Vandals drive over elders' gravesites
'It doesn't get any more personal than that,' says mayor Jim McDonald, whose mother's grave was vandalized
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, July 6, 2017
INUVIK
Five grave sites at the Inuvik Cemetery were damaged when a vandal appeared to drive over them late last month.
Mayor Jim McDonald kneels next to the headstone of his mother, Alestine McDonald. Her grave was one of several desecrated by a vandal. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo
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One of those belonged to Alestine McDonald, Mayor Jim McDonald's late mother.
"It's my mother," said McDonald, looking at the damaged headstone. "It doesn't get any more personal than that."
His sisters, who were visiting town at the time, took the news emotionally as well.
McDonald said the vandalism targeted some of the community's most influential elders, in particular the occupants of four of the graves.
"The four ladies here were matriarchs of the community, original residents of the community," he said, going through the graves that were desecrated.
"These were all four original people in the community and three of them have very large families still in the community.
"It's frustrating and you have to wonder why someone would do something like that."
He doesn't believe it was accidental.
There's no reason someone would be driving fast and accidentally veer off the road on a small aisle in the cemetery, he said.
McDonald hopes to see some consequences in the courts, as well as assistance to the families to restore the grave sites.
"We'll reset the headstone and fix up the grave and put the new fences and stuff on, but I certainly hope there's some retribution to the people that did it," he said.
That could be community service or jail time, he added.
"I think it was (a) fairly serious incident, and I don't think it was young people," said McDonald. "I've got a feeling they were responsible adults that probably did this."
Inuvik RCMP Staff Sgt. Dustin Ward told council last week that an arrest had been made in the case but he was not able to release the name of the person as there had been no official charges yet.
"There's good progress being made," said Ward to council.
McDonald said crime seems to be higher in the community at this time than in other years.
He has met with the RCMP about recent break-ins and some of the speeding and stunt driving going on at night.
He's used to seeing the break-ins and petty crime flare up around the fall, when it's still warm outside but the sun goes down at night.
McDonald said it doesn't matter whose family was affected by the cemetery vandalism.
"This is a sacred place," he said.
"To see vandalism in a cemetery, it's shameful. I don't know how else you could describe it.
"Obviously the guys who did it have no regard or no respect. If they could do something like this, what else are they capable of doing within the community?"
