Bitter Sweet Reunion

Last Year, in November 2005, a relative of mine passed away. His name was Qumaaluk Iqiquq from He was my Best Friend’s and Cousin’s Mary Iqiquq Tukalak father. In fact, he had many Children, ten Children in all. This Family was close to my Family, in fact, it is the husband of my mother’s cousin. My Mother called me to let me know about the terrible news, and then I called Mary, trying to console her but my heart was breaking. I have never heard her cry as she did that night on the phone, I knew how close she was with her Father and it felt like my Phone call was not enough to console her. So, I immediately arranged for myself to get back home to give her some support and some uplifting because I wasn’t comfortable knowing how heart broken she was. Thanks to some help from a few Friends, J I was able to go back home to Puvirnituq.

My Trip to Puvirnituq was not that long; I was only able to visit for a week, since I was working at the time. So, in November, I headed back home to be with my Family once again. My trip was exactly the same route as the time when I went up during a student excursion back in ’98. Pit stop at Radisson .. and La Grande, except this time I had no tour of the Hydro Quebec's facilities. (Phew!). Anyways, apparently there were mechanical problems with the plane, so we were grounded until the next day, we were given a choice either stay or go back to Montreal and try and fly back the next day .. So, I opted to stay at Radisson . AGAIN!! During the trip, I was excited and worried at the same time, wondering how Mary was doing. Finally, the next day, I was in Puvirnituq, my mother had already been in town for two weeks and she was leaving for Montreal the day I arrived. So, we passed eachother somewhere in the sky.. But, I was finally home.. I was in SHOCK.. I didn’t know what to feel, but the very moment I laid eyes on my Family, I cried because I was home and I was able to hug them in person. We all cried, tears of JOY!! And disbelief.. I was home, after Sixteen Years !! We immediately headed for Mary’s mother’s place (Maata Iqiquq). I was so in awe, the place hasn’t changed except for maybe a few more houses, but Maata’s place hasn’t changed, except her children .. We have all grown up!! I was in tears when I got there, outside the house, I had to look around and I felt whole but at the same time it hit me that Qumaaluk is no longer with us.. Once I came into the house it was as if I never left .. It was really nice to see familiar faces once again.   But my visit was so short I could hardly see everyone that I wanted to see. However, I was able to go out on Land with Mary and Lucassie. We were supposed to go out over night since I had to leave in two days… Well, I still think to this day, Qumaaluk knew what he was doing, cause we got stuck out on land for three more nights, total four days out on land.. It was really nice and at the sametime I think it was meant to be. I think Qumaaluk knew just how much it meant to Mary that I was home. Although we were stuck out there, we had to find something to do to keep ourselves busy, we checked the nets quite a few times and one net broke because it got stuck underneath the ice. We were so busy with that net; we had no time to go ice fishing ourselves. Thank goodness, for Nullukie, an elder from Puvirnituq, otherwise, we would have been lost, we took a chance going home on the fourth day, it was really bad weather that day. We even got off track three times.. but we made it home safe and sound, I had to re-arrange my flight schedule to get back home because I totally missed my flight, because of the bad weather.

Unfortunately, while I was arriving to Puvirnituq , they were looking for a girl (Harry Tulugak's Niece), who got lost out of town, land, they found her only two days after I arrived. I went to her funeral and the town was devastated, especially after Qumaaluk’sdeath too. When there is a death in a community, everyone gathers to pay respect and sometimes, the whole community

shuts down, in order to show respect for the grieving family. It was quite an experience for me, because I dreamt about the funeral but I didn’t think it would come true, in my dream I had no clue where I was, but when I was there in person, it was quite an odd experience for me. I have footage of my visit back home, thanks to Muncy Novalinga. I borrowed his camcorder and recorded the camp, plus a few footage of the town..

I will never forget that visit, I just wish it was longer and I wish to go back again, even to move if I could. I would like for my children and my partner to see Puvirnituq with their own eyes, and not from hearing about it from me. I know one day, they will. I was so excited to be going back home I even forgot to pack a few things, like my socks and my camera, so I had to buy them at the Northern store. But all in all it was a due visit, although it was a...

Bitter Sweet Reunion...