Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Baker Lake (Apr 05/00) - It is an honour reserved for those who paid the ultimate price.

More than 50 names will be placed on the RCMP's Wall of Honour in Yellowknife Thursday, April 13, in recognition of Northern members who died in the line of duty.

Ooyoumut, a special constable to the Baker Lake detachment, will be among those honoured.

Ooyoumut drowned on July 21, 1954, at the RCMP fish camp at Qikiqtauyaq River, on the southwest side of Baker Lake.

RCMP Sgt. Phil Johnson of the RCMP Community Policing Section co-ordinated the event, which actually began in 1998 as a RCMP 125th anniversary project.

"Several members thought this would be a nice tribute to the RCMP members who died while serving the force during our more than 100 years policing the North," says Johnson.

The RCMP have erected a stone wall on the front lawn of its headquarters building in Yellowknife.

A plate for each member honoured will be mounted on the wall bearing their name, regimental number, place and date of death.

Ooyoumut drowned while RCMP members were catching lake trout and drying them for dog teams during the winter months.

The early role of the special constable was primarily to provide safe passage for regular members who located to Northern Canada.

They had to learn land skills and the special constables would lead them on patrols -- dog team, canoe and foot -- and teach them to build iglus.

Special constables were considered the members' lifeline, providing vital knowledge.

"Cpl. Claire Dent worked with Ooyoumut and found his body. He constructed a handmade casket and wooden cross bearing his name, rank and date of death. Then he dressed in his red serge and provided him with as dignified a regimental service as he could under those conditions in 1954," says Johnson.

Ooyoumut's two surviving daughters, Sally Webster and Lucy Evo (adopted by her grandmother), and two granddaughters will be attending the ceremony.

"This is a great honour for our family," says Webster. "Having lost our mother a year ago, this comes as a great blessing to us."