Two young boys are being remembered by their community
Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services
Cambridge Bay (May 07/01) - The community that nurtured Kyle Komaksiut, 14, and Justin Mingilgak, 15, is now mourning their loss.
"I knew them both since they were six-years-old," said their elementary school teacher Debbie Gray. "Justin was a very shy boy ... so when he did smile his whole face would light up and his head would be bent because he would be trying to hide it.
"Kyle was a very small boy physically," Gray added. "He and Justin were family, cousins, and Kyle was very protective. He may have been the smallest and the youngest but he was definitely the mightiest."
The boys were lost in a sudden storm April 29 as they attempted a short snowmobile ride along the bay to a cabin where their family was staying.
The two were only dressed in blue jeans, light jackets and running shoes.
They were found late the next day 15 kilometres out on the sea ice south of the hamlet.
"The community is taking it hard because they were so young," said Eddie Amagonalok, a local social work student. "We say kids are our future."
Amagonalok and other social workers went into the high school the day after to comfort grieving friends and classmates.
"A few of the students approached us and they are taking it pretty hard," Amagonalok said.
Although they acted as pillars of support, he said he and his colleagues are also grieving, along with the rest of the community.
"I didn't think I was going to make it through the day," Amagonalok added. "There was a lot of sadness in that school."
Mingilgak was creative. He excelled in arts and crafts, often spending time sewing, beading and cross-stitching with his sister and granny, Gray said.
He surprised her one day at school when he showed up with a head of bleached blonde hair.
"No one would have ever expected that from Justin," she remembered fondly.
"He was trying to hide it by putting his hands over his head but all his friends were saying he looked really cool."
Gray was most proud of Mingilgak when he graduated Grade 6. She remembered him standing up on stage and happy to be there, wearing his bashful smile.
Komaksiut's smile was more animated and frequent. It spread from ear to ear.
He was outgoing and Gray described him as a "real on-the-land" kid.
"He was always very jovial and came into school ready to take anything on," she said. "He would come in and have a smirk on his face and you knew he was either up to something or had something to tell you."
Mayor Keith Peterson hopes that if there is anything the community can gain from the tragedy, it will be a renewed vigilance for keeping its children safe.
"If we see them on the ice, we should stop them or report them if they are in an unsafe situation."
He said that the several search and rescue officers who spent more than 24 hours in an agonizing effort hoping to locate the youths safe and sound were devastated.
Cambridge Bay said goodbye to Mingilgak and Komaksiut at 2 p.m. on May 3 during a joint funeral service.
"It's something that really hits home," said Sgt. Gary Peck of the Cambridge Bay RCMP detachment.
"You can tell by the emotion in the community that they were very well-liked."
