Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth, died on Thursday afternoon. He was 96 years old. Joy Suluk of Arviat, Nunavut, recalled Thursday how she first saw a photo of the queen as a child in 1963. She decided then and there to meet her one day. That day came decades later, in 1994, when Queen Elizabeth made a stop at Rankin Inlet. As an artisan, Suluk flew in from Arviat to demonstrate her crafts during the visit. Her needlework so impressed the queen that the royal party bought a quilt and pillows made by Suluk. Joy Suluk of Arviat, Nunavut, with her collection of Queen Elizabeth memorabilia. (Kate Kyle/CBC) It was an amazing moment for Suluk, who had begun to build a collection of royal memorabilia that has only grown in recent years. “I was shocked… I forgot how to speak [English] at the time,” Suluk recalled Thursday. Suluk said she was heartbroken to learn of the queen’s death. “I always looked up to her, respected her and followed her reign,” he said. “She was always my queen.” Queen Elizabeth accepts flowers from Anoee Belsey at Rankin Inlet in 1994. (Submitted by Bill Belsey). (Submitted by Bill Belsey)
A human-to-human moment
Cathy Towtongie remembers that visit well. Towtongie was part of the welcoming committee at the airport. She recalls Queen Elizabeth walking down the aisle and stopping in front of her husband: “She asked my husband — ‘Excuse me, sir, what are you doing here?’ The conversation turned to dogs – which were famously loved by the monarch – as Towtongie’s husband ran dog teams. “She had this majestic presence, and yet she was so grounded,” Tutongi said. “When we started talking about dogs, you could tell he was really listening… It was human to human.” Towtongie met the Queen again in 2002 when the monarch visited Iqaluit as part of her Golden Jubilee tour of Canada. “I came up next to the queen and she smiled at me, and she smiled back, because she’s human like me,” Towtongie told the CBC in Inuktitut. Towtongie, who kept the invitation from that trip as well as a silver dollar with the Queen on it, said she was saddened to learn of the monarch’s death. The invitation that Cathy Towtongie still has from Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Iqaluit in 2002. (Submitted by Cathy Towtongie)
Unexpected humility
That down-to-earth quality also surprised Paul Okalik when he met Queen Elizabeth in Iqaluit in 2002. Okalik was Nunavut’s premier at the time. “When she would talk to you, she would talk to you alone. And she would whisper so no one else could hear her conversation with you. That, I found unique and very kind and respectful,” Okalik said, noting that she gave them space. to talk and have quiet conversations. “I have come to respect her greatly.” A photo from the 1959 Yukon visit near the Whitehorse Dairies on 4th Avenue (Chuck Hankins) In the Yukon, Commissioner Angélique Bernard and Premier Sandy Silver signed a book of condolence to commemorate the Queen on Thursday afternoon. Bernard said she didn’t get a chance to meet the queen herself, but she remembers meetings where her colleagues talked about their interactions with the queen. “Everybody was really surprised at how funny she was, and that’s something that shows, that she was funny and made people laugh,” Bernard said. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, sit in the back seat of an open car in Whitehorse during their Canadian royal tour in 1959. (Rolls Press/Popperfoto/Getty Images) Silver said the news of the Queen’s death came as a shock, despite her age. “As a matriarch that’s been through so many generations, it’s family to a lot of Canadians, right? I mean, my grandparents, my parents and our generation as well — I think everybody’s reeling,” she said. In a statement Thursday afternoon, Nunavut Premier PJ Akeeagok called her an “iconic figure.” “While the relationship between Inuit and the Crown has not always been easy, His Majesty has long been respected by our elders,” Akeeagok wrote.
‘Beautiful memories’
In a statement on Facebook, Gwich’in Tribal Council Grand Chief Ken Kyikavichik said many elders and families have “fond memories” of meeting Queen Elizabeth during her visit to the Beaufort Delta region of the NWT in 1970. “Queen Elizabeth II was held in very high regard among the Gwich’in. It was customary for Her Majesty to recognize milestones of our people, such as important anniversaries and notable achievements,” Kyikavichik wrote. He expressed “deep sorrow” at her death. With the death of Queen Elizabeth, Charles is the new king. King Charles III visited the NWT last summer with a six-hour trip to Yellowknife and Dettah. Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, present a bouquet of flowers from Sahaiʔa May Talbot, a student at K’aemi Dene School, at Yellowknife Airport. The royal couple toured Yellowknife and Dettah, NWT, on May 19 as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) Dettah Chief Ed Sangris recalled meeting Queen Elizabeth as a child when his father was chief. They shook her hand. When King Charles visited Dettah in May, they held a fire feeding ceremony and a display of hand games and drum dances. This morning, as Sacris was feeding the fire, he said he asked people to keep Queen Elizabeth in their prayers. “She was such an elegant and caring person. I feel sad,” he said, adding that he hoped the royal family would get over their grief quickly.
