Kikkik was an

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

woman who in 1958 was charged with, but acquitted of, murder, child neglect and causing the death of one of her children. Her story was told by

Farley Mowat Farley McGill Mowat, (May 12, 1921 – May 6, 2014) was a Canadian writer and environmentalist. His works were translated into 52 languages, and he sold more than 17 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Can ...

Relocation

Kikkik was a member of the

Ihalmiut The Ahiarmiut ᐃᓴᓪᒥᐅᑦ or Ihalmiut ("People from Beyond") or ("the Out-of-the-Way Dwellers") are a group of inland Inuit who lived along the banks of the Kazan River, Ennadai Lake, and Little Dubawnt Lake (renamed ''Kamilikuak''), as ...

(Ahiarmiut), a

Caribou Inuit Caribou Inuit ( iu, Kivallirmiut/ᑭᕙᓪᓕᕐᒥᐅᑦ), barren-ground caribou hunters, are Inuit who live west of Hudson Bay in Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, between 61° and 65° N and 90° and 102° W in Northern Canada. They were originally na ...

band who had originally lived in the

Ennadai Lake Ennadai Lake is a lake in the Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is long, and wide. It is drained to the north by the Kazan River. A section of the Kazan River from the outlet of Ennadai Lake to Baker Lake, was designated as a part of the ...

area. In 1949, the Ihalmiut were relocated by the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

Nueltin Lake Nueltin Lake (Chipewyan: , meaning "sleeping island lake") straddles the Manitoba-Nunavut border in Canada. The lake, which has an area of , is predominantly in Nunavut's Kivalliq Region, and on the Manitoba side there is the Nueltin Lake Airport ...

. However, hunting was poor at Nueltin and over time the people returned to Ennadai. In 1957, the Government again moved the Ihalmiut, now numbering 59 people, to the

Henik Lake Henik Lake is located in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut, Canada. The lake is made up of two lakes, North Henik Lake and South Henik Lake with a narrows separating them. Of the two, North Henik Lake is the smaller with an area of , while South Hen ...

area, 45 miles from

Padlei Padlei is a former community in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located on the mainland on the north shore of Kinga (Kingarvalik) Lake at the juncture of the Maguse River. Whale Cove is to the east, while the Henik Lakes are to th ...

, the closest trading post. The Henik group split in two early on.Damas, 2002

Desperate circumstances

During 1957, the Ihalmiut's main source of food, caribou did not appear. Consequently, the Henik group began to starve during the winter. Kikkik, her husband Hallow (Hallauk), and their children (son Karlak; daughters Ailoyoak, Annecatha, Nesha, and baby Nokahhak lisapee had their igloo close to her half-brother Ootek (Ootuk) and his family. Ootek had not been able to provide for his family. Now Ootek told his wife that he was going to the

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

at Padlei, but went and visited Hallow. Hallow left to go fishing and, after a short period, he was followed by Ootek, who had brought his rifle. Creeping up behind Hallow, who was fishing, Ootek shot him in the back of the head. Ootek then returned to Kikkik's igloo, but she became suspicious and followed him as he left the igloo. He shot at her but she pushed the rifle aside. She fought with Ootek, who was weak from hunger, and forced him to the ground; he confessed to having murdered Hallow. Sitting on Ootek to hold him down, Kikkik got her son Karlak to give her a knife, but it wasn't sharp enough to kill Ootek. One of her other children then brought her another knife and Kikkik killed Ootek with it. Kikkik found her dead husband and placed his rifle next to him, as is the Ihalmiut's custom. She loaded up a sled with the few supplies she had, bundled her infant onto her back, and began the 40 mile walk to Padlei with the children. After a few days she met Yahah, Hallow's brother, and she followed him to his camp. She waited there while her brother-in-law went to Padlei. After five days, without food, and no sign of Yahah, she and the children resumed the trek. After a few more days, she was unable to continue with all the children and left Annecatha and Nesha, both under age 10, wrapped in caribou skin, in an igloo she made with a frying pan.

Rescue and trial

Kikkik, Karlak, Ailoyoak, and baby Nokahhak were rescued by a

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

aircraft that also was able to find the two stranded girls, one of whom had died. Kikkik was charged with the murder of Ootek, child neglect for abandoning Annecatha, and causing the death of Nesha. At her trial, in

Rankin Inlet Rankin Inlet ( iu, Kangiqliniq; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑲᖏᕿᓂᖅ or ''Kangirliniq'', ᑲᖏᖅᖠᓂᖅ, or ''Kangir&iniq'' meaning ''deep bay/inlet'') is an Inuit hamlet on Kudlulik Peninsula in Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest hamlet and ...

, presided over by Judge

John Sissons John "Jack" Howard Sissons (July 14, 1892 – November 11, 1969) was a Canadian barrister, author, judge and federal politician. Early life Sissons was born in Orillia, Ontario and, at the age of four, contracted polio, which injured his leg ...

, Kikkik was found not guilty of all charges. Sissons, in his remarks to the jury said the case "demands that we revert our thinking to an earlier age and try to understand Kikkik and her life and her land and her society" and that she should be judged by her culture.

Aftermath

Her story was featured in the 1959 book ''The Desperate People'' by

. Kikkik never talked about this part of her life, nor did community elders. Her children did not learn of it until Annecatha read Mowat's book. Kikkik's story was also turned into two documentaries featuring daughter Elisapee (née Nurrahaq okahhak Karetak in 2000 (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

) and 2002 ( Inuktitut).

Sources

* Damas, David
''Arctic Migrants/Arctic Villagers The Transformation of Inuit Settlement in the Central Arctic''
Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002. * Eber, Dorothy.
Images of Justice A Legal History of the Northwest Territories As Traced Through the Yellowknife Courthouse Collection of Inuit Sculpture
'. McGill-Queen's native and northern series, 28. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997. * Tester, Frank J., and Peter Keith Kulchyski.
Tammarniit (Mistakes) Inuit Relocation in the Eastern Arctic, 1939-63
'. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1994. {{ISBN, 978-0-7748-0452-3
Remembering KikkikKikkik, When Justice Was Done

References

External links

Three carvings were commissioned by John Sissons to represent the case:

People acquitted of murder People from Kivalliq Region Canadian Inuit women Inuit from the Northwest Territories