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KIVALLIQ
Next month will mark 100 years since the Roman Catholic religion first set down in Chesterfield Inlet, its first stop in what is now Nunavut, and celebrations are cropping up throughout the territory to mark the date.

Irene Duncan, left, Celina Ningark and Bishop Reynald Rouleau stand in the Roman Catholic mission in Rankin Inlet. - Tim Edwards/NNSL photo

Bishop Reynald Rouleau said while it was not the first Christian foundation in the North, the mission in Chesterfield Inlet in 1912 marked the foundation of the Roman Catholic religion.

"It was very different at that time," Rouleau said. "It was very simple, just a little residence that was also a chapel, but there were no Roman Catholics in 1912. It's only 1917 that the first Roman Catholic had been baptized, and it's developed a lot since then. Now we're at 8,000, a little more, in Nunavut."

Celina Ningark went to residential school in Chesterfield Inlet from 1956 until 1959, and though she has returned to the community from time to time, her trip back for the centennial service, among 200 other people at the church, was different.

"When I stepped down from the plane it was a different feeling ... an emotional feeling and good feeling at the same time," Ningark said.

She said she believes her mother was baptized in Chesterfield, and she attributes much of her faith to her mother.

"I consider myself one of the good believers ... because of my mother."

Though she didn't go to the service in Chesterfield Inlet, Irene Duncan stayed with others in Rankin Inlet and held mass.

"Most of us that were left behind attended to the meetings here and attended mass," Duncan said. "It matters very much. Our faith here in Nunavut, in each community, is very strong."

It was her father who instilled the faith in her, Duncan said, and it has become a huge part of her life, growing stronger as she gets older.

"For me, without my faith I don't think I'd be alive today, because my faith in God has saved me more than once."

In the years following Roman Catholicism's establishment in Chesterfield Inlet, the religion has spread throughout the Kivalliq region. All Kivalliq communities have a Roman Catholic mission, with the last in the region established in Whale Cove in 1960.

The church is present in 21 of Nunavut's 26 communities.

Rouleau said his diocese aims to reach all of the communities once a year, and he spends half of each year travelling, spending four or five days in each community - his favourite half of the year, he said.

"It brings me a lot to be close to people, to know them," Rouleau said. "Since I've been in the diocese for about 25 years, I know a lot of people, and out on the street people say 'How are you? When did you come in?'"

He said the service in Chesterfield was very successful, and it focused on the history and ancestry of the religion.

"It's a major celebration in Chesterfield and there were maybe 200 people at the church, and then we had the blessing of the lake behind the church and a feast also," Rouleau said. "It's like a holistic experience, a family experience."

Each mission throughout the territory will have its own centennial service, he said, though not all will be as big as the one in Chester. A service was scheduled for this past Sunday in Rankin Inlet.

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