INUIT RCMP SPECIAL CONSTABLES are unsung heroes, but let us acknowledge the partners of these special constables who helped support their husbands’ work, which has largely gone unrecognized. Prior to 1983, when Mary Hunt became the first Inuk woman officially hired as a special constable in what is now Nunavut, Inuit women, and sometimes even children, assisted with various duties, but were never designated as special constables. Here are a few examples of how the families of special constables assisted the RCMP in Inuit Nunangat in earlier years.

The Ahiarmiut were relocated over and over again. In 1949 the Government of Canada bulldozed their camp at Ennadai Lake, southwest Nunavut, and began a devastating decade-long relocation process. David Serkoak lived through the relocations as a child. The retired teacher and principal in Nunavut now lives in Ottawa. Last January, in Arviat, the 21 remaining Ahiarmiut relocation survivors finally heard the Canadian government apologize.