There are times when it doesn’t matter that some of us are pro-mining and some stand opposed. Or times when no one cares that you eat meat when some of us won’t. Times when it doesn’t matter that you have money and we don’t. It doesn’t matter that you live in Inuvik or at the southernmost tip of the territory or that you are Indigenous and we are not.
There are times when our differences just don’t matter.
Last Tuesday was one of those times. It was a day when most of us from every corner of the NWT clung to news outlets waiting for information about the plane crash just outside of Fort Smith that claimed the lives of six people on their way to Diavik Diamond Mine. We, too, cried when we heard the news.
In the face of tragedy, Northerners become a family bound by something deep in our core that unites us. We can’t even put that something into words, we just know we are connected. All that other stuff is just stuff.
When we heard about the lives lost, many of us hung our heads in grief because we had lost members of our Northern family. We could not be with the immediate relatives, friends and first responders as they gathered at the Anglican church in Fort Smith later for the vigil, but we read or listened to every news broadcast and watched that evening if only in our minds.
We were there. We saw and felt the sadness of the pilots and other first responders who sat in those front pews and we watched the flickers of the many candles dancing in the church. Though not there physically, we were there in spirit trying to support the community who has suffered far too many tragedies in the past year.
We commiserated with the Ranger who jumped on his Ski-doo and headed to the crash site only to find that he could not be the rescuer he had hoped to be. We stand with him in his grief and hold his hand in our own. We know you did your best.
We are all so grateful for the one survivor who can continue to be a father to his five-month-old son. In fact, some of us stared at Stanton Hospital last Wednesday wondering if it would be okay to visit and give both our support in person. But we stayed away, knowing he needed time to put the pieces of that Tuesday morning together.
For the families who suffered those devastating losses, people in the community reached out in whatever way they could providing both comfort and offers of help. Cooked meals, free coffee and gathering spots where they could be with each other. As the angels now surround, love and heal those that were taken from us, Northerners from within and outside of Fort Smith became earth angels, offering help to those impacted.
This is the spirit of the territory. It is what defines us. Though we love the North, we know she can be a hard and unforgiving mistress, which is why Northerners consistently make themselves available to each other. And it is in times such as these that we put our differences aside to join as a Northern family. When one person hurts, we are all hurt. Fort Smith, we all hurt with you.
The same Northern spirit helped us survive the Covid lockdown with people going out of their way to support others either materially, physically, emotionally or mentally.
And when fires swept through Enterprise, people from all over the NWT reeled from the devastation, some people refusing to drive home because they didn’t want to see the charred remains of the longtime landmark. Enterprise makes us who we are.
When the news of the crash came then, all over the NWT, people sat on the edge of their chairs praying for good news. Some of us prayed all night. When it didn’t come, we shed tears, too.
Fort Smith, you are not alone. We have held you in our hearts since the first whispers of the accident were heard. We have wrapped you in our invisible but loving arms attempting to ease your pain and we will continue to be with you as you walk this long road of healing and recovery.
We know it could take a long time and we are there for you.
We also know that as there are now a group of Northerners and their pilots in the arms of loving angels now, but people all over the territory are here to be your earth angels and do the same for you.
You are not alone. You are not forgotten. We have not turned the page. Together, we will get through this.
—Nancy Vail is a longtime Yellowknifer concerned with social justice.