PANNIQTUUQ/PANGNIRTUNG
A foundational man in the history of Pangnirtung and Nunavut has passed away, but his legacy will be forever.
Ross Peyton was foundational in the development of Pangnirtung. He died at age 86 but his mark in the North endures. - photo courtesy of Jeni Peyton |
Ross Peyton, who died Oct. 19 at age 86, is remembered as a born pioneer and entrepreneur.
"He was a very generous man," said Jeni Peyton, his daughter, by phone to Nunavut News/North. "He would help anybody in need, either financially or materially. He loved the North."
His list of accomplishments in the North are almost too long to name. He came to Pangnirtung in 1950 with the Hudson's Bay Company. There, he met his first wife, the late Yvonne Whitman, and became manager of the Hudson's Bay Company in several posts in the Eastern Arctic and Northern Quebec.
Peyton was a fur trader, merchant, banker, Justice of the Peace, radio operator and even a weatherman for pilots.
In 1952, he became one of the first commissioned officers of the Canadian Rangers.
In the 1960s, he opened Arctic Circle Trading Post, where he built a community centre for youth, which included a dance hall, pool room, movie theatre and store. He aided hunters in the community by reloading ammunition and introducing the high-powered hunting rifle.
Everyone in Pangnirtung knows the air strip down the middle of town. Peyton bulldozed that. He also dynamited the first channel to allow sealift barges to enter at low tide. He owned and operated Peyton Lodge, which was established with no government money.
Jeni remembers her father as a historian who always told stories of the North and how resourceful the people were.
"At that time, everything came from the land and the sea," she said. "If there were no caribou, they depended upon fish and seal. If they were not able to procure it, starvation was just around the corner. He had many stories about the hunters and families that would come in."
He always had an ear out for people in trouble or need.
"He wanted to see Pangnirtung survive, and I think he saw it," said Jeni, remembering that when her father came to the community it was little more than an outpost.
Though fundamental in the hamlet's beginnings, Peyton always had dreams for its future. Those, Jeni said, focused on education and self-sustainability.
"He wants to see the community as a self-sustaining community where they were not relying on government handouts," said Jeni. "Times have changed. There are too many people to live on the land and living on the land was a very hard, harsh environment. He wanted them to be comfortable and he wanted them to be able to live in the world that was catching up to them. That meant education, that meant jobs, and it bothered him that people were not able to get that at home."
Beyond his resume, Jeni remembers her father as a fun, adventurous person and endlessly entertaining.
"His heart was in the North," she said.
Later in his life, Peyton re-married and he is survived by many grandchildren and other relatives.
Peyton was born on Jan. 11, 1929, and succumbed to lung cancer at 86, but his impact is forever.
