RANKIN INLET (NOV 011/96) - A grim reminder to the suffering of Nunavut's sons and daughters came in the form of a statement in the House of Commons in Ottawa last Wednesday.

Nunatsiaq MP Jack Anawak pleaded with the people of Nunavut to work together to help put an end to the senseless deaths that have plagued many of the Eastern Arctic's regions.

"Another young suicide victim was buried in Rankin Inlet last weekend," said Anawak.

"There have been too many deaths. Our youth, our best and brightest hopes for the future are killing themselves at shocking rates. It has to stop."

Within the last two months four people have committed suicide in the Keewatin community of Rankin Inlet.

A 20 year-old took her own life Sept. 21. A couple of weeks earlier a 18-year-old hung himself outside his home. Just recently in Rankin Inlet, the town's ex-fire chief Willie Makayak was found a short distance away from the community, dead from a self-inflicted wound.

Two days later on Nov. 1 a Repulse Bay man visiting the area committed suicide.

"I call on the people of Nunavut, young and old, individuals and communities, to come together to make suicide prevention a priority. Our youth need us and we need them," said Anawak.