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IKPIARJUK/ARCTIC BAY
The High Arctic paid tribute to David Kalluk Feb. 13, a week after the former Arctic Bay deputy mayor, once mayor of Grise Fiord, died of a long-term illness Feb. 5 in Ottawa. He was 66.

High Arctic community politician and Inuit culture proponent David Kalluk died Feb. 5 in Ottawa of a long-term illness. - photo courtesy of Niore Iqalukjuak

"He was always thinking of others first," said Niore Iqalukjuak, who was mayor when Kalluk was deputy mayor. The two worked closely on the community's search-and-rescue committee, which Kalluk chaired before his death.

"Every time we had to do a search-and-rescue, before we started he would say a prayer for us, the searchers, and for the people we were searching for."

Iqalukjuak was also the man tasked with bringing Kalluk bad news in July 2011, when sons Noah, 46, and Tommy, 42, were found drowned in the waters 40 km south of the hamlet. Their boat had capsized in five- to six-metre high ocean swells during a seal hunting trip.

"It was very tough on him," Iqalukjuak said. "Even after that, he had strength to continue on and had faith in the search-and-rescue system."

Born in April 1945 in Qakkiat, near Arctic Bay, Kalluk moved to Arctic Bay in his 20s and lived in Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord during his adult years.

Describing him as a "renaissance man," Quttiktuq MLA Ron Elliott said Kalluk celebrated his cultural traditions, carving, dancing, performing at cultural shows, dog-sledding – winning the final leg in the 2001 Nunavut Quest race – and assisting in healing workshops with Ilisaqsivik in Clyde River, "to get more Inuit trained to do healing in Inuktitut and follow through in that manner."

Active in the Canadian Rangers, the local force called on all Rangers in the community to wear their red hoodies for the funeral, Elliott said.

"It's definitely a huge loss in terms of trying to fill his shoes," he said. "In many of our conversations and the way he lived his life, (he would say) you do what you need to do and help needs help when you're here."

That help even extended to fun missions as a local guide, Arctic Bay mayor Frank May recalled.

"It must have been around 1988 when David was hired by one of the North Pole expeditions, I think it was a Japanese guy trying to drive a motorcycle to the North Pole," said May, who first met Kalluk at Expo '86 in Vancouver, where Kalluk was part of a cultural performance. "Once they made it to the pole, (David) dug up some of the ice there and brought it back for a community tea. So everybody from the community had tea from the North Pole. Everybody thought it was pretty special."

Kalluk will be remembered for his contributions to the search-and-rescue operations, emergency planning, and economic development in the community, as well as fighting to preserve the Anglican church building from Nanisivik, which now sits in Arctic Bay, May added.

Many family members flew from across Nunavut to Ottawa during Kalluk's last days. He is survived by his wife Leah and a large extended family.

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