Rangers honoured for service
Favourite memories of Northern patrols
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Monday, May 16, 2016
IQALUIT
Memories of Northern patrols rank high on the favourite pastimes list of two 12-year veterans of the Canadian Rangers.
Eegeesiak Aniqmiuq, right, is given a 12-year-service award for his participation in the Canadian Rangers. He had to leave the Rangers for work, but has left the door open to one day returning. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo |
Jimmy Kilabuk and Eegeesiak Aniqmiuq were honoured for 12 years of service at an event in Iqaluit March 2.
"My father was a Ranger," said Kilabuk about how he joined the organization. "He was in service for 18 years. When he told me he was going to retire, that's when I decided I was going to sign on."
He's been a Ranger for 13 years.
"I love the experience," Kilabuk said. "You get to go out on the land with a group of guys, great group of people. You get insight on what they have experience in and pointers to help you out."
Kilabuk's favourite trip was a patrol to Alert.
"The experience was amazing, just being out there itself," he said.
He and his team escorted two dog teams from Denmark about 250 klicks away from the North Pole.
Aniqmiuq, who started with the Rangers in a cold January 1999, named a south pack patrol to a station near Resolute as his standout memory.
"We were stationed there with other Rangers from across Nunavut, Yukon, Northwest Territories," he recalled.
"We started going to Resolute, took us about three or four days from the station to Resolute. One time we had a blizzard and tried to go through but had to bunker for the night."
His professional life has forced him to leave the Rangers for now but Aniqmiuq has kept the door open to join again in the future if circumstances are right.
"I had a nice time," he said.
