TALOYOAK/SPENCE BAY
"She was a really nice person."
Neemee Nulliayuk, seen here in an undated photo from her childhood in Taloyoak, died at age 25 when a medivac flight piloted by Marten Hartwell crashed near Great Bear Lake on Nov. 8, 1972. - photo courtesy of Denise Nulliayuk
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This is nearly all Denise Nulliayuk remembers about her mother, Neemee.
Neemee Nulliayok was born in Kugaaruk in1947 and was adopted by a couple living in Taloyoak as a baby. During the 1950s and 60s, Neemee attended residential school in Aklavik. In 1969, she married Mike Nulliayok and the following year, the couple had their first child: a little girl they named Denise.
Pregnancy was not kind to Neemee. She suffered several miscarriages before her second successful pregnancy in 1972. In November of that year, Neemee was 25 years old and eight-months pregnant when she boarded a medical flight to Yellowknife, where she was to give birth.
Also travelling south with Neemee was 14-year-old Davidie Pessurajak Kootook, who was suspected to be suffering from acute appendicitis, and English nurse Judy Hill. The trio first flew to Cambridge Bay, but the weather was bad and at first it did not look like they would be able to make it all the way to Yellowknife. By coincidence, they met pilot Marten Hartwell who had landed in Cambridge Bay a few hours earlier. He agreed to transport the nurse and her patients to their destination.
The flight, due to arrive in Yellowknife on Nov. 8, 1972, never reached its destination. Hartwell became worried when his silver Beechcraft 18 airplane failed to register the Contwoyto beacon. Bad weather conditions made for a rough flight and poor visibility for the pilot and the plane drifted west, off course from its planned route.
In an attempt to restore radio contact, Hartwell steered the plane lower to 2,000 feet. The aircraft then slammed into a 2,000-foot plateau located about 80 km south of Sawmill Bay on Great Bear Lake, near Hottah Lake, instantly killing nurse Hill.
Neemee was also fatally injured during the crash, suffering from a broken back among other injuries. She did not make it through the first night after the crash.
Very little else is known about Neemee's final moments. In a press conference held Dec. 11, 1972 – two days after Hartwell, the lone survivor, was rescued from the crash site – he said Neemee had spoken to Kootook in Inuktitut shortly before she died. However, Hartwell said he did not understand the language.
Looking for answers
Denise was two years old when here mother died. Now, more than 40 years later, she is still looking for answers.
The crash, and the subsequent search and eventual rescue of Hartwell, has since become infamous in Canadian aviation lore. At least one book has been written about the incident. The Survivor was released by author Peter Tadman in 1977. Also, Stompin' Tom Conners wrote a song about Hartwell's survival titled The Marten Hartwell Story.
However, no one bothered to get in touch with the Neemee's or David's family to ask permission or gather information to tell their story, said Denise. In fact, her grandfather had to find out about his adopted daughter's death over CBC radio, as community members were not kept informed about the search effort.
"The only reason why they put the search back on was because of Judy's parents," Denise told Nunavut News/North. "I have different feelings about (the national attention), because while they were going through the court process, my mom was mentioned as not a very important person in our community; not a government worker."
When she was young, Denise did not know why her mother wasn't around. The deaths of Neemee and David hit the community hard. As such, no one wanted to talk about it, she said. Once, in school, the class was working on Mother's Day gifts and Denise remembers getting upset with her teacher because she didn't have a mother to give her gift to.
"It was pretty tough for me because I didn't know," said Denise. "Yet they keep reminding me that I'm like my mom. Maybe they feel sorry for me."
Later in life, Denise found out about the crash and started asking hard questions, finding out about the injuries and eventually locating her mother's body in the 1990s. Originally, Neemee's body was thought to have been buried in Yellowknife, but Denise ultimately found her mother's remains in Edmonton with the help of Inuk lawyer David Ward.
"Now, she's buried back here, I brought her home," said Denise. "I shouldn't have had to do that. It should have been done on its own. She belongs here. She was raised here, she grew up here, she should be buried here."
Denise believes that in many ways, her community is still grieving for Neemee and David. However, she disagrees with the reaction not to talk about what happened. Talking about them is the only way to keep their memories alive, she said.
"It was so tragic for them that they completely forgot about it," said Denise. "I've been asking a lot of questions since I was a little girl. I think it's time for people to finally deal with it."
