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'''Kikkik''' was an [[Inuit]] woman who, in 1958, was charged with murder, child neglect and causing the death of one of her childen.
==Henik Lake==
Kikkik was a member of the [[Ihalmiut]] (Ahiarmiut), a [[Caribou Inuit]] band, who had originally lived in the [[Ennadai Lake]] area. In 1949, the Ihalmiut were relocated by the [[Government of Canada]] to [[Nueltin Lake]]. 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]] area.▼
{{Main|Ihalmiut}}
▲Kikkik was a member of the [[Ihalmiut]] (Ahiarmiut), a [[Caribou Inuit]] band, who had originally lived in the [[Ennadai Lake]] area. In 1949, the Ihalmiut were relocated by the [[Government of Canada]] to [[Nueltin Lake]]. 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]] area, 45 miles from the closest trading post, Padlei.(Damas, 2002)
==Desperate circumstances==
During the winter, the [[Reindeer|caribou]] did not appear and the group began to starve. Kikkik, her husband, Hallow (Hallauk) and their children (daughters Ailoyoak, Annecatha, Nesha, and baby Nokahhak Elisapee; son Karlak) had their [[igloo]] close to her half-brother Ootek (Ootuk) and his family. Ootek, who had not been able to provide for his family, visited Hallow having told his wife that he was going to the [[trading post]] at Padlei. 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 and he confessed to the murder. Kikkik, who was sitting on Ootek got a knife from Karlak, but it wasn't sharp enough to kill Ootek. One of her other children then brought her another knife and she killed
Kikkik then loaded up a sled with the few supplies she had and with her five children began the
==Rescue and trial==
She was later picked up by a [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] aircraft that also was able to find the two girls, one of whom had died. Kikkik was then charged with the murder of Ootek, child neglect for abandoning Annecatha, and causing the death of daughter, Nesha. At her trial, in [[Rankin Inlet, Nunavut|Rankin Inlet]], presided over by [[John Sissons]], she 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.▼
Kikkik was later picked up by a [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] aircraft that also was able to find the two girls, one of whom had died. Kikkik was charged with the murder of Ootek, child neglect for abandoning Annecatha, and causing the death of daughter, Nesha.
▲
==Aftermath==
Her story was featured in the 1959 book ''The Desperate People'' by [[Farley Mowat]]. Kikkik never talked about this part of her life and her children did not learn of it until Annecatha read the book. Kikkik's story was also turned into two documentaries featuring daughter Elisapee (neé Nurrahaq [or Nokahhak]) Karetak in 2000 ([[English language|English]] and 2002 ([[Inuktitut]]).
==Sources==
*
*Eber, Dorothy. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=g7Qcr7vzQbQC&dq=angulalik+trial 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. ISBN 0773516751
* Tester, Frank J., and Peter Keith Kulchyski. ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=HVf9N3jdsp4C&pg=PA231&dq=Kikkik+mistakes&sig=XR12iNbrg1qE5haPARJhMC7LZoE#PPA234,M1 Tammarniit (Mistakes) Inuit Relocation in the Eastern Arctic, 1939-63]''. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1994. ISBN 978-0774804523
*[http://www.nunatsiaq.com/archives/nunavut020621/news/features/20621_1.html Remembering Kikkik]
*[http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Nunavut/kikkik.htm Kikkik, When Justice Was Done]
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