Elders, Mounties gather for exhibit launch
We Took Care of Them: Special Constables in the NWT opens to rave reviews
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Monday, August 7, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
History came alive as the past met the present on Aug. 3 at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife.
About 250 people from across the NWT crammed into the museum's auditorium for a ceremony to mark the launch of We Took Care of Them: Special Constables in the NWT.
The new exhibit brings to life the contributions made by Indigenous people to the RCMP when officers first came to the North in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
Among the guests of honour was Tsiigehtchic resident George Niditchie. The 81-year-old started as a special constable in Aklavik when he was only 17.
"They wouldn't have survived without us," Niditchie said.
"In the summer they were OK - I'd go on the patrol with them and they were OK but they couldn't do it in the winter. It was too cold. It didn't bother me. I'm old and I'm still doing it."
He said he helped the officers learn the lay of the land in the North: his specialty was handling the dogs that would pull the Mounties' sleds. He taught them how to properly harness the dogs and how to catch fish and dry fish for food for them.
Everyone is attendance agreed, without the assistance of the local communities and the special constables, the RCMP would have struggled mightily to establish a presence in the North.
The ceremony featured prayers, songs, stories from elders, speeches by territorial cabinet ministers and the RCMP including new Acting RCMP Commissioner Daniel Dubeau who travelled from Ottawa for the event.
There were laughs and tears as elders recounted stories about their early encounters with the Mounties.
Another elder on hand for the event was Winston Moses, father of Education, Culture and Employment Minister and Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Alfred Moses. Winston Moses wasn't a special constable but his father was. He was involved in the manhunt in the NWT and Yukon for the infamous Mad Trapper Albert Johnson in the 1930s.
"It's great. It's about time they put something on like this," said Moses. "I'm very thankful that some people finally recognized the importance of what happened in the days gone by. I think someone thought that what they did was very special - that's where the words special constable came from."
Dubeau, who appeared with several Mounties in their red serge uniforms, said that he was honoured to be at the exhibit's opening.
"When we were policing, we were not alone. We were involved in community policing from day one and the communities helped us and actually taught us how to police better," he said. "It's important that we recognize our past and celebrate it."
Chief Superintendent Jamie Zettler, commanding officer for RCMP's G Division, said it is important for young officers, posted to remote NWT communities understand the important roles the special constables played.
"The relationship the RCMP has with our communities is paramount," he said, adding that younger members go through an orientation where they meet leaders and elders in communities.
"The communities support us tremendously ... and that relationship started with special constables."
Premier Bob McLeod agrees that the contribution from the special constables was an important one. His uncle, Willy McLeod, was a special constable in Fort Liard for around 50 years.
"Together they helped forge a very important history for the NWT," said McLeod.
The exhibit is expected to have a mobile component to be displayed at RCMP detachments throughout the territory.
