Trapping, policing and protecting
Rankin DFO officer has colourful history

Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

RANKIN INLET (Jun 23/99) - Rankin Inlet's David Qirqqut has accomplished a lot in life since being pulled from school at the age of 10 to help with family trap lines.

Now an officer with the Department of Fisheries of Oceans (DFO) in Rankin Inlet, Qirqqut looks back fondly on a full and eventful past.

"I grew up in Gjoa Haven and the price of fox pelts was quite high when I was 10," says Qirqqut. "My uncle talked with my family and they decided we needed more people on the trap line to earn income for our family."

Qirqqut trapped until he was 15 and, when he left to work construction, he had very little education. He learned most of his English working construction and headed back to school at 18 to complete his Grade 10 before family needs became his top priority again.

"I had to start working construction again to provide income for my family -- my mom and dad, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and grandparents. The construction part was a modern move, but, at the same time, it had a lot of traditional background in sharing what you have.

"My situation was just like when you hunt and catch an animal and you share what you have with the community."

Qirqqut worked construction until he was 25 and then heeded the call of Canada's national police force. After six months at the RCMP training depot in Regina, Sask., Const. Qirqqut was off to his first posting in Baker Lake.

"I was with the RCMP from 1983-'89 and served in Baker and Spence Bay, now Taloyoak. When I left the RCMP, I had a job waiting with the Housing Authority in Gjoa Haven. I enjoyed my time with the force. I travelled a lot and met a lot of people, but I was burning out with the kind of work I was doing."

After a stint in Ottawa with a company overseeing DEW Line sites from Inuvik to Goose Bay, Labrador, Qirqqut spent time with the GNWT before accepting training with the DFO.

His training took him to Cornwall, Ontario, Sydney, Nova Scotia and back to Regina before starting his new career in Rankin.

"As fisheries officer for the Kivalliq Region, I'm responsible for seven hamlets. My whole family is enjoying Rankin and I enjoy my job very much. My biggest concern, right now, will be the commercial fishing season, making sure everyone's properly licensed and catches are being properly recorded.

"It's very exciting right now because we really don't know what the vision of the Nunavut Wildlife Board is and that makes the job even more interesting."