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HAY RIVER
Respected river pilot Edward "Eddie" Loutit knew the Mackenzie River so well that it was like he possessed an internal Google Street View of the waterway, according to a colleague.

Edward "Eddie" Loutit steers one of the many boats he has operated in the North. - photo courtesy of Terry Allen

Among the last to carry on the legacy of hundreds of years of Metis river pilots and captains, Loutit, 57, lost his battle with cancer on June 22. He leaves behind a daughter, two sons, granddaughter, wife, mother, three sisters, two brothers, many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and countless friends.

The funeral procession that lined Woodland Drive in Hay River on June 28 was more than a commemoration of Edward Loutit’s profession, his relatives said.

"He had this tenacity. He lived life to the fullest," said sister Georgina Weber. "He always had this determination to do the best he could. He never sat idle. He squeezed more life into 50 years of than most people do in 100."

Terry Camsell, Loutit’s longtime friend, fellow marine industry professional and former pilot, said although many would start out as pilots they would move to other parts of the industry.

Loutit worked every summer on the Mackenzie River from age 18 until he was 55. During the off-season, he would drive trucks on the ice roads and do contract plumbing work in the south.

But river piloting was innate to Loutit, said Camsell, who likened his friend's remarkable knowledge of the river to having Google Street View.

Loutit’s father and grandfather were also pilots, as were many uncles and great uncles. They learned the river and how to navigate it using nature, landmarks, and the sky.

"Every time a map was brought out his father would say 'put that away,'" said Camsell.

The Metis have a history as river pilots dating back hundreds of years in the Western Arctic, back to the Hudson’s Bay Company heyday. Aside from supplying small communities, the pilots were consulted for mapping and navigation by early Northern explorers. However, the occupation has since been relegated to a reduced role due to GPS systems.

"Pilots knew the whole river," said Camsell. "It's almost a knowledge that’s passed down. It takes a real skill to go down the river. If you don’t know what you’re doing the current could take you right up in the rocks."

This is one of the reasons Capt. David Day, manager of marine operations for NTCL, said they decided to salute Loutit with three prolonged whistle blasts from the Kakisa and Edgar Kotokak vessels. The sounds could be heard from the harbour to the Hay River Cemetery as Loutit was laid to rest.

"He's a man one doesn't meet every day," said Day. "He was a pilot and maybe one of the last river boat pilots, but he was also an extraordinary person."

Nearly 300 people attended Loutit's funeral said his wife, Terry Allen. On Saturday, Allen and Loutit’s family gathered on the shores of their property on Great Slave Lake. They spent many hours outside accompanied by their large extended family sitting together around the fire and listening to the crashing waves.

On this evening, an obvious void was felt around the joined picnic tables as the family shared their meal. It wasn't long before they brought laughter and nostalgia into the conversation in sharing stories of his life, his love of the outdoors and his dedication to the NWT's waterways.

"He always made light of things even during serious situations," said Allen. "When we found out his cancer had spread in February, he was the first one to make light of it. Now in this situation we try to think of what he would do."

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