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Inuit police patrol their own

John Thompson
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (May 02/05) - Children wave at Const. Mike Salomonie as he cruises the slushy streets of Iqaluit in his SUV, when warning of a bank hold-up comes in scratchy over the radio.


NNSL photograph

Mike Salomonie in Iqaluit: Job is an emotional rollercoaster.


"We'll be there in a few minutes," he says, spinning his vehicle around. As he pulls up to the bank, several other squad cars idle nearby. A voice on the radio confirms what he suspected: false alarm.

Of the 123 regular RCMP officers in Nunavut, 90 are posted in detachments outside of Iqaluit and 17 are Inuit.

"People relate by how you grew up," says the 27-year-old. "Language helps. Sometimes it's just your presence."

So does personal knowledge. He's had friends and family members commit suicide.

"If I didn't deal with problems I've dealt with, I wouldn't be who I am today," said Salomonie, who was raised between Cape Dorset and Iqaluit.

Salomonie describes his job as an emotional rollercoaster, which dives when he deals with the effects of substance abuse and peaks when he knows he's made a difference.

He's also conscious of past RCMP influences, but he's reluctant to say anything about accusations that RCMP slaughtered the dogs of Inuit years ago, forcing many to abandon their traditional nomadic lifestyle. Given his position between both cultures, he's in a lose-lose situation no matter what he says.

As he continues his circuit around town, he says he can't imagine doing anything else.

"It's such a life-altering experience. It's always inspiring."

Const. Yvonne Niego grew up in Baker Lake, where she's been posted several times. She's now in Iqaluit. Some people tell her they can't understand how she can work in her own community, "being related to half, and friends with the other half."

She says it makes her job easy: she knows how to find everyone. "I've probably memorized everyone's number."

Violent crimes - murders, deaths caused by impaired driving, sexual assaults on children - are the most difficult to deal with, she says.

"The children are always hard, and the death," she says. "In a small town, the death affects everyone."

To deal with these shocks, she's developed a shell she puts on every morning with her uniform.

"Sometimes you just want to hug that person and cry, but you can't because you have a job to do. As you take off each piece of your uniform, you take off that front, and you become Mom."

Niego first joined the force in 1991 when she needed a summer job, making her the first female Inuk officer.

In 1993, she became the first female Inuk to attend the training camp in Regina. Soon she'll be another first, when she moves to Ottawa to work for National Aboriginal Policing in Ottawa.

"I'll be seeing the best practices across the country."