by Jennifer Pritchett
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jan20/97) - The mother of a six-year-old Iqaluit boy set on fire by two older boys last August is angry the nightmare has repeated itself less than five months later.

This time, a four-year-old Tuktoyaktuk boy is recovering in hospital after he was set ablaze with flammable liquid.

A 13-year-old boy from the community is in custody in Inuvik, charged with aggravated assault. He pleaded not guilty last week and will next appear in court Feb. 3.

"Something has to be done to stop these things from happening," said Naulalik. "It's upsetting because I saw Bernard go through a lot. I'm sure this little boy from Tuktoyaktuk is hurting a lot -- he's in big pain."

Naulalik knows about pain after seeing her son Bernard make a slow, difficult recovery over the last five months in hospital -- with only a two-hour break at home on Christmas Day.

He's suffered through numerous skin grafts to repair his little body, but remains in Montreal Children's Hospital, receiving treatment for third-degree burns that cover 30 per cent of his body.

Bernard still cries out in pain when the physiotherapist exercises his left arm for two hours a day.

"But I worry more now about the emotional effect all this will have on him," he said. "I worry if he will grow up angry about what has happened to him."

In Tuktoyaktuk, the four-year-old boy is in stable condition at Inuvik Regional Hospital, recovering from first-, second- and third-degree burns to both his legs. Hospital officials aren't sure when he will be released.

The four-year-old's grandmother was the only supervision for the two boys when the incident occurred in the bedroom of her home.

This has left many people in Tuktoyaktuk wondering about parental supervision -- why did the young boys have access to gasoline and matches?

"There's no relation between these two incidents at all," said Eddie Dillon, mayor of Tuktoyaktuk. "People just have to look after their kids."

The burning is a symptom of a plethora of problems in some Northern communities, said Dr. Eric Hood, who heads up the Baffin consolidation services at the Clarke Institute in Toronto.

"These dramatic events are the visual tip of the iceberg," he said. "There's a lot of troubled, dysfunctional young people. It's one symptom of many other problems."

Hood said the problems in Northern communities show the stress that these areas are under, brought on by immense change in the region. "It's affecting the families and peoples' relationships with each other," Hood said.

"It's obvious this behaviour is unusual, but it's got to be looked at."

Residents of the communities have to start looking at the origin of these problems or they will inevitably continue, he added.

Naulalik agreed, but it doesn't change what her son has already gone through.

Bernard is going to need counselling for a long time because of what happened, she said.

"It's going to be the same way in Tuktoyaktuk," she added.