‘Will you marry me?’ was not the question … Part 2

Ann Hanson (File photo)

This is the second in a three-part series by Ann Hanson, retelling the Inuit arranged marriage tradition, which was still practised in some parts of the North until the late 1970s.

I remember attending multiple weddings — occasions when one minister would marry more than one couple — in our church in Kimmirut (Lake Harbour) when I was growing up. There were so many couples!

This was when Inuit gathered to celebrate Christmas, the arrival of the supply ship for the Hudson’s Bay Company store, and the medical ship to check the health of all the people in the summertime.

When people gathered, it was an opportunity to put the Anglican priest to work. There were baptisms, confirmations, communions and multiple weddings to perform. It was an exciting and busy time for the minister and the congregation.

I spoke to two retired longtime Anglican ministers in the North on their knowledge of traditional marriages. I’ll tell you what I learned from one of them in this article, and we’ll get to the second minister in part three.

Rev. Brian Burrows, known as Ajurisuijikutak, “the tall minister” in Inuktitut, came to Nunavik in the early 1950s.

He and his wife, Rita, were in Puvirnituq and learned Inuit ways and became fluent in the language.

Rev. Burrows fondly remembers listening to his new friends talking about many Inuit stories and traditional arranged marriages.

I asked Ajurisuijikutak if he ever performed multiple marriages. He said no, but when he arrived in one community, he asked if there were couples who wished to get married in the church.

He was surprised that the people kept coming to tell him they wanted to get married — 12 couples in all, and some had children.

There was no minister to marry them until he and Rita arrived.

Rev. Burrows and Rita came to Iqaluit (Frobisher Bay at the time) in 1967. He met more new friends. One of them was Markosie Peters, who was very much involved in the church and the community.

Peters related this story during one of their tea breaks, about how he and his wife Mary got married in the traditional way.

Peters was not proud to say that he had to tie Mary down on the dogsled in order to get her to their new home. She was very scared, kept trying to run away and struggled. The only way to get her home was to tie her down with ropes.

Continued in Part 3 of ‘Will you marry me?’ was not the question …

Ann Hanson was the founding editor of Inukshuk newsletter in 1973, which became Nunatsiaq News in 1976. She was the third commissioner of Nunavut. She now lives in Apex.