapsed.

After a days-long search, local search teams recovered Munick and Kaukai’s bodies on June 16.

Pasha Kaukai also planned to attend the fishing derby that day, she said, adding she arrived at the river about two hours after the incident.

“There was a Ski-doo just parked there and there were some footprints going to the river, and that’s when I realized there was no Emma and Collin,” she said.

Collin Kaukai had been fishing his entire life, his sister said, and some of her fondest memories are of the two of them fishing together — and the delicacies they would make with their catch.

“I’m going to miss his smoked fish,” Pasha Kaukai said.

The couple was dedicated to sobriety and supported others in the community who were working toward the same goal.

“Emma was the one who actually helped my brother to get sober,” Pasha Kaukai said, adding that he was still working on his sobriety at the time of his death.

Munick wanted to make her community better, Pasha Kaukai said. She organized on-the-land activities such as fishing, berry picking and mussel picking to support people in recovery and help them stay connected to their culture.

“They were a gift to the community,” Pasha Kaukai said. “Instead of looking at the loss, try to see the positive because we were very much privileged to have them.”

They are survived by three young children: Samaiya Munick, 11; Alexander Munick, 7; and Aqikki Munick, 5. The children are now in the care of their aunts and grandparents.

Community members have rallied around the family in the days following the incident. Some prepared meals for searchers, while others offered equipment and assistance during the search efforts.

Julia St-Aubin, who lives in Kangiqsualujjuaq and said she had not met the family before but felt compelled to help, launched a GoFundMe to support the kids. It raised $17,154 as Monday morning.