Rankin Inlet (July 23/03) - Angie Kubluitok and Veronica Tattuinee believe suicide is one of the most serious issues facing Nunavut.

It's for that reason the duo are organizing a suicide prevention hike and camp in August in Rankin to raise awareness.

"It's a very serious issue. It stays with you a long time after someone commits suicide," said Kubluitok.

The two women formed the idea after they were invited to a similar event held in Coral Harbour last year.

They said the Coral hike, which spanned a total of 28 miles, was a great success.

"There were about 75 participants in Coral," said Kubluitok.

"With Rankin being bigger than Coral, I'm expecting 80 or 85 and we want young and old to come out and support this."

The Rankin hike will be somewhat shorter than the one in Coral, because Kubluitok and Tattuinee said the land near the Meliandine River gets less manageable the further you go.

They are not exactly sure where the hike will go because they are still searching for a good place to set up camp, but they expect the walk to be about 10 miles there and 10 miles back.

The event is scheduled for Aug. 1-4 and the two are drumming up community support.

They are looking for donations to help buy track suits for all the participants.

As well, Tattuinee said, during the camp there will be activities and suicide counselling set-up, which may require some funding.

Overall she is hoping that the event will bring the community together for a common goal.

"We wanted to do something with the community for the community," said Tattuinee.

Neither women have the naivety to believe the hike will stop suicide, but they are hoping it will generate awareness and maybe even reduce the number of self-inflicted deaths.

"We're doing this so people will become more aware of suicide and prevent it from happening," said Kubluitok.

"I know it won't stop, but this will make people aware that we care."