Meeka Kilabuk larger than life
Well-known figure gone but will be long remembered
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Monday, November 16, 2015
NUNAVUT
Meeka Kilabuk, an Inuit artist and leader, died of cancer in Ottawa Nov. 7 at the age of 64, but her legacy will forever be entwined with Nunavut.
Meeka Kilabuk died in Ottawa on Nov. 7. She is remembered as a larger-than-life advocate for Nunavut and Inuit. - NNSL file photo |
"She's always been a person with a larger life than most of us," remembers Nancy Karetak-Lindell, who met Kilabuk as a teenager in Ottawa. "She sure made an impression on me as someone who knew what she wanted and would go after it."
Kilabuk was the first secretary treasurer for Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami in 1971. She become the secretary treasurer for the Qikiqtani Inuit Association when it was still referred to as the Baffin Regional Inuit Association in the 1990s.
From 1993-1999, she was a member of the Nunavut Implementation Commission. She became president of QIA in 2000.
Beyond political achievements, she was known as an artist. Kilabuk received first place in the North American Fur and Fashions Exposition (NAFFEM) student design awards in 2008, with a second-place award the following year. In 2010, she graduated in fur design and production from Nunavut Arctic College.
Kilabuk, originally from Pangnirtung, was the first Inuk woman to place as one of the eight finalists from 300 worldwide entries in the International Fur Trade Federation's REMIX competition for emerging designers.
Karetak-Lindell said she was fortunate to meet Kilabuk in Ottawa and reunited with her as an adult in Pangnirtung.
"I was able to get to know her again more as a person instead of the political figure I knew her as," said Karetak-Lindell.
Karetak-Lindell first ran for a seat in Parliament in 1997 and Kilabuk supported her and helped with her campaign, going door-to-door with her.
"She had that great smile and approach to meeting people, and I was one of those people that she took into her care and people took to me too," said Karetak-Lindell, speaking from Arviat. "You're included in that circle of love."
Kilabuk was outspoken but accepting, remembers Karetak-Lindell.
"You could still be friends with her even if you disagreed on something," she said. "I think we need more people like that. You know where they stand. You know there's no falseness about that. You knew where you stood with Meeka. She was very true to herself, a larger than life figure, and we're certainly going to feel that void because those are big shoes that I don't know anybody else can fill."
Kilabuk had a big heart and always tried to help the less fortunate, said Karetak-Lindell.
"She mentored you and always reminded you that you had to do it for the people, that we have to care about the people we represent if we're going to an elected position," she said. "I was happy to call her my friend."
That guiding light will be missed, she said.
"She was fundamental in so many features of where Nunavut is, an artist, a teacher, mentor, friend to anyone in need. She helped so many people that there wouldn't be enough room for all of the stories that people could tell."
Karetak-Lindell will always remember Kilabuk's big smile, her laugh and her boldness.
She said she feels sympathy for her family.
"She was their strength, their foundation, their beloved mother and grandmother, and for many of us beloved friend, cousin, aunt ... She was one of a kind and we will miss her."
Kilabuk's daughter, Becky Kilabuk, is a two-time recipient of the Jubilee Medal from Queen Elizabeth and is an employee of QIA today.
